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?

Agreed.

I am in the South East and our local charity shops sell some of their clothes (dress, jackets) for £25- £30 and I always think well, if I can get new clothes at places like Primark for less this is overpriced...

I also don't understand their thinking/business model because a lot of the stock is just not shifting.

It would make more sense to sell things cheaper and attract more buyers as a result and they would likely make more money based on the quantity of items sold.

They have lost the plot. Our Oxfam does dresses for £20+ and I saw a jump suit in save the children before Christmas for £40!
They are mostly wall to wall worn out supermarket and Primark tat. I can't fathom why anyone pay £8 for a misshapen, bobbly, faded Primark jumper when they just go and buy a new one for a couple of quid more.

Absolutely agree. If something is new and unworn then I would pay for something I really wanted but at a slightly reduced price. I think the charity shops that look at pricing on eBay do quite understand how the pricing works.

Not quite sure how to take your comment. Forgive me but could you explain

Agree with you.. Their strategy is all wrong. They will have to close down some of their outlet soon. They have become very greedy. I feel for the volunteers who have to be subjected to unrealistic targets

I love a browse but usually just buy books as everything else is too expensive. I'm in the South West. Clothes are priced between £15-35. A couple of tops I liked recently were £50+! Almost bought a book the other day but it was £5 which is too expensive for a tattered, old paperback. My son wanted one of those charity calendars and it was £14.99 so we put it back. The books are usually £2 for paperback or £4 for hardback. Not the cheapest but I'm okay to pay that - I donate them back once read - as it saves on the carbon footprint of having Amazon deliver. A pity everything else is too expensive!

no axe to grind, just fed up of being labelled as either dim or a thief.
your feeling is inappropriate imo, but if it sits well with you…

Instead of feeling sorry for us, come and show us all how it should be done. However, if you decide to volunteer your time for free you will be seen as either a thief or a bit dim. Why else would you volunteer?

This is my point to, whilst the charities do many good things. The shops are only as good as the way they are managed. Selling 'tat' overpriced should be stopped. I agree if their are items of good quality and NOT pilled or smelling of a musty wardrobe then yes, put a suitable price on it. But something from Sainsburys or Primark's PLEASE STOP overpricing it. They have a recycling policy set up so even though it avoids landfill, some of these garments could have been sold at a lower price for those on low incomes. Charity begins at home. And for those donating items at no cost to the outlet this should be taken into account.

The Oxfam where I live have taken the delusionary idea that they are a 'nearly new, vintage' designed outlet selling garments for £85 to 95.00 ridiculous. If one had that amount to spend you would not be going into a charity shop to buy someone cast offs

What charity shops need to realise is that thanks to eBay and vinted, if I want a bargain I can go online, type in my size, the brand I want etc I can type in a specific book title I'm looking for etc and buy it for probably less. To be honest I'd rather give my money directly to a random person having a declutter for some spare cash than a huge charity.

I don't have an axe to grind, merely stating facts, I have supported charity shops all my adult life and make regular donations. I have also had my own nearly new shop, donating unwanted garments to the charity shop. Many people I speak to who are currently struggling feel that the once opportunity to buy something for themselves or their children has gone.

If one had that amount to spend you would not be going into a charity shop to buy someone cast offs

And that's where you're wrong.

There are lots of fashionistas who don't want to be seen wearing something which other people are wearing. Their two choices are either bespoke, costing thousands, or vintage. If your choice is between a vintage 1978 coat for £85, or a bespoke one for £2000, the vintage one is an absolute bargain. I used to bag up internet sales for the charity chain I volunteered at, and lots of our vintage clothing used to go to props and costume warehouses who want genuine 60s dresses, 70s flares or 50s fitted suits rather than try to recreate with modern materials.

We are not hard up as a family by any stretch of the imagination. At least 50% of my wardrobe is "someone's cast offs". You are also assuming that people shop in charity shops because they are too skint to shop elsewhere and that's so not true - people shop there because they want something different, or because they don't like fast fashion, want to save the planet etc etc etc.

i have yet to encounter the £20 bobbly Primark jumper in any charity shop- a mumsnet myth perhaps like a chicken that can feed a family of four for a week.

of course shops are only as good as the staff who manage and run them and those shops that do not perform are closed down. I work in a busy shop and we don’t sell tat- in fact musty smelling items would never make it to the shop floor. Would be even better if people didn’t donate their tat then we wouldn’t have to waste time sorting through it. Perhaps you’d like to shout about that instead.

i dont know the brand but we saw a yellow jacket, for sale in a charity shop window, £100.
shocking

i am not keen on internet shopping, vinted, you buy just by looking at a picture, no idea if it fits, if it is warm/worn etc, at least in a charity shop you can try it on

I think the brand name is the vital piece of information here

surely they would do better by finding their market for this particular brand, online, rather than a bog standard charity shop window

and then people complain that all the good quality/ top brands get sold online and not in the store…you just can’t win.
where I volunteer we might try and sell an expensive item in the shop for a week or so and then put it online if no interest.

Corinne why do you persist in stating that charity shops were set up 'to help the poor' ... they clearly weren't as has been repeated many times on this thread, in fact your own example of the charity shop opened by the Wolverhampton Society for the Blind to sell their own handmade crafts to raise money for their society disproves your own point.

I think we can all agree that some charity shops are badly managed ... just like any other retail shop, cafe etc ... it depends on the manager.

But everyone loves a bargain .. just as many people pointing out the ubiquitous 'Primark jumper for £20' would be gleefully posting if they'd found a bargain. Volunteers make mistakes, I was serving on the till several weeks ago and a customer had found a pair of brand new Levi jeans priced at £4.99 ... he was delighted.

There are plenty of sensibly priced items to be found ... yesterday I put out new Seasalt dresses at £8 each ... a fantastic price. And as a PP poster stated many people shop in charity shops now precisely because they want to avoid fast fashion and online shopping. Personally I love shopping in charity shops and have no interest at all at shopping online.

In many of our local ones you can't try anything on. They removed their changing room/curtained corner during covid and some never reinstated it.

I agree with you. The cancer research I went to the other day had a coat for £70 🤣🤦‍♀️. It was jigsaw but even so?! And then there were standard jumpers and cardigans for £15 each etc. ridiculous. Just feels like they are taking the piss half of them.

I have seen a lot of tesco , asda ,
sainsburys and primark clothes for £10 and over , I'm not paying £10 for a primark top I can get for £12 new, I very rarely get clothes now , it's cheaper to buy new in the supermarkets. Especially as most have sale selection . I think some charity shop workers are getting defensive and maybe in their shop its not like that , but a lot of them are selling just too expensive . Some books I see are 2nd hand and like £5/6 when I can get on amazon for £3/4 new.

I’m sure it’s already been said but Vinted all the way. I got 10 long sleeve tops for my DC for £2 the other day and some had never been worn! £4.30ish all in and it was delivered to my door.

And with regards to if it doesn’t fit… I just stick it back on Vinted and get a bit of credit to buy something else