Charity Shops Bargain's

Once saw a complete 32 volume set of the latest Encyclopedia Britannica on sale for £1 per volume. I didn't buy them because I already have a set!

I'm quite good at winning bargains on ebay though.

At only £5 for a £90 unopened set is to my mind completely underpriced. Considering it was from a charity shop I feel it should have been priced at around the £20 mark. Even at £20 its a real bargain and would have given the charity another £15.
I'm not an avid frequenter into charity shops but if on the odd occassion I do see an underpriced article I want to buy, I always pay more that the ticket price and they always take the extra as a donation.

What we have to consider, is that the volunteers who work in those shops are not experts at putting a value on donated objects and bearing in mind all proceeds help run that particular charity, IMHO its up to us as responsible members of the public to help them all we can and hand over extra if we consider the prospective purchase to be under priced.

I LOVE charity shops. My large chest of supplies for the grandchildren includes spare clothing, books and toys. ALL charity shop treasures.
I have myself a BASLER German designer pure wool sweater and a pair od August Silks black trousers, which I got in the charity shop, brand new with the tags on. this jumper should cost about £90 and I got it for £5. I collected most of my cut crystal wine glasses in 2s and 4s from our local charity shops. they don't match, but are similar in style and look great on the table together for special meals.I couldn't afford them else!. I also give away stuff to them.
Hana

hanadr said:

I LOVE charity shops. My large chest of supplies for the grandchildren includes spare clothing, books and toys. ALL charity shop treasures.
I have myself a BASLER German designer pure wool sweater and a pair od August Silks black trousers, which I got in the charity shop, brand new with the tags on. this jumper should cost about £90 and I got it for £5. I collected most of my cut crystal wine glasses in 2s and 4s from our local charity shops. they don't match, but are similar in style and look great on the table together for special meals.I couldn't afford them else!. I also give away stuff to them.
Hana

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That £90 jumper marked down to a very low fiver .. would you still have bought it at a higher price of 8, 9 or even £10?

That £90 jumper marked down to a very low fiver .. would you still have bought it at a higher price of 8, 9 or even £10?

I manage a charity shop, (30% of volunteers are diabetic), and I would love to know the answer :?: We keep the prices low as if we hitch em uo we find we get stuff left. I would rather have a fiver from a customer than 10p from a rag man. :roll:

Hobs
I'm an OAP and haven't a lot of teacher's pension on top. Since I wasn't actively hunting for a sweater and didn't REALLY need one just then, I probably wouldn't have bought it. It was a couple of years ago and I've never regretted it. It's so warm when we get a cold spell.
I did once find a 9ct gold ring in the charity shop and for that I did give an extra donation. I used to find silver stuff often, but no longer.
Hana

I used to work in a Charity shop and was an assisitant to the Manager, I loved the job, but it didn'tlast long :cry:

I love to rummage about in charity shops and at my lounge window I have a singing Father Christmas wreath that lights up and sings 'Last christmas I gave you my heart', I got this from a Charity shop a couple of years ago, a bargain at £1.50 :thumbup:

We get the bargains and the Charity gets the money, winners all round

RRB

I think we should also remember that the things they sell on to us, they get them free, donated by generous people who usually shop in there too. my experience the past few years is that you can't find a collectable under £30/£40 unless it's chipped or cracked.
Just last week I was told by the manager of a charity shop that all the good items go to head office, where they will be sold either in auction or on E'bay. while I agree that they should make as much money as they can, they should also remember that they have the shops for a reason. to sell to the general public some of who donate their things to their shops.

I buy a lot of my clothes from charity shops, I donate a lot too. I buy lots of clothes and never wear them so I donate them back. the charity makes double the money for each item. Just recently I bought 2 pendelfin figures at £8 each I thought it was a good price and was pleased as I had never seen these particular figures before. on getting home I noticed that both had had their ears broken and fixed, a good enough job but not quite good enough if I should ever need to sell them.

I always give a little extra to my local thrift shop, as it does a lot of good work for our little community, they also put everything donated out on sale. Not hold things back for their own gain,or to make a few extra pounds.

I have also been told on a few occassions by staff in charity shops, "Oh if I'd seen that first you wouldn't have got it"
I have worked for charity shops also where some of the staff have taken things at a fraction of the price on it. only to sell it on their carboot stall at a much greater price.

So personally I believe the price on an item is the price I pay and am happy to get an occassional bargain. Just my humble opinion.

vonbon