Pictures and books in charity shops

After my FIL died, we (tactfully) edited/binned a lot of his books before the charity trip. Books and books of sermons anyone? No, thought not....

I love a good mooch in a charity shop for books and pictures. Sometimes I frame my own art from a frame I like Sometimes there a box of frames with nothing inside them. Charity shops aren’t what they were a few years ago. My local one seems to be charging an awful lot more for everything. The books that were once 50p or three for £1 are now £1 minimum. Even for the children books. Many hardbacks are now £2.
It seems even charity shop mooching has become unaffordable ?

Last week I bought an original painting from a charity shop for the first time in years. Yes, I have been in the charity shops every week, but had not seen a single picture that I wanted. The larger charities' shops seem to make goods in very good condition their priority now, especially regarding books.

I am looking for the unusual when I go charity shop hunting, for books, pictures or clothes. I have found that you are more likely to get the older, more interesting stuff in a local charity'a shop.

I have always loved charity shops and have occasionally bought pictures from them but many of my books come from them. Ordinary charity shops tend to have a more generic selection of paperbacks by mostly popular authors in good condition and this is no bad thing as this is what most people are looking for. I don’t want to buy an old-looking, tatty, foxed book from these shops either. They don’t feel clean. However, I do also visit Oxfam bookshops and, as in commercial second hand bookshops, I am usually looking for more unusual, older books by out of print authors and/or on topics I am interested in. Sometimes, though I have seen ordinary secondhand paperbacks in the Oxfam book shop for £2.49/when they are still on sale in The Works across the road for £2 or three for £5!
I took three bags full of books, many more specialised music books, to our local Oxfam bookshop, I can gift aid, which is an added bonus. One was a thrilling page turner that I have had since I was a music student and was dated October 1984 called The Technique and Spirit of Fugue. Please don’t rush for it all at once, it may come in useful for a current music student.

i helped out in a charity shop back in 2003, i said i would like to stay in the back pricing and hanging clothes, i noticed when bags/boxes of items came in they were put to the side, when i asked why, i was told that they need to through them and put aside any jewellery, watches, ornaments, pictures and football tops and also books that look old. they had people come in to value them and either buy them or they would go to auction. you would probably noticed on charity shop price labels a number, the clothing is put out for up to a month then taken off the rails and put into large bales, they would be picked up and shipped to countries that need clothing.

I read anything except Mills and Boone or similar. I too miss the little jems of novels formerly found in charity shops. But due to overpricing I no longer even look at books in certain charity shops I refuse to pay more than 30pence for a paperback. Only one charity shop locally sticks on 30p. It’s a registered charity but only helps people in the surrounding council housing estate. There are other charity shops but the average price of 80p to £1:20 means they don’t have much of a turnover with books. I regularly give bags of books to other local readers only returning my 30p paperbacks to the shop if they are getting low on stock.

I volunteer at a charity book / toy shop. We do have a shelf of older collectable books but they rarely sell. Our paperbacks are mostly priced at £1.99. We are very lucky that we have wonderful donations and all the stock in the shop is in excellent condition. We raise money to support vulnerable young people. Before we can do this, we have to pay rent and overheads and pricing books too low would not enable us to fulfil our charity work.