Charity shops and their hugely inflated prices..

[Charityshops21]

I've always loved charity shops and usually pop in whenever I pass one but I've noticed since they reopened post lockdown the prices have more than doubled in many places.

Take the Sue Ryders local to me, women's tops and dresses used to be between £3 and £5, I went in this afternoon and saw that the same type of clothes (not expensive brands in the first place) have at least doubled in price.

£9.99 for a second or third hand faded jumper with loose threads.

£7 for an atmosphere (Primark) blouse that I know only cost that brand new.

£15 for a battered pair of shoes.

I understand the need to recoup losses but AIBU to think this is bad and will alienate their most frequent customers? IE poor people me

There’s an Age UK charity shop in Radstock trying to sell coats for £199. I thought it was £1.99 at first. They were just tatty old things too.

I've given up donating because of this. The last straw was seeing an obviously secondhand copy of a book I wanted priced at £20... the RRP in WH Smiths a couple of doors down being £19.99.

Saying that occasionally you can pick up a bargain because they've mispriced something. I got a mint 1960s first edition of one book from them for £3.99 when the cheapest I could find online was a battered copy close to a hundred quid. I think they mistook it for a different book that's got a very similar title but is common to the extent any charity bookshop has a couple of copies.

Me 1, Oxfam 0!

skirk64
I went to buy DC some books and couldn't see a price on them other than what looked like the original £19.99 tag. It wasn't an error. They were genuinely trying to charge £19.99 for a used set of children books with obvious wear, when the RRP for new was £19.99.

I should have realised what sort of place it was when they were charging £6.99 for used paperbacks that were £7.99 new and could be bought at Waterstones on 3 for 2.

The assistant got shirty with me when I politely said I'd be putting the children's books back.

eBay has charity shops on there. Many hospices and charities list items which sell very quickly.

If you go to charity shop there is often so much stuff , and a sign on the door saying they don’t want any more at the moment. Then you look at the price!! Mental can often get stuff cheaper in Primark!!

I run an animal charity shop. Our first day open wascon Saturday. A woman came in and found an old linen tablecloth with lace and embroidery. All hand sewn. A real vintage piece. I asked 10 for it and she was so rude. She said it wasn't a charity shop and I was changing far too much. Hundreds of people came in and we had a wonderful day, but she's the one I remember. We owe the vet four grand. She and I both knew that fabric was worth more than ten. I was so upset about it. I charge 2/3 for a top. 4 for skirts/dresses. 5 for coats/jackets. It's cheap! We have lovely stuff. Not designer, but a lot of Per Una and Monsoon. I get so disheartened with hagglers. There are several refugee families here. I give them stuff for free. I think the charity shop serves a duel purpose - for our animals, for the community, for the environment. That's three purposes in fact! Don't haggle with people who need the money!

@Nanalisa60

If you go to charity shop there is often so much stuff , and a sign on the door saying they don’t want any more at the moment. Then you look at the price!! Mental can often get stuff cheaper in Primark!!

No doubt you can get cheaper clothes in Primark, but I am not going to sell a brand new with tags Seasalt tunic for sub Primark prices.

Primark is horrible and has weird sizing plus it's nice to support a charity if you can

Most of the time pricing is done by volunteers. Even with guidelines, subjectivity plays it's part. Preconceived ideas of what "branded" is, what's nice and worth more, whatever brands the tagger is familiar with and thinks should sell for , lack of understanding of the customer base , personal attitude to selling (a bit for a lot or loads for cheap) and so on. This can work in the customer's favour too when something expensive is sold for £3.99.

A common issue we used to have with some volunteers was when we got things with tags still in and they wanted to tag them with a similar price or just under. Especially if the item had been significantly reduced several times. Yes, it might've been priced at £50 once upon a time ,but even the shop gave up and tried to flog it for £7.99 and sometimes if they really couldn't they just sent it to us.Or it was £30 pounds 2 years ago but it's not in fashion anymore so you'd be hard pressed to find someone to buy it to begin with, much less at £19.99.

I understand about books if they are decent quality. I’m talking about buying children’s books that are tatty, odd scribble in them. I looked at one today that had a ripped page; scribble in the back and they wanted £1 for it!

Most of the ones round here are very cheap and great value, but the one on my local high street is outrageously expensive. The women who work there think they’re posh and keep the window full of wedding gats etc. Is very irritating

Fascinating reading this thread, especially the insights from CS workers.

