Charity Shops - Comments

For as many years as I care to remember I have been one of the charity shops biggest fans but just lately I have been avoiding them. Only recently I read a very interesting review here on Dooyoo about charity shops and that review was one that made me really stop and think. In our small town we have five charity shops and four of those are huge, they must have equal floor space to the likes of Dorothy Perkins. Each time you visit the staff get to know your face that little bit better and since we have lived here I have made a few good acquaintances. All of the charity shops are clean and quite stylish and the goods are well presented. But all that tender ...  Read the complete review

I've always been a fan of charity shops which appear to have lost their tendancy to be a dowdy and unfashionable presence on our high streets and in our town centres. Oxfams, Saves the Childrens and Sue Ryders all still take pride of place within my hometown and, thankfully, I am much better off for that presence. My only gripe is that I have noted some ridiculously high prices within them sometimes. Let's try and forget for a moment that money is given to charity, for the most part. Furniture in the Sue Ryder store is often priced very high and you are generally better off going through the classifieds or Ebay; or better of still at the local car-boot sale. ...  Read the complete review

It seems every town and village has its fair share of charity shops these days. There is obviously a great need for them. I use them all the time and will always look in a charity shop for an item of clothing or a book orsomething, before I consider buying brand new. For the last couple of years, I have picked up several real bargains, including brand new items that I have given away as gifts. Charity shops are great for all clothing, especially children's. Most of them charge 50p to £1 for something that would be a lot more expensive to buy brand new in a shop. Most clothing that is donated nowadays is clean and in good condition - a far cry from the old ...  Read the complete review

we have six charity shops where I live and sometimes I take a moring off to have a good look round. They vary a lot in several ways - 1.the staff- some are very friendly and helpful and some seem to want to show how 'do-gooders' behave - I used to work at Sue Ryder and never had that attitude! 2. The shops - some are refurbished when taken over but personally I think too much money has been spent on the decor - should have gone to the charity? -others are a bit dingy, dark & dare I say a bit smelly? 3. The prices - some are very reasonably priced but others are being silly (Oxfam for example) with their pricing - if folk pay less they ...  Read the complete review

When charity shops first appeared they were places where students and hard-up families could kit themselves out in decent clothes, at very low prices. It seems to me that nowadays most charity shops are pricing their goods so high that people who should benefit from them can't afford to shop there! I was told by one of the assistants in one of them that they have "overheads" like everyone else. Well, I am sorry, but I understood the people who work in charity shops are volunteers. Also their shops are exempt from normal business council tax. The goods they sell are donated. So what are these so called ...  Read the complete review