Charity shops are getting greedy
For quite a while I've been unemployed and unable to get a job. I've had to save the pennies and restrict my spending to essentials. This has meant shopping for some items at charity shops. I've bought a shirt or two and some jeans and jackets over the past few years. In the middle of tough economic times I'm sure I'm not the only one who heads for the charity shops.
shops are pricing up things to ridiculous levels...
However, in the last few months I've noticed that some shops (Mind and Oxfam for example) are pricing up things to ridiculous levels. Considering a lot of things that charity shops sell are donated free, why do they insist on hiking up the prices to unreasonable levels?
Last week I saw a shirt I wanted but it was priced at £7.75. It was a Marks and Spencer shirt and it was clearly not new. Compare this with going into Sainsburys where they have two brand new men's shirts and a tie in a pack for £10 or £12! Which would you go for?
To me, some of the large UK charities are getting just a little bit greedy. I know they serve a purpose but when they first appeared you could get a good deal. Now it seems the main ones are out to rip you off.
I now look in the small independent charity shops that are less well known but usually have fair prices for second hand goods.
Still, I may eventually get a job, that is if I can beat the other 250 applicants to it!
By: Down & Out
Comments from visitors
I agree, I used to be able to get a decent skirt or sweater from a charity shop for £2 or so, but now they`re charging as much, if not more than Tesco, or my local market, so now if I want new gear I`ll head for the supermarket or the stalls, an added bonus will be that they`ll be brand new.
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Ivory I love charity shops, but only visit certain ones now. Some charities have area managers & above, they get very high salaries plus cars & expenses. The shop managers get a salary, not a big one but a salary. Volunteers generally go for the social aspect, a bit of a chat to Doris that social aspect will not pay the boss's high salaries. It had to go. Charities employ X high street management, "Doctor Barnado" had to go to be replaced with "Barnados". Targets where introduced. How can an 82-year-old volunteer & her comrades generate enough sales to pay the salaries, pensions & expenses of high management? It is simple they can't. However these large salaries must be found, these near do wells have fancy contracts. The shop managers are taking the flak & 82-year-old aunts are taking the blame.
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I have just pulled my mother out from being a volunteer in one of the major Charity Shops on our local High Street (their name has already been mentioned unfavourably several times by other posters). After just two months of working there two mornings a week, she has come home most days in tears. Among other things she has been told off by the manageress for 'wasting' too much time chatting to customers and the latest - a head-office enquiry as to why she did not achieve her monthly sales target. Remember, my mother gives of her time freely and is not a paid member of staff. Oh and by the way, she is 82 years old!
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"It should be against the law to sell second hand goods at a rip off price."
Why? The advert is an offer to purchase, nobody is obliged to do so. For reasons which I fail to understand, people are prepared to pay premium prices for second hand goods when the orginals are no longer available. As long as that demand exists, and people fuel it, market forces will determine prices.
Why? The advert is an offer to purchase, nobody is obliged to do so. For reasons which I fail to understand, people are prepared to pay premium prices for second hand goods when the orginals are no longer available. As long as that demand exists, and people fuel it, market forces will determine prices.
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I agree they are ripping people off,they put four pound on a primark t shirt,when you can buy
it new for two pound in primark. It should be against the law to sell second hand goods at a rip off price. They are charging more than some of the shops for certain items. They should be inspected. Charities would sell more, if the items were cheaper,they should take note of what consumers are telling them and stop bad practices.
it new for two pound in primark. It should be against the law to sell second hand goods at a rip off price. They are charging more than some of the shops for certain items. They should be inspected. Charities would sell more, if the items were cheaper,they should take note of what consumers are telling them and stop bad practices.
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I used to always buy from charity shops especially kids clothes, but have to agree they are far too greedy. Half the time they don't price clothes on the quality but price them on the label. I saw a kids dress in Barnados from Monsoon, the dress was very worn to say the least but that clearly wasn't reflected in the price. I now shop in Primark which isn't great quality but great on price!
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I remember a good few years ago a fellow who worked with my wife in an investment bank was only to happy to work as a charity coordinator as he flew everywhere on BA and treated the work as a holiday for himself. I rememeber one time he flew to london to make a ten minute briefing to his staff and the rest of the weekend he spent with his girlfriend, flew back on the sunday night and stayed in a rather plush hotel in edinburgh on the charity expences, he gave up the work when they made their workers travel by train. Selfish pig.
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I am the manager of a small charity shop in Dundee and where I agree with most of what has been said on here I feel I must defend charities from a few points made.
YES, I agree that the larger charities are far too expensive and seem to have moved so far away from what most people would term a charity shop, and YES I agree that it is because these charities are now top heavy with executives. I used to work for the PDSA and I left because of that exact reason, they said they wanted to compete with regular retailers on the High Street. I dont agree with this at all, they are charity shops not M&S! When they start getting this attitude thats when they start spending fortunes on fixtures and fittings and executives with fancy cars....what is the real profit made? I didnt like the comment below by Mr T who said that managers sit around and do nothing and let the volunteers do all the work, I hope he does not think we are all the same. I work VERY hard for my (low) wage but I do it for the cause not the money. I worked in charity retail for 15 years then moved back to regular retail as a manager of a Poundstretcher store.....I moved back to charity because I missed it so much.
Anyway like has been said the smaller independant charity shops are where you can still find a bargain, so I would suggest you support therm and maybe the "big boys" will take note.
