What’s your best charity shop bargain?

I don't have a problem with anyone finding the odd bargain in a Charity shop and in effect, recycling it for personal use, in fact I've often done that myself, but I feel uneasy about those who trawl the shops as a business venture, and then sell items on on Ebay, sometimes at a vast profit. Yes, the Charity shop could do the same, but what it comes down to is the fact that some of the volunteers who man these shops don't realise the true value of some of the items which they price up. You could apply the same argument to Antiques dealers, whose profit-making is based on buying from someone who also does not recognise the true market value of the item they are selling, occasionally from a Charity shop. Yes, I enjoy watching the raft of Antiques shows which are so popular on TV, but again, sometimes feel just a wee bit sorry for the previous owner when the item they sold for a few pounds sells on for hundreds.. or more. I believe that the record profit was made by Paul Laidlaw who bought an antique camera for £60 and sold it on for £20,000. OK, no Charity involved, but I can't help wincing when I reflect that this could have been a life-changing sum for the previous owner. Many will just say, "tough", but that doesn't diminish my feelings of unease. Just my opinion.

I've found lots of lovely clothes in charity shops over the years. Handy because my weight fluctuates from size 12 to size 20. No big value bargains though.
Lots of my furniture is charity shop too. I'm a sucker for Nathan cupboards.

The charity shop I used to volunteer in before I moved, a local Hospice Shop, had a team of sorters in a warehouse who would weed out the high value items for eBay.
Items arrived at the shop ready priced, and volunteers were allowed to buy them once they were out on the rails. We paid for them at the end of our shift, to another volunteer, the details entered in a book which the manager then counter signed.

If I ever bought something with a significant amount of money concealed within it, I'd definitely go back to the shop and share. I don't have a problem with selling on, though. The charity shops I've been involved with have professional prices, so they have marked each item with a price that they feel is beneficial to the charity.

oodles
Thank you for that.
No body wonders how the Ziffit books get to the post office: me, in my car.
How do the eBay items get to the post office: me, in my car.
Who takes rubbish to the council tip because our skip is full up: me, in my car.
And no one, not even our manager gets paid or gets a thank you from the charity.

I have never bought anything in a charity shop, they really do not look attractive places in my town.
When DH died I binned underwear and worn clothes but donated dozens of brand new items to the local soup kitchen which helps clothe people in need too.
How disgusting that people donate soiled clothing.

I have had some really good buy's from Charity shops... my Denby casserole dish with lid for £4.00 and a full set of 5 Judge pans all brand new for £10.00 they where from a house clearance and who ever priced them did not know the value of the brand.
I have also had a couple of Radley bags for really good prices ie £3-4 from Oxfam.
Hand knitted new baby matinee jackets for £1.00 where very gladly received by a new mummy in my family along with 5 x baby vests for £1.00.

I think the arguments about valuable items and who gets first dibs are never going to be solved, as they boil down to different interpretations of 'value' and of what charity shops are for.

Years ago, I remember seeing t shirts for sale in Harvey Nichols for over £500. They weren't particularly good quality fabric, and they had unfinished seams. I would have struggled to pay £5 for one, but of course they had a logo on them that meant that to those who value those things they were worth what to me seemed a staggering sum. I doubt that even HN, which attracts customers with high incomes, will shift many of them, and Oxfam in Hometown, where people go for serviceable brands like Seasalt could have one in there for centuries before anyone would part with £500 for it. Or £300 for a second hand one. They have to charge what people will pay. With all respect to the volunteers, I doubt that many would be able to spot a £500 t shirt, so sending them to high fashion branches wouldn't really work either. I certainly didn't recognise the logo, and you couldn't tell from the look of them. But isn't part of the point of charity shops that it's not just people in Poshtown that get to buy designer clothes - they probably buy them anyway at full price. If someone in Averagetown gets a bargain, isn't that ok? Same with a plate or teaset. We've all seen items on the Antiques Roadshow that people love but are worthless, and those that are hideous and valuable - a lot comes down to fashion and what's 'in' this year.

Re the volunteers, my mother used to work in a charity shop, and the staff would sort the items and put a value on them. If someone saw an item they wanted they would ask the others who would put a 'mates rates' price on it and they would get a discount on that. People would put aside, say, baby things for a staff member who had a new grandchild, or other items they knew one another would like. They were all good people who gave a lot of time to the shop, and saw nothing wrong with that. I don't agree. If I give a coat (for example) to a charity shop, I would see it as a donation to the charity, as something kept out of landfill and as a bargain for someone. I wouldn't see it as a virtual gift to someone who already has six coats they've got for a fiver each, but fancies one in blue.