This past year I have been buying bits and pieces from our local shops and selling them on Ebay - haven't made a fortune but enough for a nice holiday next year, maybe. I walk through town every day on my way home from work so pop in a few times a week, the workers all know me now and I mostly buy mugs, China and other bric a brac (look out for old file o faxes, and anything Dr Who.....)

Anyway, a pal of mine said she thought what I was doing was wrong. I should not be making money out of charity shops because they are trying to make as much as possible for charity.

I scratched my head over this - I am buying stuff for the price they ask, never haggle; I don't make money on a lot of the things I buy, most of my sales I make two of three quid, I am in it for the occasional brilliant sale (two cups and saucers I bought for £5, sold for £52. An old filofax I bought for £3 went for £27. And 50p milugs often turn out to be really Collectable).

Anyway, I asked in a few shops about how they felt about it. One shop had a lovely tea set for £50..... I knew it would get that on ebay, but it did not sell, price went down and down, one day I went in it was £12.50, so I went back the next day with packaging and bubble wrap and it was £10. The manager said no one would buy it for what it was worth and they didn't sell China on eBay any more because it broke....

There were two candles in there. I bought one fir a £5. Looked it up when I got home - a super posh Oka candle, £70+!!!! I went back the next day to buy the other one and told them they were £70 candles.... He said 'not in here, they're not.....'!

So, charity shops. Use them as you will. Buy what they sell at the price you want to pay. If they are charging too much - walk away.....

@rabbitwoman

Some people are definitely of the opinion that re-selling from charity shops is immoral. There have been threads on here before about it. My own opinion is that shops are run as a business - they have access to the same information as anyone. They can choose to sell the expensive candle on eBay if they prefer but they’ve chosen not to. According to my friend who ran a CS, the big chains ( or certainly Oxfam) have experts coming in to look over the bric a brac and vinyl so you’re never going to find a priceless gem there. They also farm off vintage / cooler pieces of clothing to other centres. The idea that every CS is run by doddery old ladies who don’t know a pair of Jimmy Choos when they’re in front of them is sadly not my experience. Good luck with your re-selling venture.

Saying that occasionally you can pick up a bargain because they've mispriced something. I got a mint 1960s first edition of one book from them for £3.99 when the cheapest I could find online was a battered copy close to a hundred quid. I think they mistook it for a different book that's got a very similar title but is common to the extent any charity bookshop has a couple of copies.

Me 1, Oxfam 0!

You are proud of doing a charity out of money?

I’m amazed at the number of people on here who know how a charity shop should be run! As a pp said, they are mostly run from head office by professionals. If they don’t make their targets they will be shut. So despite so many people saying they are overpriced etc, they are still clearly making enough money to remain open.

Also ,those posters who say they can buy a similar item cheaper, brand new at primarksupermarket - the one in the charity shop may be a much better brand using better quality fabric, better made etc. For some people this is important

Charity Shops are often quite expensive - more so, than I think they should be.
I once saw a lovely cookery book in the window - looked newish.
RRP was 25.00, but the price in the charity shop was 16.00, which I decided was too dear.
Instead I managed to get the same book - brand new from Sainsbury at 5.00.
Also, when it comes to clothes, around where I live, anything that is remotely nice goes to friends of the volunteers working in the shop. I am not sure how I feel about that, but basically, don't like the idea of the charity itself missing out, so as long as they donate a suitable amount, I think that is OK.

I don't have an issue with people buying stuff from a charity shop to re-sell. When we price, we price it at what we want to get for it. If someone thinks that they can buy something and get a couple of quid more on Ebay then that's up to them.

In order to get that couple of quid more for our charity we'd have to photograph it, write a description for it, deal with queries from buyers, package it, post it out... all takes time and when volunteers are so scarce it's not time well spent.

The chain I'm in doesn't have external experts at all, but we do have volunteers with specific areas of expertise. One of the ladies I volunteer with really knows an awful lot about ceramics and china. We have another woman who is a retired jeweller so put aside anything we suspect is gold for her to have a look at. We have a contact at the local auction house who will look at any things we think are really special - we sold an original painting for £2.5k a few years ago, and just before lockdown got £150 for a victorian copper jelly mould.

The downside is that we have one computer with internet connection for the whole shop. Often you can't get access to it if the manager's in and working. I google stuff on my phone but it's often hard to find an exact match if all you have to go on is "green figurine of a dolphin" or whatever.

