15 October 2013

As seen

What's going on with charity shops? Prices have risen at an astonishing rate ... though one shouldn't begrudge the donation to a worthy cause, should one? There are rumours that any donated garment with a stain or hole is tossed out, and as for what happens to donated "old" books - either they are ludicrously priced because of their age, or pulped because they're "too old". Anything made of wool is rare and/or very pricey. Today I saw a woollen blanket - priced at £19.

Also in that shop, this cardigan was on their Designer Rail -
"Sold as seen" indeed! Oh, well, you could cover up that hole with a brooch...

With this tee-shirt, a little sense has been exercised -
In the light of galloping "thrift" shop prices, the cheap chains and market stalls, with their shoddy garments, may have become the only places where people on restricted budgets can afford to shop.

4 comments:

Cate Rose said...

The prices are astonishingly high here, too, particularly in the American Cancer Society's Discovery Shops. Same kind of prices as you're seeing. I simply don't shop there, except to look through their 25-cent magazines. Plus for a while at ACS, when you were checking out, their associates would ask if you wanted to make a donation to ACS -- can you believe that??
The animal welfare thrift shops are much better deals. I regularly get really nice, hardly worn clothes for 50 cents a piece.

Pat said...

I blame Mary Portas who tried to turn them all into boutiques. I remember the shock when the sign "credit cards taken" appeared in one of the towns shops. Saddest of all old linens, quilts etc are sent disposed of as "rags".

Jane Housham said...

Ridiculous! No one is going to pay that much for a holey cardi, label or no label! They need to rethink their whole pricing strategy and also get more into upcycling/sustainability. I hate the idea of them disposing of lovely old fabrics. But the overpriced cardi and the destroyed old quilts are different, though seemingly contradictory, aspects of the same distorted way of thinking.

MAM said...

Margaret - seeing the same thing here! Often can buy new for less than thrift shop prices