Well said Doodledog.

£6.99 for a Biba coat I then saw at £140 on ebay NWT

I rarely go to my local shopping center now due to mobility issues. There are at least 5 different charity shops there and I have made good money buying jewellery, scarves and accessories of various types and flipping them into my vintage shops. Ive also bought garments in wonderful fabrics and cut them up for patchwork and quilting projects.

NanaDana

I don't have a problem with anyone finding the odd bargain in a Charity shop and in effect, recycling it for personal use, in fact I've often done that myself, but I feel uneasy about those who trawl the shops as a business venture, and then sell items on on Ebay, sometimes at a vast profit. Yes, the Charity shop could do the same, but what it comes down to is the fact that some of the volunteers who man these shops don't realise the true value of some of the items which they price up. You could apply the same argument to Antiques dealers, whose profit-making is based on buying from someone who also does not recognise the true market value of the item they are selling, occasionally from a Charity shop. Yes, I enjoy watching the raft of Antiques shows which are so popular on TV, but again, sometimes feel just a wee bit sorry for the previous owner when the item they sold for a few pounds sells on for hundreds.. or more. I believe that the record profit was made by Paul Laidlaw who bought an antique camera for £60 and sold it on for £20,000. OK, no Charity involved, but I can't help wincing when I reflect that this could have been a life-changing sum for the previous owner. Many will just say, "tough", but that doesn't diminish my feelings of unease. Just my opinion.

The charity shop I volunteer for , the manager and assistant manager price up the items not the volunteers. They are both experienced in retail and google items they think are worth something . They also have people who specialise in certain areas and these items are put aside for them to check out.

Just after Christmas is the best time to visit charity shops. A lot of people donate 'unwanted' Christmas presents. I have bought several toiletry sets as well as brand-new unread books, ornaments and pretty boxes. However, I would never buy anything too personal such as clothing or jewelry.

My older brother who is widowed and does charity shop work often buys me lovely books as he knows I’m a reader. He always pays full price for them and tells me it’s worth it to see my face when he gives them to me. He is a diamond guy!

We do very well on electric items because we are very lucky to have a volunteer who PAT tests our donated electrical items.
We don’t sell a lot of men’s shoes but we save a lot of them for a man who buys them all and sends them to Iraq.
We have the animal charity people who take the manky duvets that are too bad for the rag men. They come tomorrow, 200 kilos in one month, that’s about average.

@MerylStreep so sorry you don't get any thanks for all you and your fellow volunteers do. We don't volunteer for the limelight but I think any volunteer appreciates a little acknowledgement once in a while, some ideas here
volunteeringmatters.org.uk/10-tips-recognise-volunteers/
Having been involved with volunteers myself as well as volunteering, it also grates on me when people criticize and complain when volunteers are not able to provide services how they want. Complaining when for example, a group can't run because the volunteer is unwell, and somehow online groups don't count, for example.
The thing about volunteers is that they are volunteers. They need to be kept safe and have agreed expenses repaid, and if your car insurance charged your insurance more cos of going to the post office in your car, the extra could be paid.

www.warnergoodman.co.uk/site/blog/news/when-will-a-volunteer-be-considered-a-worker
Those saying a volunteer shouldn't be able to buy an item for the same price as a member of the public because the volunteer might have a coat already and just fancies a blue one, what if the member of the public has 2 coats and just fancies a blue coat. She may have 6 coats. Charity shops don't quiz customers why should anyone judge a volunteer

Those that whine on about charity’s shop volunteers getting first dibs on items before the customers 🙄 are generally people who never set foot in one any way.

I know many people who are not well off by any means but feel squeamish about charity shops and go ugh! So they are a bit jealous of people “bagging” bargains

Also they would probably never volunteer themselves in a million years so have absolutely NO clue how they operate.

Having volunteered every Tuesday morning from 9-1 for about 15 years in a charity shop I couldn’t even add up how much my volunteering has saved the charity even if they paid me minimum wage.

We had a strict policy of not allowing volunteers to buy goods cheaply. For about 10 years we got no discount, then they gave us 10% discount for the last few years. You had to clear it with the Manager or Deputy and it was recorded in a book and then initialled by whoever was on the till when you paid.

Some charity shops have parking spaces for volunteers and some pay your parking. It used to cost me several quid to park each week in a council car park and multiply that by 15 years and that’s a lot of money too! To be fair our Manager tried at every Area Meeting to get our parking paid but never managed it even though we were a special case as it’s a very popular, touristy town with limited parking.

The only perk we got was every January all the volunteers (we had about 20) were taken out to lunch where they had arranged a discounted party booking but we still had to pay £5 towards it and buy our own drinks.

