Saving money and helping the needy: bargain all round! (General Charity Shops)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	General Charity Shops
Date:	02/10/08 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good bargains, putting something back into the community

Disadvantages: Second hand items often not as good as first hand

Charity shops are wonderful things: they help everyone. The charities themselves cater for those they are targeting, and those in need of their aid and assistance, and I think it is a wonderful concept that we as general consumers can get a bargain on one hand by getting a product for cheaper than brand new or in general stores, at the same time as knowing the money is going to a good cause.

I live above a charity shop, which raises money for our local hospital - a brilliant idea. If I have any clothes or books that I no longer require, I pop down to the shop and hand it over. Quite often I'm told they have bags and bags of this and that, so I avoid taking it to them and go to another charity shop instead.

I often trawl the charity shops looking for good book bargains if I go into town. There are probably about five or six that I cna think of off the top of my head, but there are no doubt more than that, ranging from Oxfam, to Bernardos, the Sue Ryder shop, etc. A wide variety of shops, all for different causes, but all for charitites to help the needy. I approve greatly of them, and like the fact that you can pick up a bargain and potentially save someone's life at the same time.

Some people use charity shops to buy a cheaper product and then sell it on to make it profit, somewhere like ebay. Ultimately, this makes no difference to me: the charity shop still gets the money, so it makes no odds. What this has done, however, has meant the increase of prices in some charity shops to either avert this for moral reasons or to get what they feel they deserve. I think it's a shame that this has come about, but luckily it hasn't had a knock-on effect in most places.

I have a lot of books in the house, and more recently, I went to a charity shop to get a couple more. I was upstairs, perusing the books, and noticed that it only cost £2 for every hardback book, and 75p for a paperback. I was surrounded by books I wanted, and ended up spending well over a tenner. I gave the lady £15 for £13 worth of books and told her to keep the change, such was the bargain. It was worth it to see the look of gratitude on her face: makes you feel good about yourself, doesn't it?

Ultimately, I like the tradition we have of charity shops. With the credit crunch and impending recession and everyone cutting down costs left, right and centre, I can see them being frequented a lot more. With a large part of the population expected to put more money into charity shops in search of a good bargain, it is those most in need who will benefit from it more, and it nice to know that some good can be drawn from the current economic climate. Charity shops: keep it up!

Summary: Great way of saving money and helping those who need it