Oxfam Ireland 'no discount' policy

paddy147 · 14-02-2013 11:29PM

southsiderosie wrote: »

Did they give you a reason why?

A family friend clears out furniture from houses where the owner has died or there is a quick sale, and she says there are some things (like upright pianos) that you couldn't sell for as little as $20 these days, so no secondhand shops will take them as they take up too much space. So it may be an issue of demand or storage.

Those 4 words in block capitals above,is the only reason/excuse I got from both of them.

I saw the appeal on RTE News and TV3 for help for the flood victims and anything to help out people that had been wiped out and also the needy due to the recession.I had just bought some new furniture myself so,this particular suite was going to be available,as I didnt need it any more.

So I acted upon it and offered it all to them for free,to give to someone who badly needed some form of furniture.

Both said they wouldnt take it as it was not leather.:eek:

So they can both fcuk off now,as far as Im concerned...ungreatfull b^stards the lot of them.:mad:

foxinsox · 14-02-2013 11:30PM

zipzoc wrote: »

If it were me I'd be happy to give discounts on multiple purchases. I don't work in a shop but if I did and I got all my stock for free I definitely wouldn't have a sign on the counter saying 'no discounts'.

It's not about giving the discounts, it's the fact that so many people ask!

If you worked in a charity shop for more than three hours you would write your own sign with your own blood! :pac:

Yes, charity shops receive the stuff for free, it is donated to the charity so the charity can sell it and make a profit for the charity and then use the money to for whatever cause the charity is for.

Most people that donate the stuff understand this. The charity shop has to run as a business or it is pointless and open to all sorts of fraud.

Most charity shops I am aware of put a fair price on everything, there are a few exceptions of course, and anyone can make mistakes.

Most charity shops are staffed by voluntary workers, some maybe on FAS schemes or similar.

The reason signs are put up is because A LOT of people feel that they are entitled to a discount. These same people would not usually ask for a discount in a "normal" shop. There always is the customer who asks for a discount everywhere they shop, fair enough!

eg:

How much is that?

It's €4

Will you do it for €2?

No, I'm sorry, we try our best to price the stock as fairly as possible so we don't offer discount.

Ah go on it's not even for me!

I'm afraid we can't, it would be about €20 full price and it is in good condition.

ah sure you get it for free..

I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't.

Ah go on...

etc.. etc..

So after 30th customer in one day having that kind of conversation, that is usually when you get the following:

How much is that?

It's €4 please.

Will ya take €2?

I'm sorry we are not allowed to give discounts.... repeat repeat..

It's a pain in the ass!

There is a sign (small one) in the shop where I volunteer, but I have never just pointed at the sign, that is rude. But I do get blue in the face trying to explain. In fairness anyone who works in retail will tell you : some customers are just nasty, some are lovely.

Give your stuff to charity because you want to help the charity.

Rant over

Capt'n Midnight · 14-02-2013 11:30PM

paddy147 wrote: »

Ah but both charities are supposed to be there in emergencies to help out the needy and people who have been left with nothing when the likes of flooding happens.

What did you do with it in the end ?

keelanj69 · 14-02-2013 11:31PM

Haggling is something that never appealed to me. If you gather things worth 50e and bring them to the counter, why would you expect to pay less than 50? Youre the one that picked it up after all.

paddy147 · 14-02-2013 11:33PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

What did you do with it in the end ?

It was eventually sold on,for very small money,as I got sick and tired of various charities carry on and the "its not leather" bullsh!t from them.:(

mfceiling · 14-02-2013 11:35PM

You were right OP.....fcuk those poor people who could be relying on charity money.

foxinsox · 14-02-2013 11:36PM

paddy147 wrote: »

It was sold on,for very small money,as I got sick and tired of various charities carry on and the "its not leather" bullsh!t from them.:(

Sorry to hear that, it sounds like they were ejits..

