‘I’m keen to support charity shops but recent find made me go Primark instaed’

Charity shops, as we recognise them today, emerged when the first Oxfam outlet launched in Oxford shortly after the Second World War. Nowadays, numerous British high streets feature competing charity shops, offering donated clothing and various pre-loved items at knockdown prices.

However, not every price tag represents a genuine bargain, as experienced charity-shop explorer Chelsey Bowen discovered. The Cornwall-based thrift-store enthusiast questioned “have charity shops officially lost the plot” following a search through Truro hunting for the ideal pink jumper. “I’m actually going into Primark this morning to find a light-pink jumper for an ad campaign that I’m working on,” she explained.

Mindful of maintaining tight budgets, Chelsey visited the thrift outlets first. She spotted what could have been the perfect garment immediately in a British Red Cross shop, though regrettably it proved slightly too small.

At £3.50, it represented quite a steal too. Chelsey did discover a couple of pieces she desired in the Red Cross outlet at a reasonable cost though. “That is exactly why we go to the charity shops first,” she said.

“I found exactly what I wanted, but at a fraction of the price and got to give the money to charity.”

However, not every charity shop she visited was offering genuine bargains. Chelsey eventually abandoned her search through her hometown’s second-hand stores after encountering far too many items bearing inflated price tags.

A box of used candles, for instance, which had originally retailed at £2 in Poundland when new, were being sold for £1.50.

Similarly, a blue nylon bomber jacket had been priced at £35. “It sounds so negative, but people out there need coats and the pricing in here just gave ‘greed’,” Chelsey said.

She claimed she’d “had enough” of that particular shop after discovering a pair of ordinary boots on sale for £40. The “final nail,” she said, was a rather unremarkable faux-fur coat with a £50 price tag.

“I know for a fact this was Primark with the labels cut out,” she said.

A visibly unimpressed Chelsey added: “£50 for a Primark faux fur jacket that they’ve cut the labels out of on purpose? I feel like that’s naughty. Very naughty. It’s a used jacket. It’s too much. I’m not one to moan about things very often. But I feel like this needs to be talked about a little bit more.”

She revealed that upon witnessing such extortionate pricing, she “lost the will to live,” and opted to head to Primark instead.

Many charity shop volunteers and staff routinely consult online platforms such as eBay, Vinted, or Depop to assess the current market value of donated items, helping them avoid undervaluing goods that could fetch a higher price. Major national charities frequently supply shop managers with detailed, structured pricing guidelines to maintain consistency across their outlets.

Each item is thoroughly assessed based on its brand, quality and overall condition. Designer pieces, brand-new items still bearing their tags, and quality vintage finds typically command higher prices.

Costs are also shaped by the shop’s location — overheads tend to be steeper in more affluent areas — as well as other running expenses such as heating and lighting.

The primary objective for shop managers is to shift stock as swiftly as possible, meaning items that have lingered on the shelves unsold can often be reduced considerably — so it is well worth popping into your local charity shop on a regular basis!