theguardian.com
Yesterday The Guardian online posted an article concerning the prices of items in charity shops across the country. The top line of the article started with this quote…
June Houghton, 83, from Rhyl in north Wales, pointed to a necklace in the window of an Oxfam shop in the Buckinghamshire town of Beaconsfield. “That’s £150!” she said in disbelief. “I don’t care if it’s real gold, you don’t sell that in a charity shop for £150! This may be a very affluent area, but there are pensioners and young people here too. I’m against charity shops now. I don’t shop in them any more.” Her husband, Roy Turner, 86, agreed. “The prices here are double to three times those of any charity shop in north Wales.”
The argument stands that charity shops are starting to look ‘greedy’, they know the designer from the Primark and they rank the price up. Charity shops are claiming due to the economic downturn they are also suffering and need to put their prices up with Oxfam stating their profits plunging, as their income fell by £17.6m.
But despite this prices in charity shops in more affluent areas like Stow on the Wold and London Chelsea can be surprisingly high. Charity shops pride themselves on getting the best price they can for the item that has been donated. Many charity shops are not even putting the designer items on the shop floor, instead they are keeping them to put on sites like ebay.co.uk to get a higher price.
The Guardian summed up the reasons for the excessive prices…
“One explanation for the rise in prices is that there is an increase in the number of dealers making excessive profits out of charity shops. One manager of a charity shop said: “We are trying to do what is best for everyone. We don’t get it right every time, but we get it far more right than wrong. It has to be fair for the customer, for the donor and for the charity.”
Thrift Shop Cardiff would love to know your views on whether the prices in charity shops in Wales are too high??
We’ve already been out on the search for other views…
Naomi Jarvis – Vintage clothing owner (Loved once more)
“My clothing is all about everything that has been worn, torn and reborn. I search for vintage finds in charity shops and then I customise them with studs, tie dye or totally transform the style. However, I have noticed more and more charity shop prices rising and obviously for people like me who are trying to make a living its difficult to pay more for items and then pay for the materials to customise them and then sell them on for a fair price.”
Lorenzo Chiuchiolo – local charity shop buyer
“I buy from charity shops all the time, not just for clothes but for household goods too. I have noticed the prices being put up but I do have to say that Wales is the cheapest. I’ve been to Bristol and London and the prices are much, much higher.”
What’s your views? Are charity shop prices too high? Vote in the poll below…
thriftshopcardiff.wordpress.com 