£5 charity shop challenge

Not from the Heart Shop, by the way.

Our Heart Shop is a bit expensive.

But one of my most precious possessions is a glass bowl (?vase) about
7" wide and 6" high.....different thicknesses of blue glass give different colours....beautiful.
- how much? £10 - no. £5 - no...........50p!!!

It is good enough to be signed, but isn't.

The trouble with the larger charity shops IE Cancer Research, British Heart Foundation etc, is that they are given guide lines from head office as to the prices to charge, which is a bit daft when you consider the range of shop sites and the different spending power of local folk. I understand that the shop managers are also given targets. Now how can you reach a target? when I thought that all charity shop buys were impulse driven, and also that the majority of items are donations. The customers come into the shop , just to " mooch" and do not always leave with a purchase. We are lucky, in that the shop in which I volunteer is a one off and just supports the town Day Centre. So our manager can choose her pricing level to suit the level of stock, and have a sale when we are overwhelmed. Although to be honest, we still get the comments that things are too dear, usual suspects here, and expect something for practically nothing, even though everything is donated, and we sell no new bought in goods. New yes,but only when donated. Charity shops are wonderful, you never know what is going to turn up, and our regular customers have become friends. . And yes we do have shop lifters

If they are charging too much then it is best to comment , if enough people do that they will get the message !

I think they are in danger of pricing themselves out of business in some instances!

DD fell in love with a table and chairs set at the local hospice charity shop, but it was priced at £70 and they wouldn't even consider reducing it...I had a look and it seemed far too rickety and unsuitable for her house anyway. I think it's still there...

That does sound too much, emmasnan. It must be difficult for the shops to strike the right balance - I'd be annoyed if my donations were just given away, but equally annoyed if they were priced too high to sell and ended up in the rag bag!

But I called into a new charity shop in our village today and wasn't surprised it was empty, with books priced at 99p and a small, empty jar that had once contained a Yankee candle washed out and actually on sale at 49p. In the window they had a basic wooden doll's house for £29.99. I've just googled it and could get it new for £25!

I do buy some good clothes from charity shops but often M&S tops are priced between £5 and £7. I do think they would sell more if they kept the price down, I tend to have a limit as to how much I will pay and I'm sure others do as well.

I bought three large My Little Ponies from a table top sale at a group I go to, £1.50 each. They re-named me 'The Woman with the Bag of Bears'
I allowed DGD to take them home with her.

my pony was £1.25 btw, Im looking for another to keep her company.

I get books at £1, for 4 regularly. Recently I got a lovely almost new, 'my little pony' this was a large one and has the most long luscious hair that my DD loves to comb (meant for DGD).

Last year I got an imitation suede jacket, lined with fur which is so warm that Ive scarcely worn it this winter, this was £5, also a 'designer' dress which can be worn over leggings or just as a dress for £3.

I often get candles for £1, knitting wool for £2, and many other items that I would hesitate to buy at the new price.

The most expensive charity shop is the 'heart' shop, which has lovely things but overpriced when all the donations are free.

The lowest priced shops are usually the smaller charity shops, such as out local hospice shop where I go first.

BHF also overprice the paperbacks they sell. I have seen new ones in bookshops and garden centres cheaper than theirs.

I worked in the British heart shop for 9 years and the prices they were charging were becoming ridiculous . They are actually told by head office what to charge ie Next trousers 5.99 -799 M&S top 4.99-8.99 , the manager had no choice as the items were coded so if something went through the till at a lower price head office knew about it . The amount of stuff which went into the rag bag was disturbing !
I now work for a local animal charity shop , nobody is paid & even the manager is a volunteer. Prices are kept low and there is a massive turn over of stock with mostly every donation being sold .
I buy most of my clothes in charity shops and a lot of household items too. It would be difficult to decide which was my best purchase !

We love charity shops. Always look in them when out for the day or on holiday, it's true that different areas have different quality goods. My best bargain ever? £4 for a brand new pair of shoes that I had almost ordered online in Cotton Traders sale for £12 the day before. Couldn't believe my luck. My granddaughters, aged eight and four love to spend time browsing and choosing items with their Mum in charity shops. They have been brought up to sort their clothes and toys and take them to the local charity shop so are very familiar with the idea of recycling. We also buy our christmas and birthday cards from them. So if we don't see anything we need we support them by spending a little on a card.We never leave empty handed.