Please don't be put off all charity shops though because of your experience. Not all of them are like that.

periodictable · 14-02-2013 11:38PM

At the end of the day these organizations are as hard nosed as Tesco and Dunnes- charity comes somewhere down the line.

Pottler · 14-02-2013 11:38PM

zipzoc wrote: »

Sorry about that! I saw 'prices/costs' and thought it was a section of Boards for general price/cost of 'things'. Hope someone can move it to somewhere more suitable.

Jasus, first a discount in Oxfam, now looking for a free move. Is there any end to your scabbiness? You'll be begging off beggars next.

Annasopra · 14-02-2013 11:38PM

mhge wrote: »

Their stuff is so cheap that it's a discount in itself TBH...

Oxfam are now getting way more expensive than other charity shops

April O Neill · 14-02-2013 11:42PM

zipzoc wrote: »

Hi all.

I was in the Oxfam shop just off Parnell Street in Dublin yesterday. Having rifled through some books and music I went up to pay for a few things and asked for a euro off the total price. They told me they couldn't do that and pointed at a sign above the counter that read 'no discounts-please don't ask' or something like that.

Now, I know some of the proceeds of each sale go to charity, but I think it's a bit insulting to have a sign stating that it's not ok to ask for a discount when you buy a few things. Shoppers ask for a few quid off their total in lots of other shops around town but I haven't ever seen a sign like this one anywhere else.

Also, I thought it was a big part of the fun of shopping in charity shops that you can haggle with the staff, have a bit of banter and come out with a bargain and a good feeling having supported your local charity.

I know lots of you will disagree but I just think it's a bit, eh.. rich

I'll send my old clothes, music and books elsewhere in the future.

The prices are cheap as it is, and it's for charity, would you not want to pay the asking price because of that?

Capt'n Midnight · 14-02-2013 11:45PM

paddy147 wrote: »

It was eventually sold on,for very small money,as I got sick and tired of various charities carry on and the "its not leather" bullsh!t from them.:(

eventually sold on,for very small money,

Do you understand now that it was hard to shift and wasn't worth much ?

14-02-2013 11:54PM

It's a CHARITY shop, OP. CHARITY. I am a very frugal person, but I'd never ask for a discount in a charity shop, staffed by volunteers. Good God, pay the extra euro.

Run_to_da_hills · 15-02-2013 12:00AM

The poor are suffering enough without people scrounging for discounts on what little form of income they get from the western world. .

Rising food prices increase squeeze on poor - Oxfam

Corruptedmorals · 15-02-2013 12:05AM

I've seen this scenario described in disgust from the other side in cries of retail. If you're in a charity shop and you see something you like, buying it donates that money to charity. Not all of it, as the shop will have some bills, just not the major one of wages, but it's still incredibly stingy to try to knock down that price further when you think of who your money is benefiting.

Teyla Emmagan · 15-02-2013 12:10AM

Funny how people seem to think charity shops are a handy, cheap way of disposing of stuff. Especially the fabric couch thing. If you nose through jumbletown there are loads of perfectly good couches that people will give away for free as long as someone will collect it from them. So they don't have to hire a van and bring it to the dump themselves. And all those charities already have warehouses full of furniture they are paying good money to store. They are in the business of making money for their own cause, not being generally 'charitable' to flood victims or people with little money in their pockets. If they can't sell it, then they won't take it off you. Which is perfectly fair.

iguana · 15-02-2013 12:26AM

paddy147 wrote: »

I saw the appeal on RTE News and TV3 for help for the flood victims and anything to help out people that had been wiped out and also the needy due to the recession.I had just bought some new furniture myself so,this particular suite was going to be available,as I didnt need it any more.

So I acted upon it and offered it all to them for free,to give to someone who badly needed some form of furniture.

How did you act upon an appeal for help for flood victims by contacting Oxfam? Their only remit is in the developing world, they have as much to do with Irish flood victims as Disneyland does.

