How much??!!

GobbledyGook

There's a charity place near us that is similar. I actually popped in when we moved because the sofa wasn't going to fit through the new doors (cheaper to replace the sofa than windows and doors!). I had planned to donate the sofa and some extra furniture there as when they first opened they had a really good name for helping people in need out

They helped a young Mum I knew who'd fled DV. She had to start from scratch and she managed to pull together £300. As everything they got was donations they helped her furnish her flat and accepted the £300 because it was literally all she could afford. Things like that.

Now they sell secondhand suites, not even great quality, for £250/300. The few good quality ones they had were £500/600. Things like DVDs and books were expensive as well (£7/8 for a book that was a tatty paperback). The man was saying they were struggling as people had stopped buying and donating so much, but it's no wonder.

trolleyrun

When I needed a sofa some years ago, I went to the BHF shop locally for a look. I was looking for a sofabed and they had one. 3-seater. It was filthy! It even had what looked like urine stains on it. They wanted £250 for it! I couldn't believe the prices they had in there. I didn't buy anything, I walked out in disgust.

There aren't many charity shops that sell furniture around here, so I ended up buying a new sofa and other furniture came from auctions or new in shops. It's a shame I couldn't buy from a charity as in would've liked to.

z.n

Making a similar purchase last year I got a victorian sofa-an upholstered wood double seat- not everybody's taste but it was £275, clean and fitted in the car.

lollipopsarah

We went to our local "re-use" shop (council run thing) a few months ago and got a 3 piece and 2 arm chairs for about £98 delivered they had some lovely odd sofas too.
The kids call it our grandad furniture but what the heck it's clean and practical.
OP you could probably get a cheaper new one from argos or other brand shop.
xx

thedogsmum

Charity shops, especially the multi nationals, nowadays are run as a 'proper' business, with targets, etc., with prices to match. It's not only furniture that's overpriced; a lot of clothes and bric a brac are, too. It's true to say, you can buy new cheaper than you can a lot of the items some of the charity shops are selling. You need to source the individual ones if you're looking for a bargain, imho.

Peter333

thedogsmum wrote: »

Charity shops, especially the multi nationals, nowadays are run as a 'proper' business, with targets, etc., with prices to match. It's not only furniture that's overpriced; a lot of clothes and bric a brac are, too. It's true to say, you can buy new cheaper than you can a lot of the items some of the charity shops are selling. You need to source the individual ones if you're looking for a bargain, imho.

I couldn't agree more with this post. I posted about this on a thread some months back, that charity shops were getting cocky with their prices. They used to be really cheap, but now they take the mick.

Me and 'er indoors have been into a few lately, and some of the pricing is shocking. We saw a little mini side table the other day, that was big enough to put a lamp on, and maybe a mug of coffee, and it was marked and scuffed on top. They hadn't even tried to clean it. And it was £30! :eek: We had bought a table to put some stuff on in one of the bedrooms the week before, that was 3 ft high and 3 X 3 ft in size, (from someone in the newspaper,) and it was a fiver! And the quality was really good, and there were very few scratches on it.

Similarly, we have seen little bits of bric-a-brac, like old vases and old pictures and suchlike, that are waaaaaay overpriced. And I have seen Primark T-shirts in some shops that are a fiver, and they were only three pounds new!!!

It's such a cheek considering they get the item for FREE! :mad:

I have walked away from 2 out of 3 things that I may have bought if they had been more reasonably priced.

I even asked the man in the shop if they'd consider dropping the price of the little side table, (as it was the size we needed,) because I felt £25 was a bit steep, but he said he 'doesn't set the prices.' (And no, it wasn't a fancy antique.)

And I have also seen manky and dirty old sofas for sale (with no chairs!) for £175 for the sofa alone.

Yes you do get the odd gem of course. My daughter got a pair of trainers (hardly worn,) the other week, and she paid six pounds. When she got them home, they turned out to be a brand that was £40 new.

I guess it's pot luck, as you do find the odd gem, but there is far more tat and over priced rubbish in them, than there are bargains.

There are a couple we know in the town not far from our little village that are often cheap, but more of them are expensive, than not.

millysg1

Im a director of a small charity of shops (5 in total). We try to only sell items of quality so I doubt we would have a dirty sofa with tears in but last week we sold a very large corner, real leather, very good condition sofa for £200. That would have been well over £1000 brand new but looked hardly used. Our shops are in the sort of middle class areas, I guess you could say, but as they are run by a local man trying to raise money for charity and not for his own profit, with very low over heads, I guess we can afford to charge what I believe are still very reasonable prices for good quality stuff.

It is hit and miss with charity shops, especially the big chains, but im very proud of our shops so please don't assume all are the same. We open our 6th shop this week after the charity only going for 19 months.

hgotsparkle

The BHF furniture shop near me is ridiculously priced. They have a stained and saggy red fabric sofa that was £150! The same would go for about £30 on Gumtree!!
I've bought nearly new 2 real leather sofas from ebay before for £130!!
I tend to stick to Gumtree for used furniture now.

jaylee3

millysg1 wrote: »

Im a director of a small charity of shops (5 in total). We try to only sell items of quality so I doubt we would have a dirty sofa with tears in but last week we sold a very large corner, real leather, very good condition sofa for £200. That would have been well over £1000 brand new but looked hardly used. Our shops are in the sort of middle class areas, I guess you could say, but as they are run by a local man trying to raise money for charity and not for his own profit, with very low over heads, I guess we can afford to charge what I believe are still very reasonable prices for good quality stuff.

It is hit and miss with charity shops, especially the big chains, but im very proud of our shops so please don't assume all are the same. We open our 6th shop this week after the charity only going for 19 months.

I would echo this.

I have been to some horribly overpriced charity shops, and some that have some absolute bargains, and it IS hit and miss.

I agree that it is unfair to tar them all with the same brush.

Pollycat

millysg1 wrote: »

Im a director of a small charity of shops (5 in total). We try to only sell items of quality so I doubt we would have a dirty sofa with tears in but last week we sold a very large corner, real leather, very good condition sofa for £200. That would have been well over £1000 brand new but looked hardly used. Our shops are in the sort of middle class areas, I guess you could say, but as they are run by a local man trying to raise money for charity and not for his own profit, with very low over heads, I guess we can afford to charge what I believe are still very reasonable prices for good quality stuff.

It is hit and miss with charity shops, especially the big chains, but im very proud of our shops so please don't assume all are the same. We open our 6th shop this week after the charity only going for 19 months.

I agree with this.

There is a long-running thread (174 pages) on the OS board about charity shop bargains.

Every so often there are a few comments about high prices being charged for stuff.

My local Hospice shop (where all my donations go to) sells books at 25p each or 5 for £1.

Less than 400 yards away, Barnados sell the same quality books (usually used paperbacks) for £2.99 or 3 for £5.

The same pricing policy is echoed throughout all stock in both shops.

Guess which one is always busy?