Also ,those posters who say they can buy a similar item cheaper, brand new at primarksupermarket - the one in the charity shop may be a much better brand using better quality fabric, better made etc. For some people this is important
But often it isn't! That's the point people are making.

I have no problems going going my good, local charity shops and spending more on a garment than I could buy new, if the garment is in good condition, is from a go brand/shop, and it suits me. I shop second hand for environmental and ethical reasons, not to get a bargain.

But a used primark top should not be the same price, or more expensive than the same top new in primark. Used supermarket clothing shouldn't be the same price or a pound cheaper than the new equivalent. Second hand paperbacks of popular reads shouldn't be as expensive as buying new. All this is common sense and pricing them as such is either a case of someone doesn't have common sense, or those pricing are quite happy to fleece a section of their customers who perhaps don't shop around or aren't as aware, which seems a bit unethical.

@rabbitwoman why not! We have some fairly knowledgeable volunteers for books, brica brac and jewellery, and a manager who is bang on with clothing. If we price things too cheaply, thats our fault.

If you get a bargain, I say well done you. Someone in our shop priced an ornament with a well known factory mark at £2 the other day. Fortunately I saw it and repriced it at a tenner and it sold the same day, they are £30-40 on ebay. It's still a bargain for the buyer, and the charity had a reasonable return on it.

We have 2 shops almost next to each other

1 moved to a central drop off point during CV19 and stuff is then sent to their 8 or so local shops. That means this shop which is probably their most affluent isn't getting its usual stock. Since that point the stuff has been incredibly expensive and tat (piles of plain glass ware priced at £4 a bowl or pair of wine glasses - would have cost a £1 new). They are empty and the same stuff has been in for weeks

The other currently has bric a brac at a £1 (the very good stuff is a cupboard and currently at half marked price). They are heaving and stuff is flying out. They have different stuff each day and they are still having to limit drop offs as they cant cope with donations.

@BlackElephant The other currently has bric a brac at a £1 (the very good stuff is a cupboard and currently at half marked price). They are heaving and stuff is flying out. They have different stuff each day and they are still having to limit drop offs as they cant cope with donations.

That's what's happening with ours. So cheap that they're moving stock at an incredible rate. I once needed a specific colour shoes and bag for an upcoming wedding. Nothing in stock. I asked them to keep an eye out and the following week they had put me the exact ones I needed aside. Bought them, used them and donated them straight back. They made a few quid and got the stock back too.
I regularly see my own son's clothing (unique as it was from Carter's - USA) on kids round the village, only to be on a different child the year after or back in the shop at some point.

We have a wonderful charity shop here. Everything is £2 or less. Book are two for a £1.

It's very popular and they have a high turnover so the stock is always changing. I've had some fantastic bargains.

@OccaChocca

We have a wonderful charity shop here. Everything is £2 or less. Book are two for a £1.

It's very popular and they have a high turnover so the stock is always changing. I've had some fantastic bargains.

I know it's been said before but to have a high turnover of stock, you also need a high number of reliable volunteer to sort, price, steam, serve customers, replenish.

Not all charity shops have a surplus of volunteers. Many run on one paid manager, a couple of good volunteers and lots of kids who are only there to do their D of E and stay for the minimum time they have to.

@pointyshoes

I’m amazed at the number of people on here who know how a charity shop should be run! As a pp said, they are mostly run from head office by professionals. If they don’t make their targets they will be shut. So despite so many people saying they are overpriced etc, they are still clearly making enough money to remain open.

Also ,those posters who say they can buy a similar item cheaper, brand new at primarksupermarket - the one in the charity shop may be a much better brand using better quality fabric, better made etc. For some people this is important

For some people that's important. For a lot of people genuinely on their uppers, they'd rather have new for the same price. It's perfectly understandable pride. Especially if you have children. If you know that balance in your area, you can make that work. If you let policy from head office make those decisions, possibly less so.

@milveycrohn

Charity Shops are often quite expensive - more so, than I think they should be. I once saw a lovely cookery book in the window - looked newish. RRP was 25.00, but the price in the charity shop was 16.00, which I decided was too dear. Instead I managed to get the same book - brand new from Sainsbury at 5.00. Also, when it comes to clothes, around where I live, anything that is remotely nice goes to friends of the volunteers working in the shop. I am not sure how I feel about that, but basically, don't like the idea of the charity itself missing out, so as long as they donate a suitable amount, I think that is OK.

You clearly have very detailed knowledge of all transactions as all the nice stuff goes to friends of volunteers....