wwhhhhhhhyyyy have charity shops taken to sorting clothing by colour?

[60andsomething]

I am a size 14. I want to look through what they have in my size. I want my size to be all together. I don't want to spend an hour wandering round 10 different areas looking for size 14 in every separate area.

Normal shops sort by colour because they have every size in every style, so you can choose the style you want, then go and find your size.

Charity shops only have one item in every style, so finding a style you like does not help. You need to find something by looking through what is available in your size

I just turn around and walk straight out, if I go into a charity shop nowadays and find this silly useless colour rail sorting. So all my money is going to the charity shops that DON'T do it

well, more then 3 out of 4 people agree with me, so I don't believe charity shops are making more money by doing this, it is putting most people off shopping there

I agree with you @60andsomething and find it annoying - but what is worse is when they display books by the spine colour 😱
It means frequently books that are part of a series or by the same author are split up.
That I really hate.

It’s much better. Easier to find items in your size if you like the colour. Also looks more appealing and organised!

Whilst I can appreciate that organising by colour looks nice it drives me to distraction. I find that what suits me is more a question of shade than actual colour and frankly I don't have the time or inclination to wade through every item in the shop

Luckily I'm usually hunting for dresses and these are often on a rack by themselves in size order.

I think it was Mary Portas who introduced it - it’s infuriating- if I’m looking for a top or a skirt I want to look at the relevant category, not have to sift through every item in the shop. I’m not thinking ‘Ah, today I want to buy something (anything) as long as it’s tangerine or lime green’

I prefer the shops that arrange by colour. You can avoid the colours you don’t like or don’t suit you and just go straight to the ones you do like. They also arrange by size within the colour scheme, so it takes seconds to skip through to your size.

Yes this! I went into a shop with one wall of book’s beautifully arranged in rainbow order - no categorisation or alphabetisation . No hope of finding books by authors I like or topics I’m interested in- I didn’t even bother.

I agree. I avoid the ones done by colour. It's too confusing

The op shops here in Australia sort by size, and colour within size if they have enough clothes to bother - there are usually a lot of black trousers, or a lot of jeans, for instance.

Yanbu. I walk out if it's sorted by colour.

I go in for a particular item, usually a blouse or sweater. I'm not looking for a colour, I can edit out the colours I don't want once ove found the blouse or sweater rail. Our British Heart Foundation shops still sort by item so I go there the most.

it's not a new thing. I volunteered in a charity shop over 30 years ago and we sorted clothes by colour.

I think aesthetically it's more pleasing to the eye so feels more like a "proper" shop.

My local barnardo's does this. It boils my piss and don't even get me started on their book mish mash. As a result unless there is something I see in the window or I need a knick knackey thing I don't go in. There is also no changing room anymore so how do you know something is going to fit? How bad would you feel returning something to a charity shop??

I volunteer in a BHF shop. Rails of ladies tops, skirts, knitwear, dresses, trousers, jackets all separate and in size order. Same with men’s items. We also have seasonal displays.

Books are separated into types, paperbacks in alpha order, hardbacks grouped around topic. Brica brac is decent quality, clean, and displayed attractively.

We are told by customers they like our shop, it’s easy to find what they want. We are in an area with several charity shops with differing display styles, and we turn over stock at a good rate. Plus, our shop doesn’t smell, that’s a big nono for me, and some really do.

I presume this is from the Mary Portas effect years ago. It looks nicer but is inconvenient.

Our shop no longer has a changing room, but we're happy to refund if customers keep receipts.

I prefer it too. It's easier on the eye. I hate the jumble of lots of mis-matched colours and fabrics - that's why I loathe places like TK Maxx....

I really like it! The shops near me that do it order by size within the colour section. And they aren't such vast shops that I'd spend an hour looking. I never wear grey or yellow, so that's a couple of sections I don't even look at. I don't like the jumble sale arrangement of charity shops that don't do this.

To me it's more aesthetically pleasing, but not as practical as as there's usually a lot of black stuff, which is my colour of choice for clothing, to go through.

I much prefer clothes ordered by size & type (dresses, shorts, tops etc) as I hate going through racks & racks to find maybe one or two things I might like in my size & style.

I went to M&S to find daughter bikini for the summer ahead of the rush.

Pretty distressed to find we had to walk around the whole shop to find the swimsuits. They had been put with summer clothes of the same colour too.

I think shop organisers must think we enjoy shopping. This has put me off. I like to find what I want quickly.

There is also no changing room anymore so how do you know something is going to fit? How bad would you feel returning something to a charity shop??

If there is no changing room then you should not feel bad about returning!! I have done loads of refunds when volunteering and there is no judgement involved whatsoever. Charity shops want to be treated as "proper shops" and that involves refunds and the rest of it. During the pandemic we had to keep changing rooms closed, and for a long time afterwards as there were all sorts of weird guidelines around cleaning and sanitising which we just didn't have the volunteers to keep up with. Also, many charity shops don't have changing rooms because that's where most of the shoplifting happens.

I prefer it. Sizing has little meaning in charity shops as so often they’re a little shrunk/baggy. I can get into a S-XL so I look at every size and gauge by eye.

Also I rarely go into a charity shop with ‘Must buy a skirt’ mindset. I buy on a whim depending on what’s there. It’s cheap enough and I only like certain brands. So I want to look through all the colours I like and buy if I fancy it. I’m sure most people buy more as a result.

I think aesthetically it's more pleasing to the eye so feels more like a "proper" shop

Yep, I get that it makes the shop look better and less jumbly. But I don't buy by colour, and I don't want to spend ages going from rail to rail. So I don't tend to spend in those shops.

To me it's common sense,all the local charity shops I go to do this, colour first then sizes clearly marked. I know what colours I can wear. It would drive me nuts looking through every random colour, like a jumble sale. Avoid TK Maxx,as well,2 I have been in,sizes were all mixed up, and a lot of items were incorrect sizes compared to the hanger size.

Clearly, charity shops need a Dewi Decimal system equivalent!