Are charity shops the way forward?

what is wrong with buying things second hand, so much stuff in charity shops is nearly new, it is no different from buying on ebay and people spend lots of money on there. also what happened to people passing their unwanted clothes on to their friends and family like they used to not all that long ago?

2stornoway6

Have to agree to disagree

A sad sign of prosperity in any town is the number of charity

shops, We have 5 and unemployment is about 20%

Some people depend on them especially for kiddies clothes

Other use them for bargains after house clearances following a

move or bereavment

I once bought a brand new looking blazer for a bad taste party

The quality was outstanding and when I contacted the tailors 

(in Germany) I discovered it was made to order for £290 - I later

contacted the donaters who told me it had never been worn

because it fell out of fashion

It cost me £7 plus £3 for dry clean

Additionally, charity shops pay little or no high street rates -

so I am not impressed with their prices - they are guestimated

by the volunteer staff who work there - like a car boot sale - if

you are there on time and it's what you want - go for it

It appears that Charity shops pay a reduced Council Tax but I think that this is disgusting when one considers the amount of brand new items, china, glas and gifts that are sold. They should pay full Council Tax if they are offering unused items for sale.

Hear, hear Podpodley!

I too work in a charity shop, and am amazed and how many people think we should be lowing our prices, as all our goods have been donated.....can't they see that it is not the customer who is the charity...it is the hospice/Oxfam etc.

Our job is to get as much for an item as we can to help that charity.

I have always looked in Charity shops and whilst once upon ...many years ago.... I used to find very little in there for young teens and kids, I now feel that there are some amazing deals. Only this morning whilst out in town I popped into SCOPE and found a superb black full-length winter coat for my daughter (fitted - very nice indeed) and it cost me £2.50 - something that would have cost me £15 even if I had bought it from ADSA or Tesco's!
Anyone who refuses to consider wearing second-hand clothes or feels embarrassed to go into charity shops are SNOBS! I'd rather save the planet, save money and still afford to buy designer labels for me and my kids than be a SNOB and end up with a credit card nightmare! Pay cash, buy second hand, spend money on activities rather than items....love life - what could be simpler?!!!
By the way I am a young(ish) mum of 30yrs with a son and daughter so i don't feel that I am out of touch with fashion, kids/adult trends etc.....
more charity shops the better I say! Come on! Let somebody else profit from you - it costs YOU nothing!

I was recently dropping off yet more stuff to a charity shop to which I regularly donate. Whilst visiting the shop I noticed a belt which caught my eye because I have a similar one in a different colour, when I looked at the price tag I discovered it was more expensive that I had bought mine for and was from the same shop. When I mentioned this to the assistant, I was told that prices are set by Head Office and the shop assistants could do nothing about it. Surely a) To try to attempt to sell 2nd hand items at a higher price than brand new items (which can be returned) and b) This does not help the turnover of stock and charity shops do tend to have regular customers, surely they will not visit as frequently if the stock is stagnant. A rapid turnover at a slightly more realistic prices would equate in less stock piling and would get money into the bank account faster. Charity shops are now run in a similar manner to the ordinary high street shop, the only difference being is that the staff are not paid!!

I fully endorse charity shops but with some very cheap high street shops I think they need to have a rethink on their pricing structure.

The people are indeed not the charity but still, charging £40 for that armani dress just means no-one will buy it. For the amount of stuff you get donated and the amount you must have to throw away (I believe a lot of the books received are pulped for example) you should be more like the Yorkshire person above and price realistically. Buying something that is more expensive in Primark is just unrealistic I'm afraid!

I once felt the same as you did, but after having worked as a volunteer in a Chairity Shop, I changed my mind as a lot of things that came in were almost new and in some cases, were new, probably because they had been bought and the person had not worn it because it didn't fit properly and Yes, there are people who do that rather than take the trouble to return the garment for a different size. There are also unwanted gifts that are given to charity shops, I have done that myself especially if the colour did not suit or was the wrong size! Please don't knock the charity shops, as they help an awful lot of people out of a difficult situation. Baby clothes for instance...a baby grows out of the clothes long before they are worn out. There is a very strict sorting code with things that are donated and believe me, a lot of it is sold for rags as it is not good enough to put in the shop. Some is even binned if it is too bad.
The only thing I have against Charity shops is that they do not always treat their voluteers very well, as was in my case, in spite of 9 years service, also they are putting the general business man out of work or on a reduced income because they are taking their trade away, but NEVER SAY "NEVER"

I always check charity shops for books and generally have a look at other items while I am there. Sadly I think Oxfam, which was always my favourite, is pricing itself out of the game for most items and the smaller charity shops are possibly benefitting from this.
I have found some amazing bargains recently, went into a BHF shop last weekend and bought a leather Tula handbag which appeared brand new for £10, then in a Marie Curie shop a few doors away purchased a brand new hair extension for my daughter for £3.50!
When I get a bargain from a shop, I always tend to give a little extra back to that shop with a donation in addition to the price and often take some of my completed books/other goods there for them to sell.
Charity shops serve a lot of people in many ways but the prices in Oxfam need to be more realistic.

