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

Can you barter in charity shops?
Is it worth asking for a bit off the prices , or is that seen as bad?
My son did a few voluntary shifts in a charity shop after uni and he did admit he disliked people asking if they could have it a bit cheaper as he would have to ask the manager and they often said no! They were strict , but some places might let you off? Does it depend on what the item is etc? Or are they just seen as CF's!?
I only really go in them for books , which are a bargain anyway!

I'm glad some of you are still finding bargains

I live in quite a run down area and the charity shop prices have always reflected that in the past, even Sue Ryder who I'm surprised to read that people find expensive - purely because my local one was always dirt cheap before lockdown.

There's a salvation army just across the way which used to be good value especially the kids bits, that was the same in there. Prices doubled.

I popped into the British heart foundation on the off chance even though they always seemed to be on the pricey side, suffice to say their prices have rocketed too.

Those of you who run or work in chazzas and haven't upped your prices, if your shops are in S.E London drop me a PM and you'll have a new customer.

My partner made a good charity shop hail today 10 children's books for £2.50, a doll, a dump truck, a soft toy monkey for 50p each

Some places were charging £5 for toys that just about cost that brand new mind. I have always found charity shops hit and miss for prices with the smaller charities generally being more reasonable than the nationwide ones

Rick I think most charity shops now try to avoid putting out 'a load of horrible crap' - it might be fun for a customer to look through but generally the idea is to sort through the stock and only put out saleable, decent stock on the shelves. I wouldn't have room to put our all the donations we receive and experience shows that well over 50% of donations are unsaleable. At some point when we were deluged after lockdown ended I even had 'help yourself - free' stuff as I was totally overwhelmed - no one wanted it .

Our sales information is very sophisticated - most charity shop managers will have a very good idea of what sells and the correct pricing strategy ... if we don't we will probably be out of a job before too long.....

When the charity shops re-opened I was keen to have a good old browse. First one I entered had everything £1-£3 and it was packed full of stuff they wanted rid of after months of stock piling up. I can do 6 charity shops in a row and not find a thing which tempts me but in this shop I found a Kipling cross body bag and Zara top I really liked so took them to the counter to pay. The volunteer said "two for £1" so I was very happy!
My luck ran out after that as all the other shops were charging rather more than I thought reasonable, exception being a lovely navy blue coat for £7 which was washable so it is now hanging in my wardrobe.I only buy jackets or coats if I can machine wash them as am reluctant to spend £££ having them dry cleaned.
British Heart Foundation have always been what I call greedy with their prices and I rarely buy from them.

Still addicted though, can't see that changing.

But however they price the objective is to maximise the profit for the charity, not to provide help our people on low incomes, people looking for a bargain or whatever.

They're not maximising anything if people don't shop there!

Our local charity shop known for selling Primark quality at Prada prices.

charity - sorry, my shop is nowhere near you .

Yep, same here (Derbyshire). I was eyeing up a DKNY gilet for £20 (nothing was over £7 pre covid) then noticed it had pen stains on the front 🙄. Everything has been up priced dramatically in the 4 chasers in our town, ie. The 'sale' poundrail which is 90% 'worn in' school uniform is now a £2 rail.
I used to shop exclusively from chazzers and donate goods generously but am now offering for free on FB groups or giving to our Community Pantry which allows people to choose free food, toys, clothes etc as needed. I am pissed off on behalf of those who rely on chazzers, rather than choose them as a lifestyle choice.
I'm back on Ebay now where things are cheaper than chazzers even factoring in postage.

Very hit and miss. I get most of my clothes from charity shops as I like recycling.

Oxfam & British Heart Foundation are over priced. They also seem to spend a lot on re-decorating their shops and offering 'brand new' goods. This isn't what I want from a Charity shop.

Small local hospice shops, or our local animal groups offer the best value - and I like the fact that (I assume) they are staffed by volunteers and the money is going to local issues and not on massive salaries for the CEO and others.

There's a prince of Wales hospice near me that specialises in children's items. It's very nice inside, like a boutique, they have very good quality items. They have a facebook page and list things they have for sale.

