Charity shops aren't doing themselves any favours

[Downatthefarm]

I can afford to buy new but prefer to buy second hand. I enjoy the experience of sifting through the varied clothes in the charity shops and finding things I wouldn't otherwise see on the high street at that time, and of course I like other thrifters love a good bargain.

Over the last 5 years charity shops have really gone downhill where I am. They price second / third hand clothes similarly to the original RRP, sometimes even more expensive.

They are stocking more and more brand new items, like Frenchic furniture paint, priced higher than it costs at places like Wilko's and B&Q.

I already know somebody will say "the shops purpose is to raise as much money for their charity as they can, not to cater to people who don't have much money" but hasn't being accessible to people with low incomes and being good value for money always been one of the most appealing aspects of them?

I still donate but do the vast majority of my own second hand buying on vinted now and I know lots of others are doing the same.

AIBU?

Also re: no longer see small toys, we cannot legally sell them without a CE British safety standard mark so we won't put out boxes of jumbled 'made in china' assorted figures etc, only bigger toys that would have the stamp on them which tend to be more expensive. We'll put some out that would've had the CE on the box if it's recognisable like action man or imaginext figures, Playmobil etc but we can get good prices for those too, and we get alot of toy collectors and resellers in our shop too

My daughter volunteers at a cancer research superstore , witch is much mre reasonably priced then other cancer research , all clothes under £5 :

• Most tops are £3 , unless its something like a asda tshirt etc then they are £2 or something like joules would be £4
• most jeans and trousers are £3 unless they're brands like levis etc
• dresses are usually £4 but it varies
• 2 piece suits are £5

Then they have new goods witch are a bit hit and miss sometimes- but she did get me 2 massive plant pots for some trees for £12 but sometimes its dodgy scented candles

they get leftover stock from amazon sent in as well , one time there was 15 cocaine sniffers

we also have a charity shop in the centre of town where everything is under £2 , most of it is your george at asda , f&f but they are all £1 - witch you cant complain about as those prices are still cheaper then kn the stores themselves !

and this is in a deprived town

Forgot to mention they have to put out£500 of stock for ebay a week but sometimes they have to put out £1000 worth if other shops in the area are slacking

The thing is that people have different levels of "sensible". I remember a few years ago we changed the prices of dresses from £2.50 to £3 and we got lots of complaints about ripping people off (M&S, River Island sort of level, nothing bobbly etc.) We still get people who moan about a shirt BNWT for £5 when the tag originally says £20.

Fast fashion - Primark, H&M etc would probably be £2-£3 for a T-shirt/jeans/shorts although we do have flash sales if we have a lot of something or it's out of season. In the middle of July we'll sell jumpers for £1 and heavy coats for £4-£5 to get rid. Similarly, it's cheaper to buy a heater in July and a fan in December.

I used to love a charity shop rummage but struggle these days. Sue Ryder was always a firm favourite of mine as well as Cancer Research where I used to live. The stock was varied and well priced so that it gave both the charity and the shopper some satisfaction. If you’re ever in Ilkley, I’d recommend the charity shops there (although London based it might not be as appealing). The first time id ever seen a pair of Jimmy Choo's in a charity shop. A lovely pair of sandals for something like £25).

I do refuse to entertain Oxfam, unfortunately. My exMIL volunteered there when she retired and had asked the family for any donations. We had a clear out and included a stainless steel teapot we’d bought off eBay for around £5. We went into the shop to see it on sale for £8.50

"Me too but the charity shop defenders of MN will insist that it was never the intention to help the community 🙄"

You might think that, lots of people seem to. It is a mistaken belief. The purpose of, for example, a BHF shop, is to raise money for BHF, not help people to afford goods by selling at a certain price point. It is not part of their constitution to help people to afford things, it is in their constitution to raise money to support people with heart related issues and also support related research. Charity retail is, on the whole a sophisticated business with the objective to raise as much money for the charity as possible. It is not their purpose to provide anyone with a bargain. That's not why they exist. I think its fair to assume that in their prices reflect what people will pay. When a customer buys from a charity shop they are supporting that charity. BHF (insert any other charity) is not there to provide cut price goods.
The exception would be, of course, food banks, community larders and any similar operation in which the primary objective is not to raise money but to help people with the affordability of goods.

