Is it right to Moan about Charity shop prices.

pippascountrykitchen

I have just replied to another thread about the overpricing of the BHF electrical shop in Maidstone. Frankly i find most of the charity shops in Maidstone overpriced.

I am of course aware that they need the money they get and they do a bloody good job.
Yes they should have donations
Yes they should have a good property
Yes they should get reduced rates, free staff and giftaid but....

I still feel they are taking the *** on their prices tho. Am i bad or do i have a point?

What does everyone else think?

pulliptears

pippascountrykitchen wrote: »

I have just replied to another thread about the overpricing of the BHF electrical shop in Maidstone. Frankly i find most of the charity shops in Maidstone overpriced.

I am of course aware that they need the money they get and they do a bloody good job.
Yes they should have donations
Yes they should have a good property
Yes they should get reduced rates, free staff and giftaid but....

I still feel they are taking the *** on their prices tho. Am i bad or do i have a point?

What does everyone else think?

No, you have a point and I agree with you entirely. I'm sick of walking into charity shops and seeing rails full of used Primark clothing priced up at more than they were in the first place.

Week in week out the overpriced shops have the same stock simply because people won't pay the stupid prices some of them ask. They are almost always empty.
Compare that with my local 'everything a pound' charity shop which is always heaving with people and has completely different stock weekly.

At some point they will realise its better to price the items to sell and shift them than have them sat on the shelves.

Valli

I pass very little on to the CS now but confine my donations to two charities (ease of dropping off, mainly as well as causes I believe in) and am registered for giftaid.

I was staggered with the amount one CS claimed to have raised on my last few donations (Age UK).

Still, I will be old one day;)

Ironically my bargains come from two different CS than those to which I donate!

pippascountrykitchen

Dont get me wrong i want them to have money. I want a cure for cancer and i want my parents to be looked after when old. But.. and it is the But that i am worried about. Should we question the prices. I mean i saw a Snoopy mirror for sale in Maidstone for £250.00. I looked up the item on ebay and it was between £2 and £8. I asked the lady in the shop and she said "We'll sell it soo....." and "Its for charity" like that is an excuse to do and say what you like.

Maybe i am wrong but i think it is worth a conversation?

pulliptears

pippascountrykitchen wrote: »

Dont get me wrong i want them to have money. I want a cure for cancer and i want my parents to be looked after when old. But.. and it is the But that i am worried about. Should we question the prices. I mean i saw a Snoopy mirror for sale in Maidstone for £250.00. I looked up the item on ebay and it was between £2 and £8. I asked the lady in the shop and she said "We'll sell it soo....." and "Its for charity" like that is an excuse to do and say what you like.

Maybe i am wrong but i think it is worth a conversation?

You do get a lot of 'experts' running these shops who think that because something is old or branded it's obviously worth a fortune.

pippascountrykitchen

Yep and people often say "If it was overpriced people would not pay it". They would because it is for charity and this is my point. When is it ok to think charity shops are ripping people off. I heard someone say recently that they have to charge high prices as their rents are so much. They are because they have the biggest shops. We have two British Heart Foundation shops in Maidstone about 10 feet away from each other. I heard a local shop chatting with one of the staff in the furniture shop about opening a shop near the BHF as he felt their success would rub off on him. The manageress replied, you couldn't afford to be near us. And she is right. He won't get the free rates, the free staff, the free stock or the gift aid. He won't be able to afford to rent a shop nearby as the rents are 60k.

Yes we all want to give to charity but is all charity more important than independant shops? Are we happy to have a high st that is just Tesco and Charity Shops?

Hmm71

You definitely have a point OP and if you're bad then I am as well. I go to charity shops in the hope of a bargain not to spend more than I would for something new.
I don't go into a particular shop because I support that charity, I prefer to give a donation direct if I support a specific charity.

pippascountrykitchen

Yes i get that too. We want something second hand that is perhaps cheaper than new but that all seems to have changed.

A few examples

British Heart Foundation Maidstone

A bureau with broken handle and generally in bad nick. £50

Save the Children Maidstone

A leather jacket 90snot great but labeled vintage and priced at £80
A Harry Potter plastic toy car £30
A singer sewing machine old but you see everywhere £200.00

PDSA Maidstone

A brand new cushion with Union Jack on £95.00

Save the children Maidstone

Ralph Lauren Shirt good nick £8 (yes please thanks)

Peggy Wood Maidstone
Monopoly Game Complete £2.50 (yes please thanks)

Not all charity shops are bad.

marmitepotato

I got a really nice Debenhams sheepskin coat in the PDSA shop in the High Street. It was £2.50! I wore it for a couple of winters then took it to The Heart Of Kent CS. I think most of the CS shops in Maidstone are fairly over priced now. There are loads down Gabriel's Hill but I rarely bother with them any more. Is it A sign of the times that more people think they will make their money go further if they shop is CS shops, then the CS shops respond with price rises?

soolin

Valli wrote: »

I pass very little on to the CS now but confine my donations to two charities (ease of dropping off, mainly as well as causes I believe in) and am registered for giftaid.

I was staggered with the amount one CS claimed to have raised on my last few donations (Age UK).

Still, I will be old one day;)

Ironically my bargains come from two different CS than those to which I donate!

I got thanked for £311 worth of donations last period by just one shop I donate my unwanted business stock to. Goodness knows what I gave them, I didn't expect even at charity shop prices for it to be worth more than about £80 at best.

eyelinerprincess

I've had some bargains from a couple of local charity shops but the big ones seem expensive in comparison. One local shop prices their DVDs at £2-£3 each. The Cash Generator shop next door prices theirs at £1 each and sometimes even less. Who gets the business?