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?

I do find it varies, depending on the charity. Small independent charities tend to price things lower. Church charity shops especially.

Charity shops make nothing unless stock passes through the till.
Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

Yep,I got today's bargain froma church charity shop!

So: you are being hypocritical.

Maybe try to be a bit nicer, eh?

I bought so many bargains from a shop near me called traid, branded, and nearly new or even new with tags, skirts tops etc for about a couple pounds each. Loved looking there, but closed down during lockdown. I rarely bother now with charity shops, I donate good new stuff though.

Are there any volunteers / managers reading that can shed any light on why I'm no longer seeing many small kids toys in any of the shops I've been to? BHF, Oxfam, salvation army etc.

I've been after some figurines/characters/small toys for an art project and can't find any for the life of me. Years ago there would be boxes and boxes of things like that. Are they being turned away as donations now?

Perhaps you're right OP. Some charity shops may not be doing themselves any favours.

However a large majority are obviously doing it right, else they'd be closing down.

What grates though, is the frequency of these charity shop bashing threads. They are incredibly regular and as a previous poster commented, spout the same old cliches every time.

When was the last time anyone started a bank or energy company or retailer or manufacturer bashing thread? Has no one seen Unilever's results today?

How disheartening these negative threads are to the wonderful volunteers and dedicated (yet not well paid) charity shop staff.

I work for a charity and shop in charity shops
they vary vastly from area to area and charity to charity it’s impossible to compare
haha it’s definitely buzzword bingo on here as been done so many times before
like most of us you need to work out what works best for you
I want to raise as much cash as possible for my charity and dream of opening a charity shop (we can only manage car boot sales n markets)
as a buyer I’m on a limited income and want the best bargain possible
I also love a charity shop as they have introduced me to brands n designers I wasn’t aware of and enjoy recycling old for new

I agree. I don't think you get bargains there. This is good for the charity and does (in some cases) get what an item should be worth. BUT I have also noticed them trying to flog cheap rubbish at the same/ higher prices than their original price. Mainly supermarket/primark stuff. I also think they chance it when it comes to designer stuff. I've seen a lot of really bad quality items (especially shores) that are totally f@cked but fir sale for £100 because they are some brand.

When I give stuff to charity shops, I expect them to Ebay anything that will definitely sell for good price - but I also expect that they'll make a decent effort to shift the more average items quickly. This is free stock, it's ridiculous to price chain store fashions from 4 years ago at £1 less than whatever the same store's current version costs new.

And of course they don't sell, so the shops then moan about not being able to meet their overheads. Well how about pricing second-hand stock, that cost you nothing, at the level customers will pay? 100 items selling at £2.50 will net you a hell of a lot more than 0 items selling at £25.

I am on a low income (unable to work at present) but occasionally can afford to buy new, if by buying new you mean sweat shop made things that don't last long. I love that in charity shops I can find things that are well made and of good quality .

I never pay full price for a handbag. I go to charity shops and get Cath Kidston, FatFace etc. For a tenner. They last. Unlike new cheap handbags for the same price which fall apart in a few days (yes, Primark i 'm looking at you).

Over the years I’ve been all over and it varies so very much. Teickenham has awesome stuff, nearly all brands but not super cheap.
crWley used to be my absolute fave as very cheap and being so close to Gatwick and many working in London loads of great designer items at virtually no cost. Down by the coast south east super cheap and cheerful. I could go on.
I would never buy anything from primary or supermarkets from a charity shop though, ever.

I've bought clothes from charity shops for decades and now find the prices put me off buying almost anything.

When I was a poor student I could afford to buy items regularly and loved what I bought. Now as someone on a higher than average salary, I feel like I can't justify spending the prices they charge. I get that they have overheads and need to raise money, but when they are more expensive than Primark or the supermarkets where a lot of the clothes originated something is going wrong.

@Downatthefarm
i volunteer with BHF and my store does not turn away donations of toys unless we have a space issue- small shop. Most of our donations do tend to be clothes though.

