why are charity shops so expensive now?

[mklanch]

AIBU to think charity shops are now so expensive and overpriced?

i havnt been to one in about 3 years, but there is one near me that always has a lovely window display. i went with my husband as i saw a lovely jug and bowl in the window and was hoping to purchase it.
once inside i went over to the jug and it was slightly chipped here and there but so pretty. i turned the tag over and was shocked at the price. i was expecting a maximum price of £15-£20......but it was £50!!!
i thought well perhaps its a well known one, so continued to browse the shop. came across a little butterfly trinket box, it was very pretty but has a very large repaired crack right through the lid. i expected it to be under £5, but no, it was for £25!
even used clothing from regular brands (tu, George etc) was priced at over £6 for just a t-shirt!
when did they get so expensive?
i went in there because i don't have alot of spare money at the minute and really wanted to get something nice but not spend a fortune. how the hell have i been priced out of a charity shop?

I went in one recently that was selling dog eared paperbacks for £4.95. My local secondhand bookshop only charges £3 for similar condition books. I do understand why they're pricing like this but can't help feel they'll get less sales overall.

Yes fed up of shrunken primark tops for £5

Some are over priced and some not.
I only go into the ones with sensible prices.

I have to admit that I donate things to different charity shops depending on the quality. If I have good books in excellent condition, I'd rather donate them to the shop that will raise £3 from them than the one that sells them at 30p. I think people shopping also learn which shops have absolute bargains and which are not that much cheaper than buying new, and choose accordingly. It's up to the charity which strategy they want to go for, and I guess it will depend a lot on where they are located.

I saw one charity shop that had a 10p basket of stuff that you might not even think they could sell. However it didn't take up much space, and gave kids a chance to spend pocket money or their parents a chance to bribe them while they shopped with "you can choose something from the 10p basket".

@felineflutter I think a lot of the people involved in the charity shops, managers etc are on high salaries.

Then you think very, very wrong. DH is a deputy manager of a charity shop and is on minimum wage. His manager is on not very much more - as in less than I earned doing entry level admin years ago.

Usually people who say things like this believe deep down that no one working for a charity should be paid, but as an (unpaid) trustee of a (different) charity my experience has been that unless you are extremely lucky you need paid staff as well as volunteers or things just don't get done and the charity fails in its duty to the people it was set up to support.

When I donate stuff to charity shops I expect them to sell it for what it's worth, not throw it in a 50p bargain bin. They have a responsibility to raise as much money as they can for the cause their charity supports. Unless that charitable cause, as registered with the Charities Commission, is "providing cheap stuff to mumsnet readers and ebay resellers" then they've got no business underpricing donations.

You do get a few oddities that skip through when volunteers are pricing things but broadly speaking if a charity shop is overpricing everything to the point where it's not selling, they won't be hitting their targets and regional management will step in.

This topic pops up on here every couple of months and I have to say the assumption of bad faith around charities is really astounding.

I no longer shop in charity shops, the prices are comparable to, often even higher than, the likes of Primark, Pep and Co, George etc.

Our local charity shop has some ridiculous pricing. They had a nice wooden dolls house in the window which was £50 new from Asda (I knew as I had it!) They were trying to charge something like £150 for it! I told them it was currently in Asda for £50 just to let them know as it didn't seem right to charge way over the new price, and they accused me of lying 😳🙄

Also have the basic primark and Sainsbury's dresses going for a fiver when they would have been about 2.99 new...

I do get some kids books for 49p though!

are you allowed to haggle in a charity shop? or is the price final?

