Charity shops - expensive?

black-saturn

I went to some charity shops in Islington recently and the prices there were unbelievable.

chrisewey76

Flimsy wrote: »

I disagree, they have a lot of paperwork, banking, staffing issues etc to do, the same as any business. They would be hard pushed to find anyone to do it out of the goodness of their heart. I'm a volunteer so don't get paid but I do my bit and then walk away after a shift and don't have to think about the place till the next time I go in.

i did it for 5 years and didnt get paid!
it was a small shop in a small town and couldnt afford a PAID manager, it was either do it or the shop would close!
in small towns they do alot to bring a community together
its when you try to turn them into boutiques that they defeat the purpose IMHO

lil_me

Ones near me are the same, becoming more and more expensive. I don't think the staff also know what prices some things are new, as it proved with a value t-shirt for £1 which are only 50p new. I find many locally have to do days where everything is half price or buy one get one free on a regular basis as they run out of room for stock. Possibly because prices are so high noone buys.

There are some however in other areas they offer good value. I think it depends where the shop is and who is running it to be honest.

On the subject of paid staff all the ones local to me have paid managers but the rest of the staff are volunteers.

Plum_Pie

black-saturn wrote: »

I went to some charity shops in Islington recently and the prices there were unbelievable.

Oh gawd yes! I don't even bother anymore. Mind you almost every shop on Upper St is for mugs IMO. (I worked in the M & S in Islington as a student and most of the customers had far more money than sense!)

needmoney

Hapless wrote: »

Chances are the £500 Dolce and Gabbana top is made in the same place as the Primark top! 90% of the big brand trainers are made in the same factories.

I've read so much of this type of thing on different threads lately and it's shocking.
Vik's post about buying for something like £2.99 and selling for £0 or £40 comes to mind.
I have a skirt from Next which cost £36.99 and an almost identical one from Matalan which cost £14!

chrisewey76

needmoney wrote: »

I've read so much of this type of thing on different threads lately and it's shocking.
Vik's post about buying for something like £2.99 and selling for £0 or £40 comes to mind.
I have a skirt from Next which cost £36.99 and an almost identical one from Matalan which cost £14!

i must be a REAL cheapskate, i've NEVER paid that much for a skirt, and i'm talking about 14!

needmoney

chrisewey76 wrote: »

i must be a REAL cheapskate, i've NEVER paid that much for a skirt, and i'm talking about 14!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
It's getting less and less for me as I have to stretch my money further so come on and tell me where you buy for less I'm open to ideas.:j

I have bought in charities but they are getting worse I never wear jeans but found a pair in a charity the other day they were black M&S and £4.45 so I thought i'd get them for fun and if they were ok I'd buy myself a decent pair, I thought I had looked them over but when I get them home the two belt loops at the back were broken and they had what seemed to be like a cut at the front to the side of the zip. Some bargain! I'm ashamed to say I didn't go back to complain as the manager sounded a bit scary, they went straight in the bin!

Bargain_Rzl

Plum_Pie wrote: »

Oh gawd yes! I don't even bother anymore. Mind you almost every shop on Upper St is for mugs IMO. (I worked in the M & S in Islington as a student and most of the customers had far more money than sense!)

Like in that fantastic sketch on the Harry Enfield/Paul Whitehouse programme...

I know that was set in Notting Hill rather than Islington but the same applies!

Bargain_Rzl

needmoney wrote: »

I have bought in charities but they are getting worse I never wear jeans but found a pair in a charity the other day they were black M&S and £4.45 so I thought i'd get them for fun and if they were ok I'd buy myself a decent pair, I thought I had looked them over but when I get them home the two belt loops at the back were broken and they had what seemed to be like a cut at the front to the side of the zip. Some bargain! I'm ashamed to say I didn't go back to complain as the manager sounded a bit scary, they went straight in the bin!

I have two pairs of stretch-fit Per Una jeans, both bought at charity shops for about £5.99 I think - a bargain by my standards, as I needed new jeans and they were a better fit than anything else I could have found for that price.

But as for faulty goods - following a discussion on here last year about good places to go charity-shopping in London, I spent a Sunday afternoon bargain-hunting in Golders Green. Among a couple of other things I found what seemed to be a very nice Next suit - the lining was a little worn through, but on the outside it looked fine. It cost me £10, but that should have been a good price for what it seemed to be.

What I didn't notice until I was wearing it - IN PUBLIC - was the large and irreparable hole in the inner thigh :eek:

chrisewey76

charity shops, primark (out of season stock is WAY reduced! though i try to go for plainer styles as theres less chance of them being out of style next season!), bootsales, etc
i have two kids and my OH has two, who are here to visit every weekend and most of the school hols, and their mother is a shameful woman, with no idea how to spend her money responsibly! so we (me and OH) end up having to give them what they need! (we had them for xmas because she DIDNT get them a pressie!) and i had to buy a bed for his girl as SHE spent the money on "other things", (NOT BILLS!)
I had to get girl cream for atheletes foot as SHE put them on bus up here, THEN text to say she had it and needed cream!!!!!!!!!
NO SHAME THAT WOMAN!!!!!!!
SORRY FOR RANT!!!!!!
they are lovely kids though and i do what i can for them, as i would AND DO for mine!