I'm very sorry that we don't know how much Sports Direct sell their coats for or the prices items sell for in every other shop ever.

We had a clear out and included a stainless steel teapot we’d bought off eBay for around £5. We went into the shop to see it on sale for £8.50

So you're bothered because the shop initially tried to get a good price for your item? Would you rather they sold it for 50p?

@FrivolousTreeDuck No it's definitely cancer research UK. I go in a lot as someone I support loves charity shops but she can never afford anything

They vary so much. Our local hospice shop sells everything at £3 or less! The town is quite a deprived area, so I have started donating in the next town which has a big army presence, and lots of army wives attending smart dos so racks of nice stuff. I give my basic stuff to the local shop, but rarely find anything there I want to buy (although when I do it's great value).

But I agree, the whole pricing thing is so random. There is a cancer research place just up the road from the cheap place, which in my opinion is hugely overpriced. I do think the cheap place is often silly cheap (bought a lovely mens DJ for £3 for the jacket and £3 for the trousers) but it's a bit odd when the place up the street is really expensive. There ought to be some sort of national agreement on prices, I think......

I remember when I volunteered in a charity shop in London around 2013 and a man complained to me that a leather belt was £5 Oh how times change. I bet they'd charge like £25 for the same thing now with the rate they charge for things now. I do remember even then they sold brand new wooden dolls house for around £200 so they've been doing stuff like that for ages. This was sue ryder.

I don't bother with the big name ones any more.

Shelf after shelf of brand new, bought in tat.

You are so right.
I live in a very middle class area and sadly it’s the cancer research who have really steep prices. A Phase eight or mint velvet dress new with tags will label at £60-£80. That’s not a bargain, it’s sale prices and not even current season. Pre-loved in good condition, same brands roughly £35.
might as well wait until the sales.

The ones local to me are all overpriced rubbish, they won’t accept haggling or offers and say they can’t reduce things but then the same stuff sits on the shelves for weeks and weeks instead of just being sold a pound or 2 cheaper! One of my closest ones is also starting to stock more and more ‘new’ items but mostly cheap plastic tat from China.. its a shame because I always think the charities could benefit from selling more at a lower price and would definitely benefit my community which is mostly low income/deprived.

Also wish to add that H&M stores take clothes for recycling so anything that is in too poor condition for the charity shop (heavily bobbled, stained, ripped/torn, stitching undone etc) can be donated to them where it’s recycled into cleaning & insulation materials I believe. They then give you a £5 voucher to use in store as a thank you!

It’s a shame. I’ve started giving stuff away on our local Facebook page instead - that way I know someone will use it. Our local kids charity shop sells things way too high, and I know they rag loads of donations rather than sell them cheap (there will always be some donations that need to be ragged but they rag most of it). They make a very small amount from ragging. I took some bags of clothes destined for ragging to a friend overseas who volunteers at an orphanage. I went through it first to pick out the things she said they needed and remove anything torn etc. very little of the bags weren’t good enough quality. There were loads of things that I’d have happily bought for a low price - but the shops strategy seems to be to only resell the best or new items.

Once or twice year they have sales where they sell stuff off cheap and the place is packed. Then the rest of the time it’s not worth going in unfortunately - they price at less than the full retail price but more than shops sale price so it’s cheaper to just shop new in sales.

I think it depends on the area though - where my sister lives the shops sell things much cheaper.

Not my teapot, but I'd have been happy with £2, though it would have been more important to me that it found a home rather than sat in a shop for weeks or went to landfill.

Sometimes helpful suggestions are necessary.

An independent charity shop near me had a Gllywg doll displayed in their window about four years ago.

The volunteers in that one needed a very quick education.

