Charity shops - expensive?

Ianna

My local Oxfam's clothing section's absurd. It's such a stereotype - massive old ladies polyester dresses, clothes that are falling apart and so on. What surprises me is that plenty of pople I know frequently donate clothing there - young, fairly fashionable clothing, good quality and in good nick - but all they seem to stock is clothes for old people. Where do my clothes go? Bear in mind as well that they have a prime city centre location so they'd do really well if they made an effort to stock more of a range or maybe market themselves as a retro fashionable store or something. They'd make a fortune and improve the reputation of their brand and of charity shops everywhere. I genuinely don't get it. Where are they getting all this elderly customer stuff from, there's just so much of it! Where does the nice stuff go? Any ideas anyone??

I guess that's the problem with relying on volunteers though - they can be hard to get, have few skills, not do much (they're not getting paid after all), unreliable etc etc. As a result your stores can suck.

chrisewey76

Ianna wrote: »

My local Oxfam's clothing section's absurd. It's such a stereotype - massive old ladies polyester dresses, clothes that are falling apart and so on. What surprises me is that plenty of pople I know frequently donate clothing there - young, fairly fashionable clothing, good quality and in good nick - but all they seem to stock is clothes for old people. Where do my clothes go? Bear in mind as well that they have a prime city centre location so they'd do really well if they made an effort to stock more of a range or maybe market themselves as a retro fashionable store or something. They'd make a fortune and improve the reputation of their brand and of charity shops everywhere. I genuinely don't get it. Where are they getting all this elderly customer stuff from, there's just so much of it! Where does the nice stuff go? Any ideas anyone??

I guess that's the problem with relying on volunteers though - they can be hard to get, have few skills, not do much (they're not getting paid after all), unreliable etc etc. As a result your stores can suck.

i beg to differ (in my own case, not over the board) it depends on area and interest! in the shop i work in we have a wide mixture of ages, abilities and skills (i'm only 30!!!) and most of us there are under 45. we all bring something to help, so runs well from collection to shop floor! and we are realistically priced and ONLY sell good quality clothing and goods.on occasion we are asked to lay aside any new things for other fund raising events, so maybe that might be the case with your vanishing items? either that or all the 70 year olds have nabbed um! lol. in our shop we get a 10% discount on goods as a reward for volunteering, but they have to have been on the shop floor for a week before hand, or pay full amount, so no nabbing at our place, lol

Flimsy

Ianna wrote: »

I guess that's the problem with relying on volunteers though - they can be hard to get, have few skills, not do much (they're not getting paid after all), unreliable etc etc. As a result your stores can suck.

Wow, thanks! I volunteer as I haven't worked since having my children and it gives them and me a little break from each other. I also get to have some adult conversation and gain a bit of confidence as I have been away from the workplace for so long. I work hard while I am there, I get some sort of weird satisfaction from sorting things and them staying sorted, not pulled apart by a energetic toddler.:D They also get good value from me as I don't spend 10 minutes of every hour hanging out of the back door smoking.

teedy23

Now now Flimsy, we all know people who work hard at whatever task is set them, paid or unpaid, but dont turn on a person because they smoke, they too are voluteering. You wouldnt castigate someone who had to go to the loo every 10 mins, would you. Live and let live. I dont think it,s true that volunteers are not up to the mark in all cases, but same as paid shop staff , some good some bad

N9eav

The cancer research shop in newquay was burgled this week!!!!!!!!
WHY? :mad:

Flimsy

teedy23 wrote: »

Now now Flimsy, we all know people who work hard at whatever task is set them, paid or unpaid, but dont turn on a person because they smoke, they too are voluteering. You wouldnt castigate someone who had to go to the loo every 10 mins, would you. Live and let live. I dont think it,s true that volunteers are not up to the mark in all cases, but same as paid shop staff , some good some bad

I didn't see where I had turned on anyone, it was an observation And I don't think toilet visits/smoking are comparable.

Ianna

Flimsy wrote: »

Wow, thanks! I volunteer as I haven't worked since having my children and it gives them and me a little break from each other. I also get to have some adult conversation and gain a bit of confidence as I have been away from the workplace for so long. I work hard while I am there, I get some sort of weird satisfaction from sorting things and them staying sorted, not pulled apart by a energetic toddler.:D They also get good value from me as I don't spend 10 minutes of every hour hanging out of the back door smoking.

Which is why I said CAN and not ARE. I volunteer myself as well as working fulltime simply because I believe in it. Have done for years.

Ianna

chrisewey76 wrote: »

i beg to differ (in my own case, not over the board) it depends on area and interest! in the shop i work in we have a wide mixture of ages, abilities and skills (i'm only 30!!!) and most of us there are under 45. we all bring something to help, so runs well from collection to shop floor! and we are realistically priced and ONLY sell good quality clothing and goods.on occasion we are asked to lay aside any new things for other fund raising events, so maybe that might be the case with your vanishing items? either that or all the 70 year olds have nabbed um! lol. in our shop we get a 10% discount on goods as a reward for volunteering, but they have to have been on the shop floor for a week before hand, or pay full amount, so no nabbing at our place, lol

See if all charity shops were like that they'd do so much better!! It really depresses me that so many round me are so poor. Keep up the good work!

Bogof_Babe

Sadly, the abundance of clothes for elderly people is probably due to bereavements. Having lost both our dads last year, OH and I have taken many bags of their decent quality clothing (some unworn) to various charity shops in our city.

Then when selling my parents' house we donated lots of household and kitchen equipment.

Any clothing that had seen slightly better days but was still wearable was given to the Salvation Army, who were grateful for it.

I am just getting into charity shopping myself, and have had a couple of excellent finds. I think up to £5 is fair enough for an item that is in A1 condition and is what I am looking for at the time. I'm not bothered what the "label" is.

chrisewey76

Flimsy wrote: »

I didn't see where I had turned on anyone, it was an observation And I don't think toilet visits/smoking are comparable.

depends on your habits or ailments, loli smoke and i still manage to get heaps done and if i was to smoke a ciggie every ten minutes,(assuming i got up at 7am and went to bed at 12 in the night) i'd have a serious problem because i'd smoke 102 ciggies a day!!!!! VERY SCARY! and i should imagine i wouldnt need fake tan as my skin, hair and clothes would be naturally orange!!!
edit= just reread your post, lol10 in every hour, sorry. that in its self is a 20 a day habit! i dont smoke that much! but then i am definitely at a stage where i think me smoking 1 a day is too much. look out for my post in the near future asking you lovely people to support my giving up efforts!