charity shops

fernliebee

Just want some advice from careful spenders. I was shopping today and popped into a charity shop to have a look for some books for my DD. I found 3 small boardbooks and took them to the till. The lady charged me £4.50 for them! Thats £1.50 each. I just gave her the money with the books so didn't want to say actually I don't want them as there was a long queue but I did think it was a bit much. When I got home I had a proper look at them and 1 of them is a bookstart book, so handed out free, the other two's rrp was 2.99! All 3 were fairly tatty and a bit chewed, and one had sticky pages and a leaf torn, all things I'd expect- from a 50p book!

I feel ripped off, and I know I sound tight, £4.50 isn't much but I keep thinking about it!:rolleyes:

I know the money goes to a good cause, but that shouldn't be a reason to overcharge, surely if more reasonable prices were charged people would buy more, making the charity more money. This seems to be the way the rspca shop works- things are 30p still in there I also realise they have overheads, some of the people who price things don't know their primark from their armani but that doesn't make much difference with books! Also I understand about the price being a donation.

Sorry to ramble but I just wanted to see what other people thought- especially MSE's :money: . I'm not looking to 'do' anything about this, I've bought them now, but is it too much? would you pay this amount?

moggitymog

way too much, you could buy new in places like the works for that price, probably better off at a car boot sale for cheapies

Auzelia

to be fair,
I would have checked the books before paying for them (queing at the till) and even though 1 was a bookstart book, if it was in good condition I would probably pay £1.50 for it. Though I doubt I would have paid for a sticky/torn book

fernliebee

I did check them before I queued and they were in a used condition, which you do expect- but for 50p not £1.50! The sort of thing I only really noticed now I'm annoyed about them!

consultant31

Lots of charity shops overcharge now, but then the top brass get very large salaries! Only about 20p of every £ spent in Oxfam goes to the needy :eek:

However, I make a point of never buying anything without a price on, that way you can't get stung.

fernliebee

Yeah thats a good point. I'm normally much more with it, and I think that's why I'm so annoyed. The baby was crying, there was a massive q and the woman was serving 3 people at once so I was flustered. Think I'll give that one a miss from now on!

eaton57_2

consultant31 wrote: »

Only about 20p of every £ spent in Oxfam goes to the needy :eek:

I'm not making a comment on how much the books were but I think it's important that other readers know this is not true. This is taken from Oxfam's website https://www.oxfam.org.uk
For every £1 you give to Oxfam

• 80p is spent directly on emergency, development and campaigning work
  
• 10pis spent on support and running costs
  
• 10pis invested to generate future income
  
  Average 2004/5, 2005/6 and 2006/7. For further information, see the Oxfam Annual Report and Accounts 2006/07 which has been prepared in accordance with the relevant Charity Commission and accounting regulations as confirmed by our auditors.

Please keep on giving anything you can to support their work.

Fourcandles_3

I find many charity shops overpriced these days. Charging far more than budget shops for items that often are of similar quality.

Guess you may have to chalk this one up to experience. I've been there with the crying child and your mind is trying to concentrate on too many things and then you get embarrased...

It could have been worse though;)

tsstss7

I agree lots of charity shops overcharge now but there is still the odd bargain to be had - just take a leaf out of my ex's book, when ever he buys anything from a charity shop (even 20p from a car boot) he inspects it from cover to cover to find faults and won't buy if there is one he deems unacceptable.

I'm a bit slapdash myself as I'm usually in a rush but I do try to do the same now as it's very annoying if you get home to find the jigsaw you bought for example is missing a piece. I almost bought a toy yesterday with two missing pieces but remembered to check beforehand. I expect they'll get away with it though cause the next person either won't care or won't notice until they get it home.

I know it seems finiky but if you have to chuck it when you get home it's a waste.

OP some charity shops take returns so you could try and take them back. I agree £!.50 each is steep, I bought 5 books for £1.50 from my local charity shop yesterday and to be honest for kids books unless they were new I wouldn't pay more than 50p each as they are usually "well loved".

Oh and you might need to grow a thicker skin and turn down stuff you think is too expensive (it's hard I know it's only outrage at the audacity of them trying to charge me new prices for old stuff makes me say "no thanks I think I'll leave it" after asking the price)

perfectlypoor

That does seem a bit steep. One of my local charity shops seels both adult paperbacks and all kids books at 5 for £1 which is a complete bargain (although last week brought a book that once I started reading realised was one I had read before and had given away myself lol )

Young_Aged_Pensioner

I volunteer in a charity shop and our books are 20p paperback 50p hardback no matter how big or small it is really good ones are induvidualy priced