Charity shops-getting too expensive?

Terry WigonTerry Wigon Posts: 6,831
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I often enjoy having a mooch round these shops to see if I can pick up a bargain. It makes me feel good as I find something I want and I'm giving to a good cause, so it's win/win.

However, in the past few months I've noticed that the prices have rocketed and where I could've got trousers or a top and had change from a £5, you're lucky now to get change from a tenner.

I'm not mean and I've always given most of my old clothes to charity shops. Something isn't right when I see that tops from George/Primark are more expensive in charity shops than they are to buy new.

I think some shops are getting too greedy, especially as they get the clothes for free. Surely it's better to sell a lot of stock at a reasonable price than make the prices too high so people go elsewhere (internet, car boots) to buy them.

What does anyone else think? I don't think I'm particularly mean, but by pricing themselves out of the market, I think charity shops will lose out on a lot of revenue.
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Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 868
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    i tottally agree in the town by me theres a few charity shops and peacocks and ethel austins in the same street and peacocks and ethels are cheaper!
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    I used to do some Voluntary work for Oxfam, and the woman running it was absolutely nuts, and ran it very poorly.

    She said they could really set prices very high, and people would pay because it was a charity.. she was wrong.. some stupid prices like £2/£3 for a VHS video (this was last year)

    She was also very strict on Volunteers.. which is why I left. I got a nasty phone call from her saying she would have expected volunteers to last at least a month or two (i left after about 3 weeks).. even though all the paperwork i signed said I was free to leave at any time without strings!

    I don't think she was very fair on some of the "foreign" volunteers she had (that couldn't speak much English), she just treated them like children (very patronising)
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Hypnodisc,

    I'd have complained to hq if i were you. Bitches like her do no good for charities.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    It seems to me that they are being run for the benefit of the volunteers, giving them something to do as it were.

    The prices are far to high and of course they are mostly empty of customers. This does not seem to bother anyone!

    One place near me does a roaring trade in furniture, but everything else rarely sells.
  • Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
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    Oxfam is a rip off. I worked for five months in an Oxfam bookshop and the prices were often ridiculous. Also, they happily accepted donations from people and frequently the books that were given were dumped straight in the pile to be shredded as they wouldn't sell for anything less than £1.99. One woman brought in dozens of Mills and Boon and the manager told me to put them all out in the trash.
  • Terry WigonTerry Wigon Posts: 6,831
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    Oxfam is a rip off. I worked for five months in an Oxfam bookshop and the prices were often ridiculous. Also, they happily accepted donations from people and frequently the books that were given were dumped straight in the pile to be shredded as they wouldn't sell for anything less than £1.99. One woman brought in dozens of Mills and Boon and the manager told me to put them all out in the trash.

    That's shocking! Someone could have the benefit of those (eg patients in hospital) how selfish! Mind you, I agree that Oxfam is a rip off. It seems I'm not alone as the local shop always seem to be empty with rows of overpriced clothes.

    No wonder people I know who used to donate clothes now sell them on ebay.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,311
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    I agree, the prices are getting ridiculous. I know that charity shops are becoming more fashionable, but I think they've missed the point that they're only popular because they are so cheap. After all, even if the clothes are good quality they are still second hand. Books and videos are the worst, and it's a shame as I'm sure they will be losing out in the long run.
  • padpad Posts: 6,699
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    I favour the middle ground personally .. Some charity shops are too expensive but I do feel equally that a charity has an obligation to exploit the value of a donation to justify its donation in the first place.. I'm not talking about ripping people off, just a fair price..

    p.
  • Scots roolScots rool Posts: 276,782
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    Some of the charity shop prices are ridiculous now. You can sometimes buy new from a regular shop for almost the same price.

    The wages the managers of some of these shops receive are obscene. I knew someone who worked for one of them & she was on a fortune.
  • Emerald InnsEmerald Inns Posts: 4,705
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    That's shocking! Someone could have the benefit of those (eg patients in hospital) how selfish.

    Yes, very selfish. Instead of saying 'no, we don't sell those here' they just took them, said 'thanks very much' and proceded to throw the entire lot straight in the bin. Loads of donated books get pulped at Oxfam if they don't fit their strict criteria over condition and subject.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 40,102
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    Do people still go to charity shops? With the likes of Primark being so cheap, why buy second hand, perhaps for more money?
  • maseymaymaseymay Posts: 662
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    eurghhhhhhhhhhhh charity shops, gross :eek:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 200
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    oxfam is an utter con fullstop. only 1p of every £1 donated actually reaches the causes...
  • daddy66daddy66 Posts: 12,794
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    Freecycle


    I found this as an alternative to the highstreet charity shop.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 253
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    I love charity shops, I have got some superb bargains in them We have a Shelter near me and M & S regularly donate new stock. Laura Ashley donated loads as well (I think Shelter is quite a trendy charity to donate to).

