To ask for discounts at charity shops

[GroaningGyrtle]

We have loads of really nice charity shops round where I live, and I shop there regularly.

However, there are a couple of shops that (IMO) massively overprice garments.

I picked up an unbranded top yesterday with a couple of loose threads at the bottom - took it to the till, and it was £9.50.

I paid it this time, but sometimes I have asked for discounts on the grounds of damage or things just not being sensibly priced.

Genuinely curious: is it better to ask for a discount sometimes, or to not buy the garment at all? Thanks in advance for opinions!

YABU: If you don't want to pay the price on the tag, leave it
YANBU: No harm in asking for a discount

that’s a waste imo- we would either sell sold as seen for a nominal amount or ask for a small donation for it.

I came on here to say this. Talk about entitled

Not really that simple though is it? No discount, maybe OP doesn't buy it. Maybe nobody buys it. Maybe it eventually ends up on the sale rale for even less. Maybe it ends up in landfill. OP paying a discounted price could easily be best case for the charity and that damaged or overpriced item.

I do think the shops are getting a little unrealistic and adding cost into the system by moving things around shops and trying to maximise price per item rather than throughput - fresh stock is more shoppers more frequently and so longer term means more cash raised - there is a balance to be had in my view. I do get annoyed by Tu or similar t shirts for £5 or more though as they are barely that new and usually badly mis shaped. I find prices vary wildly and smaller more local charities are less expensive and more in touch with pricing. There are still bargains to be had but you have to look at the demographic of donors and volunteers and the charity itself. I always think charity shops should have two purposes - the recycling of goods and the raising of funds. Also meaning for those less well off or with less disposable income there is somewhere to fall back on

I mean it sounds like it's working for you but I do think it's a little bit tight. The money is going back to charity. Why would you want to give them less?

I don’t blame you OP- they can say yes or no! Good luck to you ☺️
I love a charity shop visit but many things are overpriced; Primark stuff priced higher than new isn’t going to sell! Baggy stained stuff probably won’t either.
Love the £1 rails too- found a very good brand-name cardy on there- total bargain

I suspect it might be that head office pricing that is causing the issues. My favourite charity shop often has really good workwear from Hobbs, Reiss & Whistles and I've happily paid £30 for an item and felt lucky to have bagged a bargain.

£4.50 for a supermarket polyester blouse though? No thanks.

Unless it's clearly damaged i would not ask for a discount, just refuse to buy if it's too much.

Pricing is done by type of garment and brand

I wanted 23 pieces of my retro dinner service that were in a charity shop for £30. My DH was adamant that we had more than enough. I told the assistant my DH didn’t want me to buy it so could I possibly have it for £25. She was desperate to get it off the shelves and accepted with alacrity. I’ve never done it before and will probably never do it again.

Because I don’t have unlimited money? Either I buy from the charity shop or I buy from Vinted — both preloved and more sustainable.

Got to laugh at people calling me entitled and then saying things like “if it’s only a few quid more, why not pay it?”

You do realise charity shops are an economic choice for a lot of people? That a “few quid” on every purchase can be a big chunk of that weeks budget?

There are a number of customers who will try and haggle you down whatever the price. There was one lady who wanted a bathroom cabinet reduced from £3.99 to £1.00 because of the holes inside. I had a look and they were the holes to allow you to reposition the shelves.

Ok but that’s not what’s happening here, as I’ve explained in most of my posts.

Lucky you that you can afford to make a donation with every purchase ☺️

The people who constantly want reductions are often resellers or dealers, and often their claims that things are overpriced don’t hold up especially on collectibles.

Thank you for this balanced reply. I agree with you, and frequently donate goods to our local shops when we no longer need them.

What I’m struggling with is finding myself priced out of even the lowest quality items at some of our locals — a single plastic bangle for four quid? A secondhand morrisons baby t shirt for the same? An unbranded cotton tee with no labels for a tenner? Whoever’s setting those prices isn’t realistic and it’s going to drive customers away.

I’m struggling to see how that’s relevant to this post? I’m not looking to start a stealthy money-making enterprise buying overpriced secondhand t shirts and selling them for a fortune.

So let’s take a plastic bangle I saw buried in the junk basket the other day. Just a see-through chunky bangle that was a bit bashed about. Nice colour but tatty. I’d have bought it for a quid but it was marked at £4.

Better to not buy it?

I hope you feel better for making that contribution ☺️

@GroaningGyrtle sounds like you might be better off going to car boot sales for your clothes.
You can haggle away and as most sellers want to get rid of their stuff they sell it very cheap. Towards the end of the day they practically charge pennies.

I’m planning on trying one out soon — never been, but they sound great. Not looking to pay pennies, just prices in line with the RRP and quality.

@GroaningGyrtle unfortunately it's the end of the season for a lot of car boot sales - although you might find some indoor ones (aka jumble sales).

Have you tried Thrift+? Condition is variable, but can return and they often have great sales - was 50% off everything last week. Everything from high street to lower end designer.

i dont think charity shops should sell clothes with visible stains

I’ve never heard of it before now, thank you! Will check it out.

I would generally have said no but recently I saw a top in a charity shop which was a high street brand (Four letters starting with N ending with T) it was priced over what it would have been new. Sometimes the person pricing seems to have no idea about the actual cost. In that instance I would haggle.