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?

Same where we live. It’s very odd.

When a charity shop has too many books they put a sign up saying "no more books". Wouldn't it be wiser to put their books outside their shop at a very low price to keep them moving?

Places like vented are one of the reason that charity shops have changed too much cause people sell instead of donate

That was the same during the last economic downturn, though - people were putting things on eBay instead of donating. Now eBay isn't the most efficient way for an individual to sell on their unwanted items so social selling has taken over.

Not just the prices, but the attitude to donators. I usually give to the local homeless shelter and such lovely, caring staff. But this time I donated a bureau (from an expensive store) to a local Charity furniture superstore as usual charity no longer take furniture. I have never come across such ungracious staff. Its not like I expected them to fall to their knees in gratitude but something more than a grunt would be nice. I didn't even ask them to collect, I drove it over to them as well!

Another local "Vintage" summer fayre's prices are so expensive. Think £10 for an old jigsaw (sorry, vintage) and £20 for a second hang EB mug. I don't think the EB seconds shop is much more. It used to be decent value, but now it is taking the proverbial. Also £4 for a paperback and £7 for a hardback. Hmm. It's not even for a charity.

I think people who dump their crap in charity shops don't help, they ruin it for the people who donate good stuff.

I see women bring in stuff to charity stuff, and explain why each thing is a good domation, and a grunt in response from the charity shop walker, because they've been jaded by all the bags of crap people bring in.

I have no patience to sell on Vinted. I am self employed and find my time is better served just working at my business. Still each to their own.

I still donate clothes to charity shops but throw an awful lot away.

"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."

@GlomOfNit I can assure you that no responsible charity would ever sit on a prime location shop without doing whatever they can to maximise its income potential. It would be contra to their mission statement.

They don't pay reduced rents (unless there is a private agreement with their landlord).

Staff are very much motivated by turnover - they take on a role that generally pays less than other shop management roles. Presumably this is because they care about the cause and want to contribute to it in their way. All charity shops have budgets and income targets. A good Trustee Board will be looking at their accounts regularly to ensure the shop is efficient, effective and a good investment for the charity. Any charity shop that doesn't meet targets would be under review of closing.

I did find a while ago in a charity shop a Kipling bag that turned out to be a fake (if you looked closely you could see the logo on it had a bunch of random consonants rather than being the actual logo) priced at £15. I let the person behind the counter know that it was a fake and she just shrugged at me making me feel I was being an inconvenience - probably thinking I was after a discount. I still wonder if they managed to sell it at £15. It was an affluent area where they probably get genuine ones turning up in charity shops so who knows.

The amount of good fakes out there that are actually difficult to distinguish from the real thing must play havoc with charity shop valuers, though. If I saw a designer bag or shoes in the glass cabinet I'd assume they were fakes.

No shops can sell fakes/counterfeits, it's illegal. Charity shops do see a lot of fakes, mostly bags/wallets. Some are very easy to spot, others are harder - "Mulberry" bags which are actually made from leather and it's only when you look much closer at things like fastenings and stitching that you realise it's not genuine. I spend a lot of time watching "how to spot a fake Radley" or whatever videos on YouTube. I always start off thinking that any Gucci, Chanel or similar brands are fake. Nobody is going to hand in a bag which is worth £1k plus to a charity shop. Mid range bags like Radley, Kipling, could go either way but treated with suspicion. Nobody is faking M&S or other high street brands.

You would think, but I see a lot of fake Cath Kidston and other brands that get faked a lot without being valuable enough to cause suspicion as something like a Gucci bag would. I knew they were fake because I recognise the prints used as something you see from Chinese sellers on eBay but aren't actually prints they make - and if you didn't spend too much of your life frankly time online looking for this stuff back in the day you wouldn't necessarily know. Same with fake makeup, although i doubt charity shops are allowed to put cosmetics out for sale anyway. (Though in Goodwill in Canada I did see bags of slightly used hotel soaps put out for sale for $3...)

I've seen obvious fake bags on sale in charity shops - not priced to suggest they have been mistaken as genuine, and not bags that could realistically be thought genuine (I am far from an expert on designer bags but I mean made of plastic, not leather, for example)

The manager of our local charity shop was bemoaning the fact that they are getting more and more new stock to sell and the impact this is having on buyers.

I read this as £5 being the new price

Yes, found stainless steel teapots for £5.50 free delivery. Should have been a couple of quid second hand.

Some of us do! I gave my Mulberry Alexa to one.

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

Exactly this.

I cannot fathom why anybody thinks otherwise.

“Charity” basically means “tax privileged”

It’s dreadful the way they drive out taxpaying businesses.

Like the French aristocracy immune from tax.

I’d better add that charities did not originate this way.

A purpose trust was legally not allowed to exist in perpetuity unless it was for charitable purposes.

This was good.

What isn’t good is charities not paying tax and unfairly competing with small business owners supporting their families.

And yet every mumsnet thread about charity shops is always exactly the same.

People do haggle in the charity shop I volunteer in to varying levels of success. It depends on how long the item has been for sale. The volunteers generally don’t have the authority to decide (at least in my shop). You do get some CFs though.

I accidentally haggled in a charity shop recently - I asked to see something in a case - umm'd and ahh'd about whether it was what I wanted and the assistant took the price down by 25% and then 50%. At which point I went for it because it was cheap enough that if it wasn't quite right I'd be able to write it off as a donation. It had been in the window for weeks, so everybody else also probably thought it wasn't worth the advertised price.

Sensible action by the shop assistant I thought - he said that after so many weeks at the higher rate a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

BHF (insert any other charity) is not there to provide cut price goods

They offer second-hand goods, not cut price. So, logically, customers should not shop in a charity shop if they don't support that particular cause.

@Olderandolder
I imagine Amazon is a bigger threat than charity shops. Note also their tax payments
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jun/01/amazon-uk-services-main-division-pay-no-corporation-tax-for-second-year-in-row-tax-credit-government-super-deduction-scheme