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?

If you're in South East London, the Saturday Deptford market is the place to go. I bought an evening dress for 50p there (yes, you read that right) wore it to a gala dinner and received countless compliments on my "elegance"! I also bought a beautiful jumper there for 30p, a pair of Jimmy Choo sandals (yep they're originals) for £10 (they needed a bit of a polish up but really look excellent on). It's hit or miss, of course, but if you want bargains and are up for rooting around it is my go to fun place.

I mostly agree. You can get some good bargains in them, but yeah some stuff is overpriced. EG, I saw 4 glass tumblers in one the other day, selling for 99p each, and they are for sale right now - the EXACT ONES - in a main chain store for £1.49 for a set of 4. And they are NEW.

They also had a few second hand mugs that were £3-4, and they were grotty inside. Tea stained, chipped slightly, coffee stained, starting to wear inside. £4! The bloody things are only £5 new (They were Cats Protection and Dogs Trust ones.)

As has been said, they sell Asda George, and Morrisons Nutmeg clothes too, and also Tesco and Sainsburys stuff second hand for more than it was/is new.

However, you can pick up some real bargains, like I know someone who got a pair of barely worn Converse trainers some weeks ago for £9. Around £55 new. And I got an M & S cardigan for £5. Was second hand but barely worn. Approximately £22-£25 new.

So it's swings and roundabouts really. You have to sort the wheat from the chaff.

@WibblyWobblyTimeyWimeyStuff yes this exactly, thats why I still go in shops as you never know what you will come across. Maybe one in every 10 trips I might find something. I go in when I would be passing anyway.

I’ll only go into the ymca type ones now. All the rest seem to think they are selling brand new luxury clothes….

We had a new charity shop open and it did a roaring trade it was rammed everyday! People would be queuing to go in. Now everytime I walk by it’s empty. More and more of the shop has become actual new items. Like yes in a charity shop I’m looking to spend £85 on one single garden chair…. Books all used to be a pound so everytime I went in I’d buy the then toddler one because it’s only a quid now some are between £4-£10 a book.

ymca are getting all the donations now, window display changes nearly every day. People are even donating shark hoovers, prom dresses. While the one you can see from it’s door is sat full yet empty of customers.

@Whinge it works like this. You have 8 books and you need to make £2 from them that day.

If you price at 25p each you have to sell each and every one of them to make that £2. 1 person probably isn't going to buy all of them so now you need more customers. And if they vary in desirability then the good ones will go first leaving you with the least desirable but youstill have to sell those to make your £2. Hard to do.

If you price them at 50p you will need to sell 4. That's easier. But price them at £2 and you need only sell 1. If you manage to sell 2 at £2 then you've doubled the amount you needed to make and you've still got 6 books left.

Obviously there will come a point whereyour price is too high and you'll sell nothing. But ifits to low you myself plenty and still not make enough to clear your overheads.

My small town has been taken over by charity shops because they don't have to pay business rates so they can afford a shop lease where other a) independent businesses can't afford it b) chains don't think it's profitable enough to have a shop here.

They really are run more like businesses these days. Charities and not-for-profit organisations pay good wages and have highly paid CEO's.
I tend to wait for things in normal shops to hit the sales, not much different in price. If I want 2nd hand I try eBay or FB marketplace,and have tried Vinted. I'd rather buy direct from a person than pay for a charities CEO.

I agree that some of the bigger chains are pricing up. I laughed the other day when I went in my local Mind shop where I donate and a jacket I had bought in a charity shop for £7 a few years ago was priced at 11 with more wear.

However, I have been shopping at jumble sales/ charity shops for 40 years and still think it's worth a look. You have to play the long game! At first car boot sales, then eBay and then Vinted etc took out some of the better stuff but you will always find a bargain if you look often enough and over a wide range of shops.

Knowing your area is key. It's sometimes worth going to the neighbouring town too. When I lived in the north, I used to drive out to Southport or Knutsford with my mum or a friend, have lunch out and a natter whilst trailing for posher stuff. Local towns were hit and miss. City outskirts were better. Now in the South it's much the same. Central Brighton often has expensive vintage stuff, outskirts are better price wise although varied as it's a poorer catchment. There is a posh area of our town where there is one charity shop that's worth visiting as it often has designer stuff worth buying. It's no good for generic makes as they price too high but you'll grab a bargain if you look frequently. These residents don't need the money by selling on eBay etc so they just donate good stuff locally to this one shop as it's on their doorstep. There's another outskirt street where there are 2 charity shops I will target as it's another affluent area where there are better labels. Centre of town varies depending on the charity and which side of town.

Conversely there is a local animal charity where the donations are rubbish, so their low pricing doesn't make a difference.
In a neighbouring town of Uckfield some of the independent charity shops price lower and as the town is surrounded by affluent villages, some will often donate to any charity shop and you'll find a bargain.

It's definitely a science I have learned over years😂. There is also a pattern with the nature of the charity as a PP has said. Where I used to live, a local children's hospice charity got loads of good stock whereas I have a theory that the animal charities generally have worse quality stock. Charities that are very niche and small only tend to get a small number of donations from a small demographic.

I like eBay for shoes but the problem with eBay and Vinted is you can't do a wear and tear check on clothing for bobbles, stains etc and if course can't try them on so I've had varied success with those. I still prefer charity shops.

My Mother lived near a seaside town, where a charity shop had a good system. There was £1 rail. Well stocked, ran down the length of the shop. Also one outside in fine weather. Underneath the rail were baskets with shoes, bags etc. Also £1

One of the volunteers told me they were lucky to receive lots of donations. They would price up the clothes and goods up and if it didn't sell, It would be moved to the £1 rail rather than it gathering dust or be dumped for rags. She said they were able to keep a good turn around and people visited frequently.

