Charity Shops Greed!!!

Kintarō Hattori

OK I know they are charity shops, but is anyone else browned off at how expensive charity seem to have become? I do be in there occasionally with the girlfriend and I've seen some pretty shocking prices at times. Only there today I saw a non-designer handbag priced at €25, and it wasn't even new. I have often seen the odd jackets priced at over €50. Books seem to be fashionable to overcharge on, and I've seen many books almost the same price as they are new in shops.

I realise they are charity shops, but the increase in prices seems rather dramatic and I can only imagine that they must be hurting their own sales as they were always a good place to pick up a bargain or two. Bargains seem to be increasingly hard to find there.

Is it just me, am I a moany old fcuk? Or does anyone else seem to think they have become expensive because they are 'cool' and 'fashionable' to shop in these days.

mikemac

Name and shame!

Our local St. Vincent dePaul charges 50c for paperbacks and 2euro for hardbacks.
It's great value and you can't go wrong at those prices.
I buy the books, read them and give them back for free.
Everyone wins

Kintarō Hattori

Well I've found Enable Ireland and Casa on Capel Street to be quite expensive recently. Also Enable Ireland on George's Street and strangely I find Oxfam on George's Street to be very expensive, yet the worst charity store of the one's I mentioned. Their clothes are often poor and their selection of books limited and overpriced.

McGinty

That sounds way overpriced and I doubt anyone would pay those prices so its a bit redundant of those shops.

Thrill

Though I don't know this for certain and cant provide links etc, I can only guess that the cost of providing charity must be getting higher. They have to raise money to pay for rental of shop space, insurance etc. which is constantly rising, so they have to recoup this money before they can pass on the remainder to whichever charity they represent. Maybe that is the reason for the price of the stuff in these shops going up.

Wishbone Ash

thrill wrote:

Though I don't know this for certain and cant provide links etc, I can only guess that the cost of providing charity must be getting higher. They have to raise money to pay for rental of shop space, insurance etc. which is constantly rising, so they have to recoup this money before they can pass on the remainder to whichever charity they represent. Maybe that is the reason for the price of the stuff in these shops going up.

....and the cost of dumping 90% of the cráp that people 'donate' to them. :rolleyes:

copacetic

thrill wrote:

Though I don't know this for certain and cant provide links etc, I can only guess that the cost of providing charity must be getting higher. They have to raise money to pay for rental of shop space, insurance etc. which is constantly rising, so they have to recoup this money before they can pass on the remainder to whichever charity they represent. Maybe that is the reason for the price of the stuff in these shops going up.

qft, rent, services etc are very high pretty much anywhere in Dublin so they have to charge enough to actually create money for the charitys. It's not like they are pocketing the money.

Capt'n Midnight

oxfam only take / sell the as new stuff so charge a lot for it.

others vary a lot - you still see windows 3.11 manuals !


Think Charity Shop not Charity Shop


yeah all second hand book stores have been getting more expensive since the celtic tiger

thefinalstage

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

oxfam only take / sell the as new stuff so charge a lot for it.

others vary a lot - you still see windows 3.11 manuals !


Think Charity Shop not Charity Shop


yeah all second hand book stores have been getting more expensive since the celtic tiger

3.11 manuals?! Are they written on parchment?

Victor

eo980 wrote:

their selection of books limited

Then give them more books!!!

Kintarō Hattori

Victor wrote:

Then give them more books!!!

Myself and the missus have been thinking about this actually. New apartment, less space = give the books we're not likely to read away. It still doesn't take away from the fact that they are overpriced in the first place Victor.

Crucifix

thelastangryman wrote:

3.11 manuals?! Are they written on parchment?

Hey, I know someone who's still running Windows 3.1.

eo980 wrote:

Is it just me, am I a moany old fcuk? Or does anyone else seem to think they have become expensive because they are 'cool' and 'fashionable' to shop in these days.

Probably. If people are willing to pay it I say fairplay to them.

jac83

I am currently volunteering in a barnardos charity shop and what really gets to me is that a lot of people who come into the shop seem to assume just because it is a charity shop that they have the right to get things in there for next to nothing! I see it everyday im there.
We get a lot of brand new and even designer items in for sale as well as second hand items. Sure some of the items you might think are overpriced the proceeds not only go to charity, but for rent of the premises, electricity and other overheads. Also i couldnt believe it but the amount of items being stolen from there is unreal which also takes away from the profit.

bronte

I was in one on georges street years ago and they had an acoustic guitar for sale leaning up against one of the walls.
I was browsing across the way and someone just came in, picked it up and walked out and down the street :eek:
How random.

mikemac

Crucifix wrote:

Hey, I know someone who's still running Windows 3.1.

