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.

CLIC closed all of its shops in the south west of England. The income from selling donated stuff wasn't covering overheads like rent and utilities, while other funding streams were far more profitable with less outlay.

It's one of those things that's had it's day but doesn't make much sense now. If I care enough about a charity to want to raise them money I'll just donate money directly rather than give my old clothes to a shop that might not even be able to sell them.

Are you binning good stuff? It’s our own responsibility to dispose of items we decide we don’t need any longer with care. Charity shops are run by volunteers and are intended to raise money for their organisation but often can’t cope with the amount of stuff that gets donated and if you’ve ever volunteered at one you can see why - it’s because people buy so much stuff and expect to be able to hand the problem onto someone else. I often intend to donate to a charity shop only to discover they’re overwhelmed so I find another or keep hold of the items for a while.

Tbh, so many charity shops now charge bonkers prices. I don't bother with most of them and I'm a huge charity shop fan. I went in to one the other week and they wanted £34 for a Ralph Lauren shirt which you can get on Vinted for a tenner, it's ridiculous.

It’s tricky. They’re trying to raise money it are clearly not covering overheads - but today I put back a Primark jacket because I felt it was closer to the store price.

You like Vinted, there’s your answer. People used to donate, now they sell.

If I've walked to the charity shop with a bag of clothes I might not want to walk around carrying it where I plan to go next. I don't think charity shops work well as a fundraiser or as a way to pass on items if they can't cope with donations.

It’s not great for the environment to drive around looking for another charity shop.

I only drop off good clothes and books to my local charity shop. Old clothes etc I use as rags then put in bin.
I use Olio, I used to use Freecycle, but not anymore.
I support a couple of charities with actual money.
I like to buy books but would prefer they sold items cheaper. As the Mary Portas effect has made so many too expensive.

In my old city a shop sold everything for a quid, it was rammed in there, the last told me they were the highest generating shop in the UK. Incredibly busy, people were forever taking donations in and coming out with stuff they'd bought, not even try it on, for £1 you'd just donate it back if it didn't fit.
The ones where I live now have windy overpriced stuff, never take donations as they have stuff on the rails for a year (you can tell by the label) and the volunteers are all grumpy. Wild.

I am sad that lots of charities are struggling. My nearest hospice has just had to make staff redundant.

They over charge and no one buys as a result. Charity shops used to be great for people who had very little to spend, I have actually bought new things from Argos at less than the charity shops wanted.

@PersephoneParlormaid

I volunteer in a charity bookshop (an Oxfam one), and there's a good why reason why at times they're not accepting donations. It's because they only have limited storage space and are at full capacity - to take more would be make the space unsafe for people who work there.

There are a few times when the basement in my shop has been so filled with excess stock that we have had to temporarily stop taking donations.

I know it's a pain to show up and find that donations aren't being currently accepted, but I do encourage you to try again - it's obviously not a situation that would be permanent.

There are a lot of charity shops though. There are 2 Cancer Research shops in a local town - selling the same sort of stuff , so I imagine on of them will shut.

I am a charity shop volunteer - not Cancer Research.

These threads are always about clothing but that is just part of our turnover. Yes the quality of womenswear clothing donations has declined drastically in a way that the quality of menswear donations has not. Lots of it is only fit for ragging. Our shop is in a fairly affluent area and we still get some real gems.

However, we also get a breakdown of weekly figures and week in, week out, these show that we make more on both bric a brac and toys/games than we do on womenswear. Jigsaws, craft materials, Lego, play kitchens, mugs, kitchenware, pictures - massive part of the business model.

Cancer Research have decided that they are concentrating on larger out of town shops rather than smaller high street.

BHF is too expensive, M&S well worn T-shirts £6.99, scruffy shoes £12.99, Primark jumpers £8.99. They’re pricing themselves out of business.

Legacy management has always been very separate from charity shops.
Fundraising comes in many guises and specialisms and charities employ experts in each stream.
Charity shops have been struggling to make a good profit for many years.

@Wavescrashingonthebeach

The staff in the shops (including the manager) may not have the authority to lower prices. At Oxfam, with whom I volunteer, Head Office stipulated last year that the minimum price (on anything) must be £2.99. We're expected to adhere to this (although I will very occasionally put a book out for £1.99 if it's in good condition and I think it might sell.)

The same may be true of other charities, especially the large ones.

@RandomGeocache yes I am not interested in clothes from charity shops - I like books, toys, collectables, dvds, computer games, craft sets etc.
They often seem to be an afterthought in a lot of shops - shoved randomly in a box all jumbled up.
I wish a lot of charity shops would forget selling clothes and focus on other items.
That might be a way of saving shops from closing down.

The cancer research eBay shop is fantastic.

My local CR shop isn’t overly great, we have a giant Big C shop and that’s good. It’s not as expensive as Red Cross/British Heart Foundation which charges £20 for a (faulty) zara jumper! I prefer the smaller local charities, people seem to donate better things to these and they price them appropriately

Surely people know where the charity shops are in their local area?

If you don't then you could always look it up on your phone.

@ShanghaiDiva

"shortage of volunteers to sort"

That is also a really good point. The volume of volunteers has decreased in shop from what it once was, and I imagine has probably happened elsewhere. When shops started re-opening up full-time after Covid, I think quite a few of the older chose not to return. And people's life circumstances change, which means they may no longer have time for volunteering - or they may just wish to call it a day.

By the time rent, utilities and the manager's salary have been paid, I doubt there's enough made to make it worth them existing. Add to that the costs to the charity of all the central admin around running 200 shops, and I'm actually surprised they've lasted this long.

It's unrealistic for people to expect them to sell stuff for next to nothing, when you do and consider all those costs.

Those clothes bins in car parks are quite good if you need to drop stuff off

There's one at our local recycling centre/tip too.