snobby charity shops

As a patchworker and quilter, I used to ask to be able to sort through the black bin bags they were sending to the rag and bone warehouse where they pay pennies per kilo to the charities. I offered to buy bags of rags at the price they thought fit but was told that wearable clothes were being sent overseas. So. It is either old clothes donated by family and friends, or I buy new material from shops.

Have you thought of putting it on Freecycle Kate? If you show the marks someone will probably be happy to have it.

I think there are organisations (possibly contacted through the council) that pass on items in reasonably good condition to families in need. I'm sure they wouldn't have turned down a perfectly good leather suite. It's so ridiculous that a charity would turn your offer down - most people don't chuck their furniture out as soon as there is a small mark or a scratch on it. What a shame.

When we moved we had a large leather suite to rehome as it didn't fit our new sitting room. We offered it to an instant neighbour charity who wouid only take the chair and one settee. They refused the other settee as there were a couple of cat claw marks on one arm-and it was just a couple. They only wanted furniture in perfect condition. The settee was immaculate, had been professionally cleaned, the seat cushion was still firm-years of life in it. We ended up having to pay the council to come and take away a perfectly good piece of furniture which I'm sure someone wouid have been glad to have.

I'm afraid I get less and less in favour of charity shops. I like the idea of thrift shops and I am in favour of some of the charities but they are just too prolific in most towns these days.

When I first discovered Charity Shops way back in the 70s they were cheap, a bit scruffy and wonderful.

They were a bit like a glorified jumble sale but you could find wonderful bargains if you rummaged around and were prepared to give things a good wash, have shoes repaired etc., That was affordable because the things were so cheap.

I was in a smart Charity Shop sometime ago and there was a tee shirt for sale with a price tag more than the original chain store price, I knew because I had bought one. I did point it out to the shop assistant.

The PDSA hospitals, not the shops, will take any old towels or blankets and maybe sheets too for the animals in their care. They depend on donations to operate.

I used to use charity shops. One Christmas I bought all my presents from different shops, helping both them and myself with cut price gifts, good gifts but cheaper. Now though I buy on ebay or Amazon. I can get a good book for £2.81, cost of book 1p and postage £2.80. They even have laundry tongs ethel. And at the moment I can stay warm and dry.

Once it gets warmer, I might venture to look around my new area and find new charity shops but the ones in my old area were closed when they said on the window that they should be open and weren't reliable. I did give a lot of our stuff though to charity when we moved as we had to "bedroom tax" downsize. One of the charities refused a sideboard so we brought it with us and it is now in my kitchen, looking good.

Agreed tresco the shops are there for the charity. I hate smelly disorganised shops, puts me right off, I use them chiefly as a second hand book shop! Clothes need to be washed and well presented to be attractive to buyers, why would anyone want old tatty smelly clothes? I keep my own old stuff for gardening/decorating use. Too many people dump stuff that they cant sell at Car boot sales, and leave the poor volunteers to sort through the stuff, if nobody is going to buy it for 50p at a boot sale why on earth should a charity shop try and sell it for enough money to cover their considerable costs? If you enjoy rummaging through smelly second hand clothes that will likely introduce clothes moth into your wardrobe, then a jumble sale is the place.

I volunteer in a local charity shop that supports a children's hospice. The shop exists to raise money for the hospice, not to provide recycling opportunities (although, of course, that is part of what it does) nor to provide cheap clothes (although it also does that). We try to present the stock as attractively as possible and price things reasonably for the local area. Children's books are usually 50p and adult books £1.50. That doesn't seem excessive to me. Personally, like Soutra, I prefer a well-presented shop to one that looks like a jumble sale.

I'm not really a fan of Charity Shops - when they invade the high street en masse it's a sure sign your town is going down the pan! The ones near me seem to sell overpriced tat. The only thing I buy is jigsaws from time to time. I hate the thought of wearing second hand clothes - far too much of that when I was a kid. I don't really have items to donate either - I recycle books via my book group or other reading groups and my clothes go from decent/wearable/house only/gardening/decorating/recycling centre.

I like the way the Americans call them ' Thrift' shops. X

I used to love drifting in and out of Charity Shops buying unconsidered trifles, especially books, simply because they were so cheap. It was fun, I probably spent several £s a week and the charity benefitted.

I haven't bought anything from a charity shop for several years now, and indeed rarely go in them now and that is because they no longer sell items slightly at fault for a low price. Everything is perfect and expensive.

Muslim iPad, how on earth did "all" become " Alla"?

Could we however kick this word snobby into touch for once and for alla.
Does it mean clean, well laid out, quality, "upmarket", attractive and pleasant to browse in? If so, count me in, but let's not denigrate the nicer shops. Frankly I wouldn't waste 5 minutes of my life rummaging through a 50p bin.
When did anybody feel "looked down on" in a charity shop? Does this not say more about the attitude of the customers rather than the sales team? It is the charity who are the beneficiaries, not the customers who need charity.