Judgement Day · 15-02-2013 12:37AM

mango salsa wrote: »

Oxfam are now getting way more expensive than other charity shops

Oxfam have been way more expensive for years - especially for books. I had it out with their management a couple of years back but to no avail. I tried to explain the concept that they get the stock free and turn it over fast + cheap and get lots of repeat business. However, the management there, in common with many management types are not working at the coalface. The reason that I contacted Oxfam on that particular occasion was that there Dun Laoghaire shop had a scrawled notice up stating "no donations today please" - where would you get it. :rolleyes:

mackg · 15-02-2013 12:54AM

southsiderosie wrote: »

Did they give you a reason why?

A family friend clears out furniture from houses where the owner has died or there is a quick sale, and she says there are some things (like upright pianos) that you couldn't sell for as little as $20 these days, so no secondhand shops will take them as they take up too much space. So it may be an issue of demand or storage.

I could get a piano for $20? Why did no one tell me this before?

cassid · 15-02-2013 12:55AM

When I was in College, I did volunteering with Oxfam, in one of their shops. To be honest the majority of what was donated to the shop was pure crap, people used the charity as a way of getting rid of their rubbish. I used to wash and iron the clothes, I could go through about 20 black sacks and get as little as 3 decent items that the public would buy. Thats why they would have to put up signs no donations, they could have 100's of bags to go through.
My local dry cleaner makes you pay up front for duvets, I thought it was odd,but apparently, people would leave them in on the pretense of getting them washed and it was just a way of getting rid of them, they ended up at one point with about 20 duvets!

the flananator · 15-02-2013 01:00AM

zipzoc wrote: »

Hi all.

I was in the Oxfam shop just off Parnell Street in Dublin yesterday. Having rifled through some books and music I went up to pay for a few things and asked for a euro off the total price. They told me they couldn't do that and pointed at a sign above the counter that read 'no discounts-please don't ask' or something like that.

Now, I know some of the proceeds of each sale go to charity, but I think it's a bit insulting to have a sign stating that it's not ok to ask for a discount when you buy a few things. Shoppers ask for a few quid off their total in lots of other shops around town but I haven't ever seen a sign like this one anywhere else.

Also, I thought it was a big part of the fun of shopping in charity shops that you can haggle with the staff, have a bit of banter and come out with a bargain and a good feeling having supported your local charity.

I know lots of you will disagree but I just think it's a bit, eh.. rich

I'll send my old clothes, music and books elsewhere in the future.

Why on earth would you ask for a further discount? Its a charity shop ffs.

paddy147 · 15-02-2013 01:18AM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

eventually sold on,for very small money,

Do you understand now that it was hard to shift and wasn't worth much ?

Did you not read my post about seeing the news article and asking for people to donate and help out the flood victims and less well off in any way??

Eventually..meaning that I got sick and tired of ringing and asking charities if they wanted it for helping the many flood victims...only to get the same thing...its not leather so we dont want it.

So I eventually had enough of the attitude of the charities.
I sold it very quickly as a matter of fact.

They could have easily GIVEN it to a genuine needy family or a distressed flood victim FOR FREE.....seen as they were quick to be seen on the news looking for peoples help and a relief effort for our own people.

paddy147 · 15-02-2013 01:25AM

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Funny how people seem to think charity shops are a handy, cheap way of disposing of stuff. Especially the fabric couch thing. If you nose through jumbletown there are loads of perfectly good couches that people will give away for free as long as someone will collect it from them. So they don't have to hire a van and bring it to the dump themselves. And all those charities already have warehouses full of furniture they are paying good money to store. They are in the business of making money for their own cause, not being generally 'charitable' to flood victims or people with little money in their pockets. If they can't sell it, then they won't take it off you. Which is perfectly fair.

Because I wanted to help out a genuine needy person,(because of what I saw on the News) and not someone looking for a freebie and then sells it on for a nice big profit.