I used to volunteer in a charity shop and every few weeks they have to rotate the stock. Anything that hadn't sold was put into bags to be Collected for rags. I couldn't believe it when good quality clothing ws dumped.
I know they get money for rags, but even so.

A lot of charity shops are now charging far too much for clothing that once upon a time would have been in a jumble sale.

So I don't think you can buy coats etc, for a fiver. Maybe a ropy old jumper, top or shirt. Of course, children's toys and clothes are sometimes a bargain. No need for us grans to buy new toys

Good household stuff to be found I find.

Oh Tiggypiro my 6yr old gs would be so jealous he is Nerf mad , but not sure my son ( his dad ) or my dil would be up for anything in charity shops especially clothes, where I love browsing, books, coats and jackets and have had lots of great bargains.

My DGD's 4th birthday is this week and today I have bought two of her favourite Disney Books for £1, a fluffy 'My little Pony' for 50p and a 'Barney Bear' from Haven Holidays (which was too expensive to buy when we were there) for 99p.

Most of my DGC's stocking fillers come from Charity shops and many of their clothes.

My favourite buy was a beautiful white bridesmaid's dress for another DGD for £2.50. I made a veil out of an old net curtain and added plastic flowers and she played dressing up as a bride for months. I felt quite guilty as it was such a beautiful dress with hand sewn beading. It will be passed on to her younger sister.

When GD was smaller I bought many toys from local charity shops and they stayed at our house, when she outgrew them they went back to the shop. Still plays with the dolls' house, shop till complete with money, tins etc and various board games. Have almost stopped buying her books, when she comes to stay we go to the library and she chooses her own - staggered came home last time with about twelve!

Oh and a Kath Kidston mug for £2, the Crush style that they seem to have discontinued

A Le Creuset fondue set for £4. The box looked a bit tatty, but when I opened it out of curiosity, the set itself was unused with the forks still sealed in their plastic bags.

My last charity shop purchase was a light bulb, which they didn't charge me for - it was for the loo at work which has no window. The charity shop is next door to our workshop and OH had changed some bulbs for them the week before so it was a fair trade. I just wonder who would donate second hand light bulbs. We were happy though as no shops in our village stock bulbs.

rose since I have been working in the charity shop r.s.p.c.a the stuff that goes missing on a daily basis is unbelievable..the thing is these people are crafty, they take numerous items into the changing room and have been known to completely change their skirts/trousers/shoes etc a lot are short staffed and we have little time to scrutinize everyone and of course as they are not new clothes they don't tend to have big tags hanging on them, the shoplifters tear the tags off and hide them in the changing room! We had an old lady come in around Christmas time..she bought some items clothes etc, paid with a £20 note and on the way out she picked up a £10 tiara and off she went without paying (we only noticed it gone from right under our noses at the end of the day) we searched the ctv and we now have her earmaked!!! it was me that served her and she was as polite as can be calling me dearie and luv ets!! I think that some asume they have been donted that they have more right to steal!!

But yes going back to the original post there really are bargains to be had if you are willing to rumage especialy childrens toys and designer clothes.Yes I can agree the charity shops do get a little pricey but you can still find a good buy now n then.
My purchase was pair of "Next" leather boots hardly worn, £3-20 (with my discount)

Well, my Jaeger dress was bought in the Oxfam in Summeretown, Oxford. I was doing a day course there and always walk round the charity shops there because they do get very nice clothes, but the fur coat and skirts were just bought in a shop in my nearest town, nothing special.

I have been lucky with clothes recently but, I must say, usually, my charity shop buys are books and knickknacks not clothing. I have seen my own donations on sale in the shop I gave it to, it felt very odd, so now if I have delivered stuff to a shop I do not go into it for about a month to give them time to sell it.

I took bags and bags of clothes to a charity shop in another town when a friend died; they were all very good quality and good makes, some still unworn with labels. The lady in the shop said that if they were not sold there they went off to another shop in a poorer area. I know that another friend used to go up to London every three months and visit the charity shops there for her new clothes - all good brands, some designer and hardly worn!

Same here Mollie. I donate good quality stuff ( clothes that no longer fit ), household stuff, books etc. I am trying to slowly clear stuff out of the house with a view to downsizing in a couple of years time. I never find anything worth buying when I pop in though. Maybe I dont go in often enough.Mind you, DD has got some lovely stuff but she is tall and skinny and everything looks fab on her, I dont want to be a little dumpy old lady in a charity shop coat