Charity shops - expensive?

Libbyloo_2

I too agree that some charity shops are quite expensive around here (Northumberland) the worst ones seems to be the British Heart Foundation although I really do think it depends on who prices the items up but still I think I would rather my money went towards a good cause than into some huge corperation thats loading the pockets of bigwigs Lol
I would say the majority of my wardrobe has come from Charity shops and I have had some amazing stuff I got a gorgeous Coast 2 piece outfit brand new with tags for £15 plus loads of monsoon and other designer kids clothes so it has saved me a fortune. I would not like others have said though pay more for an item that it actually costs to buy new in the original shops.

jazzyjustlaw

I used to use charity shops all the time. They are too expensive even where i am. Oxfam is the worst. However, there are one or two charity shops luckily that are still reasonable. I will buy books from oxfam but I must go to a bootsale soon one to get rid of some stuff and one to buy some more :rotfl:

black-saturn

I spend quite a bit of my time browsing charity shops. In the past 4 or so years I have noticed a big increase in the prices. I used to buy a fair bit from charity shops and even if the item wasn't suitable when i got it home it wouldnt matter as I'd give it away or give it back to the charity shop it came from. But now I'm buying less and less.

I also tend to find that the scabbier the charity shop the cheaper the clothes are. So if they have one of those steaming things and all the clothes look nice they will cost a lot but if your prepared to wash something when you get home and give it a good airing it will be cheaper.

Mariel

I'm surprised at everybody saying Oxfam is one of the more expensive shops, round here they are quite reasonable, in fact one of the cheapest. Jeans tend to be about £2.99 and tops about £1.99, kids clothes are give or take £1 per item. A while ago they must have been clearing stock and had a 'fill a bag for £1' day, I got 2 bags including a fabulous green vintage 70s maxi dress and a really lovely black party outfit for my daughter. I find Heart Foundation is expensive too.

black-saturn

Yep I find Heart Foundation expensive too but the worst of all IMO is Sue Ryder. How on earth they make any money I'll never know.

larmy16

I see Robert is back BS! Yep the BHF is the dearest with Oxfam in my town, in fact it was the BHF I worked for. It was embarrassing sometimes when people would complain about the prices of things, but they had a pricing schedule and stuck to it. God help anyone who had the nerve to ask for a reduction!!!!:D

juno

I find BHF is really good for books!

One of our local charity shops has a really great sale on atm. The kids books and games are all 5p! I got a computer game I'd wanted for ages. It was originally priced at 25p which I thought was good anyway.
They also have a half price sale on adult books (that makes them sound naughty and I don't mean that!) but the woman who served me got confused and thought all books were 5p, so I ended up paying for my stuff and donating the rest of the money as she just couldn't work it out.

Then there's the other really expensive charity shop which I've commented about on here before. They must be learning now though, as they only charge £2 for tatty books rather than £2.50.

Quasar

Here in London some of the charity shop prices are really silly, especially in trendy areas - a jacket for £30? Come on! Even if it's a designer jacket, I can assure you that they don't sell it as quickly as one would imagine.

I tend to buy new clothes mostly, but I'm always on the look out for rainproof heavy jackets for my transport surveys in the winter, as a new one of those can be expensive. But looking at charity shops prices, I think there is no longer much to choose between them and regular shops anymore.

Still good for books though, some of them.

iwanttosave_2

I went in a charity shop the other day for the first time, my little one insists on growing so thought I would see if I could make things a bit cheaper. I went in the British Heart foundation and they didn't have any childrens stuff so I had a look at the books. The cheapest books were little paperbacks and they were £1.50 each and hard backs were £4, cooking books were £6.

Could have bought them half the price on amazon.

Mariel

Our BHF seems to always have good books but they are so expensive I won't buy them. Videos were £1.99 last time I looked as well - no chance.