They price according to the area. Charity shops in expensive parts of town often have more expensive things. You get to know which ones are better value

A lot of them are but you still get some decent ones I once got a pram for twenty pound and baby clothes several for a pound in one I visited. Another I went to had basic brand dresses ten pound each . I’d rather pay a bit extra for new at that price

I remember being in a charity shop where the two volunteers were talking loudly about a just received donation and how to price the items. Included in the donation was a PS3 with a selection of games and at the time, the PS3 was still newly launched (think this was within 6 months of them going on sale). They ummed and ahhed about how much to charge - would £20 be reasonable or too much for the entire bundle? Ever other customer in the shop was deathly silent and we were clearly sizing each other up to see who could dash to the desk first. Eventually they decided to hold it back until after the weekend to check with their manager as they didn't want to make a mistake.

I still feel a bit torn between disappointment at missing an amazing bargain and hopeful for the charity that they did actually get a realistic price and made some money from it. If push had come to shove, I don't think I would have felt comfortable "cheating them". I also wonder about the circumstances of donation which have the potential to be very sad and hope that something good eventually came out of this.

£15-20! Something like that would be a fiver in a charity shop round here

Charity shops now see themselves as only out for the charity

They are. Unless their actual purpose as a charity is providing clothing at low cost for those in need then the purpose of a charity shop is to raise money for the charity.

@felineflutter

I think a lot of the people involved in the charity shops, managers etc are on high salaries.

They absolutely aren't. Usually only the manager gets a salary. Latest one near me I can find is £18000

They have to cover the costs - rent, electricity, insurance, accounting, cleaning, heating etc.

They usually need at least one paid employee on the premises at all times. Most charities will now pay at least the living wage so a full time employee will cost at £25K per year once you add on employer's NI and pension contributions.

So between rent and salaries of perhaps 2 people then you are looking at running costs of at least £100K per year.

The purpose of a charity shop is to raise money for the charity which means that they therefore need to bring in more than £100K per year before the charity sees a penny.

@raspberrymuffin.

I have a friend who is on £50k she is an area manager, which is fine and I know she works hard for that.

I just don't understand why they have changed so rapidly in the last 10 years or so.

Surely the point of a charity shop is 3 fold.

To help people - work experience/ gain social interaction, that's why they volunteer.
Provide very cheap clothes etc to those who can't afford it.
To raise some money for charity.

They are too corporate now as PP said and nothing you say will change my mind.

I volunteered in one for a while and the manager did all the pricing. She honestly hadn't a clue what things were worth and constantly over priced things . I once had to tell her that she was pricing a top from primark for more than it cost to actually buy it new. She would have to turn away donations because stock wasn't going quickly enough too. She couldn't grasp that if prices were lower, then she would move stock quicker and would actually make more money.

You can look at the financials of charities.

Local hospice runs shops in the area it supports.
Costs about 4million to run the shops and makes them around 2million in profit.
Each shop only has one salaried manager and then a couple of overall managers looking after all of them.

To help people - work experience/ gain social interaction, that's why they volunteer.
Provide very cheap clothes etc to those who can't afford it.
To raise some money for charity.

Absolutely not.

The purpose of the charity shop is to raise as much money as possible for their charity. That’s all.
Anything else is a fringe benefit. They are not there to provide cheap clothing for anyone.

Many if them could save a fortune on moving from the most wanted, hence super expensive prmeises to still very busy but not on that particular street premises...
I know two who are in 50k a year super prime location premises when few streets away, very busy street btw but not funky and full of restaurants, same size is 26k.

I bought a new-to-me handbag not long ago.
Difficult choice between a Mulberry & a plastic M&S when both were £10 !

I was in a village charity shop and thought exactly the same thing.
It was a great shop as there was SOO much stuff. more like a jumble sale but some of it was really over priced. Surely when there is so much stuff it would be better to price lower and get shot of it all......

I can't afford to shop in charity shops.

I live in a "naice" area and you can definitely see the difference in prices from the charity shops near me and those at a more ordinary area. DD and I have both found bargains at shops outside our postcode but finding one within is hard.

Having said that, the type of clothing and donated bits are often barely used, or unused, and from top end retailers. My mother in law had a nosy and found a lovely winter coat still with the sales label on from its original retailer at £150, but offered in the shop at £90, and it looked brand new.