Forum Topic

Charity Shop Prices

Has anyone noticed the charity shops in the high street have been pushing their prices higher and higher lately? I was in Trinity Hospice today and saw a few nice items of clothing, a shirt and a pair of trousers. The shirt was £25 and the trousers £38! Not to mention a jacket which was £75! I hate to sound like a moany so and so, but what is going on? These are retail shop prices, not charity prices. I like to support buying used clothes rather than new whenever I can, but it's getting a bit ridiculous now.

James Green ● 1801d18 Comments

Carol, thankyou, it was a while ago I must admit.

Barbara Stevens ● 1798d

Carol, I know this that's why I put it on here.

Barbara Stevens ● 1798d

Barbara, the shops were in fact called dress agencies, and they would agree to sell your things for you, taking a commission from the sale.  If the clothes/shoes did not sell within a certain timescale, they were either collected by the seller, or if not, then given to charity.

carole tanner ● 1798d

You can check these aims out on the Charity Commission website where you can also check whether whatever 'charity' has been delivering bags to your door for filling actually is.Some charities split their donations between different shops eg selling their designer label items in one whilst selling their non designer ones in another.  With the vast differences in the quality of items I guess the idea was to try to take charity shops upmarket.As these shops tend to have very little storage space when asked they will probably say that they prefer clothes to be clean and not needing mending (MIL I discovered too late didn't sew buttons on) and also in season.  It can be a good idea to check what they find they have a need for before donating.Many charities now also have online shops and you can also sell to benefit charities on ebay.Fast fashion has a huge environmental impact so it is worth finding out where locally you can get alterations and repairs made to your favourite clothes if you can't do it yourself.www.loveyourclothes.org.uk  is a very informative and useful website.I was told by a Recycling Officer that even that odd (clean) holey sock should not be going in the waste bin but could be recycled into something else.  (I usually keep a few to shine shoes with and favourites sometimes get darned.)

Philippa Bond ● 1798d

Helen, we know how a Charity Shop works. The 1st post was how much they charged for the item you took in. It's not everybody's cup of tea buying from a Charity Shop, even though I donate, but some time it can smell inside. Let's hope other people who donate wash the item or items before they take them in.

Barbara Stevens ● 1800d

Helen, I never said it was a Charity shop. The shop had an owner and would write in a book what you took in the shop, then they  would take commission, or ask you what you wanted to sell it for. There was one in White Hart Lane, Barnes as well. If you prefer perhaps you could call it a swap shop.

Barbara Stevens ● 1800d

BarbaraThat sounds more like a pawn broker to me.  Never have I been offered payment by a charity shop - and I've been donating for 40+ years.  The shops I deal with take donations and sell them.  When I donate to a particular shop (if I haven't done so before) they invite me to complete a form to claim gift aid; this enables the charity to claim back basic rate tax on my donation and, if I'm a higher rate tax payer, for me to reclaim the difference between basic and higher rate tax.  So, if I'm a higher rate tax payer, everyone wins.But the point is that charity shops set their prices according to what they think they can get.  So a Denby mug is likely to be more highly priced than an IKEA one.

Helen Passey ● 1800d

Fair point Richard, and I realise they need to raise money and cover their overheads (although many are also subsidised), but my main point was the observation that prices seemed to have shot up in most charity shops around the area. I love charity shops, but as Barbara poignantly mentioned, they will be pricing themselves out of the market. 10 £10 sales greatly outweighs 1 £50 sale, if you catch my drift.

James Green ● 1801d

Well Paul, I thought Charity shops used to be for people who are not so well off and I thought they should have been selling them cheaper. Because people bring them in anyway and don't get paid.  There used to be other shops a few years ago, one was on the bend up by the Bridge. I used to go to one in Twickenham as I was working there at the time. You took your clothes or shoes etc in and when it was sold you received payment. But most of the clothes were good makes and worth looking at.

Barbara Stevens ● 1801d

"Charity shops are meant to be charitably priced"  (clue's in the name).Actually, James, charity shops are meant to raise as much for charity as they can (the clue's in the name), and as Andy says, if you don't like the price, no one is forcing you to buy.

Richard Carter ● 1801d

As with any shop if the item is over priced why would you buy it? If some people choose to pay the price on the label then the price must be ok. If not, as with the next vase they reduce until they find its level. Seems good business to ne.

Andy Pike ● 1801d

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion on here, but I'm not in the business of personal digs so I'll leave that to you.Charity shops are meant to be charitably priced (clue's in the name), most of the clothes sold are used, meaning either old or have signs of wear. Would you want to pay retail prices for said items? I think not.

James Green ● 1801d

You lot are just scroungers, wanting to get something for nothing from a charity shop.Not prepared to pay for anything when they are paying commercial rents and giving the profits to their charity. And you can afford to live in Putney. Just look at yourselves.

Paul Rolink ● 1801d

I don’t blame the shops for trying to get good prices, after all they are raising money for charity and I do like Trinity Hospice, so they are my first choice to take a donation, but £800! It was a lovely item, it wasn’t by Next and was a one off piece, — if they got £250 for it, it was a fairer price imo.  

Martine Guy ● 1801d

That is outrageous!  If that is the trend, I doubt people will continue to buy things from them.

Ivonne Holliday ● 1801d

Fairly recently, I donated a tall vase to the Trinity shop, that I bought back in the 1980s from Next.  I was gobsmacked to see it in the window with a price tag of £800.  I went in to see why it was so expensive and was told there was a label in for a top glass maker.  I hadn’t noticed it when I donated it and said but I only bought it at Next! I thought they were being a bit over optimistic and after a couple of weeks it was marked down to £250 and then it disappeared out of sight, so I guess it sold.  Still a lot of money, though.  

Martine Guy ● 1801d

Agreed. I'm more than happy to help charitable causes if their prices were exactly that; charitable!

James Green ● 1801d

Hi James, yes one of the charity shops are really expensive. The one near specsavers as it was at the end of my road, I used to take loads of my other half's trousers into, and some hadn't even been worn. But if you fill in a form in there look out because the profit they make, your the one who is taxed.

Barbara Stevens ● 1801d