Others do it better Oxfam (Oxfam in general)

Member Name: Vialdana

Product:	Oxfam in general
Date:	02/07/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A very worthwhile charity

Disadvantages: Sadly a store that thinks it's above other charity shops

I'm rather a charity shop fan, so when we go somewhere new that has a few charity shops, I like to take a look and see what they have. A trip not so long ago to Leighton Buzzard for hubby to visit a model shop gave me the chance to have a wander into a few charity shops and Oxfam was one of them.
To be honest compared to other charity shops I'm not all that keen on Oxfam, it almost feels like the shops are set up by someone who thinks Oxfam is above other charity shops or something.

The one in Leighton Buzzard was a medium sized shop, and there was a lot of stuff there, but a lot of it wasn't second hand, a lot of it was products that had the Oxfam branding on them - chocolates, gift bits and pieces, shopping bags, and other odd things that you might not immediately think of as belonging in a charity shop, I know I don't. Of the second hand items they had, there were quite a lot of books, and like the Oxfam shop that used to be near me till it shut down through lack of use, the prices seemed quite high.

Our local Oxfam closed and I think it's mostly because of this over pricing thing. There were and still are several other charity shops on the same street and they're all well used. But to price books at £1-3 each for paperbacks when you can buy them new from £4 just seems a bit over the top to me - specially when the other charity shops will sell the same sort of thing for 20p-£1.

I've never really understood what Oxfam gain by pricing themselves higher like this, I mean there are two reasons for shopping in a charity shop for most people - the first is to get something more cheaply than you can buy it new, and the second is to support the charity while you do so. If the charity prices things so they're too expensive for people to afford then they're going to lose the first section of the customers aren't they, and that can't be good for them as a charity.
I wish Oxfam didn't price themselves out of the market, I'd like to be more supporting of them as they do help a lot of people in a lot of different countries, and over their existence they've done an amazing job of helping many thousands of people get themselves out of poverty. I don't even mind them charging more for things if they're worth it, but really it's the small things like videos which you can buy new for a pound or two now, and yet they still seem to think that selling them for a pound or two second hand is going to work.

For me, Oxfam isn't somewhere that I shop much any more. As I say my local Oxfam store closed down, and those I've visited in other places are just too expensive for my pocket, it's sad, but I think many other charity shops do a much better job of encouraging people to support their charity and buy second hand than Oxfam do.

Summary: Expensive compared to other charity shops, but do sell a few things others don't like chocolate!