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 think the problem is that the volunteers who do most of the work don't have fashion or retail experience. Hence if it looks trendy, nice or had an obvious up market label the higher the price.
Two examples. I recently bought two sets of cufflinks the shop wanted 99p I gave them £5. Down the road there was a full length cashmere coat ... but the inside pocket was badly torn, it had clearly been worn a lot and they wanted £40

My dc has a paid (albeit not masses) job in a charity shop in Uni holidays - there is always a paid manager in to open / lock up / cash up etc - I imagine this is the case everywhere.

Charity shops can only sell what is donated- so everyone saying how they are selling / buying on Vinted whilst that is totally your right consider how this affects what is donated.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of frankly disgusting things which are “donated” and have to be sifted through - I think many people view it as just the easiest way to shift their rubbish rather then taking it to the tip.

The shop has a pricing strategy which is fair but tbh when you have the likes of Primark selling new for so little there is no room for movement - really this is down to the ethical policies of fast fashion.

My dc manages the volunteers and many are students / retired people - none are stupid. They do however receive a much higher level of abuse from customers then they have experienced in other retail outlets (and this is in a naice town).

But at the end of the day as I said upthread they can only sell what is donated.

With regards to staff taking the best stuff, just this week I witnessed a charity shop worker say she was going to take home and test a bass guitar in great condition as shop was selling for £30… the public never had a look in! This is in SW London, where sadly I can’t afford most charity shop pricing now and stick to Vinted!

@Elvis1956 - volunteers shop and buy clothes just like everyone else does though. I have very limited "fashion experience" in that I worked in Debenhams' children's department as a student 30 years ago. Of COURSE an "up market label" dress like Hobbs or Reiss is going to be priced higher than a dress in similar condition from New Look or H&M because it cost three times the price when new.

I don't think people who haven't been involved in charity retail understand how hard it is to get committed volunteers. Not kids doing their D of E who only want to do the bare minimum of an hour a week for 12 weeks then bugger off again. People who are going to turn up every single week reliably and turn their hand to whatever needs doing. Loads of older volunteers stopped during Covid and never returned. Cost of Living means people are taking extra paid work rather than volunteering, looking after children/grandchildren or doing other things. Most shops require at least two adults (over 18) in the shop at any one time. The shop where i'm now volunteering can't open on a Friday afternoon as there are no volunteers.

@GenieGenealogy this is really true my dc has had several occasions where they are the only member of staff in the shop (for a whole day) as volunteers haven’t turned up.

@KittyMcKitty I think it depends on the chain - many will have one or two paid members of staff, but usually they are paid for fewer hours than the shop is actually open. Where I am volunteering now is entirely volunteer run, there is oversight from a paid regional manager who is hundreds of miles away. We have a couple of senior volunteers who act as trainers and take the lead on things like banking, but it's entirely unpaid volunteers in the shop. I'd say that's unusual for a chain of shops in my experience, but it does happen. Also agree that a lot of the stuff which is donated is pretty minging.

You seem to object to people who volunteer in charity shops from explaining how they operate. Indeed you seem to be hostile to anyone who disagrees with you. Nobody forces you to buy in charity shops. You said yourself that you can afford to buy new. You simply think you’re entitled to pay less than you’re being asked to.

As you're also in London, I've found prices vary hugely by charity.
Overpriced: BHF, Traid, Mind.
Medium: Oxfam, Sue Ryder.
Bargains: PDSA, Barnardo's, independent local.

From experience: Mind shops are all franchises, pricing is set by head office, and they have really high/impossible targets. Ironically, that job is not good for your mental health.

I really dislike the brand new tat nearly all of them sell. The scarves, bags, jewellery, live love laugh signs etc - taking up space and I never see anyone browsing them.

Sign in window of a local charity shop.

“ No items displayed in this window are available to purchase “

Full of Shein and Primark, way overpriced now.

@Elvis1956
i volunteer with BHF and ime a good shop manager will encourage volunteers to play to their strengths. I am an avid reader and price all the books. We are located opposite WHSmith so I know what’s on offer in there and promote our books accordingly.

@Agapornis

The shop is volunteer at sells new socks, they sell really well and are cheaper than Sainsbury's (the only other place to buy socks in town) better quality too, I'm wearing the bamboo ones currently. If you live in a small town, charity shops are your shops, otherwise it's the posh boutique or Sainsbury's.

And?

Charity shop volunteers want to create an attractive display to get people through the door and browsing. They have no budget to buy things for display. So they bring in their own stuff to add to the window. We recently had a wedding themed window in the place where i volunteer, the two dresses on the mannequins were for sale, but one of the volunteers whose daughter had recently been married brought in a whole heap of other decorations and stuff which she wanted back afterwards.

I see a lot of American 'come thrifting with me' videos on Instagram and the thrift stores look AMAZING. Huge warehouses compared to our little charity shops.

But I've found some gorgeous stuff for very little recently in charity shops - a Nigella mezzaluna and chopping board set, a marble pestle and mortar, a Spanish pottery baking dish, a miniature cut glass vase and a silvered glass candle lantern among them. Nicer than a lot of my own stuff (so OUT they went!). Sadly I ruined the lovely £7 Zara trousers when I washed too hot 🥺... But my idea of heaven is an unfamiliar town with a street full of chazzas to trawl 🤗

@Agapornis
I am not a fan of the new goods either, particularly the crystal animals and the decorative xmas items which are overpriced imo. However they do sell.

@Downatthefarm

We sell kids toys. The only things we can't sell is anything which is designated as safety equipment (so no car seats) or anything which requires certification like high chairs and costs (also don't have room for furniture) little figurines are 20p here unless boxed and collectible

Think i need to start a charity shop and live music holiday tour business ... come to my town, trawl the 7 charity shops (affluent community, loads of good brands) then head down for a choice of 3-4 free live band ms every Friday and Saturday.

That's because you are in London. We live in the middle of nowhere. Charity shops are very cheap. If they weren't they wouldn't sell anything.

My local charity shops have definitely got more expensive.

I found a well worn and washed jersey Seasalt dress for £15, ridiculous price! Just a few doors down I found another seasalt dress in linen which looked brand new and was worth the £10 I paid.

I only ever used charity shops for books and stuffed toys for my dogs.
Then COVID hit and they stopped selling stuffies and the price of books were ridiculous.
So now I scour boot sales for both and I'm usually successful.

The wonderful thing about retail ,particularly when ,like Op, you have the ability to buy brand new , is choice. You can buy it or not buy it. If you think Oxfam are vile you can make the decision to avoid. If you think the stock in a shop is rubbish/ overpriced/the dregs that the staff didn't want you can take yourself elsewhere. If everyone does it then they will have to have a sale and you might get lucky.

Our local charity shops are full of absolute rubbish. When you donate? They sift through the bags and all the decent stuff gets sent elsewhere. We are left with the tatty and bobbled rubbish from primark.

Not sure why my keypad inserted a question mark there.

Perhaps they are reflecting the trend for second hand items costing more (on eBay and Vinted) and people who can afford to buy new choosing to shop in charity shops?