For not paying nearly £20 for a second hand coat?

[Sbrown32]

So, today I went charity shopping for the first time in a while as I needed a winter coat for the last few months of my pregnancy. I found a really lovely one that I wanted, it was a nice colour and the quality wasn't to bad, a few imperfections but overall I was happy, until I went to go look at the price 🙃 £18.50!! I don't know if I am just being cheap but that seemed expensive for anything second hand!

Most of my clothes are second hand and I rarely buy brand new, I am used to paying a few £ for any item of clothing and have gotten many coats in the past for £5 - £10 depending on type of coat. I just can't get over it and may have embarrassed the OH with my rant inside the store 🤣

I work it out by weekly cost. If you’ve got 3 months of pregnancy/ wearing the coat left, it works out at £1.50 a week. Then you can sell it, and it’s cost you even less.

most stuff that gets donated to charity shops is not good enough to be sold. If they started to put any old garments on the shop floor, people would stop buying. Who has time to rummage through 90% rubbish to try and find something they like.

Charity shops actually don’t make a lot of money, and some charities are closing many of their shops.

£18 for a coat in good condition seems very reasonable indeed - potentially a bargain if it has a high wool content, especially if it is a high-value brand.

We have a few charity shops near me, some are really good and some are expensive. We have one that is my favourite where everything is £3 max so you don't have to stress to much about looking at the price but then we have some that are just (in my opinion) ridiculously priced!

Its sad really, people are going to things like Vinted and it takes away from the charity but I do see why....

I prefer buying second hand coats, jackets, etc. if in a decent condition, and for those I would not mind paying £20 or £40 or £100 simply because you can't compare the quality then and now. They don't have to be vintage Aquascutum, etc. to be good - lots of handmade, no brand vintage coats and jackets are vastly superior to the contemporary ones, lining-stitching-fabric-hardware. Sometimes they have a 'Made in England' label on them, sometimes nothing at all.

I tried on a beautiful rust coloured wool/cashmere, wrap coat in our local
charity shop yesterday, unfortunately it was just too oversized for me…£15. I was so disappointed!

I don't know if you're planning on using baby slings but I used my pregnancy coat through that stage to keep DC zipped in during winter. Got a good few years outta it that way.

I agree with this, I grow up shopping in charity shops due to us having no money and was speaking to my mum about it today. You used to get some nice clothes for £1 - £2 ect and I would rather spend money in the charity shop to help out a good cause etc. We have a charity shop that has everything's for £3 or less and its always busy and always asking for stock, I have found some really nice things and some stuff that I still have a few years later.

I know the cost of living has gone up, keeping stores open have become more expensive but you're more likely to sell more at a cheaper price that having it on the shelves or like you said handing it back etc.

I didn't actually think of this, I do have a baby sling that I plan on using! Thanks for the advice

Are you not expecting to be with us next winter 😥

Why won't you use it for a few years?

I wouldn't normally pay more than £3 or £4 for something in a charity shop, but a few months ago I did buy a coat for £20! I went back a few times before I finally decided to have it. It was wool and I loved the colour and found out it would have been about £300 new, so £20 didn't seem so bad. I even spent another £16 having it dry cleaned.

If it was originally £35 from new look then no. But if it’s a £100+ coat then that price is absolutely fine.

Ah sorry just saw you're expecting! Congrats.
As others said it depends on the brand. I've bought a second hand coat for £60 before (Jaegar, pure wool)

I paid that 30 years ago for a charity shop coat. TBF it was a Harris Tweed Dior coat but it has been well worth it - I've lived and died in it for the intervening years and the only thing I've had to do is dry clean it occasionally and get the sleeves relined as they were gone at the cuffs.

The purpose of a charity shop isn't to provide stuff for people who haven't got much money - it's to raise money for the charity. If they've got something rare or valuable, they're not going to give it away cheap!

Yes as others say, what was the brand and what sort of quality?

I would happily pay that for a good quality wool coat; for one from Asda, not so much. I've sold a coat on eBay which had cost me £150 in TKMaxx but I only wore it once or twice – think I got about £30 for it maybe? I reckon a brand new item still boxed – possibly 40-50% of price; something that has been used, even if barely, drops it to 20-25% max.

See I am not into brands, I just see something I like and if its a good price I buy it etc. I didn't have a tantrum 🤣 I had a little rant plus I am pregnant so you know hormones may have contributed a little?

There’s a local thrift shop that charities, groups and organisations take over for the week. We sell loads of clothing and everything else for £1, it’s great as reduces waste, provides money for whoever is fundraising that week and offers an affordable option for people.

In exchange there is lots of community goodwill, I volunteered there last week and donations of clean, ironed clothes were regularly dropped off. People brought in unwanted gifts as prizes for the tombola.

We made £2k (after rent/ expenses) for the week which is a decent amount for our small organisation. I do think there is space for a pile it high sell it cheaply type places that are working for the benefit of community as well as fundraising.

I have a similar problem, I lose sight of the price of things. I now think, how many takeaways is that or just as relevant, how many pints of beer is that? - looking at you DH!

I spent £40 on a wool Toast coat from Vinted and a Kin rain jacket for £15. Both bargains, so I suppose it depends how you value what you wear. The Toast coat was probably £300 new and the Kin £100 so . . .

I paid £35 years ago for a black cashmere overcoat from Harrods. It is very warm, but I hardly ever wear it, prefering instead to wear loads of layers and long wool scarves

That's not how it works for high end stuff.

sorry I see the OP has answered my questions while I was forgetting to refresh!

It depends on the type of coat tbh.

That's not the shop's fault, though, is it? Obviously you don't have to pay more than what you want to pay, but your pregnancy is hardly factored into how they price their clothes.