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?

True, but even if we were in an area where there would be those type of buyers, surely you’d just buy the identical, working version for the same price?
There used to be another shop in the same town where almost everything was under a fiver. It was always heaving and week on week there was nothing the same.

Maybe I have rose tinted glasses, but for me a store selling affordable clothing and shoes in an area that really needs them, with the proceeds going to charity, seems more of a win win situation than having an overpriced coat sit on the rack for months until someone realises it needs to be dramatically reduced.

London Islington today. Charity shop, not a vintage boutique. Used boots £78. Used cotton shirt £19.99. The cheapest thing I found was a used t shirt £8.

What the good giddy chuff is going on there!

@AdobeWanKenobi apparently that is a "thing" that prop buyers do though - search out stuff from secondhand places. They don't need something to be working because it's just a prop.

We had a prop buyer in our shop about 6 weeks ago, sourcing props for something for BBC Scotland. She wanted hiking gear - rucksacks, woolly hats, waterproof jackets, maps etc - and going to buy all new from Mountain Warehouse doesn't look right on screen as experienced hikers don't look as if their gear has just walked right out of the shop.

I was at the Harry Potter studios place in London and lots of their movie props came from charity shops too. Yes it's niche, but you never know what the purpose of a purchase is.

A lot of the charity shops in Islington are quite pricey (at least near upper street etc) - it’s not unusual for central(ish) London charity shops to be priced higher in my experience. The Chelsea ones are the same.

Charity shops get a whopping 80% discount off their business rates. Rates are based on the rent the occupier pays, and charity shops tend not to be in premium locations. I suspect that many commercial landlords would rather charge a low rent to a charity than have the premises empty.

Why not think of it as a donation to charity as well as getting an item of clothing for the money? There's probably a minimum price they need to charge just to cover overheads. Primark or Asda have a much higher turnover and lower overheads per item I expect.

I find oxfam so expensive and cats protection used to be quite reasonably priced but our locsl one has put up their prices. Barnardos aren't too bad - used to live near a large one which sold electrical stuff which was quite cheap. Also salvation army are good as well. Depends on the area where they are if it's a well heeled area then they price the donations accordingly.

I saw an Ikea bookcase in a British Heart Foundation shop. It was pretty tatty and the price tag said £40. They sell for £15 brand new!

@TimeToStopLurking that's ridiculous!

Charities think they're being clever with their Sky high prices but they'll just end up with a load of smelly old stock sitting round for years

Well , I worked in a charity shop once ( volunteer ) There was one paid employee. It was hard work so a big thank you to volunteers who keep these shops going.

My niece and her friends love "thrifting " . Some charity shops are run better , better donations etc than others and price reasonably. I don't know how much autonomy the volunteers have versus the local manager or the charity overall.

I live in central London, there are three charity shops on my local high street with pretty similar items and all literally right next to each other. Two of them are priced in way I don't really understand - e.g. in one, £60 for an M&S jumper (yes it's cashmere, but it looked very worn and new ones are available for £85). The third one is super reasonable, I got a brand name windbreaker for £15 and lots of other stuff is just priced normally.

Before I figured this out, I donated some things to one of the "expensive" shops. I remember going back and balking at how much they were trying to sell my things for - one man's trash etc. but it just seemed laughable.

My son buys secondhand vinyl records and books.

Occasionally I go with him into a couple of charity shops .

There is one for Age U.K. that charges extortionate prices.

Whilst I was waiting for my son I spied a small velvet armchair that I had seen in B&Q for approximately £70 and because this one was used I thought it would be no more than £20. They wanted £165 for it complete with stain in the middle of the seat that looked like blood.

I googled it and it was the same chair and I showed the woman in the shop my phone and she pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes and snapped that I don't have to buy it! I said no I didn't want to buy it and was just pointing out that it was priced far too high as it could be bought brand new from B&Q.