I stuck it out because I made some good friends there, we had some laughs, we were right in the middle of town and saw all of life there and I was doing my bit for charity.

We had various Managers over the years, some better than others and one used to take what she thought were valuable items over to an antique shop for valuation. Another allowed this really creepy man who was a book dealer to “tidy” a room where we kept books before they went on the shop floor. He used to leave with armfuls of books and maybe give her a fiver. I didn’t agree with that.

PS. Another stole about £15,000 from the charity and was sent to prison briefly.

Those saying a volunteer shouldn't be able to buy an item for the same price as a member of the public because the volunteer might have a coat already and just fancies a blue one, what if the member of the public has 2 coats and just fancies a blue coat. She may have 6 coats. Charity shops don't quiz customers why should anyone judge a volunteer
That would be me . And what I said was that the volunteers priced the items for one another, at 'mates rates' and then got a discount. My comment was about people being put off donating knowing that a coat (say) that might sell for £20 on the shop floor was likely to go to a volunteer for a fiver, with a staff discount on top.

I couldn't care less how many coats anyone has. But I do think that people donating rather than selling items should expect them to be sold at the going rate for a charity shop in that area, and not be passed on for a token amount to a volunteer. I know this happened at the shop where my mum used to volunteer. The staff were very open about it, and would keep things back for one another out of kindness - they saw nothing wrong with it, and perhaps they're right. I don't think so though.

I shop in charity shops all the time and donate to them too. Unlike many of the people here I have absolutely no idea about brand names and only buy things that I like or need, or toys or spare clothes for my grandchildren. I rarely spend more than two or three pounds and once paid £3 for an Aran pattern cardigan because I always wanted one and was never able to afford it. It must have been a good one because it has lasted me 5 years so far. Most of my new stuff comes from Tesco or Asda anyway!!

Ailidh, we have bought a lot of Nathan furniture from charity shops over the years. It is a classic look and the quality is outstanding. The furniture that we have spent a few hundred pounds on over the years would probably cost at least £20,000 if we had bought new furniture of the same quality today. Ercol may have cornered the market in mid-century style, but I think Nathan is even better quality and will have its day before too long.

I agree with you Doodledog. It’s cheating the charity.

@Doodledog I was meaning volunteers paying the going rate for an item. Or maybe a small discount, as others have said there can be a monetary cost to volunteering, parking for example. As a hospital volunteer you get parking and a small amount towards food in the canteen if you're there over dinnertime. There is a push to involving many people v to volunteer and it is recognized that if there is a cost to volunteering this puts some people off as they cannot afford to spend money to volunteer but they do have time to offer and the perspective of a different part of society maybe. Covering expenses of volunteers is a sign of a well run charity. If someone doesn't want to claim them no worry but they could take the expenses and gift aid them back as a donation, www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/involving-volunteers/planning-for-volunteers/paying-volunteer-expenses/#/
Although I love looking through charity shops, and often find lovely things in them, I also often look through them and find nothing nice that will fit me, no interesting books, no household or crafty items so don't buy anything. It's going to be like that with volunteers, sometimes there will be things that volunteers might be interested in, many other times there will be nothing, all wrong sizes, colours, styles, ugly ornaments. I am not sure that volunteers buying things is a big problem
Helping in a shop is not my thing, but I have helped at many a jumble sale or bric a brac stall at a fete. Volunteers on those sort of stalls always have first dibs on things, for a fair price obviously, never heard anyone complaining about that. Always plenty of stuff for the public, on the other side of the table I clothed my children from jumbles etc

What I don't like is how some shops throw away perfectly good items. I have seen a skip full of good quality stuff thrown out. My sewing box was given to me while dropping off some bags round the back of our local one. I asked when it would be in the shop as really needed one, only to be told they were throwing it out. A screw was missing. I thought I could replace it but in the end didn't as it worked well without it
I did make a donation, but it almost ended up in the skip. I've taken stuff being thrown out to other shops too who have been happy to have ghrm

Donations are only of “use” if the charity shop can sell them.
Usually there is the issue of space.

Some charity shops have other branches and send stuff to them and receive from them, on the basis that some things don’t sell well in one area but do in another.

Hence many stopped accepting donations of videos ages ago and now CDs. Ditto encyclopaedias ( there is the internet)
Not half as much random brick-a- brac as there used to be - such as odd saucers for plants etc.

The shops are presented and run more like regular retail outlets now.

Not always to the good in my opinion

However they are much less seedy nowadays.

However they are much less seedy nowadays

‘Where’s there’s muck there’s brass’ was an old saying 😊