YES, I agree that the larger charities are far too expensive and seem to have moved so far away from what most people would term a charity shop, and YES I agree that it is because these charities are now top heavy with executives. I used to work for the PDSA and I left because of that exact reason, they said they wanted to compete with regular retailers on the High Street. I dont agree with this at all, they are charity shops not M&S! When they start getting this attitude thats when they start spending fortunes on fixtures and fittings and executives with fancy cars....what is the real profit made? I didnt like the comment below by Mr T who said that managers sit around and do nothing and let the volunteers do all the work, I hope he does not think we are all the same. I work VERY hard for my (low) wage but I do it for the cause not the money. I worked in charity retail for 15 years then moved back to regular retail as a manager of a Poundstretcher store.....I moved back to charity because I missed it so much.
Anyway like has been said the smaller independant charity shops are where you can still find a bargain, so I would suggest you support therm and maybe the "big boys" will take note.
+5
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I am currently at college and volunteer in my local charity shop a few days a week. I am shocked by the waste. Big bags of books are thrown away weekly and other items such as toys and electricals are put into a giant skip at the back of the shop. I have been very tempted to take stuff from the skip and keep it for myself. It's more of a business then a charity. The two managers get a wage at the end of the week to sit around and do nothing because the volunteers do it for free.
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Thousands of the big charities are having their strings pulled by Common Purpose trained EU puppet executive leaders, who've been brainwashed by NLP techniques to help dismantle out society. Charities don't comply with the typical imagery of being run by benevolent, kindly little old ladies trying to help the poor. I wouldn't give any of my old stuff to them now, like I used to do. Instead, I'd rather flog cast offs on e-bay and spend the dosh I make from sales shoring up other businesses to help fuel jobs that actually pay people, or I just give my stuff away to friends. Furthermore, it is well known that voluntary workers in charities sometimes cream off for themselves stuff people bring in - probably flogging it on e-bay themselves.
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I am a regular shopper in charity shops and I used to go into a local one twice a week. What really annoys me are the people working in them. The man working behind the counter in this charity shop is always complaining about shop lifters, sometimes to co-workers and sometimes even to customers! Each time I go into this shop, I will hear him constantly telling his colleagues to watch each and individual customer. And because I am in my teens, he personally follows me around whilst I'm browsing around the shop, although I am a regular customer and spend a lot of money in the store. Each time a customer leaves the store without purchasing an item, he would assume that they were only in here for one thing - to steal, and he would publicise it openly to his co-workers and the other customers. I can understand that he is looking after the store but surely this is crossing the line. Customers would want to feel welcome in a shop and this man is making his customers feel the opposite. His unacceptable attitude is losing the store customers (I do not shop in the store any longer) and this is not good for the charity. It doesn't just happen in one store, but many other charity shops I have been in.
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Charity shopper - 22-Feb-11 11:43
It used to be called Doctor Barnado's after the founder, It is now called Barnardo's with new livery this is to pander to the vanity of highly paid executives "Made redundant from comerce in the main" who concidered the charity sector a bit to down market for them. Without volenteers the shop closes
+4
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I go to all charity shops every week the prices in the last 6 months are ridiculous not all charity shops are greedy.I have stopped going to big charity shops like the b.h.f I have complained about the prices to the shop assistant and she totally agreed with me .However they have a list and have to stick by it head office .I went in b.h.f just yesterday and walked out in discussed they had a river island coat priced at £25.00 it was'nt even nice it had all hairs stuck to it and looked tatty .There was a lady stood next to me and gasped and said there just get greedy at this point we both walked out .I will not be supporting this charity no longer unless they change there ways.I don't usally write reveiws but I feel that charity shops are exploiting poeples generosity.
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p.s and they are very wastefull, they would rather throw something away if it had a repairable fault or they couldnt get the price they wanted for it.
+4
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Iv'e gone off charity shops in a big way and will now only shop at the small independant ones. They are too greedy for their own good, lets face it the stock they get for free has already been taxed and most of their workers are volunteers so they dont pay any wages out. They've lost the meaning of charity.
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I only give to one charity and that is a political decision - Amnesty. All others simply maintain the status quo and mean that we are less likely to turn to the super rich when we see people really suffering. Charity is a means of indirect taxation usually support by those who can least afford it.
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Would I give money to a major UK charity - NO WAY! I would instead look to help a local charity. Many CEO's of UK charitys are on six figure saleries.
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The British Heart Foundation are a very aggressive charity when it comes to setting targets on their staff. Its all about money and theres little in the way of charity for their staff.
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Charities are becoming greedy but remember please don't complain to the staff or volunteers in the shops instead write to the Chief Executive of the Charity directly as it is they who make the decisions.
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I totaly agree with the person, I have been going to charity shops for about 20 years looking for bargains and I have found quite a few over the years, I hardly ever go into them now as they are well over the top on there prices and are no more than greedy, my girlfriend used to spend around 20 ponds a week on clothes in charity shops but I have pursauded her to go to boot sales where you can get things less than half what the charity shops are asking.. I can recall her donating a bag of clothes a couple of years ago and she was horrified to see the prices on them when she went back a couple of days ;later-- for example, jeans were priced on average at more than £4 per pair-tops at over £2 each ect..she thought as it was a charity she would be helping others which is sadly not the case when you can go into asda/tesco and buy a brand new pair of jeans for £4..in my opinion these charity shops deserve to be going through hard times because of there greed..
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