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AIBU?

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Original poster

Annoyed at people ranting about charity shops

360 replies

Dowhadiddydiddydum · 10/11/2023 16:10

This is one those threads that’s a release of frustration. So apologies for it being so boring.

AIBU for getting pissed off at seeing people moaning constantly about charity shops and their pricing? It’s driving me insane.

Most people’s objections seem to be based on….

  • Charity shops should be cheap…because they’re a charity ain’t they
  • I could buy that stuff cheaper elsewhere.
  • people give them things for free then they make loads of money from it.

Now am I loosing my god damn mind or do people not understand the point of charity shops is to FUCKING RAISE MONEY. So of course they want to raise as much money as possible. Of course people donate stuff for free….because they donate it so the charity can make money from it!! If you think you can get it cheaper elsewhere then bloody do it….if the shop is that over priced it’ll close down won’t it.

Been tipped over the edge by a shitty TikTok video someone made slating a local
hospice charity shop for selling their items for “too much”. The video has so many shitty comments under it….all apparently oblivious to the fact the shop exists to raise as much money as possible to support those with life limiting illnesses not so Barbara and Jeff can get a cheap table.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
FKATondelayo · 10/11/2023 18:55

BitofaStramash · 10/11/2023 18:31

Do you have any clue how much directors in charities are paid?

There are tens of thousands of charities in the UK and the vast majority of directors are paid below market rates and could earn a lot more doing something else.

There are a small number of charities where directors are paid larger sums of money. These are very large charities with turnovers of £300-£400 million who employ thousands of people often in multiple countries.

It is a good thing to employ highly qualified and experienced and well paid individuals who know what they are doing to run these multi million pound international organisations which are often involved in literally life and death operations.

Personally I would much rather these brilliant and talented people* who would make so much more in the for-profit sector would do just that. Generate profit, grow the economy and pay taxes - so we don't have the need for 'charities' - which 70% of the time are barely regulated job creation enterprises for otherwise unemployable graduates.

ChocolateCinderToffee · 10/11/2023 18:58

@FKATondelayo would you like to provide us with some evidence for your comments, or are you simply airing your own biased and uneducated opinions?

Stroopwaffels · 10/11/2023 18:59

Agree pretty much with everything you said, @Dowhadiddydiddydum. I have been a charity shop volunteer for about 10 years, first for Oxfam, now for Save the Children and I am sick to the back teeth of threads on here from people who are not volunteers moaning that:

the shops are too expensive
only stock bobbled Primark t-shirts for £30
the staff are basically a bit thick and wouldn't recognise a brand if it slapped them
all the "good stuff" whatever that means is stolen by volunteers
none of the shops make any money

Gazelda · 10/11/2023 19:01

What an incredibly insulting post @FKATondelayo. I imagine that you have absolutely no idea of the breadth of skills and compassion the many thousands of charity workers (and volunteers) provide to society. How sad life would be if we were all in it for the profit we make and the tax we pay.

Rosscameasdoody · 10/11/2023 19:01

As per previous posters. Our local charity shops are pricing goods only pennies below what you can buy new. You have to ask yourself what’s best for the charities - reasonably price second hand goods that sell, making money for the charity, or stuff that sits unsold on the shelves for months because it’s overpriced.

NeighbourhoodWatchPotholeDivision · 10/11/2023 19:02

We have this thread over and over again, and people always argue about whether a charity shop's purpose is to provide cheap items to locals.

I think that's all a red herring.

The real issue is why do donors choose to give their goods to charity shops?

Some of them are just using the charity shop as a bin. Some are donating to charity shops because they care about that cause specifically, and they want the charity to make as much money as possible.

But some are choosing to donate excellent goods that they themselves could sell on ebay, because they think donating it all to a charity shop means it will be bought by someone too skint to buy new or to bid on ebay.

So naturally those donors feel aggrieved if they feel a shop overcharges.

TheaBrandt · 10/11/2023 19:03

Hmm the owners do make money. My friends Dh looked into our local charity shops finances the owners were taking out a decent whack. The volunteers realised and left.