I used to volunteer in a church charity shop and it was a real Aladdin's cave of goodies. I did end up taking a lot home but the rule was we had to buy it full price, after it had been out for a shift on the shop floor. I gladly paid the price, I got some lovely things and enjoyed working there.

I dont bother much these days, most shops have an outlet store on ebay, items are very cheap, i got river island tracksuits for £7 each....brand new and free post.
I donated boxes of stuff when aunt died to local BHF shop.....months later all sitting on shelf with ridiculous prices, i did point this out to staff but no interest at all....maybe a few closures will open their eyes.....a few are still ok but not the great shops years ago....

I'm not slating the volunteers or people who work in charity shops? I'm talking about the pricing, influx of brand new items taking over etc.

Volunteers have my complete respect.

One of my favourite charity shops was Sue Ryder and they provide volunteering opportunities to disabled adults which I think is wonderful (I'm the parent of a disabled child)

I would never treat or speak of them with disdain.

Must be at least a fortnight since we had this thread. 🙄

https://www.charityretail.org.uk/key-statistics/ Makes for interesting reading. Or https://www.charityretail.org.uk/charity-retail-sector-outlook-3/ which states that "most of our members are reporting that donation volumes are very strong. However, there is little doubt that a well-reported trend of declining donation quality is continuing, perhaps reflecting the fact that more people are either hanging on to their better quality items or maybe selling them through pre-loved platforms."

So posters are simultaneously selling their old stuff on Ebay/Vinted, yet expecting other people to donate their old stuff to charity shops where it can be bought by others.

I have experience in volunteering with two large charity chains. I definitely recognise the issue of bags and bags of fast fashion or supermarket clothing which is only fit for the bin/recycling. Many posters seem to have this weird idea that charity shops have an active policy of pricing higher than things cost new which is plainly nonsense - but mistakes DO get made. Especially when you have a workforce which is primarily made up of volunteers. Where I am currently volunteering the policy is that the minimum price for clothes is £3, so if you don't think you can get that for it, it doesn't go out.

New stuff - some chains have done this for ages. Oxfam has always sold Fair Trade coffee, eco-friendly shampoos, those wee ornaments made in India, rugs etc. Cancer Research has its own range of merch and accessories. I was in some charity shops I haven't been in before today and was surprised by Barnardos and the amount of tat and toys and cheap new product they had in the shop, far more than i've seen in other shops. Obviously works for them as a business model though.

Has anyone said that volunteers are only there because they can't get a proper job yet? Or that they steal all the "good stuff"?

the traid shops in london have ridiculous prices.....dont even bother looking, and they have security guards at the door....!!

100% agree ... I find some of the prices absolutely ridiculous ... I do get a few bargains in there maybe 20 to 25% of the time, but yeah loads of the stuff is as expensive or more expensive than it was originally.

And yeah 'they're trying to raise money for the charity la la la...' But hardly any of the money they raise go to the charity really ... much of it it goes to the owners of the shop/the managers/the top executives/the directors of the company. We are not fucking deluded!

I won't buy anything from them unless it is seriously good value/a bargain - and I know that I'm getting something out of it...

What pisses me off as well, is when you buy from a charity shop and the cheeky feckers ask you to 'round up' FOR CHARITY ... so if you bought something for £8.85, they say 'do you want to round up to £10 for charity???' I have absolutely no qualms now in saying 'no I don't ...'

I'm buying for a charity shop - and they're asking for more money FOR CHARITY! WTAF?

I didn't know about the outlets on ebay, thanks for that I'll definitely have a look! I'm very sorry for your loss x

Has anyone said that volunteers are only there because they can't get a proper job yet? Or that they steal all the "good stuff"?

Absolutely not and I hope that they don't. This thread isn't about bashing volunteers or people that work in charity shops, far from it. It's not about the individuals. At all.

They have security guards in McDonald's too don't they!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I moved here. Security guards in charity shops and McDonald's. Christ.

I agree o see things almost the same price as new. It’s ridiculous

That would have been priced at £2 in the charity shop I volunteer at.