Oxfam Selling clothes

mikeyrivered

I agree with the OP that its well worth looking through and a good cause.

But some of their prices are just unreasonable for a charity shop or elsewhere, and they'll never sell some of that stock till they bring it down in price.

Little britain series 1 and 2 - 14.99 2nd hand. (plus 3.95 postage)

HMV sale - 3 pounds each brand new.

Joe 90 boxset - 45.00 + postage
Play.com - 29.99 free delivery



Doesn't really add up.

FBThree

littleowl wrote: »

Isn't it also true that most charity shops are used by people who cannot afford high street prices?

Just to say that I'm one of the growing crowd of people who finds using charity shops a "moral" way of trying to reduce waste. I'm fed up of seeing huge container lorries travelling over oceans full of cheap mass-produced stuff which many people just throw out. I often get clothes that are different to everyone else by looking in charity shops. The thing I don't currently like is that charity shops have started buying in "new" lines to sell! There's enough good stuff out there to save from landfill.....if only it was shown or displayed well enough in the windows!

rarrarrar

I think "we" have to agree to differ on the role, purpose and pricing policies of charity shops.

But we can all agree that donating directly or indirectly (via their shops) to charities is a action to be encouraged .

Charities benefit and the environment can benefit by recycling through reuse.

I would also encourage people to consider giving and hour or so of their time to volunteering in the shops .

My local shop gets regular "Duke of Edinburgh" teenagers on placements . many of whom carry on after getting their award.

duchy

Some years ago Oxfam came out really badly in a television documentry about admin costs. From what I remember they came out the worst in admin/fundraising costs/salaries (on a percentage basis) and there was quite a stir about it at the time.
I have no idea if that is still the case but I do remember it did them a lot of damage at the time as people were shocked at how high the percentage was-and some boycotted them in favour of charities who had lower costs and more donations actually going to help their particular cause.
Charity shops are no different to any other shops-they will charge what the market will bear and no-one is forced to shop in them. If they price too highly people simply will buy elsewhere.

thanksalot

I am also quite comfortable shopping in charity shops, but I do stay clear of Oxfam shops as I find them highly overpriced.

I buy a lot of children's book for my children and I am quite happy to recycle them through charity shop when they have finished them (DD keeps some she wants to read again). The charity shop supporting my local hospice sells most kid's books for under £1 and often does specials (3 or soemtimes 5 for a £1). Oxfam tends to price books at £1.50. I am reluctant to buy them there. Same with the clothes; Oxfam is not above reselling Primark's stuff !

bottleredhead

I use a lot of charity shops; I donate as well as buy and I must say Oxfam are seriously expensive compared to others.

What annoys me is that the stuff is donated; their overheads are similar to the charity shop next door so why do they charge so much?!!!

The charity ethos should work both ways; donated free to sell and raise money and sell cheaply to help less off people buy "new" stuff.

The hospice ones near me are brilliant, regular sales and a permanent 50p rail with coats, bags and all sorts.

I happily spend in there and am more than willing to donate stuff to them because they don't charge ridiculous amounts.

On another note, the British Heart Foundation, which is a personal charity to me (lost my mum to heart disease) have a shop near me selling furniture and similar.

They are charging 100 quid for 2nd hand washing machines, cheapest 3 piece suites, which are usually old fashioned and tatty, are around 395 quid!

If they dropped their prices by 3/4 they would probably sell 10 times more stuff, especially when Tesco and DFS do the aforementioned products so cheaply

Rant over!

pepsicola_2

I think you need to remember that a lot of charity shops are staffed by older ladies who may have never been in a Primark or even heard of it and wouldn't know just how cheap they sell clothes for.

One thing I do object to is the "charity" recycle bins for clothes in my area although they state they are for a charity in fact the bin is emptied by the "rag and bone" merchant who will pay the charity a very small amount. I never put any clothes in these that are decent as the charity shop will get a lot more money actually selling the items than they will for the goods being sold as rags.

rarrarrar

The Oxfam bins are emptied and contents transported to the shops -this function may well be contracted out.
The shops dont even bin the reject clothes themselves they go to a central depot for resifting .
I'm sure some other charities do the same.

However - bit OT - there is a lack of facilities for the public to dispose of textiles/clothes directly for recycling.

lamb7994

rarrarrar wrote: »

However - bit OT - there is a lack of facilities for the public to dispose of textiles/clothes directly for recycling.

Most charity shops will take clothes/ textiles which are not good enough for selling and only for recycling as they will still get paid for recycled textiles / rags.

Just best to let them know they're not good enough to be sold but for recycling.


James

thanksalot

pepsicola wrote: »

I think you need to remember that a lot of charity shops are staffed by older ladies who may have never been in a Primark or even heard of it and wouldn't know just how cheap they sell clothes for.

I don't think this is true of Oxfam in particular.
They very often have very professional looking windows and sort the designer labels out of the lot.
So even though they may not shop in Primark themselves, I am sure they are aware of primark's brands.