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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Charity shops and their hugely inflated prices..

448 replies

Charityshops21 · 21/05/2021 15:37

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

OP posts:
Nohomemadecandles · 21/05/2021 17:30

Blame Mary Portas from the TV show she did about 12 years ago. She told charity shops to inflate their prices so they did. Unfortunately, not everyone knows the difference in brands in some charities!
Our local one is usually fair though.

FedNlanders · 21/05/2021 17:34

Ours sell primark and asda for almost new prices. Rather buy on ebay.

RaspberryCoulis · 21/05/2021 17:34

Well done OP, you managed to get the "bobbled Primark jumper which cost less new" into the first post. Usually takes a few posts to come up with that one.

I will make the same points I always make on these threads as a charity shop volunteer.

  1. Charities are there to raise money not provide you with cheap stuff.
  2. Charity shop managers should know their market and adjust prices accordingly.
  3. No charity shop manager is happy with stock not selling.
  4. Charity shop volunteers can make mistakes.
  5. Charity shops are crying out for volunteers - feel free to step forward to show them that you know better. Hmm
  6. We would be doing a disservice to people who donate designer or top quality high street by pricing it super-cheap.
  7. Most people shopping in charity shops aren't there because they can't afford new.

Think that's about covered it but I'm sure @Ragwort will be along shortly to say her piece too.

FedNlanders · 21/05/2021 17:35

There is one in Perranporth that always amazes me how bad it is. Could be a good mine for holiday makers with weather and forgotten items but its a dump

kowari · 21/05/2021 17:37

@Ragwort

Vote with your feet then and try other charity shops.

I manage a charity shop and I price to sell and to raise as much money as I can for the charity. My shop performs very well and I have lots of loyal customers who seem happy with my pricing; if something hasn't sold for a couple of weeks I will usually reduce it but I generally find that pricing isn't the issue ... it's whether customers like the stock or not.

Yes, I vote with my feet. If I have good clothes to donate I always take them to the charity shops that I know are reasonably priced and where I know the clothes will quickly go to someone else who can use them. Some I think charge too much, if I see the same items week after week then I give up looking and I don't donate to those shops either.
kowari · 21/05/2021 17:39

6. We would be doing a disservice to people who donate designer or top quality high street by pricing it super-cheap.
If I donate something that's good quality I just want it to go to someone who can use it.

kowari · 21/05/2021 17:43

The whole concept of charity shops in my mydoesalso incorporate all the other aspects - including saving things from landfill and including providing affordable clothes for people -as well asraising fund for charity.
Same here, and I choose to donate clothes to shops that do all three of those things.

Original poster
Charityshops21 · 21/05/2021 17:45

Well done OP, you managed to get the "bobbled Primark jumper which cost less new" into the first post. Usually takes a few posts to come up with that one.

What do I win?

On a serious note if it's something that keeps cropping up perhaps CS's should stop selling bobbled Primark jumpers for inflated prices Confused

Everybody knows Primark is cheap and usually not great quality, so when we see atmosphere garments in these shops with higher prices of course it makes you Hmm

OP posts:
NerrSnerr · 21/05/2021 17:48

@FedNlanders

Ours sell primark and asda for almost new prices. Rather buy on ebay.
Why is it preferable on EBay when you'd pay postage on top and it wouldn't be for charity?
Bathshebahardy · 21/05/2021 17:49

Charityshops21 - As you say you are in SE London and your local Sue Ryder was cheap, if it is the Catford one, it is because that's their Outlet store. If you go up the road to Forest Hill, Sue Ryder is expensive.
The Salvation Army shop opposite Sue Ryder always used to be good value.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 21/05/2021 17:49

In defence of Sue Ryder, the one near me is the best charity shop in Walthamstow (and there are quite a few). It's big, it has a good and constantly changing range of toys, books and children's stuff, and the prices are low to reasonable.

NerrSnerr · 21/05/2021 17:50

Our local shops are pretty cheap and are really nice shops. I have bought some summer tops in the last few weeks, White Stuff, Fatface, Mantaray, H&M and none of them cost more than £4 and I think most were about £2.50. We're not in a hugely rich area though so that may impact.

RaspberryCoulis · 21/05/2021 17:50

@kowari

6. We would be doing a disservice to people who donate designer or top quality high street by pricing it super-cheap. If I donate something that's good quality I just want it to go to someone who can use it.
But the charity's aim is to get the maximum donation for your item.

Yesterday I sorted a leather M&S jacket, lovely quality, very soft, a very run of the mill design, black, size 12 or 14 or something which many people want. Swing tag still attached from M&S said £60.