FKATondelayo · 10/11/2023 19:03

That we have such a big charity sector in this country is not a sign of success but of failure. We have privatised essential services (child safeguarding, medical research, hospices etc) and called it charity. And now we aren't even allowed to criticise their strategies or their employees.

Itsnamechange · 10/11/2023 19:04

To be honest I have no idea how the charity shops near me still operate. The clothes are almost always tatty, cheap brands that they're selling for almost close to retail price. People want to support charities but not at the cost of filling their home with worn looking, overpriced rubbish.
Perhaps with the rise of fast fashion and places like vinted, where you can get like new, fashionable clothes very cheap, the model just doesn't work anymore?

Ibizabar · 10/11/2023 19:04

The most popular and very busy Charity Shop in my city sells everything for under a fiver. Most things are priced around 3 quid. I suspect it makes more money than the ones that have more expensive prices.

FKATondelayo · 10/11/2023 19:05

Gazelda · 10/11/2023 19:01

What an incredibly insulting post @FKATondelayo. I imagine that you have absolutely no idea of the breadth of skills and compassion the many thousands of charity workers (and volunteers) provide to society. How sad life would be if we were all in it for the profit we make and the tax we pay.

You know nothing about me. I'm speaking from personal experience as one of those volunteers.

Ragwort · 10/11/2023 19:07

Like any organisation or business there will be well run charity shops and poorly run ones .. and it's mostly down to the manager. I've worked in charity retail for many years and I've turned around a poorly performing shop on a number of occasions. Of course the odd 'bobbly Primark top' will sometimes appear but most hard working charity shop managers know what stock will sell in their area and the prices they can charge.
But agree with others the quality of donations has gone downhill recently.
However there are bargains to be found .. only yesterday I found a Weird Fish top (practically new) for £7 - very happy with that. (Not in the shop I manage!).
Poor performing shops will be closed down. I've had to say 'goodbye' to many colleagues over the years if they can't produce a reasonable profit on their shop sales.
If you don't like the prices/ambience/customer service etc offered by your local charity shop then feel free to shop elsewhere... there are plenty of retailers I don't shop in as I don't like their ethos (Primark etc) but most charity shoppers like the fact that they are helping to avoid landfill and fast fashion. A PP said she wouldn't buy a paperback for £2.99 from a charity shop as she could buy it at the same price from Amazon, personally I never shop at Amazon for ethical reasons and would much rather buy from a charity shop & I believe £2.99 is a fair price for a paperback (in good condition) when the price of a new paperback is £8.99 now.

Holly60 · 10/11/2023 19:09

sprigatito · 10/11/2023 16:33

I agree with the pp who pointed out that charity shops used to serve a dual purpose; raising money for charities, and providing a source of affordable goods to people in poverty. People objecting to the fact that this has changed aren't doing anything wrong, however irrationally angry it makes you. Nobody likes being ripped off, and it's particularly galling to be ripped off by an establishment that used to be a part of the solution rather than the problem.

On your point about charity shops closing down if customers vote with their feet; they are closing down more frequently than ever, certainly where I live. Many don't last long, and it does tend to be the ones with preposterous prices that fail.

I totally agree with this. Yes of course charity shops are aiming to make money for charity but in the past it has felt like they are also fulfilling a function of providing affordable goods for those who wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford them.

It feels more and more like the second purpose is falling by the wayside.

And let's be honest, most people's primary motivation for going into a charity shop is to pick up a bargain. If they don't feel this is likely to be the case, it's less likely they will even go in the shop.

clappyjay · 10/11/2023 19:09

Ibizabar · 10/11/2023 19:04

The most popular and very busy Charity Shop in my city sells everything for under a fiver. Most things are priced around 3 quid. I suspect it makes more money than the ones that have more expensive prices.

Same here

And I happily donate decent clothes their way because I appreciate the shop being there and want to support it continuing

I honestly don’t understand the justifications on here for charity shops selling used items for the same (or higher!) than getting it new. I also find it difficult to believe those shops actually do well using that strategy.

Rosscameasdoody · 10/11/2023 19:10

BitofaStramash · 10/11/2023 18:31

Do you have any clue how much directors in charities are paid?

