Charity shop prices

[Whatisgoingonheredear]

I buy a lot of clothes for the kids on vinted but yesterday went to nosey in some charity shops with DD. I used to get a lot of my own clothes from charity shops (now I use vinted) and we went to the same street that I'd go to before.
A spider man long sleeved baby boys shirt that was absolutely COVERED in cat hair for £4. At £1.50 I might not have been bothered about getting all the hair off, but at £4, it's a no and kind of gross.
Most of the baby items were the same price as a new item in a highstreet sale.
DD saw a toy that she liked. It was £5. It wasn't an expensive brand toy and there were pieces missing. I asked if they'd accept £2.50 given there were missing pieces and they said no.
She then asked for a teddy that she liked....that was £10!!! For a charity shop teddy. She had her own money but I did steer her away because I'd feel awful for her letting her spend her savings on such an expensive second hand, maybe third hand, toy.
I looked at a baby walker. It was £20. For a used and donated walker?

Needless to say we didn't come out with a lot. I got a couple of kids items that I thought were OK quality and not so horrendously priced, but then I got home and managed to pick up 6 items on vinted for the same price as 1 charity shop item.
I won't be bothering again. I do donate to charities and am well aware they need to make money but....why is it so expensive? Especially in the current climate and with things like vinted to compete with?
The stock was free to them and charities in my area get discounted rent and discounted business rates.

@Werweisswohin It doesn't surprise me that it happens in some places, but others have clamped down on it to make it fairer, and possibly weed out the volunteers who are only in it to nab the good stuff. I didn't come across anyone like that when I volunteered though.

Then there are the Chief Execs to pay.......

Why on earth would they dedicate shelf space to something that might sell for £1 when they could put 10 paperbacks in that space that would sell for 50p each?

And do they want a reputation for selling incomplete goods rather than quality items? Case in point - the infamous primark bobbly t shirt.

Haven't read the whole thread but have we had "volunteers steal all the good stuff" and "old dears who don't know their Prada from their Primark" yet?

This thread has been hashed out so many times on here, everyone's an expert without ever having set food in a charity shop changing room. Many shops are struggling with a chronic lack of volunteers, a volume of donations which is not changing but the quality of items on the slide, rising costs for heating/lighting/everything else, increasing demands for the projects their charity is funding. By and large, charity shop managers know what they're doing. If their shop is not making money, they will reassess their strategy. For example - we've stopped selling skirts unless bnwt because we were shifting only 1 or 2 a week and that space is better given over to tops/coats which do sell.

Also chuckling at the idea of trolleys in your average UK charity shop. We don't even have baskets it's so small.

The charity shop I volunteer in is pretty spacious compared to most though you do have to get nifty to dodge mobility scooters.

Being on the shop floor all the items I have bought are already on sale in the shop (except for one top I saw on the rail to be put out). I am regularly surprised by customers buying items I would have bought if I’d noticed it. The donations vary from very generous to unwashed cups and socks.

I can afford to buy new but am trying to reduce my ecological footprint so buy as much as possible from charity shops. I buy something, wear it for a year or so and then redonate it if it’s still in good condition.

Er no, they like to contribute to the community and are often survivors of the cause or have a personal link. Also for older people it's socially beneficial.

As I understand it, the problem a lot of charity shops - those that are part of a chain - have a very rigid pricing strategy where a new top with tags will be £x, a used one £x and so on, without any concession as to the value of the brand. Therefore you get a £4 top someone couldn’t be bothered to take back to Primark on sale for £3, whereas in reality it’s worth more like 50p.

Independent and smaller chains tend to offer better value. The managers have more flexibility. I volunteered in a small chain many times back and noticed we were pricing CD singles at the same price as albums. I told my manager and she let me re-price them there and then. That wouldn’t happen in a big chain.

I've been told by someone that would know that charities don't raise much money from their charity shops.
I don't know why and how.

@Misthios thank you for being the voice of sanity here. At the shop I volunteer at we sell at very reasonable prices and are a very dedicated group working hard to raise money which heavily supports the branch I and others at the shop volunteer at. These threads are getting incredibly tiresome. I think I will just avoid them in future

I don't know where you live, OP, or where other PPs live.
I live in a reasonably "middle class" affluent town in the north west, and within and around the main town centre we have charity shops run by Barnardo's, Oxfam, a local hospice for adults, a local hospice for children, the Roy Castle foundation, (one for clothes + bric-a-brac and one for furniture), and North West Air Ambulance. They are all popular and sell great stuff at great prices!

