Charity shops more expensive than mainstream shops.

[Anna B]

Blimey, here is me sitting here thinking that the whole point of buying from a charity shop was to help the charity fundraise and give a contribution.

 

Now I know clearly im all wrong. They are there to serve the needs of tight fisted locals going there as some form of bargain basement store.

 

How the hell can charity shops offer the same pricing as major supermarkets and national chain discounters. They have huge buying power, the have massive influence over suppliers, they retail deliberately priced loss leaders.

 

I can buy a second hand t shirt for £3 from a charity shop or a band new one from Primark for the same money. Of course the obvious thing to do would be to buy the new one and demand the charity shop lowers their price.

 

Hardly helping their "cause" is it. Charity shops pricing things at below Poundland or Primark levels would make their purpose totally worthless. Seriously, what would be the point of running a shop, paying the shop overheads, spending time filtering though the piles of crap people donate to find one or two sellable items, paying money to dispose of all the unsellable crap that people chuck in the bags, spending time to search and coordinate volunteers, spending time stocking and displaying the items all to make only a few quid each day.

 

Charity shops are an extension of their fundraising. Would people throw 2p into a charity tin or sponsor a fun runner 50p? I don't think so. Why seemingly do they expect the shops to bankrupt themselves then.

 

I love a rummage through a charity shop as much as the next person, but I am lucky enough to be in a position to pay either £3 in a charity shop or £3 in Primark. Depending on which item I prefer, or even both if I wish.

 

What about the person who relies on the charity shop as a source of all their clothes and other items because that is all they can afford. They are happy to wear/use second-hand items not because they are 'vintage' but because they are cheaper than the shops. If the shirt in Primart is £3 the shirt in the charity shop should be £1. The shop gets the items free and don't pay rates on the business so can afford to do it.

 

If this leaves the charity funds a bit short then they can make up the difference from the top executives pay, and the CEO's pay which is invarioubly £150,000+

 

Charity begins at home. There are plenty of poor people in this country who need help too.

[orchid72]

Car boot season is almost up and running, the challenge would be to get yourself fitted out for £1 per item or less.. it may not go to charity but it's recycling.. some people even do one for charity and Tesco Infirmary Rd donates the seller fees to their charity .

[crazybaby]

I love a rummage through a charity shop as much as the next person, but I am lucky enough to be in a position to pay either £3 in a charity shop or £3 in Primark. Depending on which item I prefer, or even both if I wish.

 

What about the person who relies on the charity shop as a source of all their clothes and other items because that is all they can afford. They are happy to wear/use second-hand items not because they are 'vintage' but because they are cheaper than the shops. If the shirt in Primart is £3 the shirt in the charity shop should be £1. The shop gets the items free and don't pay rates on the business so can afford to do it.

 

If this leaves the charity funds a bit short then they can make up the difference from the top executives pay, and the CEO's pay which is invarioubly £150,000+

 

Charity begins at home. There are plenty of poor people in this country who need help too.

 

I agree with all of this, what amazes me though is I've spotted two or three items I've donated to charity shops marked up at a higher price than I purchased them for.

[GLASGOWOODS]

I love a rummage through a charity shop as much as the next person, but I am lucky enough to be in a position to pay either £3 in a charity shop or £3 in Primark. Depending on which item I prefer, or even both if I wish.

 

What about the person who relies on the charity shop as a source of all their clothes and other items because that is all they can afford. They are happy to wear/use second-hand items not because they are 'vintage' but because they are cheaper than the shops. If the shirt in Primart is £3 the shirt in the charity shop should be £1. The shop gets the items free and don't pay rates on the business so can afford to do it.

 

If this leaves the charity funds a bit short then they can make up the difference from the top executives pay, and the CEO's pay which is invarioubly £150,000+

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charity begins at home. There are plenty of poor people in this country who need help too.

 

 

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

Charity simply got greedy.

[hodgepig66]

Blimey, here is me sitting here thinking that the whole point of buying from a charity shop was to help the charity fundraise and give a contribution.

 

Now I know clearly im all wrong. They are there to serve the needs of tight fisted locals going there as some form of bargain basement store.

 

How the hell can charity shops offer the same pricing as major supermarkets and national chain discounters. They have huge buying power, the have massive influence over suppliers, they retail deliberately priced loss leaders.

 

I can buy a second hand t shirt for £3 from a charity shop or a band new one from Primark for the same money. Of course the obvious thing to do would be to buy the new one and demand the charity shop lowers their price.

 

Hardly helping their "cause" is it. Charity shops pricing things at below Poundland or Primark levels would make their purpose totally worthless. Seriously, what would be the point of running a shop, paying the shop overheads, spending time filtering though the piles of crap people donate to find one or two sellable items, paying money to dispose of all the unsellable crap that people chuck in the bags, spending time to search and coordinate volunteers, spending time stocking and displaying the items all to make only a few quid each day.

 

Charity shops are an extension of their fundraising. Would people throw 2p into a charity tin or sponsor a fun runner 50p? I don't think so. Why seemingly do they expect the shops to bankrupt themselves then.

 

I couldn't have put it better my self.

 

Quite clearly some people havn't got a clue what they are talking about.

 

How many of you actually help or work in one,i assume not many.

 

The amount of people who truly want something for nothing,the obsolute crap people donate,i won't go into details but I promise you wouldn't want to see on the shelves for sale.

 

Equally there are some fantastic things people donate,and send to the charity of their choice.

 

If something has been donated and still has the tags on therefore not been worn,if it was sold for £24 why would it be sold by a charity for £1 that is just stupid.

 

Different charities have different standards of what they put out for sale,some have lower standards than others.

 

Put simply if people don't want to support a charity spend your money in a normal shop.

[jkay]

Age uk in Hillsborough sells decent clothing from high street shops for a pound.

[LAURA4]

Charities have become big business with their top staff making a lot of money. Not only that many have huge portfolios of shares and investments too.

 

I agree I did some research and found that only 2p out of every £ given to Oxfam, gets to what it's donated for, rest goes on "administration"

 

---------- Post added 19-04-2015 at 20:44 ----------

 

7.6 million Net Profit, Well done to all Oxfam Staff and volunteers, that is a brilliant achievement. Any charity that can raise that amount of profit after cost, you are heroes in my book. Keep up the good work and dont listen to idiots on sites like this who dont know what they are talking about.

how much of the net profit was spent on fresh water, clothes for kids, food., and how much money was made by corrupt foreign officials buying goods blackmarket, that was intended for other poor people