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.

Not something to state proudly. Exploitation occurs across the fashion industry, but Shein must be one of the worst.

It totally depends on the charity shop.
I’m feeling very pleased because my local trendy, usually expensive, charity shop was having a sale and I came away with an Oliver Bonas jumper, some Bolongaro Trevor jeans that seem to be new, and a useful green top for £10.50.
I agree some charity shops seem to have lost their way though.

Or they’re sent there by the job centre.

It started with the introduction of degree courses in running charities, which of course meant that those with the degrees wanted equivalent earning power to those business graduates in other businesses.
I refuse to purchase anything from a so-called “charity” whose CEO is paid similar to that of a large Corporation, with a company car with a cost that would comfortably pay my mortgage for the next 25 years!
Look it up before being duped into donating or purchasing, folks!

I used to work in this industry and can absolutely tell you it's all about the money. No one in senior management ever once mentioned landfill, cheap goods for struggling locals etc.
But if the local shop managers weren't hitting targets they'd go on a PIP and ultimately get booted out.

They would try and sell stock at highrt prices, unsold stock would then go to discount shops where prices were much lower.
Try and find out where tye discount charity shops are.

I used to shop at charity shops years ago due to it being eco friendly. At that time due to policies pursued by some countries was also very careful to not buy clothes made from some countries so it was not a price thing. However, I was conscious of the price and also choice - this was about 15/18 years ago. I rarely visit charity shops now as I disagree with the ethics of some charity shops whilst also I noticed there is less choice and prices have gone up. I shop now on eBay or Vinted as this still eco friendly.

I donate to charity shops and have changed the charity shops I donate to due the policies they follow.

One of my local charity shops has £5 as its upper cap and it's basically the only one I visit. I have bought beautiful dresses for £5 from there before, looked them up online to see them originally retailing for £100! I get charity shops are there to raise money for charity but they are getting expensive. We needed a suitcase for dd for holiday a few weeks ago and one near us had sales of "new stock" children's suitcases (stuff the shops couldn't sell, clearly). They were close to full retail price. This is great for the charity shop, I get it and I hope they made lots of sales but I ended up getting one for a fraction of the price on Facebook marketplace.

It's a shame, but probably the way things will be from now on.

This is very true!! There is a posh part of the city I live in and the charity shops are full of Ralph Lauren and Hobbs etc etc. a little pricier but I can justify it for some good quality stuff.

They exist as a charity to help those less fortunate, not you. Stick to Vinted. Put the money that could help many into a pot for one
What a first-world, me, me, me post

YANBU. I live in an affluent area and the charity shop prices are through the roof. I do understand that rents are high. But I'll be sticking to Vinted, thanks.

Agreed. I tend to go in on the hunt for books more than anything and have had some bargains over the years but clothes are almost always better on vinted.

Many charities refuse to take part in this, if it still exists which I'm not sure that it does. Partly on moral grounds. But also, would you want someone working in your business who doesn't want to be there, needs to be trained/supervised and is only there because they are required to be?

And as for @Anyotherdude 's silly comments about salaries and mortgages - again back to the idea that you can effectively run a massive operation like Cancer Research or the British Heart Foundation on fresh air and good will, or at the most pay someone minimum wage.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I can afford to buy new clothes from the high street. I have quite a bit of disposable income left over each month.

But I choose to buy on Vinted and in charity shops because I love bargains and it feels like less 'pressure' to make sure I wear in regularly. I also buy most of my furniture secondhand; it feels more unique. I hate landfill and waste and like contributing to charity. So it's a no brainer really.

Me too @Werehalfwaythere. I very much dislike fast fashion and I don't want to wear the same thing as everyone else. I do occasionally buy new but probably 65% - 75% of my wardrobe is second hand. We are not hard up by any stretch of the imagination and it's much more about sustainability and reducing your impact on the planet - same reason we had sofas reupholstered rather than throwing out and buying new, or have an electric car, or don't change the decor in the house every five minutes.

The idea that charity shops are "for the poor people" is very outdated.

Two charity shops in our town closed due to not being viable to run, they couldn't turn stock around fast enough and stopped taking donations (months before closing). They were over priced. It was that simple. One shop used to do a roaring trade, but had a change of management. The new manager doubled the price on all clothing and tripled the price on bric-a-brac and books. When they were closing down, all stock was reduced by 75% and they guy on the till said to me, they had taken more at the till so far that day, than they had in any other day in the last 18 months.
Second charity shop was similar, they'd have a high foot fall but very few sales...if you are getting a high foot fall and your not selling, then there is a problem with your business model; for charity shops it simply means prices are too high. Of course they want to raise as much money for the charity as possible, no one is denying that, but if things aren't shifting off the shelves then it's not a profitable for the charity and possibly not breaking even, or worst still costing the charity money.
In our town people absolutely vote with their feet....or perhaps wallet would be a better descriptor, two charity shops left, one does a flying trade the other not so much.

Problem with chazzers now is that everyone is looking for that donated item for £5 which is actually worth about £50.

It's so easy to sell on ebay, vinted, FB marketplace, car boots etc that people are just looking to make a profit, not for something for themselves.

This might be 'bingo', but I imagine some volunteers are now doing it so they get first dibs on stuff they can sell on for large sums as ' vintage'.

They raise money for charity, the problem is people use them like a recycling centre and dump all their old crap off there. Though I must admit I haven't seen anything on Vinted that is worth the bother of buying yet

My local charity shops are so expensive. They don't understand if they put cheaper price, more people would buy and there wouldn't be lots of stock left. Clothes that don't sell get shipped off to places in Africa https://theferret.scot/uk-second-hand-clothing-pollutes-african-nations/

I donate to charity shops because I don’t want my old stuff to go to landfill. I don’t really care whether they sell it for 50p or £5. But I’d prefer them to sell it for 50p and it actually get used, vs try to sell it for £5 then ship it off to Africa when nobody wants to pay that amount.

Nowadays I often just give stuff away for free to someone who’ll actually benefit from it. In my opinion charity shops who price too high are violating that part of the social contract - it’s not just about raising money for the charity, it’s also about reducing landfill and supporting people in poverty.

They absolutely do still send people to ‘volunteer’ long term unemployed people.

They can only send people to places which will accept them, and many charities are not willing to accept volunteers in these circumstances.

Oh can I ask how the sofa reupholstering works? We are moving soon and have a John Lewis sofa that's still structurally sound but the fabrics quite worn and it marks really easily. Does reupholstering tend to be very expensive? How do you get a sofa to them? I'm assuming with transport fees etc it ends up being crazy money?

I also buy secondhand because I love quality wood products and avoid MDF/cheap laminates. Don't get me wrong, we have our share of IKEA products but for the items that we'll keep forever (table and chairs, side tables, book cases etc) we prefer them to be real wood. Not only to last a lifetime with the right care, but also because it's beautiful.

Charities need the best people at the top too. The best people don't come cheap, I fail to see the relevance of your mortgage in this.

@Werehalfwaythere we contacted a local upholstery company, the guy came round and looked at the sofas, we chose a swatch of what we wanted it covered with, then we agreed a pick up time and he came with his van. Took about a fortnight.

Did it cost a lot? Whilst I hate waste, I'm also hesitant to spend as much on my old 7 year old sofa, than it would cost me to buy a new one with probably longer lasting power.