What's missing from this story is whether the teapot sold at that price. Did you check back? If you asked your DMIL to keep an eye on it and a year later it was still gathering dust unsold, or had been scrapped then that would be a story with a moral.

"One second hand buyer is happy to spend a fiver on something, a different seller thinks that they might be able to get slightly more for it a few years later" is not really a story - and certainly not worth boycotting Oxfam for. £8.50 vs £5 is well within the range of normal variation. Or was it a typo and they actually priced it at 85 quid?

I know of one very special shop in a town near me that sells everything really cheaply. Books 20p, bric a brac 20p, kids clothes 60p, ladies clothes usually £1. I go once a week. The shop is buzzing and there is always a queue to pay. The manager says she makes more money selling cheaply. There is a charity shop next door with high prices. It's always empty.

Couple of issues with that though @Heyhoitsme . Charities have to by law maximise income. I would argue that knocking out a Hobbs BNWT dress/coat for a quid is not doing that. It's also disrespectful to donors who choose to donate high quality stuff in the hope the charity will make decent money on it. Also, in order to keep shelves filled in a very busy store you need an army of volunteers constantly sorting, steaming, pricing, filling the shelves, working the till. Many shops struggle to even meet the minimum of 2 adults per shift to open safely.

Our local town is very varied - a few of the charity shops have really good bargains, and anything that's been in the shop for more than a certain amount of time gets put on the sale rail for 50 - 75% off. The Sue Ryder one, which used to be great, has gone to mostly furniture and very expensive clothes sadly, the BHF one varies massively between some really good quality items at great prices (my daughter got a gorgeous dress there for £8 a few weeks ago - really decent quality in immaculate condition) and some very basic stuff at similar prices, so high for what they are. One shop recently had a few months of everything being £1, got some nice, everyday stuff there, but now all back to individual pricing. They said it made things so easy, no pricing up / labelling, and quick turnover - we definitely spent lots in there every time, as it wasn't the end of the world if it didn't fit - we'd just donate it back on the next visit.

I live in a 'naice' area and there are loads of charity shops on our local (and struggling) high streets (they have preferential business rates. Many local indie shops are closing down, sadly). Since it's a fairly wealthy area, our charity shops do have a reasonably good sprinkling of decent high street brands, like Fat Face, SeaSalt, White Stuff, Boden etc. But they are priced by someone who thinks these are really worth paying a premium - so you'll see a perfectly ordinary Fat Face Simone dress (well washed and worn) for £16 or more. There was a really bobbled Seasalt dress the other day for £18, which I considered but decided the bobbling and fading was way too much to pay nearly £20 for! The Primark and H&M and supermarket things are also priced aspirationally - an adult top for £4-6, for instance. I've often pointed out that a used and maybe even slightly stained Primark top at £4 is not going to sell when you could replace it for about the same money, brand new. They don't care.

I mostly buy from charity shops because of the lower environmental impact, the cost and the variety on display, but it's getting harder to find anything I want for that money. I think many high street charity shops are just sitting on their prime high street locations, paying far less for rental than a commercial store, and being managed by people who clearly don't have to worry about turnover in the same way.

Genevieva · Yesterday 19:26
This is an irritation of mine too. I give them good secondhand clothing. They overprice it. If it doesn't sell, instead of reducing the price they bundle it up and sell it by weight. The result is less money for the charity and no opportunity to feel good about my clothes being bought because people like them.”

Probably goes on to form piles of waste in Africa. Shameful. If they can’t sell the stuff they should give it away to people who need it, a rack of free stuff outside would be snapped up where we live.

@MrsSkylerWhite
at BHF we markdown items after two weeks - all goods are dated when they are out- and then may get rotated, ragging is a last resort.
i have seen markdown in other charity shops so assume reducing stock is standard practice if it’s not selling?

The town I live is now only charity shops and bookmakers, charity shops picking up other retailers are closing down and people have no option but to browse whats on offer in their stores hence why they are marking up big.
Sad state of things.
I only buy books from charity shops now.