Me too, there's an extremly well known hotel in Galway that uses Windows 3.1 on their computers in reception.
It works well, so that's the main thing

iguana

eo980 wrote:

Bargains seem to be increasingly hard to find there.

Do you think that people donate items so you can have bargains?

Do you think that volunteers give their time so you can have bargains?

Do you think shop managers work at half their private sector rate, in what is an extremely stressful job, so you can have bargains?

Do you think that the people running the charities pay the rents, rates, insurance and other costs involved in keeping the shop open so that you can find bargains?

The purpose of these shops is to raise money for their charities. It is not for people in a wealthy country to find bargains.

You get the chance to buy things at the price they are displayed at. If you think they are too dear then don't buy them. If nobody else buys them they people running the shop will realise they are too dear and re-price them. If however somebody else decides the price is not too dear and buys the item then the people running the shop have done their job, which is to achieve the highest possible price. If you can buy the item elsewhere for less then do so, otherwise you are actually getting a bargain just not the bargain you seem to think you deserve.

It is also worth noting that as this is 2007 many charity shops sell things online on sites such as ebay. In fact they can often get higher prices for items on ebay than they can in the shops because on ebay the customers bid against each other so there is no entitlement to a "bargain" just a hope that someone else was willing to pay less than your max. This leaves charity shops with a dilemma as they don't want to sell an item in the shop for less than it's worth, but they need to put them out in the shop in order to encourage donations.

So it's entirely possible that the person who priced the handbag you felt was too dear will be selling it on ebay for as much a price similar to that being achieved, €34 with 4.5 days to go, by the seller of this non-designer handbag.

Kintarō Hattori

Wow what a righteous post that was Iguana. It's a simple fact that they have become ALOT more expensive than they were even a year ago. I put this in part to the fact that it's 'trendy' in certain circles to shop in charity stores.
I do feel that some of the items they stock are well overpriced. It may be that they are a charity store and whooop de doo it all goes to charity, but some of the prices they charge are laughable. I'll go and buy it new, with a receipt and a guarantee thanks very much.

iguana

It might have been righteous but it was all true.

It's also a simple fact that it's the job of the shop team to raise as much money as they can for their charity. If they can get higher prices because charity shopping is "trendy" then that is their job and they are doing the right thing by the cause they are aiming to help. Do you realise that the people who run these shops are often highly experienced retail managers who are working to business plans and if their new pricing was damaging the business they would change back? They aren't morons, they know how to identify trends and work with them.

It doesn't matter if you feel an item is over-priced, all that matters is that one single person feels it isn't and buys it.

It is a charity store and charity stores are damn hard to run, and the people who run them only do so because they care about the charity, so if everyone felt the charity aspect was whoop de doo then there would be no charity shops at all.

If you want to laugh at prices you aren't willing to pay then do, but if the item sells then the charity is laughing too. - But not in a nasty up it's sleeve way, in a happy "we have raised enough money to educate a child for a year" way.

If you can buy it for the same price new then just go do so. And if that is the case the item won't sell as everyone else will just buy it new and the people in the shop will realise this and reduce the price.

And btw, every single charity shop I have ever been in issues receipts (it's illegal not to offer one) and has a refund policy.

FunkZ

I got a few good deals from Enable Ireland in Drawdaa before! But it was after a week of slave driving ****ing work experience.

nesf

eo980 wrote:

Wow what a righteous post that was Iguana.

She's essentially correct though. If these places weren't trying to get as much money for charity as possible then they wouldn't be doing their jobs tbh.

ctc_celtic

Poor clothes selection, limited books . FFS they can only sell what people give them!!!
the money is too help other people, not to help your bank account.

A thread about Charity Shop Greed, board members are getting stupider by the day.

I think i'll start a thread complaining about lollipop ladies helping children cross the road, the feckers are causing me to be late for work, let the little brats get knocked down. (wait a while this thread is coming)

Tar.Aldarion

In all charity shops I have been in the stuff has been really cheap.
Got a jacket wortha few hundred, pretty much brand new, for a fiver. Have bought many books and stuff in them as weel, nice and cheap.

barrett1965

Also I couldnt believe it but the amount of items being stolen from there is unreal which also takes away from the profit.

Well, that's a new low. :mad:

Kintarō Hattori

I ain't complaining about their range - that's just moronic. But I have noticed that the ones I visit in and around the city centre have gotten significantly more expensive recently. I don't think it's due to higher rents etc. I believe it's because at this moment in time they are deemed to be cool to shop in. I was in one on Capel Street the other day and saw an old leather jacket that must have been at least 15 years old priced at €40. It was in very shabby condition and most certainly not worth the asking price.

Before anyone says so- yes it was my choice to leave it there and I did just that. But it was by no means the only item like that. So much tack recently seems to have crazy prices put on it, and anything that's halfway decent is priced very highly indeed.