It was hugely popular. 'It was only a pound' became my mum's catchphrase for while.

There's charity shops and charity shops. Our local Dogs Trust one prices everything very much at the higher end and it's rare I make a purchase unless I spot something particularly good.

A lot of the bigger charities have clearance shops where they put stuff that hasn't sold and most of it is super-cheap. Our local one has most clothing priced at £1 an item or they will let you fill a bin bag for a fiver. I bought my son a pair of practically new Gola trainers for £1 last month. And I got an M&S jumper, new with tags.

But at £20 you are competing with the internet
Just because it is BNWTs it doesn’t mean it is the current season’s line. For me personally at £20 I would go on line and probably pick one up for £10 or £12.
Clothing unless it is a well known designer is like a car. They are both depreciating assets and the longer you have that dress, the less it is worth. As soon as it has left the shop it was bought from it becomes only worth a fraction of what the person paid and the longer it has been out of the shop the less it is worth

If it takes a couple of weeks to sell at £20 then the space that dress took up equalled £20 raised for your charity.But priced at £10 it flies off the shelf it leaves you space to sell another and another dress even for £2 each dress that is £36 raised.

Unfortunately Charity Shops in their bid to price everything at the very top level just end up putting more and more people off. So people just stop going

I've seen lot of primark and tesco clothes in our local charity shops for like £8 an item! I'm not going to buy it 2nd hand for £8 when I can buy it for £10/12 brand new ! I buy toys from charity shops for my girls but clothes there isn't any point

They need to be careful. Second hand clothes used to be totally in the domain of charity shops and boot fairs.
Not it’s easy peasy to get secondhand on market place and Vinted. Vinted is hugely taking off and will be a mammoth of second hand in the next few years. People will simply stop buying from charity shops if they are expensive. People won’t stop taking donations of course but it’s no good if you have no customers.

Vinted is a lot cheaper and I've gotten better quality things.

Just buy in the supermarket if you can't afford nice brands. We give all our old clothes away to people we know, I'd rather people who need they have them for free than given them to a charity shop where very little goes to the charity and people who need the clothes are overcharged for the clothing.

The other thing is that going to charity shops has become for some an eco thing, a thing to boast about - they know they can get higher prices from people who don't really financially need to shop there but do so for the ethos of it. Sadly you have people who are really in need with the people who do it for a cause.

Haven't read all pages...sorry if this has been mentioned.
Speaking as someone who volunteered in a Barnardos charity shop for several years: there is a massive misunderstanding about the role of charity shops.
Their aim is to raise as much money as possible for their cause, and NOT to provide a cheap bargain service to customers. If that means you find the prices expensive, simple, don't buy the item. Chances are someone else will, or the price will eventually come down.
As for people who seem to think it's appropriate to haggle in charity shops.....
What's wrong with a charity having a CEO- would you rather they didn't and were poorly run?

One on our village has got really expensive charging £4/£5 for a second hand jigsaw puzzle.

The charity shop beside me is any 3 items (clothing or handbags) for €5. I don't know how they do it. That's regardless of the designer. Even coats are included. Mega cheap!

I was in my local hospice shop this week (village, touristy, Suffolk). I got two skirts from M&S and a tweed blazer (vintage, so real wool!) for £24. Will see me through winter at work, I teach so need easy things which stay put and are hard wearing.

What was fascinating was the ruthless approach of the ladies in there: no supermarket clothes, no bobbles, no stretched, slightly scuffed or marked bags etc. They steamed, pressed and hung everything with boutique precision.

On the other hand, our salvation army shop focuses on decent quality, very affordable clothes. It runs a free swap-shop for school uniform over the summer. Very often has clothes for 50p. A really important part of the community.

We have a LOT of charity shops in our local market town....

Many charities are now branding these shops as 'fundraising shops'... With emphasis on inward fundraising.

I think charity shops have also been hit by the ease of selling things online yourself & the fact that many people can't afford to give away anything of value. So what they donate to charity shops is the cheap rubbish they can't sell themselves on local buy/sell groups, or quite worn/faded items, unpopular sizes that don't sell easily online etc.

Plus where i live people who want to really benefit those worse off, tend to give away items on altruistic social media sites set up for the purpose.

The charity shop where I am most likely to buy something charges £ 1.00 for most clothing. They do have a rail of new clothes which are priced individually but aside from that adult clothes are £ 1. There are baskets of baby clothes (under 12 mos) and children's clothes that are 3 for a pound. Paperbacks are 3 for a pound, hardbacks are 50p and from time to time they have a clear out and children's books are 10 for a pound. They don't have much in the say of toys but when they do there's nothing for more than £ 5.

On the other side of the road is a new charity shop that is far more expensive - a rucksack that you could buy on Ebay for £ 15 is £ 20 for instance. There is a 3rd shop that sells furniture as well and again the prices are hugely inflated compared with those charged on FB market place.

None of them seem to compare their prices to Ebay or anywhere else. In my favourite shop I have taken things to the counter and pointed out that they are underpriced and given them the opportunity to reprice or I have made an extra donation.

The cheap shop is always busy and is over run with donations unlike the other ones. So they must be doing something right.

On the haggling point, I always ask for a discount, I look for discounts and I ask for them in all shops and whenever I buy anything. There is zero shame in this.

I find the small-town charity shops, and those supporting one local cause, have much lower prices than the national charities in prime locations in large cities.

I'm glad they are run like businesses- means more money raised for good causes.
If they had a poorly paid CEO, they wouldn't be able to attract people of a high calibre to do the job, and again, the charity wouldn't be able to raise as much money for causes.