    However with the popularity of ebay a lot of people try to sell their old clothes rather than donating them, so I guess they have to ask for more money to make the same amount of profit. They do have to pay rent and managers wages as well.

    I don't have a problem at all wearing second hand clothes and I get a real buzz out of finding bargains and wearing lots of different clothes. I really couldn't afford much if I had to pay full whack.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    I am finding they are quite expensive sometimes too - used Tesco jeans for more than new for example. Admittedly, I only ever buy books from them anyways
  • stud u likestud u like Posts: 42,100
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    Charity begins at home!

    I avoid charity shops. They sell second hand paperbacks for 4 quid in my town in some charity shops.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    I dont do charity shops normally but someone said after a conversation to have a look at the prices, I went into a Sue Ryder shop locally, they had a setee, couch, call it what you like, the price tag was £250, good grief you could get a new one for that.
    Seriously, I know its charity but prices are ridiculous, considering they are getting the items free.
    It has to be greed, or an over ambitious manager.

    Heiko
  • darkjedimasterdarkjedimaster Posts: 18,620
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    Oxfam is a ripoff, I went into my local 1 the otherday and they were charging £350 for a sofa which I saw in a furniture project shop for £120. Everybody knows that every £100 oxfam makes £99 gotes to the damn goverment and the other quid goes to the chairty, I will now only support charites that are based in this country like Heart Foundation, Cancer Research, Great Ormand Street, St Francis Hospice etc etc, I know that poverty abroad is a bad thing but from now on i'm only supporting charites based in england. They have no reason to charge retail prices for secondhand goods
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,825
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    charity shops prices have become really inflated for quite some time now. People before who relied on charity shops for clothes and toys and books and things are going elsewhere now with the likes of Primark you can create a brand new wardrobe with not that much.

    Its a shame really as I have seen the stock room of a local charity shop and they get loads, they either cant be bothered to price things up correctly (ie. so they sell quickly and the money can get to the cause) at over inflated prices or they throw it away. Really ridiculous.
  • Speak-SoftlySpeak-Softly Posts: 24,737
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    They also seem to be ignoring the customers who actually do need to use Charity shops to help them out when money is short.
    It's the same round here, recently prices have shot up in the larger charity shops.

    As they are sometimes the only shops that can afford high street rents and rates, they often dominate the high streets.
    OAP's without much money and no way of getting to larger retail outlets quite often rely on them to provide the odd bit of clothing ect.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11,566
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    Charity shops get the stuff for nothing. It ridiculous to charge a fiver for a shirt they got for nothing. People give cos they don't want to thow good stuff in the bin so they give it to charity shops and they throw it in the bin.
    Amd most won't take electrical goods.

    Freecycle is quite good as you offer stuff to others including electrical stuff, to students if you are in a university town and everyone else of course, and you can ask for stuff the others offer so you give and take.
    Everyone benefits the stuff gets used and the charity shops are not lining their pockets.

    Only thing with Freecycle sometimes people say they will come and collect and they don't turn up. And you get a few always asking for stuff and applying for everything others offer but never offering anything themselves.

    It's amazing what people offer, the other day someone on my local one was offering chickensh*t. You had to go to her farm and shovel it yourself of course.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 260
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    Well yeah Freecycle is great but the point about charity shops, surely, is that they, you know, raise money for charity. That's why they sell stuff they get for free. I wouldn't describe it as 'lining their pockets'.

    And there's a reason they don't take electrical stuff - they can't guarantee the safety and don't want to be sued. Freecycle just puts people in touch with each other and doesn't have to take any responsibility.

    I'm sure that there are lots of charity shops that are badly managed and I must say when I've taken in clothes they've been a bit...unappreciative (and this is some cool stuff I've taken in!)

    But this thing about only one penny in a pound given to Oxfam ending up going to the cause - any evidence for that? Sounds far fetched.

    Guess I would defend charities though, I work for one. Not that we have a shop.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11,566
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    With most charities very little of the money donated actually goes to the cause. If the public knew how things are actually run I think they'd be shocked.
    There have been threads on here about it.
    And with Freecycle you can offer furniture,most charity shops won't take it as they dont have the room.
  • GorbagGorbag Posts: 293
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    I noticed a shop near me recently had a basket full of secondhand Star Wars action figures (from about 20 years ago). My son loves Star Wars so I thought I might get them. They had a price tag of £5, which I thought reasonable until I realised they were £5 EACH!!!.

    This is the ebay effect. The toys are actually quite collectable and will go for this much and more on ebay depending on condition. So in a way they were charging the right amount - but its obvious they went and checked online and worked out their market vaule.

    They sold anyway.
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