In Woodhall Shopping Parade, Welwyn Garden City there is a wonderful charity shop, but they throw out stuff into a skip at the back.

This is then raided every evening by people searching for rubbish, or alternatively set on fire by kids hanging around the area.

Many charity shops are fast becoming just another high street shop.  Selling brand new goods as a matter of course seems somehow to go against the original idea of such shops.

It also seems to go against the grain that they have to pay VAT (although it is possible to claim it back).

I agree on this point. I never buy their pricey new giftware etc. It is not what charity shops are about as far as I'm concerned.

all these things about charity and retail shops will be solved.
i am going to do research about this and come up with
a strategic solution on how this retail sectors work together
for a win-win and others- will-win-too end.

We take stuff to our local charity shops and have started hunting around them.  As a previuos poster has said there are many high quality goods at a fraction of the price new.  Having children has changed my perspective on where I want to spend my money.

Many of your contributors are being misled RE CHARITY Shop staff are Volunteers. A number of staff in charitiy shops are salaried and not VOLUNTEERS. eg Salvation army, Debra etc to mention a few.

Additionally, many goods that are donated are being ear-marked by staff,rather than sold. I regularly donate to these shops and have become very disheartened with the unecessary waste of funds, repeated shop refurbishment - particularly in the cancer shops. Furthermore, staff in the P&P of Wales Hospice Shops, never provide till receipts which I believed was a legal requirement .

On one visit to the Cancer Research Shop, I overheard the Manager state to an assistant that the till was short again, alledging it was the volunteer! She then proceeded to open the Breast Cancer Tin to make up this shortfall, which was very upsetting.

Without prejudice

Im all for charity shops, but admit I find certain ones are very expensive. The most expensive one in my home town (BOLTON) collects for the PDSA which is an animal charity. Its well run and always packed out and must raise thousands in a week but the prices are astronomical, charging 3 times more for things found in the local pound shop. Some people shop in charity shops under the belief that because its a charity shop it will be cheaper and this isnt always true. I can buy a full outfit in Primark for a quarter of what I would pay in this charity shop.
The really annoying thing is Bolton does not have a PDSA centre, although I remember years back that we were told we would be getting a PDSA centre which never appeared. Anyone in need of help to pay towards paying the bill for their animal's care have to travel about 40 miles round trip to visit an RSPCA centre. For this reason I will not go into or donate towards the PDSA shop.
I think if they dropped prices somewhat they would be supporting the very same people who support them.
Enuff Said

Charity Mmmmm I once was visiting Winsford in Cheshire and went into a charity shop saw a collection of books by JT Edson 23 books in all I had enough to purchase 20 of them and asked if I could have all 23 of them for £40.00 the answer was a resounding NO ok it meant that only 3 books wernt sold but they would of received £40 instead of £46, HELLO you got the books for nothing. In disgust I walked out and they lost £40.00.

Perhaps my disgust stems from how my family was treated by charity people after my father was killed. back then I would rather spit on charity for the trouble they caused us and they still do simaler in the shops...someone quite well dressed is spoken to in a good clear voice if the person is of poor appearance they are spoken to condescendingly. unless I know the charity spends localy and I can see it I give nothing specialy at the door and street collecters

Ive been a charity shop customer for decades, donating and buying. My observations are that Charity shops fall into 3 basic categories, 1) organised but expensive. e.g Oxfam 2) those that pack as much junk into 1 smelly, disorganised, unsorted room as possible, in the hope that just because they've got a picture of some unwashed street-kid in the window, the general public will instantly loose all sense of value and worth and pay extortionate prices for what is basically rubbish. 3) the ones I spend my money in e.g. Salvation Army, wth reasonable prices that are low enough to maintain a good turnover of items and return of customers. One thing I don't like about the SA though, as they are a CHRISTIAN firm, they won't take non-christian donations, e.g a Buddha image.

There are far too many issues here to address each one but I would like to make one point. I manage a charity shop in a small town in the South West, our charity has several shops and very few of them have FULL TIME paid managers, most just contracted for 25 hours a week or thereabouts. It is, therefore, impossible for the paid (trained) managers to personally price every item that is donated to the shop so a lot of the pricing has to be left to the volunteers.

