Why do charity shops...

[LemooonSlice]

...keep items as "display only" ? A piece of furniture for the shop I can understand, or a window prop, that's used each year. But 2 charity shops local to me have a Christmas tree in the shop (easily accessible) decorated with a random assortment of ornaments, and customers are not allowed to buy the baubles. If they were a matching set fair enough, keep them together. But they are a random assortment and the charity loses income and goodwill because they are displaying things in the window and shop that customers can't buy. I genuinely don't understand the logic! This is not a dig at the shop volunteers, who do a great job (and I have done it myself)

What gets me is if you can't buy something out of the window because "it's in the display and can't be touched until the window is done next week". When DD was little there was something perfect for her in the window (a small toy that matched something she already had). Even though I could've easily reached it, and put something in its place, the assistant wouldn't sell it to me until the following week.

The difference for me is that the baubles for display are next to the baubles for sale. Mannequins are the display, donated clothes go on them and are sold. So I thought the tree was like a mannequin, with the baubles being stock they would sell.

@LemooonSlice
I think that's a very fair assumption.

Some charity shops give the impression they're not in business to make money.

Years ago I volunteered in a charity shop and there was a regional window display competition with some kind of prize or bonus for the shop with the best window for each monthly theme. Obviously the displays should have been done with donated items on sale in the shop, but my manager told me that some other managers would buy or bring in items to improve their chances of winning.
Could be a reason why some things are marked 'display only'.

Well it appears you were wrong, and it’s just their Christmas tree.

The decorations in the charity shop that I volunteer in - tree, Santa doll, festive railway set etc - are owned by the manager. That’s why they are not for sale

A lot of the big name charity shops now have visual merchandisers, who do the window display, mannequins etc..:

The manager in my local one gets quite stressed out when she has to do it herself, I give her a hand as I have a good eye.

I will ask them why next time I'm in - if it is due to not wanting to replace as they use each year I could ask if I could swap for some of mine.

Don’t ask that. You’ll sound like a nutter. Go to a shop or website that sells decorations and buy some from there.

Because they are not stock, they are visual merchandising items

OP, are you the same poster who knocked over the window display in a charity shop trying to see the size or price of an item of clothing and was annoyed about a staff members reaction?
If so, please don't go in asking them to sell you the baubles, or swop them for yours.

I doubt it. Baubles are pretty much disposable. If they’re not good enough to go on the tree, I think they go in the bin 🤷‍♀️

I think charity shops can be ridiculous for this sometimes - I've has a few fails. Tried to buy a Halloween costume and was told to come back in November as it was their display. Erm no one will want it then.

Another time / shop there was a lovely dress in the window - Mother's Day was that week - but I couldn't buy it until the following week as it was their Mother's Day display. I just said not to worry I was looking for something for a Mother's Day meal. I'm sure they'd sell, but they had a whole rail of dresses that could have sat in the window instead.

This drives me nuts and fortunately is not the policy where I volunteer.

Stuff that's in the window is often difficult to get at. If there's only one person available on the shop floor, whilst they climb into the window, the shop is unattended and easy for thieves to grab stuff/the till and go.

In fact, whilst most people would have innocent motives for asking to buy something from the window display, it would also be a very successful tactic for said thieves, to ask deliberately so that they can get away unimpeded.

Plus, if they have a carefully planned display, with nice, attractive items in it, on the one hand they will have people wanting to buy those items; whilst om the other, if they randomly remove them for sale or deliberately put rubbish in there that nobody will want, they'll be criticised for 'not making an effort' and may lose custom from people who are seriously unimpressed and thus don't go in!

Same thing in my local charity shops - it feels sometimes as they don't want to sell anything. Run by non business minded people often.. Plus, human factor - some charity shop workers enjoy this little " power trips".

Because they are the shops decorations?
Lots of shops and businesses have decorations at Christmas, that they are displaying and not selling. Understandable that you might have thought they were selling decorations, but when they told you they weren't it's odd that you didn't just accept that and move on

So you want to buy some of the baubles on the tree which is part of the window display? Presumably they are different to the ones the shop is selling? I guess they don't want to constantly have to redecorate the tree.

I wondered if it was the same poster too.

Pretty much every shop at this time of year has a tree or decoration up and it's perfectly reasonable that they're decorations and not stock. It wouldn't even cross my mind to think i could buy anywheres decorations and to be affronted if I couldn't.

@Flossyflop would you go into liberty's and ask to buy something from the shop window displays?

They don’t want to sell them because they’re not for sale! They’re the shop’s Christmas decorations. I don’t know why people are struggling to understand that.

No idea why you're getting uppity responses to a perfectly reasonable question. If anyone's actually upset about baubles in a charity shop, they need to have a word with themselves.

If I saw a Christmas tree in the window of any shop I would assume they had put it there as a decoration and wouldn't expect them to be selling the tree decorations.

I think it's weird that you expect them to sell them

I think it’s fine to ask if the baubles are for sale as long as you don’t try to push if they say they’re not. Please don’t ask if you can swap them with some of your old ones. That’s a bit weird.

😳 ‘power trips’?! Would you say that about any other shop worker just trying to do their job?

This is the second thread this week full of people asking why charity shops do/don’t do this, that or the other, with the general subtext of ‘why are they so stupid?’

The thing is, the management of the shop will already have thought of all the pros and cons of window display protocol and have come up with a strategy that suits their shop - because, believe it or not, charities do have paid management who know stuff about shops.

The attitude to charity shops on here is just saturated with snobbery, I’m afraid.