Charity Shop Experiences.

[Deleted User]

This is down to the individual Managers of the business and how they're delegating the staff.
I'm friends with someone, that works in one of the charity shops in the town, whose role it is to organise the CD's and books in a user-friendly way.

Owain_Moneysaver

I'd rather they were sorted by some sort of genre.
Someone looking for Beethoven is unlikely to also want to browse through Beyonce or Bear Grylls. 

43722

Yes, that would be fine. I have started to notice how some shops make an effort with classifying cd's, and some make no meaningful effort. But i understand too that this is the work of volunteers, and that some customers will not put items back right.

DigSunPap

I think the beauty of a charity shop is not knowing what you are going to find. If they had everything in order this would ruin half of the fun! (coming from an avid charity shopper)

Pollycat

DigSunPap said:

I think the beauty of a charity shop is not knowing what you are going to find. If they had everything in order this would ruin half of the fun! (coming from an avid charity shopper)

That's fine if you have time to browse but if you want to pop into several charity shops during your lunch break to look specifically for books by Lee Child (for example), it's not much use having everything just chucked willy-nilly on shelves.

Mistral001

Some charity shops do arrange DVD's into categories or alphabetically, but their prices tend to be quite a bit higher than normal. 

I have gotten used to trawling through hundreds of DVD's.  There are ways of knowing the type of movie without straining your neck over to read the text on the end of the DVD box.  For example pink usually means a rom com.  Also usually there are thumbnail photos of the stars the right way.  However if you are looking for one particular title then in some shops it could take you a long while.

Nebbit

My wife volunteers in a charity shop and most of her time is spent sorting out 'Donations' from entitled people who think they are doing a good turn by bringing in large bags of dirty socks, ripped clothes, out of date maps and other totally unsaleable stuff. This attitude seems to be a badge of honour, a proof that they never buy from a charity shop, only 'give'. The worst of all are the people who leave things in a pile outside when the shop is closed, so the staff arrive to have to deal with wet rags. So there is minimal time for displaying stock tidily. 

43722

I concur in general terms with what you have written. But I see a range of charity shops, and in some the presentation and organisation of stock is very well done. Again, I am certainly not criticising the efforts of those who give their time to such worthy causes. I was asking if stock, if better organised and presented, has a measurable effect on  sales.

[Deleted User]

I would think it has too, for all the reasons given previously, most people don't, or can't, allow the time to sift through it.

EnPointe

it is going to  entirely be a function of the amount of volunteers   they have  to stock/ classify and price stock  vs the amount  ( and quality) of donations ... 

hence the stuff you  see/ hear  aobut  charity shops in affluent areas  and 'bargains' etc , they've often got good quality sdtockbeing donated and  have plenty of  volunteers be they  people looking for extra curricualrs for UCAS applications ,  yummy mummies who want to help the poor in a slightly performative way or  the early retirees or late boomer  birthdates with their private sector DB pensions ...