Those charities could have very easily given that for free to a person who had come looking for help.

SVP go to a persons house and ask to see what the problem is,so they can assess how best to help out that family.

How many families did you see on RTE News and TV3 News with their houses wiped out from flooding???...loads of families.

How many families were in severe distress and left with nothing??...Loads.

If the 3 piece suite was leather,they would have taken it off me.
But because my suite wasnt leather,they wouldnt take it,as it wasnt good enough for either charity.

So Im sorry to say this...but fcuk the lot of them now.

iguana · 15-02-2013 01:31AM

Judgement Day wrote: »

Oxfam have been way more expensive for years - especially for books. I had it out with their management a couple of years back but to no avail. I tried to explain the concept that they get the stock free and turn it over fast + cheap and get lots of repeat business. However, the management there, in common with many management types are not working at the coalface. The reason that I contacted Oxfam on that particular occasion was that there Dun Laoghaire shop had a scrawled notice up stating "no donations today please" - where would you get it. :rolleyes:

1. They have to turn away donations if they have no room for them. It's dangerous to the staff and volunteers to have bags and boxes in corridors and stairways if they can't fit them in their holding bays.

2. In Oxfam the management are very much at the 'coalface.' Oxfam Ireland operates on a policy of using less than 10% of all non-emergency appeal donations and shop profits for administration and campaigning (100% of emergency appeal money goes to the emergency). They are a very lean organisation operating in a few rooms above a cafe on Burgh Quay. They don't have superfluous staff.

3. Oxfam GB is the largest and most successful retailer of secondhand books in the world. Oxfam Ireland takes their training from there, and improves on it (as Oxfam GB can be quite wasteful). They do what they do extremely well and don't need explanations on how to run their business from someone who has precisely zero clue about how they operate.

paddy147 wrote: »

They could have easily GIVEN it to a needy family or flood victim FOR FREE.....seen as they were quick to be seen on the news loking for peoples help and a relief effort for our own people.

I see you are ignoring how what you propose is quite likely to be illegal for SVP and most certainly is for Oxfam as they have no remit in local aid.

paddy147 · 15-02-2013 01:34AM

iguana wrote: »

1. They have to turn away donations if they have no room for them. It's dangerous to the staff and volunteers to have bags and boxes in corridors and stairways if they can't fit them in their holding bays.

2. In Oxfam the management are very much at the 'coalface.' Oxfam Ireland operates on a policy of using less than 10% of all non-emergency appeal donations and shop profits for administration and campaigning (100% of emergency appeal money goes to the emergency). They are a very lean organisation operating in a few rooms above a cafe on Burgh Quay. They don't have superfluous staff.

3. Oxfam GB is the largest and most successful retailer of secondhand books in the world. Oxfam Ireland takes their training from there, and improves on it (as Oxfam GB can be quite wasteful). They do what they do extremely well and don't need explanations on how to run their business from someone who has precisely zero clue about how they operate.

I see you are ignoring how what you propose is quite likely to be illegal for SVP and most certainly is for Oxfam as they have no remit in local aid.

Can I ask why wont you take the suite off me??

ITS NOT LEATHER.

Several phone calls and got the same answer each time.

SVP got to a persons house and send their reps out to interview a person in need and ask what they need most or what they could do with.

Im sure many a flood victim could have done with a suite of furniture to sit on,and wouldnt be too bothered that it wasnt a leather suite of furniture.

Im done with these charities now and donating to them.

PickledLime · 15-02-2013 03:44AM

zipzoc wrote: »

Have you ever tried to sell any cds or books? I imagine it's pretty hard to get rid of lots of Now That's What I call Music cds, Des O' Connor LPs and Reader's Digest magazines! If it were me I'd be happy to give discounts on multiple purchases. I don't work in a shop but if I did and I got all my stock for free I definitely wouldn't have a sign on the counter saying 'no discounts'.

If you did you wouldn't have started this thread or tried to haggle in the first place.

