Charity shop book

Unless it was a book I'd been particularly looking for and was hard to find, I'd have left it, too.

I think at the very least they should put a notice up saying that their price is inside the front cover and to ignore any other price stickers.

If I took something to the till expecting to pay £1, I don't think I would have paid £3.50 for it. If the price had been clear whilst I was browsing, then I could have made my decision there and left the book on the shelf - rather than - as you say - made to look miserly.

£3.50 sounds a lot for a charity shop book, unless it was a hardback . My charity shop charges £1 for paperbacks . £2 for hardbacks .
Putting the price on the inside cover is misleading. And it sounds like the book had been previously bought at another charity shop for £1.
I’m with you , I would have left it.

I cannot understand why charity shops charge so much for their books. Surely it would be better to sell seven books for £3.50 (50 p each ) than have one book rejected for the same amount. After all there is no shortage of book donations.

I would have left it too

When I have books to donate now I take them to my local supermarket. They have a stand where people leave their books and people can just come and pick up what they want. There are some lovely books for adults and children and it’s nice to know someone in the community is getting the benefit.

Shortbreadandkilts

When I have books to donate now I take them to my local supermarket. They have a stand where people leave their books and people can just come and pick up what they want. There are some lovely books for adults and children and it’s nice to know someone in the community is getting the benefit.

I'm a part time warden at a caravan and camping site and I started a book exchange there. All my read books go there and it's surprising how quickly they're snapped up and replaced by someone else's. I wasn't sure it would be used but I'm glad to say it's thriving.

I would have left it too. That is the price I paid for second hand books on Ebay, when I cannot find a used copy anywhere else.

Goodness. Our best local charity shop sells all paperbacks 3 for £1. I have mentioned to them that I think it’s too cheap, but apparently they get so many book donations they still make a lot of money from them, and they’d rather sell them than send a lot of them to be pulped.

Depends on the book surely.

But honestly, £3.50! What is the price of one coffee, or one medium size drink in a pub?

Why is there so little respect for books these days?

WelshPoppy I'm itching to know what it was now!

I think that £3.50 for a well read, second hand book is a lot.

I would have left it.

Charity shops are inundated with books.

Better to charge 50p a book, 3 for a £1 and get rid, surely.

There is usually a sign on the shelf stating the cost of books and CDs. I buy loads of books from charity shops and have never paid anywhere near £3:50. They want a quick turnover so sell them cheaply.

I wouldn’t have paid the higher price either………not that I object to the cost of something second hand but more so the fact that there was two price stickers. What would be wrong with a sign stating ‘All books £3.50’ …….. far easier than pricing every single book, not bothering to check for other pricing, and then losing a sale because customers were misled.

That’s a hugely expensive books we sell ours at 50p each unless it’s a special event ( ie local books once or twice a year we have a display of local books which will cost more )

Name and shame them 😉

petra

Name and shame them 😉

I agree. £3.50 is excessive, to say the least. In the charity shop where I volunteer we only sell paperbacks in good condition for £1, and still make a profit.

The book was a bog standard 'girl leaves old life because of a relationship breakdown, starts new life elsewhere, meets bloke, doesn't like him, end up getting married' type book. Something that doesn't need a lot of thought but will get me off to sleep. I can get 3 of a similar genre for £7.50 in The Works and they're new.

Yes, it would depend on how much I wanted to read it., but it should have been labelled properly. Oxfam paperback books here are &2.99, and supermarket donor table ones are £1.

I would have left it.
I donated my books to the little hut in the local park, it was a god send during Covid, until it was damaged & set on fire by teenagers 😩

It does seem a lot for a well -used book in a charity shop. Perhaps it was a rare book .

I'd have bought it if I really wanted it. What you could do is compare the charity shop's price with the same book on Amazon among the second hand sellers. You might possibly have a bargain at the charity shop!

What was the book's title?

Obviously a "rare" specimen then welshpoppy

I, too, use the bookswap box in the park, plus charity shops and the donate - to - charity bookshelf in a nearby supermarket.
I do go to bookshops, too!
However, I think that some shops do price rather high , resulting in books being pulped, and clothes sold for rags.
A friend who volunteers at one such was astonished to find that donated children's clothes went straight into the rag bag because " we dont have the space"
Now, she intercepts them and brings them to foodbank, where they are gratefully received.