200 charity shops closing (cancer research)

[lebopbop]

AIBU to be sad about this as a charity-shop lover?

I don’t have a nearby cancer research shop but lots of other charity shops and I’m worried this is signalling a general trend :(

I do like Vinted etc for pre-loved clothes but it’s so much better to see things in person, be able to try on and not pay postage. It’s also just fun to go and rummage.

@RandomGeocache

Exactly - you get a certain level of freedom as a volunteer that you don't get as a paid employee.

You can choose which jobs you want to do and choose not to do roles that don't suit your taste. You can choose your own hours. If you want to take two months off, you can also do that.

Just to add, Primark take used clothes - they have a big container for it. Other big shops do too.

Last time I took stuff to the local charity shop the guy went through the bags and took what they wanted and I had to bring the rest home. I am too worried to take anything there now. It was stuff they sell too, like jigsaws. He said they had too many.

Volunteering is a choice. There are many reasons why people choose to volunteer their time. I know some people in very senior corporate roles who volunteer their time to provide high level expertise to charities because they want to. Equally many people volunteer to develop skills to move into paid work or to develop life skills associated with employment.

I have been volunteering for over five years and this is my experience. As I said over 42% of our sales are gift aided so if people just wanted to ‘get rid’ then they wouldn’t bother with the gift aided registration, would they?
Also if you really don’t give a shit, just chuck it all in the bin.

Volunteering is a choice. There are many reasons why people choose to volunteer their time.

Yep. My sole reasons for volunteering in the Oxfam bookshop are for fun and pleasure.

Same for me.

@Arran2024 , They probably didn't have the space to store it. Take it in a little and often.

The great thing about volunteering is the freedom. I have volunteered for an organisation where the woman in charge was nasty to me. Didn’t go back. Volunteered for another and the organiser sent out a rota with shifts set up for months in advance. Cue mass quitting.

Ds worked for the National Trust for a while. His manager nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to deal with volunteers. It is a relationship wobbling on the flimsiest of tightropes.

@SorcererGaheris

How similar are they? Do you mean higher than 50% of the original price?

It wasn't the original price of the book in the charity shop I was considering, it was the price of a brand new copy generally. I was looking for a specific book a while back and picked up a second hand copy in an Oxfam Bookshop - the price was £4.99 for a slightly tattered copy. A new one from Amazon was around £6.

Also the rrp of a new book is rarely what is charged when new. Eg a new celebrity autobiography would be bound to be up to 50% off.

And as for those ones in The Works… mil used to most generously give family members some random large history book from The Works, always careful to leave the price on the fly-leaf. She’d even titter, “Whoops! I left the price on!” to draw attention to the £24.99 she had certainly not spent on Aerial Views of Long Lost WWII Airfields…

I get through lots of books hardbacks / paper backs we have a really good chuck 50p \ whatever in the bucket shelf in the local Co/op. There’s always new stock and I must of gone through hundreds of books. Most I pop back some go to other free bookshelves, minority I pass along / keep.

I’ve not bought books at a charity shop for years and I used buy books all the time at £1-2.