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?

I was in our shop on Thursday morning. Don't usually do the till but our usual till lady was on holiday so I did for a couple of hours. In that time I sold a Radley handbag - used, but really nice condition for £50, lots of high street M&S style tops for £5 each, loads of jigsaws for £3 each, a Regatta 3 in 1 waterproof coat for £20, loads of books at £3 each etc etc etc. Our customers clearly don't think we are overpriced.

Also agree with @Ragwort that it's not always price. We had a donation from a menswear store which had closed down of about 4 dozen pairs of wool mix men's "slacks" in pale blue, beige or brown. The original tags said £19.99 a pair. We put them out at £4.99, didn't sell. Then half priced them, so £2.49 a pair. Because they are dated and horrible.

That was answer to "But their profits go towards the community good, yours don't"

Charities are not the only ones who "benefit community".
Actually lots of them, don't do they if their charitable interest is not within that particular community and their only thing is to raise money for their cause and not really providing any benefits to locals. Since it ain't the law.
So yes, local business's money, and existence, actually go towards the community good while the charity who is using the local community resources at very discounted or free rate, probably doesn't really gove as much if their cause is elsewhere.

And that's the issue people complained about. All this was fine when community benefited by having accessible cloths and other goods. Take that away and if your cause isn't local and charity does just the legal bit of raising for their cause, it has nothing really of benefit to locals. And they will catch up on that.

@pigcon1 I’m over state retirement age, its work I can do, and its local. A few hours a week for a charity I already supported. Younger people with little or no work experience can benefit by volunteering, several have gone on to paid employment from our shop.

Then your shop is probably not the one people talk about when they talk about ridiculous pricing on cheap items.

They're definitely not always the cheapest but you do still find good stuff if you go in regularly. And I quite like to know my money is going to a good cause.

I got a ski jacket for a fiver - it did have the detachable hood missing but even so it's the warmest coat I've ever known.It makes you feel as if you're being cuddled! My only problem with it is DD pinching it all the time.

@Sigma33 . 'But their profits go towards the community good, yours don't'. Wrong. What do you think my business rates are used for? My salary also pays my community charge and allows me to shop in local shops and cafes. I'm supporting other businesses and hence jobs!

Good to hear that’s the trajectory

On the point about recycling and reusing - yes I think that a lot of people have good intentions of "someone else will get the use out of this" when they donate. I have seen it in my own family - FIL is absolutely convinced that his 1980s double breasted suits are worth £££ because they were expensive new, and he's looked after them. Except they're not, because suits in general have fallen out of fashion, and nobody wants old fashioned double breasted suits.

People feel very very guilty about putting stuff into landfill. They make themselves feel less guilty by bringing stuff to us, convincing themselves that of course there's someone wanting a coloured in colouring book, chipped plates and ripped paperback books. If they took just 2 minutes to look around the shop when they dropped things off, they'd see the quality of stuff we sell, and realise that they are costing us money to get rid of things they really should have thrown in the bin.

I get stuff on Vinted now...I got a brand new dress for £1+P&P....just filter it to cheapest first and there's some amazing bargains!

I think part of the problem is lots of shops benchmark prices on Ebay, a global marketplace with access to millions of customers which means prices are pushed higher on there. Far fewer people are going to wander into a local charity shop in Clacton, so you’d think lower demand would equal lower prices.

Though if the shops are managing to shift at these prices, then I can see why they charge them…

And, yes, Vinted is your friend!

Not unaffordable for me per se but the price increase is definitely making me less inclined to buy from them (I still donate lots)

I haven't RTFT but if you haven't already got the vinted app then I thoroughly recommend it. I describe it as the best charity shop in the world, from the comfort of your own sofa.

Prices on there tend to be more in line with the charity shops of old than the prices you see things going for in them now.

Ours in surrey are ridiculous! £18 for an M&S jumper, £40 for scuffed boots and £9 for a Teddy. It getting ridiculous! They wanted £2.50 for a stained baby vest that my daughter wanted for her doll. I now tell the girls we aren't going in there anymore which is a shame because we used to love going in for a browse

I’ve seen George clothing being sold for more than the original price as well. We are not in an affluent area at all.
I used to go to charity shops for fabric as well. I often bought things for the fabric but I find now everything is man made fabrics and not suitable.

By all means buy from Vinted.

Or, if you find something you like at a price you find reasonable buy from a charity shop.

But don't expect a charity shop - paid for by the charity to hit profit targets - to price things to your demands. You are free to go elsewhere if it suits your needs/budget better.

If the charity shop doesn't meet its targets it will close, and that's OK too. The charity will need to move on to another income-generating model.

Unfortunately charity shops have seen their costs go up like everyone else - fuel, gas, electric and staff wages.

If they don't put up their prices they can't generate a surplus for their charity and will have to close.

Sustainability trumps buying in shops......any shops. The fashion industry is the most destructive on the planet.....its not a joke, its the future of our kids.

If the prices are unrealistic the items will not sell and they will be forced to reduce. If the items are still there when you next to the prices are not unrealistic.

@VanCleefArpels

I do find that some volunteers (older) tend to miss the good stuff that could go for more because they just don’t recognise some labels, fashion trends etc

Well that is a training issue then.

Agree with Family the amount of unsaleable donations we receive is shocking, I estimate at least 60% of what we are given is just totally unsaleable and only fit for recycling... if it can be recycled responsibly which is not always possible. Much of time is spent just sorting rubbish, stained clothing, broken china and toys etc etc ... thoroughly depressing and people get so offended when you (politely) turn things away.

I gave to BHF a mountain of china and glass etc....some months later i went in and it was all on the shelves with ridiculous prices....i told them it was all my donations and they should lower the prices.....!!
a few years ago i was in surbiton....found an amazing charity shop....lots of new next, zara, uniqlo etc with tags....items only a few pounds each....i bought a load of stuff.

A Beswick China horse in British Heart Foundation was listed on eBay for £10 start.
It sold for nearly £5,000 ( Five Thousand )
It was an incredibly rare colour which made there be a bidding war for it.

Great for the charity.
Hospice charity shops are pretty fair.
Rare Collectables find their level on eBay as all the collectors watch eBay worldwide.

If I wasn't feeling such despair, I'd start a thread myself to question why charity-critical threads are so much more common on MN than negative discussions about other sectors.

It really baffles me.

If only more people could see the hugely positive impact that so many charities make on the lives of thousands of very vulnerable people's lives. Not to mention all the other worthy causes such as animal, ecology, research etc.

There are some badly run charities. Some are run for non-altruistic reasons. Some need to fine tune their methods. Some spend too much of their income on non-charitable costs.

But in the main, charities are not the enemy of society.

I've stopped going to the local charity shop for this very reason. The one near me puts the brand names on the tickets i.e. Precis, Monsoon, as if people can't see for themselves and that justifies the expensive price. I know for a fact that a lot of the really good stuff is creamed off by the staff and volunteers. When was the last time you ever saw anything that was an amazing find? They seem to go straight to Ebay and put the same price even though the item on Ebay could have been on there for ages due to its high "buy it now" price. They really need to wise up and be realistic especially in today's economy.

The one near me puts the brand names on the tickets i.e. Precis, Monsoon, as if people can't see for themselves and that justifies the expensive price.

Thats not why we do it. We write "red M&S dress" or "Mint Velvet top" as an anti-theft technique. Stops people buying our Monsoon silk top for £10, taking it home, swapping the label onto the ubiquitous bobbled primark shirt, bringing that back and getting a £10 refund.