to hope for a donation?

That happens in the UK too, Granjura. Haven't you heard of Freecycle?

No problem at all with buying and re-selling at all- but in fair proportions.

BTW where I live the new craze is for free sales- where people can get rid of stuff they don't want and are given away to people who want them... some choose to give money in lieue to a charity, most do not. Better than being wasted and ending up in landfill (in UK)

The other thing to bear in mind is that turnover is more important than profit on an individual item, especially if the shop is inundated with stuff, as many of them are.
Keeping something in the shop for months at a price so high that no-one wants it, is counter-productive.
It's better for the charity to sell a lot of things cheaply than very few things more expensively.
If someone buys something cheaply and then re-sells it, so what? The charity have gained something from the sale, and made space in the shop to sell something else.

Where I live isn't really relevant Badenkate, but I think some people do make quite a lot of money from buying things in charity shops or car boot sales and then re-selling them on eBay. In fact HMRC are well aware of this activity and have been known to target eBay sellers.
Given the above, it's irresponsible of a charity not to ask a fair price for things they sell in the shops. The staff may be volunteers but could be trained to spot things of value and hold them back until someone more knowledgeable could have a proper look.

Exactly Badenkate- the cost of having everything professionally assessed would be prohibitive- you can't expect volunteers in all branches to have the necessary expertise. As anno days, I sincerely hope everyone with a conscience would do the right thing and make a generous donation representing a good %age.

GandT my D has an Ian Rankin signed by the author which her H bought her at a signing in London.
The author signed it " To J who chose well" well that shows his lack of judgement as said H is now living a lovely life with his new love on a tropical island.

jingl- apologies- misread your post - so we agree.

Next time i make a fortune on a charity shop buy, I will give all the profits back to the charity. It isn't going to happen, so I'm safe. (unless of course I happen to find a first edition Ian Rankin)

On Flog It, I've quite often heard sellers say that, as they have made a profit on an item they bought in a charity shop, they will donate either all or some of the money to that or another charity. It has never happened to me but I like to think I would donate at least a decent percentage of the profit.

Hey! I didn't say I would keep all the spoils! I would certainly make a good donation to the charity involved! Just not to the donor. (ie the person who gave it to the charity shop)

Granjura don't understand what you are saying to me. I have said I consider car boot sales to be fair game, because they are quite different from charities.

Certainly the animal charity shop in our village does not check things, they just sell everything as fast as possible. They are my favorite shop as they catalogue their books properly so I don't have to sift through.

I think Oxfam do. Don't they have a special website for collectable items?

Don't know where you live Janeainsworth, but this is a small market town where the charity shop workers are local volunteers, not antique dealers. I'd guess this is true of a majority of charity shops. It seems unreasonable to expect them to identify high worth items

Surely the charities are at fault if they don't appraise things properly when they are brought into the shops?
And as Ann pointed out, you would only make a financial gain if and when you sold it.

Most charities are run as a big business because they are there, in part, to generate funds. However I would still feel some unease at knowing that I had deprived a local hospice, say, from money that would help ease someone's last days.

We've had this discussion before ... but, to recap, most of the larger charities nowadays are big business.

... and jingl, re car boot sales, which again is business, not charity.

disagree jane - charity and business are not the same.

inishowen I have seen people do exactly as you say and when they find something they think is of value the will pick up a few other non-valuable pieces and ask for a price for the lot.

I recently bought a beautifully framed limited edition print in our local charity shop (which I donate to regularly) the price was £10. I later Googled the artist and found some of his prints from the same limited edition had sold for around £350. I felt a little guilty and gathered together some items and gave them to the charity shop later that week and put a £10 donation into the collecting tin on the counter. Probably not enough but it salved my conscience and I can now enjoy looking at my print without feeling any guilt.

I've seen people at boot fairs looking at the jewellery with a special eyeglass. If they then decide to buy something, does that not alert the vendor that it may be something valuable? Why would they let it go for 50p?

No. I give to charities I feel passionate about. I have a direct debit to a hospice lottery and the last two weeks I have won five pounds which I did not claim. if I won the thousand jackpot I would keep it.

If I bought a gem in a charity shop I would have paid over the odds for it since I never pay the asking price. If I sold it for £££ I would keep it.

Agree with jinglebellsfrocks on this one.

Sad, isn't it? they certainly should do.People on these shows often seem really smug that they bought it in a charity shop for next to nothing, they have no shame in saying so! They could easily pop in to the shop ( without saying why) and give a good donation.

I work in a charity shop and believe it or not we have to keep our eyes open for thieving and swapping of price labels! Many people have no conscience whatsoever so it's a dream that the buyer of a bargain would donate back to the charity.

Wouldn't give any money back to the donor. "Donor beware"!

Car boot sales are fair game. No ethical thinking required there.

The principle is the same granjura - something is worth a lot more than what you paid for it.