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Why do charity shops charge so much for things they sell?

Ive noticed that over the past few years the price of clothes etc has shot up. I was in my local red cross chairty shop last saturday and the jeans were £5.50, shoes £4.50, and tops £4,20. The thing is you can buy the same items in primark for less and at least they dont smell. They get things for free, dont have to pay their staff as its voluntary work, i just cant understand why they have to charge so much. A barnados shop has opened in the city centre that sells really modern clothing, bags and shoes and even in there you could by the same things cheaper from the actual shop they came from. I mean charging £9.50 for a pair of worn jeans is taking the pi**. I know where id rather shop and its not in a charity shop. Im sorry but if they brought the prices down a bit they might actually get customers. I took some of my sons old clothes into one near my house and the next day i went in for a book and they all have £3.00 tags on them!! £1.00 yes but not £3.00. Its cheaper at primark!!!!!

Public Comments

1. they need to fund their extravagant life styles! but seriously, a charity shop is run by old ladies who have no idea how cheap high school things are on the highstreet, things built by exploited foreign labour!
2. They wanna raise money for the charity.
3. I've stopped going in them, even to browse. The last time I was in they were selling T/shirts for more than Tesco, and they were the same shirts.
4. i have noticed that if a shop closes down with in a week it becomes a charity shop
5. I agree with you. I buy second hand books from charity shops and am outraged at the price. However, probably the most expenses they have to pay is the rent, which if it is on a highstreet, can be very high. I know it is in the town in which I live and a charity shop had to shut down for that reason. Also, I think the managers have to be paid, as well.
6. They are not considering the laws of supply and demand.
7. to earn as much as possible to justify their employees inflated wages: Non proffit organisation: give me a break
8. Yes some of them are charging to much,,,,,,,and they ,,,get the items for nowt,,,,, its ok,,, if the money goes to good causes,,,,, but,,,,,once you could get bargains ,,,bit ,,,prices crept up some,,,,,,
9. The UK seems to be "charity mad." The never ending ads for this, that and the other group--"only 3 pounds a month!" It would be worth asking the charity that runs the shop to see the rundown of where the money goes; it's my belief a lot disappears in "overheads" and very little gets to the people they claim to help.
10. Rents have gone up and the people who set up the charities haven't been to Barbados for 3 weeks.
11. You kinda seem to be forgetting what charity shops are used for. Their role is to raise funds sufficient enough to sponser a cause. Shops like Primark probably use child labour to make their clothes, and the workers are expolited- they recieve less than they deserve for their hard work. Cheap clothes are good but £1 for a t-shirt isn't enough for food supplies for a week. £3.00 however may make a massive difference.
12. Do you not know what a charity is? And jeans for £5.50 isn't too bad. Plus many charity shops have better standards now than they used to. Plus are introducing brand names. A lot of stuff is brand new as well. Sorry but I think they are ok prices. Plus its for charity. Shop at Primark if you wish.
13. They used to be a good place to shop for clothes if you were short of money but then they started to get popular and put up their prices to silly amounts. I shop now at Primark etc for, as you say, new, no smelly clothes cheaper than Charity shops. The supermarkets also sell clothes cheaper than charity shops.
14. i think its when over zealous managers see branded names such as in sport clothes etc and see pound signs so put high prices on them-in our town i think we have about 10 and there are some that i never go into as they are too expensive-in fact 2 of our shops have special offer days when everythings a pound and thats the only time i can afford to go in now-of course the idea is to make as much money as they can but i think the ones that will survive are the ones with the low prices