Most reasonably priced charity shops?

[angelicaelizapeggy]

Which charity shops do you find good for a bargain (and likewise which ones are generally overpriced)

Or does it just vary on location rather than the actual charity?

Our local Air Ambulance and Hospice shops are more reasonable than the National chains I’ve found. Blue Cross and Cancer Research are the most expensive in my town.

The only 2 I can think of are local ones that only operate in my specific area.
All the nationwide ones seem to be overpriced, apart from the PDSA shop (the one in my town, anyway). I rarely go into them but when I do, I notice that you can get a lot of the things they sell cheaper if you buy them new.

Those are the 2 I was thinking of in my town, maybe local ones are always a bit more reasonable.

My no-so-local local cancer research shop is amazing value - max £3. It's over half the price but of others for things like coats and trousers etc, but they also charge £3 for Primark T shirts etc.

I drive for about 20mins to specifically go there when I need something as it's so much better and cheaper than my local charity shops 10mins walk away.

Our local Banardos seems pretty good. Air Ambulance is ok too. PDSA is appallingly expensive

The best value one to me locally is one that supports a local church and foodbank.

The most expensive ones are the chain 'bigger' charity names like British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research etc.

I often see charity shop videos on TikTok where the stuff is crazy cheap but they’re often names I’ve not heard of that we don’t have locally, maybe local charities specific to their location. I have been to a couple in my town that just seem so overpriced!

My local Martletts is SO expensive :(
next door there is a local housing association one and it’s really cheap

something in the Martletts for £10(!) is in the other one for £2.

It might vary by location but I've found oxfam wildly expensive here. They're selling primark tops for a fiver, more or less the price they were new! Toys are expensive too and children's books. If there's something I really want I'll pay the extra but I don't bother browsing much anymore as although I know it's for charity still don't want to pay over the odds.

As an aside I really like the zara seconds/overstocks that the red cross have so always look in there, other stuff seems a reasonable price too.

DS2 got some Tommy Hillfigger jeans in Oxfam today for £10. He is delighted.

In my town it's Barnado's. Oxfam and British Heart Foundation are the worst in terms of value for money.

I remember reading that Oxfam aim to price clothing at a third of what you'd pay new.

I find Charity shops, national chains, are really expensive. There is a local thrift shop that is brilliant value. Local groups take it over for a week. So it might be scouts, volunteer drivers association or the school PPG fundraising to subsidise a school trip type stuff. People with an interest often donate or folk having a clear out. Nothing is priced and stock stays with the shop so everything is sold for a quid or two. It works well I’ve volunteered with a couple of groups and we’ve cleared 1k over the week both times. The thrift shop is so successful that charity shops can’t successfully compete and have closed down a year or so after opening.

Varies hugely by location and staff

I used to volunteer in a charity shop that sells clothes, and the pricing was done on the basis of wht the item was and the condition it was in, not how much it would originally have cost, unless it was a 'good' label.

It's probably a combination of vinted, cheap fast fashion and greed on the part of charity shops that have killed charity shopping.

When I was young charity shops were used by people who were short of cash. Now fast fashion retailers like primark and shein have taken over. No one is going to rummage through charity shops to buy old primark or bobbled clothes when they could get a brand new item from primark itself for the same price or less. If you live in a poor or remote area you have next to no chance of finding nice stuff in charity shops because it gets sent to posh areas or as you say OP people will sell it on vinted.

Apologies, I somehow managed to post on the wrong charity shop thread!

Cancer research here. It's an outlet store so except for gold ticket items everything is under £3.
The BHF next door on the other hand charges twice as much as some items cost brand new.