Yes, Claret, but that’s the shop you work in. That’s how charity shops used to be, but now, shops like you describe are few and far between. It’s a shame, because all of us on this thread absolutely love the shops like you describe. The large chains, however, are just not the same anymore. They tend to pick out the good stuff to sell online, then charge high prices for the Primark and Shein stuff that none of us want.

Don’t waste your time going to charity shops in posh places! Saw a t-shirt from one of the supermarkets with original tag at £5 in a CS in Harrogate priced at £6! £1 more!

Go to CS in tips! They are cheap. Bought a pair of Adidas trainers there for £2.50. If they were sold at another CS, they would be at least 3 times as more

@Bohomovies Not true at all. There are several near me that work in the same way ours does. This is charity shop bashing which seems like a national sport on here alongside having a go at teachers. Places like these shops keep charities going and helping the most marginalised in our society. The only shame is the lack of respect they get

I find the small local charity shops have items priced realistically. The big brands like oxfam, BHF etc are overpriced. Often primark or shein clothing priced at more than it cost brand new.
Recently I spotted a decorative bowl in BHF on sale for £5. I own 2 of said bowl and they cost me £1.99 from home bargains.
Im all for charity shops making money for the charity. But not fleecing customers in the process

There are several charity shops near where I live, and most are over-priced. However, I went into a Save The Children one yesterday. and found 3 baby/toddler toys, all in excellent, clean condition, and working (one even had the batteries in). One was a Fisher Price teddy thing, and the other 2 were Vtech . £3 each! My little GD will love them.

@claretblue79 True in my area, Claret. I should know - I’ve volunteered in three of them!
People having a different opinion to yours isn’t automatically “charity shop bashing” or a lack of respect. Please broaden your horizons and understand that things might be done differently outside of your little bubble.

I saw a Cos jumper in my local charity shop yesterday and it was 50 pounds. I know Cos is a premium brand but I can't imagine spending 50 pounds on a charity shop purchase unless I really loved it. They also had a Boden dress for 20 pounds that I thought was a little steep

Very well said @claretblue79

@Bohomovies Sounds like you should take your own advice. Have a look at the majority of these threads, always having a go at charity shops. I'm perfectly fine with my horizons, thanks very much. I will stick to the doing the best I can and leave you to continue moaning. By the way, I have helped at several shops myself so don't try pulling the one-upmanship with me. And thank you @NewName24, I appreciate that.

To the people who say if a shop has everything under £3 they will sell more and have a faster turnover if often does not work like that as some donators want their item to make as much as they can for the charity

My DH used to run a charity shop his prices were reasonable and he had regular customers and also regular donators.

The charity shop a few doors down started selling every thing under £3, including coats, I popped in the first Saturday and it was heaving, second Saturday it was busy, by the third Saturday it was quiet but more to the point they hardly had any stock, while I was there a lady came in and said she had donations in her car, but it was good quality clothes that she was sure would sell for more than £3, she was told that they only sold clothing at £3 or less.

I was back in my DH shop when the same lady came in and asked if we wanted donations and I helped her bring them in, I was signing her up for Gift Aid when she admitted she usually donated to the other shop as she supported the Charity but she was sure they were worth more than £3.

The actual clothing was clean and good quality mens stuff, Boss, Racing Green, Ted Baker, Stone Island that type of thing, the next week she bought in women's clothing Karen Millen, Armani Exchange. Sea Salt, that type of thing, nothing in my size unfortunately

I volunteered at the shop for about a year after that, by that time the £3 shop had gone back to higher prices but that donator was still bringing in her clothes to us.

You’re being very unreasonable OP. If you’re not willing to pay £4 for a cat hair t shirt, how will Cancer Research afford to pay their CEO her quarter of a million pound salary every year ??

The trick here is to try more upmarket towns.there is a couple I like ,in a pretty market town about 30 mins drive .one has lots all well laid out and has raised 30k for breast cancer. Another similar town bought a shirt for ,5.00 like new for dh.a white blouse for me m and s the same.try and go maybe once a month rather than each week 😀

😂😂 awesome comment!!!!

I'm quite pleased to think charity shops are selling stuff I give to them at its proper value. I want them to raise as much money as possible from it.