Charity shops getting expensive!

Mr_Singleton

Pollycat wrote: »

You're pretty judgemental.

Charity shops are there for a very good reason and I feel somebody needs to point that out. I Wonder how many 'bargains' end up on eBay?

Pollycat

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Charity shops are there for a very good reason and I feel somebody needs to point that out. I Wonder how many 'bargains' end up on eBay?

Yes, you made that point in post # 29.
And your opinion was discussed in later posts.

Would you prefer that those books bought by the poster you quoted were pulped?
How would that help a charity?

A charity is there to help whichever unfortunate group it supports.
The people who run the shops should be maximising their income to use it for the benefit of the people they are supposed to be supporting - and having clothes/books that have been donated at no cost to them hanging around isn't the best way to support people/animals with needs because they are asking too high a price for an area.


I've said this before:
I can see no sense in refusing donations of books 'because they're not selling' when you've priced novels by authors such as John Grisham, Dan Brown etc at £1.99 and another charity shop less than 50 feet away are selling similar books for 50p or 75p.
How is that good business sense?
How does that help the charity?

mrsjaw

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Charity shops are there for a very good reason and I feel somebody needs to point that out. I Wonder how many 'bargains' end up on eBay?

I agree charity shops are there to make money and I support them frequently but prices are becoming silly now and I often leave with nothing. Its not that I haven't seen things I would like to buy but just that prices are way too expensive. Surely they would sell much more if they priced it cheaper.

There were reports once near us that charity shops on a small shopping area were paying £70 every two days for a arge 'dustbin' and throwing previously donated stuff out because there was just so much.

If peoples 'bargains' are ending up on Ebay then I say good luck to them - its probably people buying them who wouldn't be seen anywhere near a charity shop :rotfl:

Pollycat

mrsjaw wrote: »

I agree charity shops are there to make money and I support them frequently but prices are becoming silly now and I often leave with nothing. Its not that I haven't seen things I would like to buy but just that prices are way too expensive. Surely they would sell much more if they priced it cheaper.

There were reports once near us that charity shops on a small shopping area were paying £70 every two days for a arge 'dustbin' and throwing previously donated stuff out because there was just so much.

If peoples 'bargains' are ending up on Ebay then I say good luck to them - its probably people buying them who wouldn't be seen anywhere near a charity shop :rotfl:

That is shocking! :eek:

If I made regular donations of unwanted clothes/books/bric-a-brac to that charity, I would be furious.
And would be supporting a different charity with my donations.
And would be writing to the head of that charity to ask for an explanation why my donations were being thrown away.

Mistral001

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Of all the "I don't haggle in charity shops but...." comments on this thread the above is my absolute favourite.

Was wondering if this entire thread could be saved for posterity maybe with a title of "Modern Morals in 2019 Britain"
Thoughts?

I agree with Pollycat, you are being very judgemental about people who use charity shops. Yes there will be some who will want to cry "look at poor me" I have to use charity shops" There will be others who will boast how they got a bargain at a charity shop when they can quite well afford to buy the same items new in regular shop. However speaking from personal experience, the people who have to use them because they cannot afford to do anything else will do it and not talk about it. Have you thought about those. There are plenty of them.

Pollycat

I feel I support charity shops in 2 ways:
by buying items from them
by re-donating items I no longer want - some of those items will have been bought new, some will have come from the same charity shop or a different one

In our Air Ambulance £1.00 shop I don't even try things on anymore. I just take a punt and if it doesn't fit when I get home, I just see it as a one-off donation to AA and a win for the charity I regularly donate to as they get another item.

I recently bought a fab coat from AA (for £1) that I've worn at least 5 times in as many weeks.
I love it so much that I went back in and popped £5.00 in their collecting tin.

I really can't understand what Mr_Singleton's issue is. :huh:

mrsjaw

Pollycat wrote: »

I feel I support charity shops in 2 ways:
by buying items from them
by re-donating items I no longer want - some of those items will have been bought new, some will have come from the same charity shop or a different one

In our Air Ambulance £1.00 shop I don't even try things on anymore. I just take a punt and if it doesn't fit when I get home, I just see it as a one-off donation to AA and a win for the charity I regularly donate to as they get another item.

I recently bought a fab coat from AA (for £1) that I've worn at least 5 times in as many weeks.
I love it so much that I went back in and popped £5.00 in their collecting tin.

I really can't understand what Mr_Singleton's issue is. :huh:

I love the Air Ambulance shops, we have a £1 shop and a £2 shop and sometimes find fantastic bargains in them. My absolute favourite top is from the £2 shop - just a Matalan one but I love it - and my husband recently got a Next jacket that is in the shops now from the £1 shop!

Mrs_Ryan

I give a lot of stuff to charity (I have a shopping compulsion due to my mental health condition) there’s a lot of lightly worn stuff (I tend to wear things once or twice and then get bored with them unless I really, really love something- and then I may wear it more often but I still tend to get bored with stuff easily) and even unworn stuff that I’ve given that I’ve seen for sale for ridiculous prices. My first job when I was 17 was in a city centre Oxfam shop (it’s long long gone so I can mention it) so I have some idea of the prices they tend to hike but I have been gobsmacked at the prices I’ve seen on some of the stuff I’ve given.

I don’t tend to buy from charity shops (I’m a size 24 and it’s not often that any nice plus size stuff winds up in chazzas- quite often the nicest stuff I’ve seen is stuff I’ve given )

I’ve just filled another bag tonight- there’s two ladies Superdry hoodies in there, probably worn about 9 or 10 times between them, bought last winter. They will probably end up going to BHF as they’re the only ones round here that collect- I dread to think how much they’ll end up going for, probably something close to what they cost new- I think some of them see labels like Superdry, Hollister, Jack Wills etc (and I’ve donated stuff from all of them at some point) and their eyes light up with pound signs

On the flip side I’ve seen some stuff woefully underpriced- the most beautiful Mulberry handbag (genuine- I have a Mulberry myself and know how to check the serial numbers and everything) unused (again I know the things to check for) worth an awful lot of money- I looked at it but the time wasn’t right for me and I left it for someone else to love. They offered to reduce the price but I discreetly mentioned that they were seriously doing themselves out of money by selling it at that price! I thought about it all night but when I went back the following day it had gone. Someone got themselves a superb bargain but I felt a little sad that the charity could have got more.

Pollycat

Papperclip wrote: »

II’ve just been in charity shop in St Helens and I agree. Coats for £20 and jeans (for £13 but not even in great condition (all second hand) I also seen as suggested clothing from the likes of Primark which were more expensive than what they were originally sold. Additionally I seen T-shirt’s a local gym brand we’re giving away which were being sold.

I personally think we will see a lot of charity shops closing down due to this new pricing structure. Very sad given the courses they represent.

I don't know the reasoning behind it but one of our charity shops closed down last Friday.

It's a fairly local charity.

cbsexec

Oh how I agree about some shops doing themselves out of customers. My local redcross shop has become so overpriced I rarely shop in there - still look still hopeful. I was recently looking for a jacket for my husband and looked at a tweed one but it was priced at £85:eek:Not a price I would have thought many would pay. It wasnt even pristine more a bit sad looking. It is still there weeks later.