Is it right to Moan about Charity shop prices.

System

Pollycat wrote: »

I'm not the one pricing them up though.
I'm just repeating what another poster wrote earlier.
So some charity shops do think it's not ridiculous to charge that amount.



But as you've pointed out, you don't go into charity shops so are you really qualified to judge what's cheap and what's not?
£2 might not be expensive in your world but it certainly is for a lot of posters on this thread who do frequent charity shops.



Most of us posting on here are people who charity shop regularly.
The general concensus seems to be that 'yes, some (but obviously not all) charity shops are taking the *** on their prices tho' (to quote the OP).

You don't need to go in a charity shop to know the value of something

As you are not forced to buy a product in any store they are not taking the ****. There seems to be a belief on this thread that charity shops should be very cheap. I don't see why they should be. The price of an item should be the price they can sell it at.

In addition as many of the staff are volunteers I assume they are not retail experts and probably don't really know how much a product should be so just make it up. If it doesn't sell then they will lower the price.

Pollycat

Pollycat wrote: »

Then we have to agree to disagree.

Again.

Most people who've posted do think some charity shops are taking the *** on their prices.

I believe some charity organisations set prices for shops to charge.

As I've said, I frequent charity shops and often hear people muttering about high prices for items that haven't cost as much new as they are charging for them second hand.

Some shops do lower the price but not all do.

cyberwench

I don't mind paying what I think is a fair price for something. £2.00 for a second-hand book seems reasonable to me (my favourite local CS, Sense, normally charges £1.50). Yes, I love a bargain, but I think the shops selling 8 books for £1 (unless they're very old and tatty or have been hanging around for ages) are doing themselves out of money.

I do agree though that some go too far. The Oxfam bookshop near me is the worst. Prices seem to start at £1.99 for yellowing, dog-eared paperbacks from the '70s; and go up to around £5.99 for newer titles :eek:

Abbafan1972

marywooyeah wrote: »

I donate to charity by direct debit each month (£30 across a few charities) which is a lot for a student, and whenver I have a clear out we donate to local shops.

About 2 weeks ago me and my son took a big bag of videos, another bin liner full of toys and kids clothes and took them to the local Age Concern. We knocked on the back door and a woman came out, looked at our things and when my son passed her a video she said "oh no we don't take those" and he looked a bit rejected, then she said "what else have you got?" so when I said we had toys/clothes she turned her nose up and said "oh ok well thanks" as if she was doing us a favour taking them.

I suspect most of the shops now won't take Videos as they're an obsolete format and most people won't have players anymore anyway.

Rubisco

Abbafan1972 wrote: »

I suspect most of the shops now won't take Videos as they're an obsolete format and most people won't have players anymore anyway.

And they take up a lot of shelf space. 1 VHS on display at 20p or 3 DVDs at £2 each?

Pollycat

marywooyeah wrote: »

I donate to charity by direct debit each month (£30 across a few charities) which is a lot for a student, and whenver I have a clear out we donate to local shops.

About 2 weeks ago me and my son took a big bag of videos, another bin liner full of toys and kids clothes and took them to the local Age Concern. We knocked on the back door and a woman came out, looked at our things and when my son passed her a video she said "oh no we don't take those" and he looked a bit rejected, then she said "what else have you got?" so when I said we had toys/clothes she turned her nose up and said "oh ok well thanks" as if she was doing us a favour taking them.

As we reversed out of the car park, having put all the videos back in the car, we saw her come out of the back door and sling our donations bag into an industrial bin! She even looked over at us while she was walking back into the shop!

charity shops these days seem to have ideas above their station - their purpose is to take in resaleable donations to raise money for charity. Charging stupid amounts of money for things you can buy cheaper brand new isn't going to raise money for their cause, nor is throwing away good quality items that could have gone to a good home.

I used to always take my unwanted clothes to British Heart but when I once years ago took in 2 bags full of decent clothes - Next, M&S etc the assistant said 'Oh, put them there'. No thank you or even a smile.

I said, 'I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll not put them there, I'll take them across the road to Save the Children' and I did and the woman in there said 'Thank you so much for thinking of us'.

It doesn't take a lot to lose a donor.

The same woman in BH also had a habit of standing outside the shop on occasions and rattling a tin under the noses of people passing by, especially near Valentine's Day. I told her she was putting people off going into the shop.

sweetsheep84

TBH I think some are really charging ridiculous price. Was in BHF once comparing prices. A normal 32 inch TV (not any of those flat ones) was going for 55 to 70 quid. So I kept looking elsewhere in another charity shop. A TV with similar spec was less than 20.

Same rule applies towards clothes. Remember seeing a pair or primark jeans with a tag of 4 quid when buying it brand new would only be a quid extra!

zippybungle

I can't afford to shop in certain charity shops (BHF springs to mind) as they are too expensive! I can remember looking in one at Alfreton and everything was hideously overpriced (supermarket clothing which was cheaper to buy new!).

However there is a local charity shop nearby which I donate a lot of things to and I also buy a few things from there as the prices are right I picked a Beaver Scouts polo shirt up for 75p, dresses for my 5 year old daughter for £1 each, kids jigsaws and board games and books, all priced to sell. I'm always looking for Boys school trousers (I know you can pick them up quite cheap from supermarkets anyway) as my eldest son is always getting holes in them from playing football at playtime.

Zippy x

PILES

goater78 wrote: »

I don't use these sort of stores myself but surely prices are dictated by demand. If people are prepared to pay the prices then they should keep them at that level. If you can sell a mirror for £25 why sell it for £8? They are not there to provide bargains for customers. They are there to raise the maximum amount of revenue for the charity.

I am sure if something sits in the shop for a few weeks without selling they will just reduce the price.

The only sensible post on this topic :beer:

Pollycat

PILES wrote: »

The only sensible post on this topic :beer:

In your opinion, that is.

Most people who've posted do buy from charity shops (unlike the poster you've quoted) and the majority do think some (not all) charity shops do sometimes (not always) over-price goods.