Saw a snippet of Mary Queen of Charity Shops last night. I usually quite like her programmes, but this one seemed incredibly patronising - getting 82 year old women to practice selling vibrators; Mary prancing about in patent leather boots whilst informing volunteers that the boots are: "PATENT. Leather. VERY on season. ON season."
The idea, I think, was to get charity shops to sell designer donations at expensive prices. What then is the point of charity shops?
The best thing about shopping in charity shops is the chance that you might get a real bargain. Recently charity shops in posh parts of London have been pricing things up - you find second-hand Primark tops are more than they would have been originally and horrible frocks priced at £50 just because they are "designer". Makes me want to avoid them entirely. And that can't be good for business.
Actually, have just noticed a thread about a similar subject on the brilliant Cheapness Studies blog.
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Absolutely and totally agree with you! That programme was loathesome. Mary Portas may be the self styled queen of shops, but she obviously doesn't get it that charity shops are in a different category from ordinary ones.
ReplyDeleteSomeone ought to tell her that nobody has a brand loyalty to Help the Aged's second hand clothes, so why should they go in there and pay over the odds when the hospice shop down the road sells nice things for a quarter of the price?
Duh!
Oh and by the way it is "bargains" hope you don't mind me pointing this accidental spelling error out as it may affect Google searches.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, thanks. A slip of the finger...
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about this. Certainly I don't think these shops should be overpricing the items--they are donated used items, after all. On the other hand, they could be doing their constituency a disservice by underselling products--they are their to make money for their charity, after all. I would think a nicely median range, less than retail, should service both well and not turn off customers.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I tend not to shop at these shops here because here they have a reputation for skimming the best goods to be given to the volunteers working there or to "regular" customers who then resell the items elsewhere.
I watched the last installment of this series last night. Your thoughts are similar to Mary's argument - that people should be willing to pay high-ish prices to benefit the charity.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't think people buy from charity shops out of alturism. I think they do it to find an interesting bargain. I know I do.
I don't want my charity shopping to be like every other shopping experience I have. I want the opportunity to dig out something special on my own - not just have a dress I have seen in magazines shoved in my face with a sign saying "BUY" on it. I want the chance to be creative and resourceful.