Is it ok to haggle in charity shops

renowen

Often I go into Charity shops (there are 7 on the high street where I work, 2 of them only opened recently and all surviving so can't be doing too badly) and I've really noticed prices going up.

Heard it said that since the recession people are shopping in Charity shops more, which has meant they have put their prices up.

The pricing often has no sense, saw several pairs of jeans for sale, some from next were one price, then another pair from George was dearer - all depends on who's holding the price gun. Also, although I have never tried haggling in one before, I can't see the harm in haggling if you're not taking the Mickey, at best you grab a bigger bargain and at worst they refuse so what's the harm?

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Spooz

How can a charity shop possibly be overpriced? You will always be paying less for something than if you bought it new, and the point of the shop isn't to provide you with uber-cheap goods. It's to raise money for a good cause. Surely you can't want a "bigger bargain" in a charity shop? I'll admit that there is often a price disparity depending on location, but a well-managed charity shop will have things people want to buy as a price at the high end of what people are willing to pay. There are six which I would call local to me, and while Oxfam is the highest price and the hospice shop the lowest, I wouldn't ask Oxfam to lower its prices to compete. It's CHARITY, not a competition! Would you haggle over the amount it would cost to sponsor a guide dog, saying it's not worth that much? I doubt it.

Clowance

Spooz wrote: »

You will always be paying less for something than if you bought it new

No this is not the case, I have often seen primark clothes in our local shops at more than new price. All this achieves is no sale. We are not a wealthy area having low average wages and high property prices.


I don't haggle, I just don't buy as I am currently without a temporary contract. As a business model, they might sell more if they priced a bit lower and thus turnover would be higher, especially as the cost of the goods to them is zero.
And as for haggling while sponsoring - I have seen suggested donations which might seem low to the charity but exceed the ability of some well meaning people to commit to on a regular basis, but usually to be fair there is an "or any amount " donation as well.

Syman

It is ok to haggle anywhere and for anything within reason (not trying to get something obviously worth a tenner for a penny)

The items in charity shops are donations, so, to a certain extent whatever they get for the items they sell is profit. there are of course overheads to cover, but that is the same in any business and would be accounted for in their business model.

Do the staff in charity shops get staff discount?

Hermia

Clowance wrote: »

No this is not the case, I have often seen primark clothes in our local shops at more than new price. All this achieves is no sale. We are not a wealthy area having low average wages and high property prices.

I have seen that in my local shops as well. I think it's because some shops don't have much freedom to choose their prices and have to stick to a set list. I have frequently seen books priced at more than they would cost to buy new or have seen cheap mass-market versions of novels being priced at more than they would have originally cost.

I don't haggle in charity shops, but I suppose I might consider it if I was being a large amount. I know someone who loves Mills and Boons and bought a couple of hundred once and just offered the woman a price for the whole lot (which was accepted).

Spooz

Syman wrote: »

Do the staff in charity shops get staff discount?

I can't speak for every charity, but we certainly didn't. And we had to write down everything we bought in a special book so if anyone wanted to check, they could see we weren't being treated any differently from normal customers.