To think she was cheeky?

[swervefan]

My local charity shop has a buy one get one free sale happening tomorrow. I was in there today bear the till and overheard a woman asking a staff member to save her two dresses so she would only have to pay for one tomorrow - she was told no.

Honestly it’s a charity shop. Is she being cheeky or is it “you don’t ask, you don’t get”

I would usually say it's cheeky .. however ... charity shops are hugely overpriced nowadays and they must be struggling to shift a lot of the stock at those prices. So I can see why someone would be tempted to ask.

They're not overpriced. They're priced at a point that optimises the revenue which is then used to fund the cause they support.

They're not there to sell cheap stuff, they're there to fundraise.

If you had any idea the vast amounts of decent stuff they rag because they don’t have space to store it or put it out, you would realise they are in fact over priced to their own detriment.

I remember taking bags full of really nice clothes to a north London charity shop… they made me empty out the bags in a room out the back and the rather posh women working there were pulling loads of new things aside for themselves. I felt really sick about it

No a lot of them definitely ARE overpriced. That’s why I see the same things in there week after week. £15 for an oasis dress for example- people will just go on Vinted. They’d shift things in no time if they priced accordingly as I’d rather buy from a shop than deal with postage costs and having to wait for a delivery. I don’t know why they don’t catch on.

i should think they still pay for it, with a discount but it was tactless to do this in front of you

Why would they do this? What possible reason can you think of that they would not optimise the funds for their charity?

Yes, she was cheeky. The BOGOF will be to get rid of stock that isn't shifting, on a Saturday when they have higher footfall. If someone wants to buy the dress on Friday, it doesn't fall into the category of 'stock that isn't shifting'. The woman could take the chance that no one else will want it and come back - it depends how much she wants it. If it was me and I really wanted it, I'd buy it there and then - I wouldn't necessarily want a second dress just for the sake of it, anyway. If a charity shop is doing a multi buy on books or DVDs, I often turn down the 'extra' ones, unless they're things I would have bought anyway - don't want them cluttering the house on the offchance I might get round to watching/reading.

It’s just bad business strategy. I’ve worked in the industry, both managing small branches and the large donation centres that supply the small branches. You tend to get 2 separate ways of thinking. The managers that try to get the most they think they possibly can for the item eg putting a dress out for £15 that then sits on the rack taking up space for weeks on end. Usually the same ones who look up how much they will get on eBay for something and put it out at the price (not taking into account that eBay is an international market where buyers look for that specific item). Or the ones that actually make the most money, underpricing but having a much faster turnover that results in less wastage and higher profits as they get the most out of the hanger space. It is more work for the shop staff though.

I agree. In Emmaus, for example, they price really low to shift stuff. So they have ever-changing stock.

But they would probably make as much by pricing lower and selling more of what they receive in dinations. I rarely go to charity shoos for thatcreason - CBSs of Emmaus all the way.

My understanding is they are there to do both. They are traditionally used (or we’re) by people in financial need of second hand goods and the profit would go into charitable causes.

Unfortunately there are people now who make a living partially from regularly going around hoovering up items and reselling at a profit on Vinted, eBay etc. Some of these professional resellers have YouTube channels inspiring others to do the same. This is making the stores think that there is a higher value to these items so pricing them higher - possibly also in the hope to deter resellers as it’s not really in the spirit of what charity shops are about.

Unfortunately the net effect of all this is the genuine person in need is faced with higher purchase prices than before.

It is more work for the shop staff though

Volunteers.

Often the key issue. You need two responsible, able bodied adults for every shift. People who are under 18 or who have additional support needs are not included in that. We can't open our shop on a Monday morning because there are no volunteers. Also, volunteering is not the same as other jobs where you're told what to do and get on with it. In a charity shop you've got Alan who only does the books, Brenda who refuses point blank to serve at the till, Christine who only comes in on a Saturday to change the window, Darren who's doing his D of E and is only there because his mum says he has to be and does the square root of bugger all, Edna who manages to get through one bag of sorting the whole shift etc etc etc.

Sadly people tend to forget that it is a charity, they do not have to behave like a proper shop that needs to maximise profit...which in a proper shop means that you have regular sales to shift the stuff you are not selling and to turn stock over. Charity shops tend to not have sales or price to sell and are happy to send clothes for rags/sale abroad.

I doubt anyone really checks how much individual shops receive in donations as long as a reasonable income in received...the clothes not being sold go.for a pittance. So instead of getting £2 for a top they get pennies

Well you're right that nobody checks what we send for rags, but you are not right saying that we are happy to rag stuff. We would much rather sell a dress in the shop than send it for rag and get nothing for it. We also 50% stuff which has been out for 2 weeks to give it another chance for a third week.

But again, it comes back to having enough people who are prepared to get stuck in, sort bags, price, steam, sell on the till.

When they’re trying to shift second hand Primark tops for more than they were originally on sale for, they ARE overpriced.

Very cheeky.
Buy them today or come back tomorrow and take your chance when it's BOGOF.
Staff shouldn't be allowed to keep stuff back, for any reason.

Many years ago, I volunteered in a charity shop as part of my college course. Two really shocking things happened in the short time I was there.
One of the sorting volunteers found £300 in cash in an envelope in a handbag ( part of a lot of stuff from relatives a lady who had recently died) The paid store manager said it must have been a donation and put it straight in the till, despite all of the staff suggesting he ring the deceased’s relatives. This was worth a lot more in the late 80s.
The same manager gratefully accepted some slight seconds we were given from a local designer shop. They explained there was slight issues so they couldn’t sell them alongside their full price stock but wanted the charity to have the money they could get for them. He examined them once the donor had left and said to us that as they had buttons missing from the back pockets they weren’t saleable so put them all in the shop’s rags basket. He could have told the donor unfortunately we couldn’t accept them, they really cared about the charity. Sadly as a teenager that left a bad taste about this particular charity.

They are not there to do both.

And are 100% about fundraising for the charity.

cheaper clothes for those need them is a side benefit.

Actually they are managed very much like a retail business with sales and other targets.

footfall, stock numbers, volunteer numbers, turnover etc is all carefully scrutinised

there are differences of course but they absolutely have to keep costs down and ensure they are bringing in a profit b

Well will just have to agree to disagree I guess.

My own experience having worked in my uni holidays for my local Oxfam store and helped with learning how they price items as well as current research shows “In addition to the financial benefit of raising revenue for their individual causes, charity shops support the environment with recycling and provide a source of good quality, low cost items for the public”.

So cheaper clothes are not just a random side benefit. They (originally anyway, I volunteered in late 90s), consciously make an effort to serve the local community in terms of pricing especially in lower income areas. Obviously they still have an eye on profits since they are a business but they originally did keep items at an affordable price point which is why the lower income groups flocked there and were able to pick up bargains. The fact that stuff flew off the shelves implied a higher mark up could be achieved but the manager and regional manager were happy with the pricing. Like said, maybe it’s all change now but I’m going by my actual experience.

Yeah cheeky!

Did she buy them or is she going to take her chances tomorrow??

@MoominMai I’m going by my actual experience too of working for charities.