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?

@Downatthefarm
i have volunteered with BHF and we don’t intentionally sell items for more than rrp. All of our prices have gone up as has our rent and utility costs. The shop is next door to a charity shop clearance shop (items that have not sold in shops in the local area are sent there) and their prices are cheaper. Imo there is a demand for both types of shop.

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

if all the good stuff is going straight onto vinted, either by its original owner or a professional reseller who buys charity shop bargains as soon as they're put out, then is it any surprise that there isn't much good stuff left in charity shops? The whole nature of the secondhand clothes market has changed beyond recognition in the last five years..

We're in a very depressed area. We have one shop where all adult clothes other than brand new are £1.00. Children's books are10 for £1.00. I bought curtains for my large living room window - Sandersons fabric, lined - for a fiver and a Jacques Vert hat for £ 1.00. The manager sees the shop as having a dual role to raise money for the charity and to provide low cost clothes and goods to the community. Directly opposite is another charity shop where the prices are through the roof. One is always busy, the other has more staff than customers.

Cherry aka my dogs bigger than yours go rattle your pearls of non wisdom elsewhere, your antagonist and you probably have no friends, and if so you are the cf among them.
New flash…people have always shopped at charity shops when times are hard…

and you probably have no friends

Oh look out, looks like my teenagers have arrived on the thread!

My son is in the US right now and called raving about Goodwill! He said the donations were in big tubs categorised in size and it was priced per kilo. As a typical student he was delighted to get a couple of retro tshirts and a thick fleece (which he needed as it's cooler in the evenings than he thought it would be) for $3! He's lucky as at 18 he can wear a binbag and look cool!

You're nuts. Second goods should not be priced as new. And yes charity shops have a dual purpose

I don't reckon so. I just got a lovely Nobody 's Child dress delivered for £21 from Vinted. I wouldn't pick that up in a charity shop - have never seen that brand for much cheaper than that. So if someone did pick it up in a charity shop they're not making much profit.

I searched by size/ colour/ brand - so convenient- and it arrived promptly, packaged beautifully and freshly laundered. It is a no brainer for me.

Vinted is great for dressed from Nobody's Child! I also got a lovely Joanie dress on there a few months ago for something like £8 and it's in perfect condition. I'm hooked.

Oh! Also, I got a big bundle of Spanish toddler clothes for my youngest on vinted last week. I paid £26. They would have cost hundreds brand new. I've never been lucky enough to spot that style of kids clothes in any of my locals yet.

I've fallen out with charity shops after we tried to donate my dad's clothes after he died. Our local hospice shop turned their noses up at what we wanted to donate. There were several made to measure suits, brand new shirts still in their wrappers, beautiful Gabicci jumpers, a couple of dinner suits, plus some M & S Italian collection trousers, apparently they weren't of sufficient quality for the shop. We ended up filling those charity bags that come through the door.

Ouch, that must've hurt.

I've never known a charity shop to gatekeep the clothes I'm trying to donate - I drop things in bags or boxes which are gratefully accepted and (I assume) sifted through later.

I work for them and we have a budget for eBay and any item must sell for a minimum of £30. We know what does and does not sell in our individual shops. For example in my last box I sent a medical scale which sells for £90, an ornament which sells for £60 (and we had out for sale on the shop floor for 3 weeks for £40), an old fashioned board game which sells for £35 etc.

There's a mixture of items we know won't sell and items we have put on the shop floor and which haven't sold. We put out a load of BNWT Coast dresses for £20 (tags said £160-£180) which didn't sell? Do you suggest we try them on eBay and get £30 each or sell them instore for £5?

Some really are pushing it. My favourite ones are the items are either £1,2,3

price low sell high works! Our local ymca used to be great but now they want £20 for a pair of trainers that I donated and paid £5 for! Dresses £15 when they are £10 brand new.

100% agree with this OP! Most charity shops near me are also trying to sell ‘good stuff’ online. I think they would maximise profits by taking a leaf out of Vinted’s book with their pricing strategy in the shops.

In which case the shop aren’t following protocol. All items should be dated on the day they are put out and taken off the floor after a few weeks if I sold, then either moved to another shop or sent for rag.

Sounds like a poorly managed shop over all.

Yes - too many 'unbranded' items are overpriced. I'm happy to pay £20 for a Monsoon dress that would've cost £60, but not to pay £12 for a George dress that would've cost £14.

A third function is to enable people to shop sustainably and ethically - an (in theory) affordable alternative to fast fashion.

Here's the job board of charity retail vacancies for all the people who know better than the people doing it for a living.

https://www.charityjob.co.uk/retail-manager-jobs

On the Goodwill thing - impressive organisation, entirely different beast. It's a not for profit for a start, not a charity. They have mahoosive out of town outlets which are supermarket sized rather than front-room sized. Their staff are paid, not volunteers. That business model works for them, but it's not a "charity shop" in the way we understand charity shops in the UK/Ireland.

So you don’t think that head office might employ retail professionals at that level?

That’s like saying it’s not possible to work in a Nissan car sales room if you own a Ford. Of course they understand the market. It’s their job.

But if they're selling nothing?

What's more likely. A team sitting in a head office of a charity, deliberately coming up with a strategy to try to fleece their customers by selling a primark t-shirt for a tenner. Or a volunteer getting it wrong and a manager not spotting it?

I am also sorry @Nat6999 that you were met with rudeness when you tried to donated your dad's things. That should never happen. In my experience though men's clothes are a really hard thing to sell. Shirts brand new in pack yes, people will happily buy those. Trousers and suits though, especially special occasion like dinner suits are just not in demand as they used to be. So few people wearing suits to work compared with 10 years ago. It's probably not that the clothes weren't of sufficient quality, it's that based on experience the volunteers knew they wouldn't be able to raise money on them. But again, no need to be rude about it.

You not wrong op. ...but you need to pick your charity shops...I don't bother going into Oxfam now and know which shops are good in my local town. Although tbh I lost alot of interest in going in now as you won't get a bargain.

@Brefugee if a charity shop is selling nothing, it will close. No charity will invest time and effort in running a shop which is not covering its costs, or only covering its costs and not contributing to the charity.

If they are selling nothing they can of course change their strategy - which many are as they sell better stuff on line. Or they can mark down stock. Or they can close. But they are not obliged to provide cheap goods to anyone.