Charity shop tips

clairehi

Charity shops are no different from any other shops in needing to price items to sell unfortunately the people doing the pricing are sometimes not living in the real world.

I am a big fan of Oxfam bookshops and have bought lots of books from various branches.

However I had to laugh when I went in the Cambridge branch recently and saw a Harry Potter book priced at £2.99, which still had the original price tag on from the discount bookshop next door - it had cost £2 when new!!!

In the same shop , DH picked up a huge stack of highly collectable Marvel comic books for 50p each as a present for his nephew.

SOmething had gone badly wrong with the pricing there....

rosieprimrose

I absolutely love charity shops - I have a couple of favourites which seem to have the right idea that to have a good turnover you need to price things lowish and realistically, otherwise they are left with stuff that often gets sent for rags.

Had a super buy this week - a very large (v fashionable size and shape) black leather Enny bag in excellent condition that cost me £5. I reckon it would have been well over £100 new and as I said it is in fab condition.

I also buy lots of books there and either pass them to friends or hand them back.

So many things are donated unused with tags attached that it makes you realise what a wasteful and materialistic society we have become - all good for me quite often!!

Love them!!

barginbin

I got a suit for £12 in my local chairty shop and then paid £8.55 to get it dry cleaned ! so for just over £20 i got a new suit , my mum thought it was new from some were like next.

stayathomemum

My favourite hobby is routing out bargains! Having lost rather a lot of weight, I am now spoilt for choice and have great fun revamping my wardrobe. :j

Got a fab pair of Gap black bootleg jeans yesterday and a wrap top by Animal. I've had to limit the visits as I'm always finding something that fits now (quite refreshing, I must admit!). Tend to go to the more up-market charity shops in the area - i.e. Windsor, Wokingham etc. Was in Twickenham last week for a concert and couldn't believe the number of charity shops there. I can feel a visit coming on.......:rolleyes:

gingerdad

I know this is an old thread, but been great reading, having just set up a charity shop (the frist) for a small local charity its been an interesting experience.

our policy is everything goes into the shop first and the volunteers can buy at a discount, everything is priced by the manager at what we think is a fair price. the shop is there to raise funds for the charity and we need to get the best value for items, we do have a couple of experts who look at various items that we then sell via ebay or auctions.

And anything we can't sell we get value from the "Ragman" be it books clothes games bags etc. one of the best earners from the ragman is old bra's - figure that one out.

Our shop costs approx 80.00 per day to run including Rent. Rates and Managers salary.

The other big benefit being a small local charity in having the shop is the amount of profile raising its done, which has been invaluable.

On the topic of people taking items from the donated stock left outside - thats theft pure and simple and if we can't anyone doing it would press charges.

On the topic of people buying stuff cheap from the shop and selling for a profit elsewhere - good on them. we price for the amount we believe we can get for an item, after doing research or talking to an expert if we get it wrong or miss a brand or valuble item so be it. we have priced for the amount we want some we win some we use.

Regards

GD

terrierlady

i found it difficult when the volunteers walk into the shop area showing each other their bargains which had not been put out, as some say a perk of the job?why do they need perks?you do the job for various reasons not for what you can get.most get upto 20% discount on purchases anyway .
Without the volunteers the shops wouldnt make any money as the rents are so expensive.so to anyonethat does the job on behalf of all us customers Thanks a million.

Rumour_2

Just thought I would dig this up again, been going on for a while now..

I work for a charity in the Midlands. We have about 30 shops and we have very strict rules on staff and volunteers buying donations. For a start, no one is allowed to sort donations out and decide they want an item. There are two ways they can buy it.

1. They can wait for it to be priced independently, usually by the Manager or Assistant Manager. It is then allowed onto the "waiting" shelves. (Where items awaiting a trip to the sales floor sit) At that point, staff and volunteers are allowed to purchase at the full price.

2. As above but instead of buying from the waiting shelves, it goes onto the sales floor. If a volunteer or member of staff want their discount, as is available in almost any retail store, they can get up to 25% off. To get that they have to leave it for sale on the sales floor for 48 hours!

Having said that, Volunteers can have some perks, after all, they do give their time freely. Usually in our shop, if they ask to purchase say a DVD film, we may well give them the item as a gesture of thanks. To us, the sale of that DVD would have realised 95p, a small price to pay for the hours they give us.

We do look out items that are worth more than we can get in the shop. Not items that I would deem "socially desired"! They are items like normal everyday stuff that some need but can't afford. Notice I said need and not want! Very important difference there.. Those items that are needed can be really important to someone, so while not being a social service, we are socially responsible.

As for people buying items and selling them on? Good luck to them. As long as I get what I see as a fair price for something, if they make a profit, everyone is happy.

crossstitchamy

volunteer in a charity shop, you will get discount . i currently work in one and i get 25% off anything i buy

luvchocolate

Not all do this our hospice gives no discount to volunteers, however they are allowed to purchase items while sorting...all priced by the manager.
We never give anything to anyone free I think this is wrong, items have been donated for the charity to make money on.

crossstitchamy

well if something is not good enough to sell on the shop floor and it goes in the bin but you may want it, you gotta put a pound in.