I then got the evil eye for the rest of my waiting for my son! 😂

Mary Portas ruined charity shops when she taught them to price at market value so it is much harder now to find a bargain. Some of them look on Ebay and Amazon marketplace (for books) to price items accordingly.

Car boot sales seem to out sell the charity shops in my neck of the woods. The charity shop prices have significantly increased. I also notice the charity shops appear to be less busy.

I really don't understand this argument which sounds like sour grapes to be honest - how dare the charity shops sell at market value rather than pricing everything for 20p and stop you getting a bargain!

As those of us who volunteer in charity shops and regularly buy there know, there are still lots of bargains to be had. And the sector as a whole is booming. So clearly lots of people are finding stock they want to buy, at a price they're happy to pay.

I'd like to see proof of a primark coat being sold for £40.

In our shop the Primark coat wouldn't even go out for sale unless it was pristine. If it was, it'd be priced at £7 at the most. Primark often doesn't put Primark on their labels though and it's only experience which teaches you that Atmosphere, Cedar Wood State and Denim Co are Primark, Nutmeg is Morrisons, Papaya is Matalan and so on.

These sort of threads are on MN regularly. There are many posters who like to share their charity shop horror stories.

But there are millions of people who are satisfied charity shop customers.

And there are countless causes who benefit hugely from the income generated thanks to the generosity of donors, shoppers, staff and volunteers.

Added to that, a recent study found that for every £1 a charity invested into retail, £7.35 is delivered in social value.

Overall, I think that charity shops are worth their weight in gold and should be treasured and appreciated.

Popped into a charity shop last week - brand new huge globe unmarked and in pristine condition £2.50 did as a Christmas present for a friend. Galileo glass thermometer huge one £4.99 bargain. But …. I don’t but over priced tat and that’s the issue if they price a chair at £165 that was £20 new they won’t sell it and the shop will lose business and die.

charity shops don’t pay much in rates, they don’t pay much for staff and they don’t pay for goods they sell - so it’s a high revenue earner - so yes cheap and a high turnover of stuff is needed

I used to work in charity retail. This model was employed for shops that took in stuff from all the other local shops in the chain that hadn’t sold after so many weeks on sale. It kept stock fresh in the former and allowed some money to be made in the latter which was more than they would get for rag money. So it’s not as bizarre a model as you think.

Charity shops are often run by people who don't understand the interplay between pricing, inventory management and profit per item. They will often assume that the goal is to target the highest mark up on an item, regardless of how long it takes to sell.

In reality, you need to be thinking more in terms of time to sell and dividing that profit by the number of days that item was occupying a hanger in the store.

Eg which makes more money: the overpriced item which takes 6 months to sell & makes £100, or items which only make £1 a time but sell in a day so sell 180 in the 6 months the other item takes to shift

the sector as a whole is booming. So clearly lots of people are finding stock they want to buy, at a price they're happy to pay.

Not really. Charity shops have exceptionally low costs due to business rate exemptions & volunteer staff. As a result they can often remain in business for years despite performing really poorly as retailers.

There's probably a minimum price they need to charge just to cover overheads. Primark or Asda have a much higher turnover and lower overheads per item I expect.

Ha. Asda & primark have much higher overheads! Paid staff, much higher business rates, usually higher rents due to locations, far far higher spend in store on fixtures and fittings, decor etc.

She probably did a lot to help the charities make money, which of course is the main aim. I’m a volunteer, the shop I work in makes money! Some items are very cheap, we’ll do promotions of children's clothes £1 or £2 per item. We sell school uniforms before new term starts, badged blazers in good condition £5. Yesterday a customer was really pleased to pay £15 for a pair of very lightly worn, Adidas trainers, she said they would be about £40 new.

There may be mistakes made on pricing occasionally, although clothes and shoes should be within a specific range. If a customer spots damage on a garment, we would thank them, and either remove it from sale, or reduce the price if they want it. We look online when we get an unusual ceramic, or to check a hallmark. Our donors deserve that we ask a reasonable price for quality items.