Bogus Bags - A Charity Shops Struggle

[Clown Shoes]

I donated some handbags to a charity shop who priced them for more than I bought them for.

 

The charity shops in Chelsea & Knightsbridge must get some good donations.

 

I wonder how much they charge.

[Ms Interpret]

Someone told me today that a lot of "charity" shops are opening up under the disguise of a obscure charitys name they are then selling stuff that has been given to them free and are only obliged to give the named charity 5p in the pound If this is true please be careful and only give to those shops which are genuine and run wholly for the good of the charity and are rum by volunteers

[metalman]

Someone told me today that a lot of "charity" shops are opening up under the disguise of a obscure charitys name they are then selling stuff that has been given to them free and are only obliged to give the named charity 5p in the pound If this is true please be careful and only give to those shops which are genuine and run wholly for the good of the charity and are rum by volunteers

 

I think that this may well be true for some of the bags distributed to households but I don't know that it is for actual charity shops.

[the_bloke]

In all honesty, I'd rather sell my stuff on eBay and donate money to a charity of my choice.

 

I find something distasteful about a shop that gets free stock, numerous special concessions for business rates, doesn't pay it's staff anything then sells goods at massive prices expecting people to pay through the nose for things 'for a good cause'.

 

Charity shops used to be a lifeline for customers who had little money, now it's a place for the hipsters to get granddad shirts and records from.

[RJG14]

I was in the mind shop recently and there was a coat with a stain on it for 8.99 !!! Charity Shops have upped their prices drastically in the last few years. On more than one occasion I have seen Primark stuff on sale for more than it would have been in the store new.

 

It is time to sort it out guys, put your prices down and you will sell more, you get it free so the more you sell the more you make...Simples !

 

Totally agree I stopped going in the charity shops near me as they were too expensive

[Allen]

In all honesty, I'd rather sell my stuff on eBay and donate money to a charity of my choice.

 

I find something distasteful about a shop that gets free stock, numerous special concessions for business rates, doesn't pay it's staff anything then sells goods at massive prices expecting people to pay through the nose for things 'for a good cause'.

 

Charity shops used to be a lifeline for customers who had little money, now it's a place for the hipsters to get granddad shirts and records from.

But they don't have "staff" in the true sense of the word. They have volunteers willing to give freely of their time.

If it wasn't for charity shops, British Heart foundation, Macmillan , and others couldn't continue the good work they do.

 

As for selling on eBay/Preloved etc.....

I've just donated a three seater and two seater sofas to British Heart Foundation.

I'd rather they had the hassle of selling them than me.

I don't need endless PM's asking "what's your best price" and waiting indoors for the "no shows" to not show.

All for what? Maybe £100.

They have the storage space I don't....and will probably exceed my estimate.

Good luck to them.

[metalman]

Now they are run as big businesses, charities most certainly do have staff, and plenty of them at the top end of the organisation make an extremely large amount of money out of it - there was a table in the press not long ago showing how many in each charity were paid a six-figure salary. The people in the shops may be volunteers but don't be fooled, a fair amount of your money goes to fat cats at the top just as surely as if they were banks or energy companies.

[the_bloke]

But they don't have "staff" in the true sense of the word. They have volunteers willing to give freely of their time.

 

BHF, seeing as it was mentioned, have 2700 paid staff and over 24000 volunteers. They have over 700 stores that made £28 million in profit in 2012, which averages £40,000 per shop. Retail accounts for 22% of income.

 

Don't forget they don't pay corporation tax, don't have to worry about VAT and only pay 20% business rates.

 

That's far more than a few old ladies and students doing a few hours a week.

 

No, I'm not some old curmudgeon, I'd rather avoid the middle man (and the tat) and just give donations directly.

[Faith Hope]

On 10/04/2014 at 15:37, minddevon said:

We are very disappointed to hear this reaction to charity shops. We aim to raise as much money as possible to help people with mental health problems and at only £1.50 for a book and most of our CDs we do not consider ourselves over priced and are sorry you feel this way. Our records are also very cheap at £1 or lower - a price most customers would consider a bargain!

£1.50 for books and CD's we sell ours at 50p each 

[alchresearch]

4 hours ago, Faith Hope said:

£1.50 for books and CD's we sell ours at 50p each 

That was over five years ago.