Donations to charity shops

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 06:08PM #1

Have you ever seen any of the donations you gave to charity shops actually for sale?

Were you surprised by the price they gave it? Too low, too high?

Nekarsulm · 30-06-2014 06:14PM

If its a nice item of clothing, its rare to see it on sale. The staff usually get first refusal on quality clothes.

solomafioso · 30-06-2014 06:14PM

Why should you care? It's, literally, out of your hands.

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 06:16PM

solomafioso wrote: »

Why should you care? It's, literally, out of your hands.

I don't care but I would be interested.

I have never seen any of my stuff on sale - maybe the staff got to it first! ;-)

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 06:17PM

Nekarsulm wrote: »

If its a nice item of clothing, its rare to see it on sale. The staff usually get first refusal on quality clothes.

Does this happen?!

Nekarsulm · 30-06-2014 06:18PM

BabysCoffee wrote: »

Does this happen?!

Of course!

Pumpkinseeds · 30-06-2014 06:23PM

Prices are set for donations, most clothing would be sold at the same price, like all shirts cost the same, except for designer stuff etc. Volunteers give up their time and often have to go through bags of disgusting rubbish that people unload as 'donations' but are basically a free way of dumping their junk and having a charity pay for it.

Does it really matter who buys the items you donate, so long as they pay the full price of the item?

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 06:23PM

It bothers me when you see Penneys or Tesco stuff on sale for more than you would pay for it new. Who comes up with the prices? Some are a bit clueless I think.

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 06:25PM

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Prices are set for donations, most clothing would be sold at the same price, like all shirts cost the same, except for designer stuff etc. Volunteers give up their time and often have to go through bags of disgusting rubbish that people unload as 'donations' but are basically a free way of dumping their junk and having a charity pay for it.

Does it really matter who buys the items you donate, so long as they pay the full price of the item?

Well that explains why Penneys stuff is always over priced!

Personally I only give my good old clothes in to the charity shops. I give my old raggy clothes to the recycling charities.

Nekarsulm · 30-06-2014 06:28PM

Although, I must admit this seldom applies to Gents clothes. I got two superb Charvais shirts in the Vincents on Sean McDermott street, and a gorgeous Tweed suit in a shop in Rathmines. Often these type shops have beautiful hand made leather mens shoes, of a quality unheard off in the mass market stores.

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 06:29PM

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Although, I must admit this seldom applies to Gents clothes. I got two superb Charvais shirts in the Vincents on Sean McDermott street, and a gorgeous Tweed suit in a shop in Rathmines. Often these type shops have beautiful hand made leather mens shoes, of a quality unheard off in the mass market stores.

Wow! Lucky you. How much did you pay?!

I just dropped off some nice Gap clothes to the Rathmines Vincent's shop today :-)

Nekarsulm · 30-06-2014 06:37PM

The shirts were, I think, 4 Euro each, and the suit was 20. (Suit might have been in a little shop in Ranalagh)

To get quality men's clothes, you do have to wait for some fellow the same size as yourself to die, as men seldom give away their good gear!

NomadicGray · 30-06-2014 06:43PM

BabysCoffee wrote: »

Does this happen?!

Theres one here, near clane, apparently when they get some decent furniture in they take it themselves & sell it on adverts/donedeal and the like for personal profit

30-06-2014 06:49PM

NomadicGray wrote: »

Theres one here, near clane, apparently when they get some decent furniture in they take it themselves & sell it on adverts/donedeal and the like for personal profit

Absolute rubbish

NomadicGray · 30-06-2014 06:51PM

mariaalice wrote: »

Absolute rubbish

Possibly, I must get her name & have a look on adverts, see what shes selling.

Nekarsulm · 30-06-2014 06:56PM

Would that be the one in town, on the right heading towards Naas? Was in there Saturday, and there isn't much give and take there! 21 euro total, refused to accept 20.

fryup · 30-06-2014 08:16PM

i gave in my stash of porno mags, and i never saw them for sale

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 08:26PM

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Would that be the one in town, on the right heading towards Naas? Was in there Saturday, and there isn't much give and take there! 21 euro total, refused to accept 20.

I don't think Charity Shops are allowed reduce prices

looking_around · 30-06-2014 08:28PM

mariaalice wrote: »

Absolute rubbish

Not really,

My Grandfather used to work in oxfam, ifrc. (was shop manager, not volunteer. )

Furniture takes quite a bit of space, and is preferred to be given away than taking up floor space.
He definitely made a little extra cash from anything decent.

Things like electronics are also given to the workers. (if not recycled, because illegal for them to sell.)
And he'd also keep any antiques that came in. As rare as that was.

You're kidding yourself, if you think workers/volunteers, don't pocket some of what comes in, and even more so, if you think they pay for it.

Awkward Badger · 30-06-2014 08:28PM

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Would that be the one in town, on the right heading towards Naas? Was in there Saturday, and there isn't much give and take there! 21 euro total, refused to accept 20.