Irish Guitarist · 15-02-2013 05:38AM

I'd be ashamed to ask for a euro off in a charity shop. You can already buy things like DVDs and books for about 50 cent or a euro. What more do you want?

I gave hundreds of guitar and music magazines to a charity shop recently. I really didn't want to give them away but I needed to clear some space. I probably could have sold them for a fraction of what I paid for them originally them but I decided to try and help people in need rather than get a few euro.

I don't mind the idea of someone getting my magazines for a bargain price and helping a charity. I don't want some miser paying half nothing for them though.

homemadecider · 15-02-2013 06:03AM

paddy147 wrote: »

Can I ask why wont you take the suite off me??

ITS NOT LEATHER.

Several phone calls and got the same answer each time.

SVP got to a persons house and send their reps out to interview a person in need and ask what they need most or what they could do with.

Im sure many a flood victim could have done with a suite of furniture to sit on,and wouldnt be too bothered that it wasnt a leather suite of furniture.

Im done with these charities now and donating to them.

Where does Oxfam come into this? They don't work with flood victims in Ireland.

Duck Soup · 15-02-2013 06:18AM

Just to respond to a couple of different points in this thread.

If something is priced cheaply, there's a small profit on it. Even if the item is donated for free, the electric, insurance and in particular the rent of the shop aren't. So in a situation where the prices are low and the costs are considerable, why would you try to deprive a charity of whatever profits remain? And let's be blunt - most people go into a charity shop, not because of some burning altruism, but because things are cheaper in there. Why go into the place that sells things the cheapest and try to get a discount? Try something similar with Aldi and get back to me.

As for not accepting non-leather couches - and it appears that this seems to be common to a number of charities - simply ask yourself why? Because the charities know that they can't move them. If you're 'donating' a large item (or nest of items) that can't be sold, then you're not donating, you're dumping.

Charities long ago realized that some people see them as a dumping ground and that the would-be donors don't give a monkey's whether the charity can move the items or not. The cost of disposal is then transferred from the donor to the charity. The donor gets to brag in the pub that he "gave that aul three piece suite to charity" like a big man, while a charity worker is sighing as they hand over money at the local tip to get rid of it. Charities are not snobs, but they're not idiots either. They know what will sell. They know what won't. They're not a tipping site.

MadsL · 15-02-2013 06:22AM

paddy147 wrote: »

Because I wanted to help out a genuine needy person,(because of what I saw on the News) and not someone looking for a freebie and then sells it on for a nice big profit.

Those charities could have very easily given that for free to a person who had come looking for help.

SVP go to a persons house and ask to see what the problem is,so they can assess how best to help out that family.

How many families did you see on RTE News and TV3 News with their houses wiped out from flooding???...loads of families.

How many families were in severe distress and left with nothing??...Loads.

If the 3 piece suite was leather,they would have taken it off me.
But because my suite wasnt leather,they wouldnt take it,as it wasnt good enough for either charity.

So Im sorry to say this...but fcuk the lot of them now.

paddy147 wrote: »

Can I ask why wont you take the suite off me??

ITS NOT LEATHER.

Several phone calls and got the same answer each time.

SVP got to a persons house and send their reps out to interview a person in need and ask what they need most or what they could do with.

Im sure many a flood victim could have done with a suite of furniture to sit on,and wouldnt be too bothered that it wasnt a leather suite of furniture.

Im done with these charities now and donating to them.

So you had a couch you were done with, but rather than pay to have someone collect and dispose of it, you thought "I bet a charity would do that for nothin'". When they would not play ball and dispose of it for you on the cheap you are now ranting about them.

You could have put an ad on done deal or adverts.ie offering to deliver it for free to a flood victim, but that was actually too much for you.

Sorry the charities didn't come over and solve your problem for free. How disgraceful. They don't empty my bins either.

Oxfam Ireland 'no discount' policy

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