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?

It's the tired old cynical thing from people who are anti-charity, saying that those of us who volunteer in charity shops are deluded if we think money is going to the "cause" because it all goes on salaries and company cars and tuppence ha'penny a year to the needy.

Despite all the big charities publishing detailed accounts for people to look at, and bodies like the charity retail association giving loads of information across the sector as a whole. Still, it's a nice get out for people who prefer to sit and type bile on their keyboard than actually do something useful and contribute to their community.

@GenieGenealogy - but a charity shop would be nothing without any customers! Those who are sitting and typing “bile” are pointing out their “lived experience” of shopping in charity shops.

I regularly buy in charity shops. Obviously in recent times there has been a big increase in availability of cheap clothing (supermarkets/Primark) so this is what comprises most donations. Plus of course it’s area dependent.

BUT there are some shops which charge really silly prices. Eg vinyl has had a renaissance, but that doesn’t mean that you can price up a tatty old James Last LP at £6!

Genie wasn't objecting to the specific complaints about charity shop practice from a consumer POV: she was objecting to the "charities don't actually do any good anyway, all the money goes into the pockets of the execs, I'd only ever give money to my mate's single volunteer-run bunny sanctuary" narrative. That's normally not backed up by personal lived experience, though there may be some anecdotes used to tar the entire sector.

(speaking here as a former volunteer for an admirable tiny charity of the bunny-sanctuary type, so I have no skin in the game)

That's so true, I never thought of it like that before - customers buying less as stock is higher priced (more like typically £5 on average than the £2 or £3 it was recently) so they are selling less and not abler to accept donations.

Totally agree, OP.
I LOVE a charity shop mooch and get what I can from them, I notice though the pricing can be totally nuts sometimes there could be a Primark jumper for £10 (probably £8 new) and then a kids Monsoon dress for 50p!

www.independent.co.uk/money/money-charity-shops-and-the-cash-that-won-t-reach-the-needy-1276435.html

Is it any wonder their prices are high. Its big business.

The article is from 1997!
If you want to see how much goes directly to the cause all this information is readily available:

https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/where-your-money-goes
BHF as an example.

never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to in order to give charity a kicking.

@Twillow
not being able to accept donations is not necessarily because stock is not selling. We couldn’t take donations for a few days last week as our rag and rubbish had not been collected and we had nowhere to sort donations without blocking the fire escape route. Additionally some people donate complete tat and rubbish and we have to then store this before our rubbish is collected. If everything that was donated could be sold (unrealistic, I appreciate) we would have more space and be able to accept more donations.
I volunteer with BHF and we put out new stock every day and items we have had on the shop floor for 14+ days is marked down or rotated so stock is constantly moving.
This is my ‘lived experience’ of volunteering in a charity shop!

I also find that the donations are not consistent, some weeks very little is donated other weeks we are inundated. Another factor is lack of volunteers to process the stock especially during holiday season.

Who was giving it a kicking? The point I was making is, charity shops isn't the best way of giving to charity. Pointing that out is doing the opposite of "giving it a kicking". As many have pointed out, some of them are ridiculously overpriced. They're doing themselves no favours.

Obviously they want to raise as much as they can, but they'd raise more if they kept their prices realistic.

People go to charity shops for a bargain not necessarily thinking about how much they raise.

Often the people buying from them are in need of charity themselves, especially in these times.

Spot on. I’m also a volunteer for the same charity. I wonder how some ‘donors’ justify what they donate! You couldn’t give it away, never mind sell it.

I’m in a position to be able to send money directly to poor people in developing countries. I prefer this to donating to charities because then I don’t have to wonder how much of my donation is actually going to poor people.

The exceptions is when there are disasters such as the Turkey earthquake where I don’t know people so I donate to the DEC.

I feel your pain.

I now wash everything I buy immediately. 'Hand wash only' and 'dry clean' items can all be washed in the machine, but need to be air dried.

I heard this too....I just brought a very good french brand dress from eBay and I know it would be the same price in my local charity shop - about £45, it normally retails at £250

That's a very clickbait-y headline on that article, and the implication that "professionalisation" of charity shops is a bad thing.

As that article says, retail comes with high overheads (even when you account for the business rates relief, that they use volunteers and much of their stock is donated) so it's never going to be the case that money you spend in a charity shop goes directly to beneficiaries, lots get tied up in the costs of keeping the shops running.

I worked for over a decade in a large charity - when I joined it, the retail arm (i.e. the charity shops) were making a loss - it was costing more to run the shops than they were generating through sales. Basically NO money from the charity shops was actually helping the beneficaries of the charity. They invested in "professionalising" - developing a retail strategy, hiring more store managers etc, raising prices in certain stores. This worked wonders and by the time I left the retail arm was successful and bringing in lots of income.

Sadly I agree that eBay/Vinted etc have done for charity shops - in two ways. First, people (including me) sell their good items. I would never, ever donate crap but I donate M&S and chain-store clothes. Second, I have seen staff scanning through eBay to price things up. That’s all very well to benchmark or to make sure you’re not pricing a designer bag for £1, but charging eBay selling prices as opposed to sold prices is daft, plus you do not have eBay’s global reach in one small charity shop. And a pilly 15-year-old Boden jumper is not worth the same as a last season one listed for £20.

If you're buying secondhand, put anything wool (or any natural fibre at all!) in the freezer for three days as soon as it comes into your house.

I regularly buy from charity shops and I'm in the middle of a major moth infestation which has spread to every room in my house. I am catching 3-5 months per day. I wish I had taken this advice!