Charity shop tips

buffers

Foxy wrote:

i know every1 in ours does i think it is prob standard policy cos u give up your time n dont get paid so it is a fringe benefit ;D ;D[/QUOTE

I have worked in a local charity shop for over 5 years 'in front' on the till. Neither my colleague nor I get 'first choice' - it would seem that is the privilege of the 'back room boys'. Considering the job they have in rummaging through some pretty rough stuff sometimes they probably deserve it! We do, however, get the option of looking through the items in the shop and we get a small discount on clothes ONLY.:)

bravebrat

I agree some charity shops are far too greedy. Surely the money is of far more use to the poor,homeless, hungry and needy etc than it is hanging on hangers waiting to be sold.Lets face it - people go to charity shops for a bargain. If they wanted to pay high prices they would go to High Street stores. One charity shop in our village sells stuff very cheaply - they believe in a fast turnover of goods and take great delight in displaying how much money they have made for the charity at the end of each month, together with stating a big thank you to everyone who has donated goods.Why cant other Charity shops follow suit. Another charity shop turned me away with my donations - just after the Tsunami - I was quite horrified as I felt that I was doing my bit for the poor, homeless, hungry and needy. If they dropped the very high prices their turnover would be far quicker and they would not turn donations away. I was not the only one turned away. As for selling things on Ebay. As long as the charity shop gets what it is asking for - good luck to the enterprising charity shoppers. :A

LilacLillie

I went into a charity shop today locally. I always take stuff in almost every week, to this same shop.
I have NEVER seen any of the stuff I've taken in on the shop floor.
I asked about this once and they said only the best stuff goes out!
Well judging by the rubbish that is always stuck for weeks on the shop floor, I find it insulting to say my stuff, very often brand new, with labels, in boxes, washed and pressed, furniture etc: its plain rude.
I tell myself its better to go to them than to throw it away.
Today I saw a vase for £20. In a shop in the same market it was selling (same vase), for £9. I pointed it out and the guy said 'But its for charity!'
Also a hat for £10.50, looking a bit worse for wear, saw it in BHS last week in sale for £15.
Makes no sense to me. Wish there was somewhere else I could take the stuff
LL

tatts_2

I worked in a charity shop for almost 18 months, it was up to the managers discretion whether we volunteers had 'first pickings', ( ours used ot let us have first picks and at a cheaper price, as she would say "we cant afford to pay you, so its the least we can do!" ...........
the policy in ours was that if something wasnt sold after 2 weeks (if it was a quality item!) then it was reduced in price, if it wasnt sold after another week, then it went onto a 25p rail......(boy the stuff I used to get! lol Next, O'Neill ,Ben Sherman etc!)
not so 'top quality' brands were priced up and if not sold after a week, went onto the 25p rail aswell........... Childrens clothes atuomatically went into the 20p tubs, and anything deemed not fit for resale was bagged up for the ragman and he paid up to £5 per bag! (black bin liner)
I was the only 'young' person to work in the shop, and found that the older helpers hadnt heard of a lot of the 'trendy brands' ( ie O'Neil, Quicksilver etc) and used ot put them straight onto the 25p rail most of the time! Things that were old fashioned were apparently 'lovely' and priced quite high, but rarely sold!
Things were generally at a low price anyway compared to other charity shops in town (arent some exspensive hey!!!???) and they get a lot of custom in theres, so had a good turn over on profits, at xmas they used to make £500/£600 a week!
(Though it was a non government funded chairty for the animals, so they had to pay rent etc on the place, unlike other charities) Big property its in too, and always full of stuff, they even turn donations away coz they get too much!

I know the BHF work (or at least used to when I worked there for a little while!) on a policy of a set amount charged for tops,skirts,coats etc, items are set into bands before pricing.

If anyone wants to work in a charity shop, just call in and say you have x amount of hours to spare a week/fortnight etc and 9 times out of 10 they will gladly except your help! Ours are always asking if anyone has an hour to spare once a week even!
I loved working in ours, varied tasks and none of it boring as there was always the chance of seeing the goods first, you'd also be surprised what ends up in skips at these shops too! (in terms of books and bric a brac etc!) I was often given items for free as they had nowhere to put things when they came in, or wasnt sure if something was complete or working etc, had several electric typewriters and toys for my son like this! (games etc) Only stopped working there because the manageress passed away and I didnt get on with the new one in her place, and had another job on top aswell which didnt give me much spare time to do housewifey type things! lol
Ahh I do miss coming home every wednesday with my car boot full of treasures though! rofl

Mind you, I cant throw almost ANYTHING away,(ie clothes,games,bric a brac) much to hubbys dismay, I have to take it to the charity shops, which drives him mad as I stick it all in the boot and forget to drop it off on my way into town, and it sits in there for days at a time! lol Bit inconveinient when I only remember when I open the boot to stick the weeks food shopping in the car! :rolleyes: lol

surfsister

hoskins wrote:

Charity shops are great but they could be even better if they brought the prices down - most now are getting rather greedy, I saw a little blouse for £6.oo, I got a similar brand new one for £5.00 in BHS
>:( ???

