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?

Fair point. We had tablets situated at the till. Worst place for them, but they could moved. Really there was never any reason to write reports. The only thing I ever used the tablet for was online training modules. Tiresome, just a tick boxing exercise.

I second everyone who has suggested donors use their own bins for obviously unsaleable items. Domestic bin collections are free, commercial bin collections cost money. The last few bags and boxes I went through yielded little. Chipped and cracked odd bits of crockery, out of date calendars, battered kitchen utensils covered in grease, some used tealights, kids’ toys with bits missing, a single old slipper? At least the tatty paperbacks can be sold in bulk, same as old clothing, towels etc.

Yes, this. I don't understand why a charity/charities can't set up a platform like Vinted, but selling donated clothes. Vinted make a profit . . .

Selling stuff online takes a lot of effort. Taking photos from every direction, accurate descriptions etc.
Then posting it off too.
Charity shops want a high turn over of stock. You don't get that with online auctions/selling.

It takes me 2 or 3 minutes to photograph an item. Posting is easy using Evri/PO/in post. I think so many shops do this in bulk successfully sometimes with cheap items, there must be a good profit. You just need a system.

You don't seem to understand the purpose of charity shops.

Charity shops aren't some generalised "do-gooder" organisation that exist to help the "poor"'who need cheap clothing, and the support the environment by promoting recycling, they are business arms of the charity whose primary purpose is to maximise revenue for that charity.

If they can increase their revenues by charging more, they will, which is exactly what they should be doing!

They do. I used to work for one of the bigger chains and they had an ebay hub for the more specialist stock

But if they don’t sell something because it is over priced or someone can’t afford it then they don’t raise any money

Shop managers would not be responsible for half that, and most could be done in an EPOS till. Managers these days aren’t really managers anyway, they are just operatives controlled by grey suits at HO that never step away from their screens! We have a tablet and even that is hardly ever used and the printer was never ever used, and I’m not talking about the gift aid label printer of receipt printer!

@AutumnFairy01 Been wandering round charity shops and saw this…

I agree with you- some charity shops are just not pricing realistically.

i get they have to make money and good on them for charging along the lines of what you might pay in a vintage shop….

but £75 (reduced form £95!!!) for an old mirror that someone has drawn pictures on??!

having a laugh!!!

I bought something yesterday for £3. It was a box containing 20 similar items unused but without packaging, and the approximate value of each item, if I bought it new was £3. It was something quite niche, that would not have sold because of that, but it was hobby related, and I know someone who has that hobby and who has friends who also do it.

Charity shops dont pay rent if theyre a registered charity.....do they?

@RobinsonMum , they do pay rent.

Of course they pay rent. How do you think the landlord covers their costs?

YES!!! They do pay rent! if you were the landlord, would you say, yeah stay here free!

The people who work in my local shops are mainly employees

We have a branch of that chain near us, and tbh I think their strategy's reasonable. Yes, it's more expensive than other charity shops, but it's clearly going for a different customer base - younger people who are looking for vintage clothes and are less price-sensitive. It's much more trendy, the stock's presented well, and there's more of a vintage aesthetic than bargain bin. There's a lot of vintage furniture that sits in BHF shops up and down the country and doesn't sell, but with the right location and the right merchandising, it will. They raise money for the charity, and there are still plenty of lower-priced charity shops for those who don't mind a good rummage and want to pay less. In my case, there's one next door!

Thanks, but I’m 71 and had hoped to work up until 75, but I just couldn’t stand the lunacy of totally out of touch, so called “senior” management. I miss making my shop look beautiful, but they’ve ripped it all out now, as it didn’t look like a charity shop!!!! 😳 totally clueless!

@MotherWol I don’t object to paying a reasonable price for good quality vintage. I go there because they have decent clothes, but £95 for a very worn mirror? Even in good condition, those mirrors sell for £45-50.

they’ve also just made it worthless by painting some hideous tacky picture on it. Upscaling is the mother of many monstrosities!

They don't and can't and never will understand that. If you read this thread, you'll see that you are wasting your time trying to do anything about it. They will forever believe that a charity shop is the clothing equivalent of a food bank.

When it comes down to it though, you're asking people to be grateful to pay top dollar for other people's cast offs.

Just a tarted up version of a jumble sale, really.

I just opened a parcel from Depop the item was so soiled smelly dirty hairs bit of fluff bobbling contacted buyer she asked for photos so went to lay it out to photo and a live maggot crawled out. I can’t upload the photos to the seller only allows text. Contacted support but its all auto reply and although I paid with paypay I am just angry that something so disgusting was sent to my home opened in my bedroom 🤮I think its a health and safety issue and Depop even has a section about Monkey pox never occurred to me although I always washed charity bought clothes in fact I usually freeze wool items . I will probably get a refund probably not the postage though having bought a silk dress that wasn’t silk a lot of people describe silky syth clothing as silk ? I recently got send a jkt it stank of cigarette smoke and a vintage jacket that stinks of damp . So buying online is not all its cracked up to be. U can judge on the rail but not smell etc online

@NeverDropYourMooncup , it's not top dollar though. I've got some amazing things for pocket money prices.

I just sell on vinted or throw stuff in the bin now. Decided to check out a Sue Ryder as I was near one yesterday. Not another soul in there, less and less clothes being shown full to the rafters of brand new stuff mind like garden chairs, and a few secondhand freezers and washers. Seems the clothes sales must be down down. Ymca was filled to the brim with clothes shoes and bags, dedicated Christmas clothes bit, rammed with people.

But if they don’t sell something because it is over priced or someone can’t afford it then they don’t raise any money

No shit Sherlock.

However it is far better to start something to a little too high. It will always be reduced if needed. You cannot unsell something that is priced too cheap.