Charity shop workers - please share your tips

Pennylane

Rosa_Damascena said:

Pennylane said:

Pollycat said:

Not a charity shop worker but someone who has shopped in them for many years.

I very carefully check an item before I buy.
My Mum always said I was bobble-obsessed. 
I feel down the front of a garment, especially round the bust area and also round the side-back where cross-body bags can rub and bobble the fabric.

I check the inside underarms or crotch area if it's trousers.
I check the inside 'care label', it can give a good indication of how much it's been worn if it's faded.

I check if it's been taken up. I don't mind shortening hems on skirts, trousers or dresses but prefer to do it myself from the original starting point than from somebody else's higgledy-piggledy attempt.
I also check zips.
And if it has all the buttons (if it is something that will cost more than it's worth to replace the whole set e.g. a double-breasted coat).

Finally, if it's a patterned dress or tunic, I turn it inside out as it's easier to check for holes on the reverse side.

So glad you mentioned checking crotch area!  We used to get beautiful mens suits, really expensive ones and although they looked immaculate on the outside we used to don plastic gloves and check the inside crotch area because invariably they were stained 🤮🤮. Good suits always have that area lined with light coloured fabric and sometimes that fabric was absolutely stained yellow!  We might get a few quid for a suit jacket but the trousers usually had to be binned.

That is just gross. 

gross but true!! 😝

Mangocat11

Also remember that the Jewish community clean the house and get rid of stuff they no longer want just before Passover. If you visit the charity shops in an area with a large Jewish population like Golders Green, just after Passover, like my mum did (just by chance) there are often very good bargains to be had.

YorksLass

There is a Jewish Welfare Charity Board shop near us that's known locally as the Harrods of Charity Shops.  They do have good bargains sometimes, especially on cut glass/crystal goods and ladies handbags, but I'm afraid I have to avert my eyes when going past!     

Mistral001

ellenvan said:

My tips would be.
Ask in a specific shop if you don't see something you want - e.g. they might have more brollies in the stock room.
Advice for visiting - just drop in as many times as you can - the best items get put on the shelf and go within an hour sometimes.

I started to use charity shops because of my financial situation and to be honest I would not like to ask for something, but rather just act like someone casually buying things from time to time.  Call it pride, but that is it.   I never haggle and I will often buy things because they are cheaper than buying them new in the shops and not because they are at rock-bottom prices.  At car boot sales I will haggle strongly, but I treat charity shops differently because I depend on them so much and because the money goes to charity.     

Wednesday2000

The woman at one of the shops near me (Leigh Broadway in Southend, a fairly affluent area) told me that she gets so annoyed with people trying to haggle prices of clothes etc... I don't understand as people living there are clearly quite well off and it is a charity shop!

Mistral001

I think some people treat going to charity shops as a game to see who can get the biggest bargain.  That probably what drives some people to haggling.

Pollycat

turnitround said:

The donations which should really be taken to the tip. People bring in black bags, boxes, suitcases and carrier bags full  of donations. Some are wonderful, washed and folded but some!!!!!!
The bedding that must have been on the bed 3 weeks and is filthy and stained, the workwear that is full of paint, the kids clothes complete with last nights dinner thrown up down the front. The frying pans which are no longer worth using and still have the grease from the last use chucked in with the dirty clothes. Ripped clothes, the contents of the kitchen bin, the broken cups, dirty plates, odd shoes, etc, etc (not forgetting the dirty knickers, we get a lot of those). Its just a way to get rid of rubbish and junk without having to go to the tip. Ive opened bags were  there are a couple of neatly folded towels on the top then underneath items of clothing which are dirty and of no use for sale. However, my best one yet was the bag which had 2 cushions on top and at the bottom was some dirty babies nappies and they had also scraped the dinner plates into the bag alongside potato peeling and some mouldy bread and pizza. You do need a strong stomach. At the end of the day we are volunteers trying to raise money for the hospice yet some people think its acceptable to do that. 

This is disgusting.
All my donations to charity shops are freshly washed and folded (but not ironed). And in reasonable condition. No torn items, no broken zips.

I took a big bag of old towels to he RSPCA shop for the kennels. They were also freshly washed and folded.

shandyclover

Mistral001 said:

I think some people treat going to charity shops as a game to see who can get the biggest bargain.  That probably what drives some people to haggling.

I worked 6 months in a charity shop. I think you may be right. I also think for some it's their only social event of the week. We would have the same people come in with granny trollies, who would go over the whole shop, then try and haggle. They came in so often you knew they probably didn't need anything and their house was more than likely stuffed to the gills but I think it was an opportunity just to interact as maybe they had in the old market days.

Pollycat

shandyclover said:

Mistral001 said:

I think some people treat going to charity shops as a game to see who can get the biggest bargain.  That probably what drives some people to haggling.

I worked 6 months in a charity shop. I think you may be right. I also think for some it's their only social event of the week. We would have the same people come in with granny trollies, who would go over the whole shop, then try and haggle. They came in so often you knew they probably didn't need anything and their house was more than likely stuffed to the gills but I think it was an opportunity just to interact as maybe they had in the old market days.

Maybe they were just lonely and wanted a little bit of personal interaction.

turnitround

shandyclover said:

Mistral001 said:

I think some people treat going to charity shops as a game to see who can get the biggest bargain.  That probably what drives some people to haggling.

I worked 6 months in a charity shop. I think you may be right. I also think for some it's their only social event of the week. We would have the same people come in with granny trollies, who would go over the whole shop, then try and haggle. They came in so often you knew they probably didn't need anything and their house was more than likely stuffed to the gills but I think it was an opportunity just to interact as maybe they had in the old market days.

I think that is very true. we have a lot of elderly people who come in and love a chat. I always say its a pity we dont have room for tables and chairs then we could make them all a cuppa.

One thing I do notice though is the number of elderly ladies who buy toys and clothes for grandchildren and great grandchildren. One lady comes in our shop and picks lots of baby clothes out of the tub, we sell at 4 for £1 but when we are overrun they are 10 for £1 and she fills her trolley. Her daughter then brings them back and donates them as they are not appreciated but I cant bring myself to tell the lady that she is wasting her money. 

What I don't understand though is the number of people who don't take advantage of the offers. We have a rail of childrens coats, boys and girls, ideal for school and they are £1 but they just don't seem to sell very well. Today I served a lady who bought 10 children's books, she apparently helps out with the reading at a local school and she was telling me about a child who read very well but had no books at home so she had asked what her favourite book were and was buying her some.  She told me that the little girl in question comes to school with no coat even in this weather. She did say that social services were involved but when we have rails of coats at £1 why would any child be without.