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?

There's a Mary Portas shop in a nearby town. They don't have a huge amount on the rails, and it's grouped into colours, which puts me off. The clothes are priced about the same as you'd expect to pay on ebay or similar. It looks like a boutique.
I prefer the shops where I need to rummage to find a gem.

We have a hospice shop near me that sells “big” items - furniture, large toys and electrical.

A friend of mine has just moved and I know she wants some Kallax units and I saw a 2x2 white kallax in the shop so went to check the price. It was labelled at £40 so I checked with the lady on the counter who said “it’s a genuine IKEA unit in good condition and it’s been built” The unit costs £30 brand new! I was shocked and I actually think I will think twice about donating items to them in future.

I was appalled when I donated some really beautiful (and expensive) toddler clothes that my daughter had outgrown ( this was 25+ years ago) and they were put in the window for £1.25 each item (each cost over £20.00 new).

Why were you appalled? I would be happy that someone else would benefit from the clothes at an affordable price.

It varies. I somehow got to a nearby large village that is affluent and there is a lovely shop there that charges more but it’s all cleaned and organised well. They only sell the decent stuff . Happy to pay a bit more in there. Others are cheaper. Try Vinted.

I'm sorry but considering how much NEW clothes cost, I am shocked that you think £6 for adult's clothing is a lot.

I've given Boden to charity shops and if someone got a dress for £6 that cost me £60+ I'd feel they got a bargain.

I find your ageist comment quite offensive.
It is often only the older volunteers that have the time to volunteer.

Yes, well, I don't think the shops have quite forgiven the public for not liking their wholehearted participation in the work programme - the one where they were paid by the government to take 'volunteers' who were in receipt of benefits and the 'volunteers' had to work for them fulltime for about £60 a week. It was very profitable for the charities.

We have one that is in a less 'nice' area of the town that has primark t shirts for £4-£5. Nonsensical if you are shopping there for budget reasons they're probably less in store.

Maybe the kallax would sell at that price if the shop isn't near an IKEA. Someone might think that it's worth the extra £10 so that they don't have to spend the petrol money and time getting there.

I volunteer in a charity shop (local hospice, has a “chain” of 8 stores) and a family member is an auditor of one of the huge names (beginning with O and ending in Fam 😉).

The huge chain has a strict pricing list because items are circulated around branches and so they welcome uniformity, nothing has to be relabelled etc. My family member reports that some store managers complain about this system for exactly the reason that for their customers things appear overpriced.

My charity shop is self sustaining and no circulation around stores. Therefore the manager is better able to “read” their customers and price accordingly. We are in a Naice suburb and the shop is pleasantly set out and always season appropriate etc so things are probably quite expensive - mens shirts (Thomas Pink, Tyrwhitt) around £6-£7, womens dresses (Reiss, Hobbs) £15, shoes £10. Designer things are matched for eBay selling prices. When items have been out on the floor for 2 weeks they get moved to the sale rail, everything £2 for 2 weeks then put out for rags. So a regular circulation of stock to encourage customers to come in.

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

So I think that overall prices will depend on how the particular charity runs their shops.

And to the OP, Vinted is often way cheaper than charity shops!!

I have noticed this - and the prices have gone up over the summer , which is a real shame because people need cheaper goods now more than ever. (I live in a lower than average income area so these shops will be a lifeline for some. They used to be for me)

I was looking in a BHF furniture shop recently and was shocked at the prices of things - second hand chairs were priced around £80, sofas were over £100, tables were around £100, same as beds, wardrobes etc. it’s barmy because you can get stuff a lot cheaper new from Argos /Dunelm !

I'm involved with a charity which has beautiful, boutique style shops in Scotland. The prices are not set by 'older volunteers' who may be out of touch, but only by the paid manager who uses the price guide provided by the charity. This ranges from 'silver' to 'gold' to 'platinum' according to the make. In my opinion the prices are fair. The aim of the charity is to fund research as well as providing practical support by way of health professionals running drop in centres. As with any retail business though there are high overheads to be paid so things can't just be given away.

YANBU. And often the condition is not that good either. Especially things like dog eared tatty books or worn out handbags and shoes.
Oxfam seemed to have been like this for years so I don’t go in them any more. The other ones have increased their prices recently.
They obviously have rising costs to cover too so I am not sure what the solution is. But I don’t/won’t pay over what it is worth to me.

And my shop doesn’t sell Primark and supermarket things typically as the time cost of sorting, steaming and labelling just isn’t worth it for a £1-£2 item

Where I live prices have become ridiculous, genuinely overpriced for low quality worn clothes that it's hard to imagine who would buy.
Haven't seen anything I'd buy for ages now, wonder if more people are using Vinted.
I also think the attitude of some of the charity shops when you bring donations doesn't help as you're lucky if they'll take donations and thank yous are rare too.

That’s a fair point @Kpo58 but we ARE near an IKEA (literally a 15 minute drive away). Also I can get flat packed Kallax in my car (as could my friend) but not the built one from the charity shop - it would need a small van, the shops own delivery service (additional £15), or to be taken apart and put back together again (which IS easy to do as I did it with some Kallax units that I already gave my friend - it cost her a bottle of wine!).

The staff need a list of brands divided into low/medium/high and call a manager. So they have an idea on pricing.

All to often you see Primark/George/F&F priced at more than new while there are absolute bargains on Hobbs because the volunteers are pricing everything on a similar basis.

I was chatting to someone recently who bought an expensive hiking/climbing coat for £5 in a charity shop. The manufacturer do a trade in for £50 where they recondition, resell or recycle and they sell well on eBay for more. The charity shop lost out in a big way because someone didn't recognise that it was specialist gear worth good money.

Trouble is that you can't expect every volunteer to know all the brands and how to pitch them.

i use eBay instead and hope to get something no one else is bidding on. I was priced out of charity shops years ago.

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
The staff at my local shops are good, especially one lady in her 60s, but sometimes fairly obscure but desirable brands get listed for far less than they could.

I think where 'out of touch' volunteers may not be clued up is on what is fast fashion. I don't want to pay much for something like Primark.

Some volunteers might not recognise the quality of more vintage clothes. St Michael and vintage Laura Ashley clothes are in a different league to the clothes in the shops now.

Funny you should say that about furniture.

My dad recently went into a care home. We had a local charity come and collect his furniture. It was just argos sofas and bookcases that were 15 years old, nothing great.

They are in the shop now for twice the price he would have paid all those years ago.

DD18 shops on Vinted. She bought a Barbour jacket for £8! Postage was £4 so a bargain and so I’d definitely try that.

For tenner, well more since it was used anyway, you just order it!
Or buy similar in another shop.

Selling used for more than new is nonsense

Oh and try a car boot sale. I did one with DD last summer and she had difficulty getting more than £1-£3 for her clothing items.

I work in one and we are crazily cheap. All kids clothes are 50p regardless of what it is, even shoes. Adults usually £1 per item but a jumper or a coat can be £2 to £4. We don't analyse what labels they are etc. Everything is sorted, sized, steamed and labelled before going on the shop floor. We work on the theory that it costs us nothing so no need for greed.

YANBU! DS saw a stormtrooper toy at one this week and it was clearly well used but had a price tag of £15 still!