There are tens of thousands of charities in the UK and the vast majority of directors are paid below market rates and could earn a lot more doing something else.

There are a small number of charities where directors are paid larger sums of money. These are very large charities with turnovers of £300-£400 million who employ thousands of people often in multiple countries.

It is a good thing to employ highly qualified and experienced and well paid individuals who know what they are doing to run these multi million pound international organisations which are often involved in literally life and death operations.

The average salary of charity CEO’s in 2023 is £175000 PA. These salaries are paid from donations and off the backs of the people who volunteer. You think this is OK ?

ichundich · 10/11/2023 19:11

I think your thinking is flawed OP. Charity shops that overcharge won't necessarily close down for being unprofitable. They are massively propped up by lower business rates and tax breaks. Also I presume some of the money that is made by selling online from a particular shop helps to keep it open. It's not true that shops will reduce items that won't sell, or else I wouldn't see the same rags on the rails weeks and even months in some of the charity shops I frequent. By not selling donated items back to the community at affordable prices, they are loosing people's goodwill, who will start taking their clothes elsewhere. They are also filling up floor space with cheap new tat that you can buy anywhere and are therefore loosing one of their main USP's - second-hand, environmentally friendly and / or unusual items.

CatMadam · 10/11/2023 19:13

If people can get new clothes cheaper than second hand from a charity shop, then they won’t spend money in charity shops! I don’t think it makes much business sense to overprice second hand clothes.

ShanghaiDiva · 10/11/2023 19:13

@Stroopwaffels
absolutely! So sick of being classed as a bit dim, but smart enough to buy up all the best bits for tuppence.

TheChristmasPig · 10/11/2023 19:13

Dowhadiddydiddydum · 10/11/2023 16:23

But they must be making money or they’d close no? Just because you think their things are too expensive doesn’t mean they aren’t selling.

I agree it’s odd when things are priced higher than the original.

Show quote history

It does mean they are not selling though. The label says how many weeks they have been there, then after that it's off to the pay by weight or landfill.

Ragwort · 10/11/2023 19:14

Charity shop sales are up 15% vs LY for the first Q of this year ... so most of them are doing something right whatever mumsnetters like to think.

SideBob · 10/11/2023 19:15

ichundich · 10/11/2023 19:11

I think your thinking is flawed OP. Charity shops that overcharge won't necessarily close down for being unprofitable. They are massively propped up by lower business rates and tax breaks. Also I presume some of the money that is made by selling online from a particular shop helps to keep it open. It's not true that shops will reduce items that won't sell, or else I wouldn't see the same rags on the rails weeks and even months in some of the charity shops I frequent. By not selling donated items back to the community at affordable prices, they are loosing people's goodwill, who will start taking their clothes elsewhere. They are also filling up floor space with cheap new tat that you can buy anywhere and are therefore loosing one of their main USP's - second-hand, environmentally friendly and / or unusual items.

Edited

Agree - good point about the USP. I don't go into the ones that sell tat because they don't provide me with the three things mentioned and are about as far from a bargain as you can get

ShanghaiDiva · 10/11/2023 19:16

@Ragwort agree with you. A new paperback is £10 and I will price a vg paperback a £2.25 which is a fair price.

ShanghaiDiva · 10/11/2023 19:17

shops do reduce items. I do markdowns in the shop where I volunteer and we markdown after 2 weeks.

ShanghaiDiva · 10/11/2023 19:18

Ragwort · 10/11/2023 19:14

Charity shop sales are up 15% vs LY for the first Q of this year ... so most of them are doing something right whatever mumsnetters like to think.

Absolutely!

Stroopwaffels · 10/11/2023 19:22

he FACT is that people who CAN afford new clothes will buy new. Who the heck trawls through charity shops if money isn't an issue?

Me! I can easily afford new. But why should I shell out £140 on a black shift dress from Hobbs for a funeral, when I can get the same one in a charity shop for a tenner?

I don't want to be wearing the same as everyone else. I definitely do not support the fast fashion brands.

Why on these threads is 100% of the focus on clothing? We get sales broken down by department every weeks and our top selling category is bric a brac, followed by toys/games and then women's clothing.