Charity shops seem to be unrealistic with their prices and I can't afford them anymore!

[AutumnFairy01]

Firstly, this isn't to do with not giving to charity. I give to charity separately and donate items to local homeless charities, food banks, etc but I've always loved supporting charity shops too. They're great (or were great) for grabbing a bargain and reusing an unwanted item. I love secondhand wherever possible.

However, I've now come to the conclusion that charity shops are largely unaffordable for me now. I browse round charity shops weekly I would say (in more than one town) and the prices are just crazy! I always buy secondhand clothing for myself, dh and children but quite often the charity shop prices seem more expensive than buying new or at best, very little difference. For instance, in Chelmsford the other day, I went into the BHF shop and I saw a very simple baby's top, not designer or anything and it was £4! And then for adult clothing, I couldn't see anything below £6/7.

Boots sales and Facebook marketplace are my go to places more and more now. Sometimes freebay too.

I can understand charity shops putting their prices up a little with rising costs of everything but there has to be a balance surely?

AIBU to think charity shop prices are unrealistic for secondhand items?

Are they becoming unaffordable for anyone else?

It depends which shop, one I go to is so cheap, another not. Have discovered Vinted, it's like an online charity shop with low postage costs. Xx

Then of course by the new T-shirt. What's the problem for you?

It may be a problem for the Oxfam shop manager, but why would you be concerned about that?

Sorry, 'buy' not 'by'

I think that is really short sighted.

Half the reason people donate is to recycle and reduce the guilt of throwing stuff away. Not only that, but to feel that someone else could get some use out of it. I personally don't think people donating or buying have the particular charity at the forefront of their minds. Its a win-win - you get my stuff for free, I get to recycle it.

Plus their customer base is going to continue to dwindle if they keep trying to sell crap for an inflated price.

If their objective is to maximise income, then alienation of their target market is a really bad strategy. People don't go to charity shops to spend a lot of money.

I agree with the OP. I love vintage and used to get a lot of stuff from charity shops. Now I don't even bother going in, literally never.

Why would I pay over the odds for something that's worn out, bobbly and out of style, without a price to match?

It's not much more to buy new, and the place for bargains is definitely ebay.

Maybe the whole charity shop model is out of date, and national charities need to find another way of extracting money.

Worried presumably because charity shops don't operate in a vacuum, have moral responsibilities toward the people in the town in which the shops are situated, because it's that community that allows them to operate very cheaply in the town.

Clothes are steamed, not washed. We also use clothes softener mixed with water to occasionally spray them.

The shop I volunteer in, one of the big ones, would only put out Primark items for sale if they were new. The youngish manager is savvy on brands and prices, and as our demographic isn’t particularly affluent, the really good stuff sometimes goes to ebay. Our clothes are arranged by size, the books are in good order, and the different sections are in alphabetical order. The bricabrac is priced to sell, as is jewellery, and we research anything that looks interesting. We owe that to the donors. The shop is attractive, well laid out, and it’s pretty busy.

We have part time retail assistants, they’re paid marginally above minimum wage, and they work hard for it. One thing we, and most others seem short of, is volunteers. So anyone with time on their hands - why not give it a go?

If it is out of date it will stop being profitable, and they will close down. Why not?

If they don't make enough profit they will close, which is fair enough. Charities will invest in other fundraising activities instead. And continue to raise as much money for their cause as possible.

No problem

I'm in Wolverhampton and ours are ridiculously priced too. We're a very poor area in general and the prices are so over the top. £4 for a bobbly Primark top in BHF or Cancer Research.

And its not just the prices in general it's that they don't look at the quality of the items. They just put it all up!

I've stopped going. I can get brand new baby clothes and dresses on Vinted for £1-3.

No problem. They won't make a profit and will close. Relax!

@Sigma33 because only charities can afford to fill empty shops in town. Legitimate businesses don't get free staff, free stock, reduced rates etc. So you get proliferation of charity shops in town centres.

"Why shouldn't any business 'cherry pick' the items they can re-sell?". Any legitimate BUSINESS can but if charities want to be treated as the greedy businesses they are, they should pay full rent and rates and pay their staff. Not just my opinion but the feelings of most retailers in my town.

But their profits go towards the community good, yours don't

Yep, you're right. They'll close down. Fair enough. Watch this space.

I know you feel you're "educating" people but in fact all you're doing is trying to stifle a balanced discussion. Newsflash, there are other legitimate opinions than your own.

You don't own the whole charitable concept, you don't determine the rules that govern them, and to use the skeleton framework of the law to back you up is overly simistic.

Anyone with even a smattering of "education" in corporate governance (whether corporate, public, or charitable sectors) knows that corporate social responsibility involves much more than legal obligation. Legal factors are the bare minimum and no thriving enterprise would rely simply on the legal framework to make their decisions.

But its not my job to "educate" you, you can "do your own research".

Your point is?

wrt the pricing choices of charity shops?

I saw a denim button up denim dress from somewhere like Monsoon for £20 the other day! I swear the assistants just Google the dress new and knock a few pounds off. I still use them for kids stuff but rarely for myself now

Other businesses' community good is paid employment in the area. Paying business rates into system, taxes, vat, and so on.

Kind of balances it imho. Many of us (formely now) also particiapte in lical charoty events, donate goods or time or premises, often ally with local charity and so on.

People volunteer if they have time on their hands (that they don’t need to work) if charity shops are in business they should pay the people who work there, there are lots of other places that need volunteer support that do not have the luxury of being run in the way the charities are.

In reading this post my position has hardened on this, pay those who work in the shops if needed in order to increase the community benefit of the charity.

A few years ago I walked past a charity shop and saw a Dora the explorer book set in the window. The price tag looked like it said £2. I thought my DD would like that so went in to get it. Anyway, I'd misread the price tag...it was £20! I didn't buy it and even the lady working there said it was a ridiculous price.

I work in one - it's very reasonable. We don't stock items that show wear, we don't stock primark or Asda (there's a discount shop they get sent to within the organisation where everything is 99p). Most of my clothes are from there, brands like seasalt, white stuff etc and I'm paying £6.99-9.99 for things that cost £60+ new, often the £9.99 items are tags attached!

It is a relatively affluent area

Good points.

Not sure how it affects the 'charity shops charge too much' discussion though. Surely if charity shops charge too much for their goods it will benefit the profit-making businesses as fewer people will shop at the charity shops?

I used to shop in charity shops a lot, I don’t as much now partly because of the prices and partly because of the stock available - I think a lot of people are selling their unwanted items themselves on Vinted and eBay, as well as Facebook marketplace and free sites.

You what? How is my preferring to buy a second hand Boden/Cos top got ANYTHING to do with affording knickers?

I saw a crusty pair of mens shoes in my local charity shop window and had to double take they wanted £70

@Yerroblemom1923

I can't speak for every charity shop but the prices aren't random. The paid manager or o e of two volunteers price up using a formula including the item type, brand and if tags are still attached for clothes. Very high end we check vinted etc. for Bric a brac eBay for prices is used if it's higher end or we sell direct online via eBay.

We regularly get designer clothes, tags attached expensive brands etc they are fairly priced but not under sold as every penny of profits supports the hospice