I'd say that at least 90% of the charity shop volunteers I know are women over the age of 70 and although there is a pricing structure in place it is inevitable that some of these volunteers simply will not recognise all the brand names. They may, for example, know that Primark is cheap but not recognise that Atmosphere and Cedar State are also Primark ranges. Mistakes will be made when pricing, it's largely unavoidable with such a wide variety and number of people pricing. However these mistakes are made with more expensive brands too and no body complains when they get a Jane Norman dress for 2.50 or a leather jacket for a fiver. I would ask that anyone complaining at 'mispriced' items just try to appreciate the generosity of the volunteers giving up their time, and the challenge involved in teaching elderly people to memorise all popular high street, independent, supermarket and high end fashion brands and their subsidiary names.

It's a difficult task and work hard to make sure pricing is appropriate but it's not fair to compare a charity shop run on volunteers to a high street chain with a crack team of young, paid and highly trained staff.

Best dressed man in town

Love charity shops, can't pass one without having a quick look.Have found that in some places top class clothes are really being given away. My late wife made many purchases of designer clothes at silly give away prices and she could have purchased new, so it's nothing to do with low incomes.

As a typical man I'm not too fussy and don't need as many clothes as women for some reason. However, last week I purchased the following, all new or worn once (and dry cleaned). Marks and Spencer linen suit (new)£15, Gucci belt to keep the pants up £1, Jaeger shirt (new and retail £40) £2.50, Hand made unused leather shoes (Mister brand, Spanish, boxed with 80 euro price tag on box) £5. Pure silk hand made tie (boxed)£1.

End result, best dressed man in Kenilworth, how much, £24-50.

My tip for all those looking for similar deals, think where you shop, I live in Coventry, charity shops here sell junk that came from Primark in the first place, waste of time. Move out to the county towns where the filthy rich live, you knoe, wear it once and sling it.Works every time.

And the £24-50 goes to a good cause.

These are no longer charity shops - they are a business.

My local hospice shop has 11 branches and they charge the earth. If you go into the one nearest the hospice all the staff there are talking about the patients and who has died and who hasn't long to go.
Not very professional and definitely not what I want to hear. I now go into the ones out of town in the small villages set up to finance the community bus - much better stuff, fair prices and lovely ladies (and men !)
Although I did recently go into one of these where a male around 30 years old wanted to buy 2 pairs of jeans £1 each but only had £1.90. You only had to look at him to see that he really needed new clothes but the ladies wouldn't let him have both pairs - I paid the extra 10p, he was so grateful.
The ladies there said that's your good deed - I replied - yes but it should have been yours, isn't that what charity is all about ?

I think charity shops are wonderful!! My local charity shop is in whitworth lancashire and it has some absolutely amazing bargains!!!! Kids basket full of designer and non designer clothes all for 25p!!!! Now you can't complain about that come on??!! Childrens books are 6 for £1!! unbelievable prices and theybget better.. Mens/ladies t-shirts are 50p and jeans £1. Coates and jumpers you can usually get for a few quid but still a bargain!!!

I used to shop at charity shops until I began to notice items clearly used at higher than brand new prices. I can no longer afford to shop at charity shops so I buy brand new products as to save money.

donations do not come free, the sacks and leaflets cost money as does the drivers salary,cost of vehicle,upkeep and fuel cost,not to mention shop rent,bills and staff salaries.

How about some real truth here! Charity shops exist to raise money for the charity they support? Well, sort of - some of the money that is raised goes to the charity, that is how they can get away without paying the same taxes and rates that other shops have to pay. I think the maximum that I have seen charity shops pay over is about 8% i.e. 8 pennies in every pound spent in the shop! Most charity shops work on 3 - 5%. High Prices? Very true - if you go to many of the shops in town you will find the same item just a few coppers more. Greed! It is for that and nothing more!
At one time, little old ladies used to work as volunteers in these charity shops and used to be allowed the odd item for themselves. There are still a few of these about, but most of the volunteers are people who used to be dealers with their own shops. The shops that were forced to close down when charity shops took over - I am not saying that in all cases, but in a great many cases the dealers cream the best items from charity shops and sell in markets or car boot sales for their own profit. This is well known in my area. These dealers then charge very high prices in the shop to try to cover the fewer good items that they sell. Greed! If you don't believe me - check out the huge Charity buildings in the city of London where I can assure you the admin workers are not working for nothing. Ask your self, what happened to all those little antique shops - recognise the ex-owners working in the charity shops? I do.