My job as a volunteer is to strike a balance between getting the most I can for my charity, and keeping stock moving. Most of our jackets are £8 - £10. I don't think it's outrageous to price a brand new, leather jacket at £20. So I did.

NerrSnerr · 21/05/2021 17:50

One of the ones in my village is Sue Ryder and it's dirt cheap. I'm in the SW though so not London.

TulisaIsBrill · 21/05/2021 17:51

(This is not general bashing - just an observation!)

Anecdotally, I find that if the charity shop’s manager is a baby boomer or early gen x (so basically between 52-70) it’s invariably overpriced.

If they are older (sadly very few managers are these days), or younger, it’s usually reasonable or so cheap I give extra.

TulisaIsBrill · 21/05/2021 17:52

*generational bashing

RaspberryCoulis · 21/05/2021 17:53

We get so many clothes in our shop @Charityshops21 that we generally don't sell Primark at all. We do sell dresses/coats but not other items. But that's also dependent on the volunteer spotting the label is Atmosphere, Denim and Co, Cedarwood State, Love to Lounge, YD or Secreet Possessions and realising that it's Primark.

You would not believe how many people cut labels out of clothes.

Totallyrandomname · 21/05/2021 17:54

Interesting you say that because I went in a CS the other day and thought the jeans seemed expensive for a cs.

Haven’t been in enough to notice if it is a general trend. Though I always found BHF more expensive than other ones.

I think generally over the last 10-15 years CS have been much more clever in how they manage/sell their stuff. Used to be able to get a bargain designer item but now CS know what they are worth and have things like eBay to sell specific items on.

Of course if it raises more money for charity I can’t complain.

RickJames · 21/05/2021 17:55

Grin Sorry @Ragwort

I'm not claiming incompetence across the board - my hobby is probably a bit of a niche. A quick scan of ebay wouldn't necessarily give a good idea of value to a general person and could serve to inflate the ideas of value. Also, I can well imagine that folks use charity shops as an alternative to going to the tip and send revolting things and that's NOT very charitable of them.

My addiction in my country is house clearance warehouses. I get to sift through absolute horrors in a dark, dusty warehouse and then haggle for treasures with the, often frankly crazy, owners. I love it! It's sort of meditative. I've had some amazing finds.

Maybe modern charity shops have got too nice and organised for my liking.

Original poster
Charityshops21 · 21/05/2021 17:55

@Bathshebahardy

Charityshops21 - As you say you are in SE London and your local Sue Ryder was cheap, if it is the Catford one, it is because that's their Outlet store. If you go up the road to Forest Hill, Sue Ryder is expensive. The Salvation Army shop opposite Sue Ryder always used to be good value.
@Bathshebahardy It's the Catford branch I was talking about yes, I've been going there for the past 4 years and it was always really cheap. The salvation army opposite was too, but they've inflated their prices now aswell.
OP posts:
BeeandG · 21/05/2021 17:56

I work for a charity, a local one with a number of shops. We've had lots of donations post lockdown but do rotate stock around shops as some get more donations than others. We also pay a manager in each shop as well as rent, utilities etc. I think, hope, we charge reasonable prices. We're about to open a furniture shop and have decided to add clothes to it too mainly because local people have suggested it would really help them to have access to second hand clothes. It's a balancing act, trying to make a profit, keep customers happy and coming back and be of benefit to the local community. One of our shops had a white stuff top for £4 last wk, I thought that was reasonable. My daughter picked a cuddly lion for 50p too when we dropped some donations in to one of our shops the other day too which was good value I thought.

OldTinHat · 21/05/2021 17:58

I was lost for words when I went to grab some paperbacks to read. They were £2 each! You can get three brand new books for a fiver from The Works. I'm now buying from aforementioned shop (!) and giving them to the charity shop when I've finished with them.

woodhill · 21/05/2021 18:01

Some of the stuff is probably quite dated, maybe trendy 5-10 years' ago but still expensive

TheVolturi · 21/05/2021 18:02

One in our town is like this (scope) but another one (cancer research) is ridiculously cheap and is also much cleaner! I got a giant beanbag chair for my ds who has autism last week, it was from dunelm and still had the labels on, I googled it and it is currently £69.99, I paid £2! Ds absolutely loves it and uses it to chill in the evenings, it really calms him!

underneaththeash · 21/05/2021 18:02

@RaspberryCoulis So I dropped some stuff off at Oxfam last year and they were less than welcoming - too much stuff apparently.

So, I offered to help sort out the stuff they had, I suggested that they go by "vinted prices" - but no, they had these fixed price brackets to go by. It was really embarrassing, actually working in the shop. I couldn't offer to help any more as they were really taking the mick and ripping off people who really couldn't afford new clothes, it made me really uncomfortable and I had to say very quickly that I couldn't help any more.