Yes I've seen items I've donated which only cost £2 or £3 in Primark (teens clothes) with a prive ticket more than they cost! They are as new but even so.

Chiarty shops do often have Sales now where all clothes are 99p best time to stock up.

whatup

Why do people insist on slagging off Charity Shops?

Most Charity shops do an excellent job of making money for the cause they are working for. Most shops are run by volunteers who give their valuable time and in some cases that's 20 years+!

Some charitable organisations do not have codes of practice or pricing policies when it comes to receiving and selling donated goods but some of the bigger ones do - in some organisations codes and practices for each shop are monitored by that particular area management team which ensures that there is fair and consistant pricing and that discounts are not given to staff or customers. Having a discount on goods is getting paid for volunteering which misses the point of giving of time completely.

If you are volunteering in a charity shop for the perks of having first dibs or discounts then you are not volunteering for the right reasons and you may want to question your motives!

Charity shops are not greedy if you think their prices are too high, remember charity shops are there to make as much money as possible from donated goods for their cause. Sometimes there are mistakes in overpricing but I don't hear anyone complaining when they get that mistakenly underpriced bargain!

Also please don't donate goods to charity that you wouldn't buy yourself!
When you next consider donating your goods ask yourself this question 'would I buy this myself?'. Goods that are dirty, smelly, have holes, are torn or are incomplete ie 1 sock will not be saleable and COSTS the charity to dispose of so before you donate think about whether or not you are costing OR BENEFITING the charity.

Before I became a volunteer in my local charity shop I was ignorant and thought that the person who had nothing (either buying in the shop or sending to the needy overseas) should be grateful for anything - I now know this to be completely untrue! Would you go into M&S and buy something that was dirty? Would you put your child or yourself into someone else's dirty, torn clothing or shoes?

Charity shops have to pay the same rent to their landlards as would any other shop, however, they do get a reduction in rates.

Giving is much better than receiving, if you've never worked in a charity shop before and have only seen it work from the outside or have had an unpleasant experience of malpractice then go to a shop and offer your gift of time and make a difference. You'll feel better for it I promise!

pdoff

i love charity shops - my dad even mentioned my charity shopping in my wedding speech! (no my dress was not from one but if had found one there i liked it would have been!!). without them myself & the boys would have hardly any clothes & thye wouldn't have as many toys - although prob wouldn't be a bad thing. i also don't like wearing the same as everyone else & this is less likely shopping this way as it is mainly last season's stuff - lol! things are donated back after but the problem in dewsbury is that most of them are in the middle of a pedestrianised precinct & it is impossible to carry a binbag full & push a pushchair so they end up going to the same shop every time! i know some collect but it seems silly for 1 bag & i have no room to store it till i get more - currently trying to empty the spare room of boots bargains & presents bought in advance so baby can move into it!
i have a friend that occasionally ebays stuff (personally i couldn't be bothered!) - she had an oilily scarf (personally never heard of it!) that she bought for £1 & was amazed to find it sold for £100! some people have more brass na sense! anyway she was so shocked she took half the profits to the shop who were delighted! everyone wins!

skintchick

LilacLillie wrote:

I went into a charity shop today locally. I always take stuff in almost every week, to this same shop.
I have NEVER seen any of the stuff I've taken in on the shop floor.
LL

I once asked teh same question, and was told that in some chains, they take the clothes to a central sorting place, and the best stuff is creamed off for their specilist shops in london :mad: so where I live we get a lot of old lady type clothes cos they think that's the demographic here :mad:

Not sure if it is totally true, but would explain why none of my many, many, bin bags of lovely clothes have ever appeared in my local shop where I actually donated them.

I LOVE charity shops though. Got a Monsoon dress for £4 last week, bargain.

twink

Toozie i live about 20miles from an raf base and it has a thrift shop, only open 2 days a week but always when i am working, have been there though so i know the public does get in, was very good for childrens clothes

Philippa36

I have a Red Cross charity shop opposite me and I couldn't live without the books I buy from there. I buy them, read them, then take them back, cheaper than the supermarket and at least some of the money goes to the charity. I am always clearing out old stuff to take in and if I want to share the wealth a little there is a charity recycling bin (plus one for shoes and one for cd's and books) behind our local supermarket so I can always put a couple of bags in there too. I don't tend to buy the clothes as my kids wouldn't consider them but when they were babies the charity shops kept me well supplied.

There are a couple of local charity shops that have raised their prices beyond what I would consider a fair price but then I vote with my feet and walk away.

My sister lives in a small village with a very large collection of charity shops and has incredibly well dressed children with a very large collection of videos and dvd's.