To think a charity shop is taking the piss asking these prices?

[FrasierReboot]

Went into a charity shop today. Yes, I get that the charity needs to make money etc etc but....

£40 for worn bobbly Primark and George at Asda coats. Would probably have been half that price brand new

£7 for worn jeans with holes in the bum and or/crotch or seams, again brands such as Primark or George.

AIBU to think this is mad?

It's very hit and miss locally - there is a local animal charity which has several shops and you can often find good stuff really cheap (the shops are a real jumble and you have to rummage!) but some of the bigger name charities are a bit of a joke - an Emma Bridgewater mug for £16, an 'original' but really terrible watercolour by some unknown amateur for £40.

However, today I found 4 Folio Society Elizabeth David cookbooks that looked as if they'd never been taken out of their cardboard sleeves for £4.50 each

I donated an Indonesian (Lombok) pot to one of our local charity shops then spotted it in an antiques shop for £35. They sure do trawl the charity shops.......

Which is better - giving a man a fish or teaching him how to fish?

Your approach seems to suggest that giving out fish is the ideal situation, and someone showing a bit of initiative and making money isn't.

The same item gets sold at least twice when resellers buy it and sell it on. In fact, it's sold three times if you factor in the original sale to the first consumer. That's an extremely efficient way to use a resource to generate income.

Where does that income go? Maybe the local cafe or hairdresser's or another small, local business? And don't forget that transactions and income are taxed.

There are limitations on square footage in the shop and space in the average sorting room.

There is also the good business practice of presenting new merchandise frequently.

A shop with a reputation for items selling quickly will make people decide to buy when they see something. This requires low enough prices to ensure people are tempted to buy.

A shop with a reputation for having the same merchandise hanging on the racks for months will put people off crossing the threshold.

The bird in the hand principle applies here. Money in the till and space for new items are real; potential money on the racks for weeks isn't.

@Gorgonemilezola and what's the issue with that?

Just dont buy them. Tbh i voice it when im in charity shop thats overpriced. Was a joules coat for 45 quid...anorak.. could get that one new for that...i said to Manager that can get new for same price...and a marks n spencer cardigan...9.49...i mean lol . I just put them back... say 'youre joking' when look at price tag and put it bk

I believe you are probably right. But I when people are mentioning brands like ASDA and £40 blazers - I'm assuming the person pricing it has no malicious intent and didn't know how cheap the brand was. I mean i went to a consignment shop in the USA before I moved back - I wanted to sell a Christofle Candelabra that was given to me.. they offered $100. I smiled politely and left with it. They had no idea what Christofle was. But yeah I wish reselling from charity shops banned to be honest. And yes I'm aware that's logistically impossible... :(

Absolutely no issue - it was in response to a poster who doesn't like people reselling charity shop purchases, someone asking where they thought antique shops obtain the goods they sell, and a poster saying car boots/auctions etc, suggesting antique dealers don't buy from charity shops.

I was actually quite tickled at the antique shop's nouse, tbh, and wish I had the energy to do similar.

@Gorgonemilezola oh ok - apologies if I sounded a bit bitchy the way I said it 🙂
Some people get funny about the re-selling concept.
I tried a bit of secondhand book selling a few years ago with stock that came from various places including charity shops. It was fun but a lot of hard work and very time consuming sourcing the stock. It's very definitely a full time job to do it if you actually want to make a profit.

Needmorelego, yes, it sounds like an easy way to have your own business but I can imagine it's a lot of work.

Commercial landlords have to pay business rates if shops (or anything else) is still unoccupied after six months, so it's better to have charity shops than nothing at all.

Is there a reason you didn't just say alexander mcqueen???

Yes. When friends admire my coat I don't want them to know where I got it.

A few weeks ago I bought an M&S top from a charity shop. There were no changing rooms open so I took it home. A couple of weeks later I went to try it on and not only did it have a hole under the arm, the neck was safety pinned ( probably so it wasn't obscene). Another time I bought a black skirt, couple of weeks later whilst wearing it I discovered that it too had a small hole ( not visible unless wearing it). I've given up now

Commercial landlords have to pay full rates on vacant property after six months, so they would rather a charity shop took the space.

YANBU. The prices have become insane. £20 for some used baby moccasins...looked on Vinted and found the same in the box for £2.50

Nobody is criticizing the volunteers. It is the people who are getting paid big salaries who presumably set the policies.

They weren't being generous they were being lazy!

Also Goodwill isn't technically a charity, it is a "Not for profit".
The owners/ senior managers pay themselves vary good salaries while the shop staff are volunteers or on minimum wage.

Legislation doesn't apply to under 18s!

You are being ridiculous. Resellers are paying the asking price not stealing from the charity shop.

Lots of our donors wouldn’t consider selling their old clothes on line. Not lazy in the least. They choose to give to the charity of their choice.

No, not ridiculous, just calling out the sort of entitled behaviour whereby resellers are complaining about the prices they pay to buy goods in charity shops when all they want is a source of cheap goods they can sell for their own profit. Yuck.