The prices are extortionate; today's main listing was some of those tubs with farms or dinosaurs that you can pick up for around 3-4 pounds in likes of wilco or b&m but they wanted a fiver. Or for £10 they had 2 Thomas dvds and a Thomas toy in a bundle, but the dvds are only about 2 pound in b&m.

I get that they're raising money for a good cause and have so many overheads to cover too but personally I'd rather pay less for a new item.

And no, chazzers aren't obliged to assist the poor in clothing themselves and their families cheaply or in some cases at all, but neither are people obliged to donate.

Charity shops used to be havens for bargains

Not anymore. They are priced at almost the same it would cost to buy it brand new. Only they are bobbled and stained instead

I appreciate they exist to raise money and not to cater to people on low incomes but people on low incomes make up a sizable portion of their customer base I would've thought, so if they're not affordable many people just won't bother going in which means less money for the charity.

Blimey I’m surprised at these comments. I’ve literally just got home from a shift volunteering at a hospice charity shop and our prices are really low. We have so much stock to shift the manager has reduced lots of things.
Today it was all shoes and boots for £1, last week it was tops and jumpers for £1 each. Some of the stuff is not brilliant but some is brand new so you could get a bargain.

British heart foundation and Oxfam are extortionate in our local town and it's definitely not an affluent town! I don't even bother going in them anymore!! The smaller independent ones seems to be much more reasonably priced though.

Lol try in London. One was selling items for £30 to. £90 the other day

@Fairyliz

Blimey I’m surprised at these comments. I’ve literally just got home from a shift volunteering at a hospice charity shop and our prices are really low. We have so much stock to shift the manager has reduced lots of things. Today it was all shoes and boots for £1, last week it was tops and jumpers for £1 each. Some of the stuff is not brilliant but some is brand new so you could get a bargain.

Where is your shop?

It must be a lottery, so to speak.

I would love to come across one of the shops mentioned upthread, or similar, because everything near me has gone the same way price wise.

I'm pregnant and wanted some maternity trousers, the only thing I could find remotely suitable was a pair of upsized 'jeggings' with an elastic waiste. £8.

I looked at the back of them and they had snags going up the back of the legs.

@BrightYellowDaffodil

But however they price the objective is to maximise the profit for the charity, not to provide help our people on low incomes, people looking for a bargain or whatever.

They're not maximising anything if people don't shop there!

Generally speaking it’s more efficient for a shop to sell 1 item for £3 than 3 items for £1, even if that means two people leave the shop empty handed.

As I say some shops seem more sophisticated in their pricing than others, but as @Ragwort says increasingly shops have good sales data and can price accordingly.

Some shops definitely seem more random than others though!

I agree with Bright.
Our High Street has several charity shops.
I never even bother going into the BHF shop as they are notoriously expensive. So they aren't really maximising income for the charity, as they don't make sales. The shop just over the road sells stuff for half their prices and there are always so many more people buying. Stock turning over then means it is worth popping in a week later as a lot will be new stuff and so it goes on.
If people feel passionately about a charity, they can just set up a standing order. The whole concept of charity shops in my my does also incorporate all the other aspects - including saving things from landfill and including providing affordable clothes for people - as well as raising fund for charity.

Round my way the bric a brac remains relatively cheap but the clothes have got ridiculous. I used to live a rummage through the clothes but I won't pay a fiver for a scabby top with deodorant under the armpits.

Yes it's all got silly. They need to shift the stuff, Barnados is another expensive one

Recently I was in a BHF charity shop and a gentleman customer was holding a pair of what looked like good as new leather shoes and he seemed keen to buy so took them to the counter but told the assistant there was no price ticket on them so how much did she want for them?
She said the lady who "prices goods" was not in that day so she could not sell them to him. He asked again to just give him a price and she said no so he left the shop. I was amazed they were prepared to lose a sale like that. Surely the shop volunteers have some discretion when it comes to situations like that?
I hope that man gave his money to another shop.

Our local charity shops sell worm primark for more than it would cost new. Makes less than zero sense.

I got practically brand new Joules wellies for £5. I think that's pretty reasonable!