You'd seriously haggle over a euro in a charity shop ?

NomadicGray · 30-06-2014 08:33PM

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Would that be the one in town, on the right heading towards Naas? Was in there Saturday, and there isn't much give and take there! 21 euro total, refused to accept 20.

No, its in the one of the surrounding areas, didnt want to be too specific in case im wrong. Dont think I am though

spurious · 30-06-2014 08:35PM

NomadicGray wrote: »

No, its in the one of the surrounding areas, didnt want to be too specific in case im wrong. Dont think I am though

Does she have free prams?

Polka_Dot · 30-06-2014 08:38PM

I've seen a few things of mine for sale, yeah. Also volunteered in one and staff didn't get to just keep things, at least not that I saw. It was always paid for.

BabysCoffee · 30-06-2014 08:42PM

Polka_Dot wrote: »

I've seen a few things of mine for sale, yeah. Also volunteered in one and staff didn't get to just keep things, at least not that I saw. It was always paid for.

Did you see any mad pricing?

Rabbo · 30-06-2014 08:45PM

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Would that be the one in town, on the right heading towards Naas? Was in there Saturday, and there isn't much give and take there! 21 euro total, refused to accept 20.

Who the hell haggles for a euro in a Charity Shop?!

This post belongs in the stingy thread

Steppenwolfe · 30-06-2014 09:32PM

Rabbo wrote: »

Who the hell haggles for a euro in a Charity Shop?!

This post belongs in the stingy thread

I don't see a problem with that. If I was buying a selection of items that totalled €21 I would have offered €15 and paid €18 tops. Not even knocking of the odd euro in this case shows bad business sense on the shops part.

Pumpkinseeds · 30-06-2014 10:33PM

looking_around wrote: »

Not really,

My Grandfather used to work in oxfam, ifrc. (was shop manager, not volunteer. )

Furniture takes quite a bit of space, and is preferred to be given away than taking up floor space.
He definitely made a little extra cash from anything decent.

Things like electronics are also given to the workers. (if not recycled, because illegal for them to sell.)
And he'd also keep any antiques that came in. As rare as that was.

You're kidding yourself, if you think workers/volunteers, don't pocket some of what comes in, and even more so, if you think they pay for it.

I managed a charity shop and it's really unhelpful when people make blanket statements like yours. Antiques are valued by experts, most charities will know of someone in the trade that will value items, these are then sold on at the price recommended by the expert. Electrical equipment can be sold if it is in good condition and has been tested, there is a device that does that.

No REPUTABLE manager would steal or allow others to steal from the charity they work for. Most volunteers aren't thieves.

Nekarsulm · 30-06-2014 10:38PM

Rabbo wrote: »

Who the hell haggles for a euro in a Charity Shop?!

This post belongs in the stingy thread

Well I do when things are not priced. You arrive at the counter and the sales assistant throws her eye over the stuff, mutters, "5, and 4, those are 3 each, and the game is 5 and the book is 1 , that's €21.

Polka_Dot · 30-06-2014 10:55PM

Steppenwolfe wrote: »

I don't see a problem with that. If I was buying a selection of items that totalled €21 I would have offered €15 and paid €18 tops. Not even knocking of the odd euro in this case shows bad business sense on the shops part.

Would you do the same in a regular shop? It's not a car boot sale, the items are priced, usually very cheaply, and the money goes to charity. How stingy can you be?

looking_around · 30-06-2014 11:01PM

Polka_Dot wrote: »

Would you do the same in a regular shop? It's not a car boot sale, the items are priced, usually very cheaply, and the money goes to charity. How stingy can you be?

ALot of the money(in the majority of charity shops) goes to employee wages, but don't let that stop you.

There's only a few shops I'd buy from without haggling, SVdP shops, and LAW(and other animal welfare stores.)

Enable, I think it is, Can actually be quite pricy as far as charity shops go.
Charity shops on certain streets/cities are also higher priced.

So yeah, I haggle, know why? cause I shop in a charity shop, when I can't afford new. Otherwise why bother looking through so much clothes. (that isn't always organised well.) In the hopes of finding something your size.

Polka_Dot · 30-06-2014 11:13PM

looking_around wrote: »

ALot of the money(in the majority of charity shops) goes to employee wages, but don't let that stop you.

There's only a few shops I'd buy from without haggling, SVdP shops, and LAW(and other animal welfare stores.)

Enable, I think it is, Can actually be quite pricy as far as charity shops go.
Charity shops on certain streets/cities are also higher priced.

So yeah, I haggle, know why? cause I shop in a charity shop, when I can't afford new. Otherwise why bother looking through so much clothes. (that isn't always organised well.) In the hopes of finding something your size.

What employee wages? The volunteers, you mean? I'm sure the manager(s) get paid but the vast majority of staff do not.

The stuff they sell is cheap enough. If it isn't, don't buy it. Most shops won't even entertain haggling and rightly so.

Donations to charity shops

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