Yes they do a double fronted shop in Market Square - the window display would not disgrace an up market interior design shop.

Do you mean Loros Teetime. It is a wonderful hospice in Leicester, with excellent palliative care. Do they have a shop in Melton?

In Leicester they have a specialist book shop on Queen's Road, near the University. We gave about 50% of our (many many) books to them when we moved- but we are so lucky here to have a 'library' where we had a massive 5m x 3 bookshelf. As said, when we go to Market Harborough, the charity book shop is a real and irresistible attraction (dangerous even- especially if we are with the car).

As folk may have noticed, I read rather a lot, and once read, my books go into boxes in the garage. When I`ve filled a few, they go to charity shops, but as I can`t get them there under my own steam, I can only donate to the ones who`ll collect, and unfortunately there are only 2 in our town that do, British Heart Foundation and Butterfly Hospice, so that`s where all my donations go. They also sometimes include toys that my grandson has outgrown, and, when I can get to it at the back of the garage, there`ll be a hardly used baby`s high chair. The Butterfly Hospice shop is a particularly nice place to visit, clean, and set out really nicely, plus plenty of bargains to be had. I saw a book I fancied through the window of the Cancer research shop, went in to buy it, and found that books were 3 for a pound, so I bought half a dozen! I expressed surprise at the cheapness, next time I went in there wasn`t a book for less than £1.50!

We have a community shop about a mile from us and they take anything and everything. When I refurbished my house they got bedding, kitchen utensils, books, paintings and a car seat ( thought they would refuse that ) DH took the bedding in an old suitcase and was going to throw that in the skip but they said they would take that too.
Many years ago I had a clear out and put a shirt belonging to DH in the top of the bin, the next week one of the binmen was wearing it. The shirt had bright yellow paint splashes on the pocket where DH had been painting the toy box. I am pleased that he found it worthy of recycling.

DH and I just popped down to our local hospice shop Lorus which is beautifully organised and kept with a variety of new and used clothes and fancy goods. We took them a mixture of furniture, clothes, sports equipment and bric a brac and they were pleased to have them. They got us to fill in a form which allowed them to claim back an additional 25 pence in the £ as well for any future things we take in.

I don't recognise this description of charity shops but it may be because I live in a small town. We always donate to our two local hospices, one for children and the other for adults and they are not at all smart and neither are the people who work in them.

We have a look round and I don't think things are over priced. When we were having a big party here and needed a lot more champagne flutes I bought them from these shops and paid about 50p each. After the party we donated them back.

I have a friend who like earrings but only the clip on ones which she finds hard to get so I bought her some on Saturday, boxed with a necklace, for £1.50. That seems like a bargain to me.

We did once go into a charity shop in a tourist Cotswold town and that did seem to be expensive but I suppose they price according to their clientèle.

When I used to help at the local Scout sales, jumble / auction, I used to sift through donations and put a realistic price on articles of some value. Many dealers attend these functions and expect to get resaleable items for pence.

It was interesting that despite the fixed price on certain items, they always sold.

I have also noticed when browsing charity shops the there are some shoppers who quickly scan the rails, jewellry stand and buy 'wholesale'. Presumably they have e baŷ businesses. However, the charity shop is getting the cost it's priced the items at. x

Elegran, I sometimes watch Flog It and sure enough, surprisingly often, an item which was bought for pennies in a charity shop achieves a spectacular profit at auction.

granjura I was involved in fundraising for a small local charity and it was an uphill task trying to get just that point home to people. Handmade items that had cost £10 to make were sold for a pound or two. When I queried this the answer was "It hasn't cost us anything so it is all profit. Yes, it cost US nothing but it cost the donor time and money. It is an insult to them not to value their work - and the whole point of fund-raising is to raise funds, not to give stuff away.

For one sale I kept back two ornaments (which would have gone for a couple of pounds each) and sold them on Ebay for about £120 total - even with a chip or two (the damage photographed and shown) That was £115 more for the funds than would have been raised otherwise.

Wheniwasyourage

I hadn't heard about that organisation.

I do think it is a particular issue with charity shops and I was amazed how many staff simply say 'It's a head office thing'. [mad]

Many years ago, when I had lost a lot of weight and looked - though I say it myself - pretty good, I needed to replenish my wardrobe. I found a 'nearly new' shop where I got some excellent bargains, one of which I wore to a cousin's wedding and was complimented on its elegance. I haven't seen any shops of this kind recently which is a pity because I have several aunty of the bride/groom outfits which would, I think, sell well.