Charity shops getting expensive!

dandy-candy · 15 July 2017 at 9:04PM

I buy all my clothes (besides underwear and shoes) at charity shops and I've noticed the prices going up these last few weeks. Skirts are now priced around £6 when I used to pay £3-4. Even the Primark and George seem to be more secondhand than they were new!

I've new started buying my clothes at car boot sales where it's usually £1-2 per item

Has anyone else found the prices going up?

VfM4meplse · 15 July 2017 at 9:05PM

dandy-candy wrote: »

I buy all my clothes (besides underwear and shoes) at charity shops and I've noticed the prices going up these last few weeks. Skirts are now priced around £6 when I used to pay £3-4. Even the Primark and George seem to be more secondhand than they were new!

I've new started buying my clothes at car boot sales where it's usually £1-2 per item

Has anyone else found the prices going up?

Its something that is raised regularly on the chazzer thread. We take a pride in the bargain factor. Seek it and ye shall find, at the right price.

elf06 · 15 July 2017 at 9:10PM

I've not been in any charity shops lately so as not to tempt myself but I know from walking past windows that they are getting a little dearer here too. I saw a dress (albeit a M0ns0n or similar) in the window for £25......£25!!!

[Deleted User] · 16 July 2017 at 8:15AM

When I was up in Cheshire in April on holiday my friend and I went to Alderley Edge on the way back from a day out,just to see how the rich live

There was a CS in the main street that had dresses priced at £45 +

:):) didn't look that great to me and I have never understood the draw of designer labels anyway

:):) a dress is just a dress, you either like it or not

Pollycat · 16 July 2017 at 8:26AM

I agree, prices do seem to be going up in charity shops and some major charities seem to have lost the plot in pricing stuff.

I find hospice shops price more attractively.

Our local Air Ambulance seems to be a clearing centre for other AA shops 'can't sell' items and sells clothes, shoes & bags for £1.
I've picked up some bargains there.

My wardrobes are full to bursting (99% charity shop) and it's a case of 'one in, one out' so I only buy when I see something I really want.

Price of books is my biggest gripe.
Our local Barnados sells used paperbacks for £1.99. These are the run-of-the-mill Harlen Coben, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Lee Child, Sophie Kinsella etc that you can pick up anywhere for less than that.
The Hospice shop - less than 50 yards up the road price them at 50p or 75p.
Madness.

I posted on the 'charity shop bargain' thread about our local Barnados refusing to take books as 'they get about 250 a week but only sell about 20'.
Well, when paperbacks are priced at £1.99 each & the hospice shops 50 yards away sell similar books for 50p to 75p it's hardly surprising, is it?

They would have room to put a table out with books for 25p and I'm sure they'd turn stock round pretty quickly.
I sometimes question the business acumen of some charity shop managers/area managers (shakes head in disbelief).

ETA:
Follow the link in VFM's post to see my latest bargains. :T

thriftwizard · 16 July 2017 at 8:50AM

The trouble is, most of the big "chain" charity shops are bound by national pricing policies which can't be varied by local managers. The prices are set at national level and that's that - for example, a top has to be £3.99 or it doesn't go out onto the floor at all, even if it only cost £2 to start with! Some of them have "outlet" shops where everything is £1, £2 or £3, which is much more reasonable, but there aren't any anywhere near us.

One misconception I've come across is that they don't pay any rent. They may get a rebate on the business rate - it looks better for a town to have an open charity shop than a boarded-up shopfront, and better to have some money coming in than none - but they pay full rent, and in an area like ours where business rents are sky-high, they have to cover that rent, and the salaries of any paid staff (usually the manager) or close their doors. Hence even the little local charities charge high prices for stuff, but that's usually where you'll find the best bargains, as they're not suffering from policy-makers who are used to paying London prices.

Floss · 16 July 2017 at 9:45AM

I think part of the increase in prices is down to rising overheads for the shops, but also because demand for the charities' services is sadly increasing too along with rising costs, therefore the previous £3-4 for a skirt won't buy quite so much now, and those £3-4 must spread further.

Pollycat · 16 July 2017 at 9:46AM

thriftwizard wrote: »

The trouble is, most of the big "chain" charity shops are bound by national pricing policies which can't be varied by local managers. The prices are set at national level and that's that - for example, a top has to be £3.99 or it doesn't go out onto the floor at all, even if it only cost £2 to start with! Some of them have "outlet" shops where everything is £1, £2 or £3, which is much more reasonable, but there aren't any anywhere near us.

One misconception I've come across is that they don't pay any rent. They may get a rebate on the business rate - it looks better for a town to have an open charity shop than a boarded-up shopfront, and better to have some money coming in than none - but they pay full rent, and in an area like ours where business rents are sky-high, they have to cover that rent, and the salaries of any paid staff (usually the manager) or close their doors. Hence even the little local charities charge high prices for stuff, but that's usually where you'll find the best bargains, as they're not suffering from policy-makers who are used to paying London prices.

If I were a manager of a charity shop, I'd be talking to the other managers in my area and be lobbying the head office about silly pricing.

It might not work but it's better than shrugging your shoulders and saying 'it's not down to me to set the prices'.

Prices that an affluent area might bear, a small pit village won't.
It's really not rocket science.

Better a donated item be sold for £1 or £2 than sit on the rack priced at £3.99 for 4 weeks then go for rags.

I buy virtually all my clothes from charity shops and have regular clear-outs.
All my stuff goes to our local hospice shop because I want to support them.
But if I saw a George or F&F dress that I'd donated on the rack for £7.50 when it probably only cost double that new, I'd say something to the manager.

firebubble · 16 July 2017 at 9:55AM

Interesting about the pricing policies. I think prices are definitely going up - at the same time as 'quality' is going down. The stuff is in good repair, but I've noticed over the years, that charity shops are getting better and better about sifting through what they receive, with the good stuff being sold elsewhere where they can get more cash.

On the one hand, it's totally reasonable that they want to maximise the value of what they get, but this policy seems to have trickled down from designer/true vintage/wedding dresses to through high end High Street down to mid-range High Street such as M&S level stuff, with the result that there never seem to be any real bargains anymore in the shops themselves, just rails of George at Asda for twice the price it sold for new!

caffinated_geek · 16 July 2017 at 10:19AM

The prices at my local charity shops are mixed but they have been going up for years. I work on a high street with 5 second hand shops and when they get something new in it's often priced at £5 or more even if it's primark. Because they don't sell much at these prices all of them have a pound rail or 50p rail which is where I end up getting all my clothes. One of them has 1.99 per item or 10 items for £10 on all clothes in store. I still get some really good bargins, my favourite book is Good Omens and I got a first edition hardback for £10 in one of the charity shops.

McKneff · 16 July 2017 at 10:27AM

Too many of the fat cats getting massive Salaries.

Car boot sales are the best value.
When i dont want them anymore or they dont fit, they go to the Charity shop where they charge 4 times what i paid for them

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Charity shops getting expensive!

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