Charity shops are getting greedy

Why would you not pay over £5 for a shirt? The money goes to a good cause and if the shirt is in good condition, why not?

Sometimes charity shops cannot be run by just volunteers. You need to build up a base of reliable ones.. sometimes this is not possible due to the area you are in - students, people looking for work and people that don't turn up when they said they would. Paid staff are alot of help as you can work harder

What annoys me about charity shops is that they never stock second hand womens underwear :( I would purchase it on a regular basis and even pay a few shillings more if it was soiled.

Regarding Charity Shops: One should look at the way HOW each Charity runs their shops.
1/the BIG charities haveup to 300!!shops around the UK..2/ALL have paid manager(ess) often a paid assistant manageress too/plus also employ part time staff.
Shops are in prime locations/high street/=expensive.3/ All buy in new goods.
Sometimes new items make up to 1/3 of the stock.
.
I feel,they should NOT employ armies of paid staff and go back to the real
way a charity (shop) should be run.By volunteers.Prices ae indeed often over the top.
It is correct,to price a highquality second hand item ingood condition at a fair price/
and sell lower-end goods at cheap prices.We have Peacocks/Matalan/Asda etc..where new lower end clothing is dead cheap. So..why sell second hand cheap clothing..at inflated prices?
Only if you are greedy.
Iam a trustee of a smaller Cancer Charity that is based on volunteer work.
Our chairman does the work of an executive officer/ 6 days a week/10 hrs plus a day.Voluntarily.
We only have 2 shops.As we believe we can keep an eye on a small number run OUR way.
One trustee runs one .Voluntarily.Only volunteers in shop.
I run the other.Voluntarily.No paid people in shop.I also run the helpline/grants office/press desk etc

Our shops are "real charity shops" with "bargains" people love.
our paperbacks cost 59 p each.Our clothing is reduced no matter what original price after 3 weeks on rail to 99p an item.We are known for our quality.Cheap is not = crappy.
ALL goods are double checked for stains/ rips/ etc
only decent items are sold.
Many customers come by each day...we are nor big,not rich,we do OUR BIT,but like to think..
raise the moneys needed in a FAIR way.Thank You.

The only charity shop I buy from now is the sally army; their prices are still reasonable. Also the money will go to people who need it rather than to buy arms in Africa!

Other charity shops seem to have moved upmarket with inflated prices, ethnic displays, and modernisation of the premises etc. (we know who you are)
Also I`m not convinced that the money spent in these upmarket shops actually gets to the people who need it.

Down & Out - this is totally right, they must think people are fools; the lesser known shops to keep prices down.

theres a charity shop I have seen with paperweights for £40 and £50 and other small not very good ornaments at £100.00 each, also theres a counter and a display cabinet with things in that are set aside "sorry not for sale" and I know from being told that the stuff that is donated goes under the nose of a couple of antique dealers and collectors first to scope it out and anything decent is skimmed off and sold on the side with a bit of a possible kickback situation and a nominal few pounds tossed into the charity box

I used to do voluntary work in a charity shop in Bridlington in the early 90s, mainly to get the dole tossers off my back. When the tourist season began, the manageress used to ask us to come in on a Sunday and add 50% to all priced goods. From then on, the shop opened 7 days a week. Any decent items donated never saw the shelves, they were all taken by the paid staff in the shop. I never shop in any charity shops now.

I agree charity shops are getting more greedy how can they charge 7.50 for a shirt is stupid I could ubderstand if it was gucci or something maximum I would pay is about 4 pounds.

Have you thought about sitting outside the shop wearing your old rags and asking passers by for their spare change? Give it a try .. you might earn enough to buy your second hand shirt, and the genuinely needly people who the charity shops collect for will get their meagre weekly bowl of rice ... Everyones a winner, the passers by do their daily good deed, the charity shop feeds the poor, and you earn your shirt by demonstrating your true value to society!

No I don't think that charity shops are getting greedy at least not in my high street, I can't really vouch for other areas. I have at least 4 charity shops in my high street in Wallington Surrey. Cancer research, Marie Curie, British heart foundation, and Oxfam. I personally have brought some lovely articles in these shops in recent month's. Including a duffel coat hardly been wore for £12.99p and a ski type waterproof jacket for £4.99p hardly worn again and a warm winter zip -up necked sweater for £3.00p which again was in good condition. And I have also found some books on ancient Egypt and the theatre which are my favourite subjects for about £5.00p for the two. Some charity shops are a bit unsavoury I admit and can smell strange, I have been into that type over the years but on the whole I think that most are clean and tidy and you can find some real bargains in them I think and the articles which are sold in them and the money goes to a good cause mostly.

Its a myth that all charity shops get reductions. Only a few do and its up to the local authority to decide.

Plus charity shoops have to pay for carrier bags, shelvings, display items etc.

Not all stock is free (bags going out being posted and collected etc)

Why give money to the greedy supermarkets for a low quality item when you can get better quality for the same. eg £5 primark trousers or £5 hobbs trousers? I knew what I would pick!
Plus the money does go back into helping local services (well I know Age Concern Havering's does!)

Why wear what everyone else is when you can get lovely one off items?

And the comment about them smelling, yes sadly some do, but 9/10 shops look professional and don't smell.
Good ol' general assumptions eh!?

It's not just a question of getting cheap things, it's about helping chairty.

banks and pension fund companies buy shops as investment instruments, then they charge as much as possible until the pips squeek, aaa plus the vat