Opinion: Stick a tenner on it and see what happens
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Somebody commented on a local charity shop’s facebook page that they would no longer shop there, as the prices had gone up too much. As a former trustee of a cat charity, this got me thinking about the balance that must be struck, between charging too much and not charging enough, in a charity shop.
And it is a balance that must be struck. In spite of the plaintive, albeit understandable, cry that is frequently heard from charity shop customers, that it’s a charity shop, and the stock is donated, so shouldn’t be expensive, charities are subject to a hidden constraint in this matter: UK charity law stipulates that charities have a duty to get the best price they can for any assets that they sell, including donated goods.
That said, they also remain aware that they are beholden to the communities that support them, and that they have a responsibility, both to the donor, and the shop customer. This is a level of complexity that makes judging the correct price for many items difficult. The charity has to spend time investigating the local market conditions, and talking to experts in their fields (collectors, to you and I) to find out the potential local value of a type of item, as well as researching online to see what people have paid for similar items.
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They then have to decide whether to sell online, send the item to auction, approach a specialist buyer, sell in the shop, or to a collector, or to rag the item (sell it to a recycling merchant) because it is not good enough or profitable enough. Once the decision is made, they then have to decide on a price, taking into account all of the potential pricing variables. And when they’ve attempted to price it accurately, and failed miserably, that’s when they say “Sod it. Stick a tenner on it and see what happens”.
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