What is your charity-shop weakness?

heath480

I have been to a nearby town today and came back with a Denby casserole dish with lid,two shops today had lots of Denby but I resisted buying any more.I buy anything especially good label clothes,got a 100% wool Viyella jumper as well today.OH got some books for his granddaughter.

squeakysue

Mine is books, for me and the kids, I have far too many books I need to read so I can clear some space and start using my kindle

ostaragirl

lostinrates wrote: »

The luncay of this was clear to me ages ago...when in a lovely charity shop with nice stock, the silk scarves were being sold for £15 while outside on a stall the silk scarfs were being sold for £10.

Its something i have said before but its true that i think over pricing in charity shops is sad for more than one reason....when i was a kid we all dressed from charity shops, looking individual and creative, learning about what fabrics we liked, and what lasted well. My neices dress in identikit teen shops becuase its cheaper than the charity shops. . This of course also means that the wages etc of the stuff making the new tat is abysmal too.


I love a good charity shop but i find the boom prices hard to take.

Yes you have hit the nail on the head, its the same all over. The dealers are getting stuff out the back doors and near me they are often setting the prices too. Crazy because I bet the dealers are gettign tit cheaper than the public would willingly pay. Gone are the days of charity shops for people who need it. I'd love to know how much money is syphoned off and staff taking the good stuff first must be putting a dent in the profits, maybe thats why they have to charge so much...

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Ballymackeonan wrote: »

I'm lucky - being self-employed I work for a number of clients, and can take a bit of time to look round the CSs during the week, usually at lunchtime, in lots of places. And a "day out" usually includes a quick look round the CSs as well.

My weaknesses - silk, cashmere, velvet, fur, vintage tweed (my skin has expensive tastes..and some of the places I work are pretty chilly!) This AM it's pretty cold, so I'm wearing a cashmere jumper, a pair of lined wool and silk tweed trousers, and a "fur" gilet - all CS! I can have a regularly-updated wardrobe by donating and restocking at the CS

Other things - books, jewellery, (it's still possible to find gold and silver here sometimes, at reasonable prices) old watches, (a friend is a watchmaker and can either get them going or use them for parts), original oil or water colour paintings, or limited-edition prints, and antiques or collectables.

I have worn Silk Shirts and Cashmere Sweaters and it has helped keep me warm when the flat is too cold or cool when too hot.
*Takes my hat off to you fellow Kinsmen!*:beer::money:

thriftwizard

Ostaragirl, when I worked at a CS we certainly didn't supply dealers - in fact I'm prepared to bet that the manageress would have tried to charge them more than the general public! I had to declare when I started that I was a dealer, in a very minor way; she used my knowledge to price stuff, then generally priced it at double what I'd suggested! Needless to say, mostly it didn't sell until it got sharply reduced prior to being thrown out, but I wasn't allowed to buy it even then. Also, we all had to pay the full price for anything else we wanted, even if it was destined for ragging rather than the shop floor; I rescued a beautiful 70s maxi dress which had a stained collar but was in a lovely print for patchwork, and had to pay £12.99 for it. I'm still using the fabric so I don't regret it, but where I am the public certainly did get first pick & the best of the bargains - if any! That shop has closed now, but I know that other CSs locally do operate similar policies.

sianlee

Love this thread:j
I was an Assistant Manager in a well known CS chain a while back. Our shop was classed as a Premier shop so any items we didn't sell would get passed down to lower level shops in less affluent areas. We only threw out what the Manager classed as unsellable items. I often disagreed with this as I felt the majority of binned items were still useful to someone. The Area Manager knew about this but was only concerned with profits just like in any other retail organisation.
Regularly our bins were raided and I was secretly pleased about this apart from the mess they sometimes left!

I love trawling the CS's on days off. At least half of my clothes have been CS finds (the other half are sale items). My clothes often receive compliments. I certainly couldn't afford to be as well dressed if I had to shop solely from retail outlets. I also find bargains for my children and the odd item for my stash of xmas gifts. I find the CS chains are too expensive for books and DVD's - especially now Blockb*ster have 99p rentals.

Gleek

Rosanna79 wrote: »

Gleek
Hi You're just up the road from me.. Do you just go to the charity shops in Scunny town centre or have you tried Ashby High street which is worth a look? There are several including the local hospice. The rather tatty looking one next to Sew Easie can be quite good - and the ladies in there are helpful. Got a load of stuff for my craft work only a couple of days ago. Happy hunting

Hiya, thanks for the heads up. I must admit we've only done the town center as we don't drive. May see if we can venture further

katieclampet

Books, bags and scarves. Whether I "need" them or not, cant resist a bargain.

katie

Hobsons_Choice

I go into Worcester mostly for my charity finds. Nearly all the chazzers are in one street, so out of one and in the one next door, saves on shoe leather!
My weakness is books and I picked up one in the British Heart Foundation last week with a £1 sticker on. No, said the saleswoman, that was a Scope sticker that the donor had left on, and wanted to charge me £2.50:eek:. I left the shop bookless.
They have loads of books in their shops, wouldn't it be better to go with the "pile 'em high sell 'em cheap" way rather than charging £2-£2.50 a pop?
I only go for clothes with "good" labels, I can pay less in George or Primark if I want to buy those!
And.....why do they have to agree with Mary Portarse and put all clothing into colour sections? If I'm looking for a pair of trousers I don't have time to visit ten different racks.
I got a lovely black woolen jacket in the TK Maxx clearance recently - £2. I bet they charge more than that when I eventually donate it to to the chazzer.
PS..I also prefer going to the small independent ones rather than the large shops. Oxfam in particular, are getting very expensive I think.

ostaragirl

Thriftwizard, TBH I often find the CS the most reasonable. Its some of the local charity shops that I can't get my head around, we have one where I live which is supposed to give furniture to hard up families and it's generally well know here that most of it doesn't reach them. They had a corona side table the other day for £80, the local funiture shop sells them new for £69.99 and thats just one example. They had a bundle of photocopied sheet music priced £20! There's a few dealers round her in books and antiques that get stuff out the back door.
Like someone else said I've often seen Primark items at way over the original price too. Where I am a lot of stuff sits in the shops for months on end.
Still it doesn't stop me looking for bargains as often things I want like knitting needles they charge pennies. I suppose its swings and roundabouts but I do feel that in general charity shops are trying to compete with high st shops and have moved awya fromt he original intentions they had years ago.