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Would you haggle in a charity shop?

I was in a charity shop earlier and they had quite a few books I was interested in. I thought about buying them and seeing if I could cut a deal (ie £20 for £25 in books) do you think this would be unethical? Would the owner look at me like I was from another planet? Has anyone else done this?

In the end I just purchased one book!

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I wouldn't even haggle in a normal shop ...
Nope, I wouldn't haggle in a charity shop because the money would all be going to a good cause.

The only time I would "haggle" is if the shop staff actually reduced the price of the item themselves - for example, when I bought a hi-fi from a charity shop earlier this week, the store staff kindly knocked £5 off the price for me, without me even asking.
Original post by Mpagtches
I wouldn't even haggle in a normal shop ...


I wouldn't haggle in any kind of common high street shop but I have in specialist shops depending on how much Im spending. If you knew their mark up you would haggle as well! Last time I bought a bike for £700 I got about £80 accessories thrown in.

Charity shops are a bit in between high street shops and specialist shops
i had a bad experience returning a damaged book to a charity shop...it was going to be a present for someone but i found one of the pages was damaged so could not give it. when i returned it for a refund they made me feel like an ******* .
Original post by spotify95
Nope, I wouldn't haggle in a charity shop because the money would all be going to a good cause.

The only time I would "haggle" is if the shop staff actually reduced the price of the item themselves - for example, when I bought a hi-fi from a charity shop earlier this week, the store staff kindly knocked £5 off the price for me, without me even asking.



By that logic why let them knock the £5 off? If you were going to pay that price anyway, all for good causes etc... My theory is that they have got this stuff for free and the sooner they move it the better, I bet some of these books have been there for a while. Had I haggled successfully they would have made £16 more off me than my chickening out.
Original post by the bear
i had a bad experience returning a damaged book to a charity shop...it was going to be a present for someone but i found one of the pages was damaged so could not give it. when i returned it for a refund they made me feel like an ******* .


I guess that's a whole new question of is it ok to return something to a charity shop!
Original post by skeptical_john
I guess that's a whole new question of is it ok to return something to a charity shop!


well it kind of fits in... should charity shops be treated in a special way or just like normal shops ?

if the book had been like 50p i would not have bothered... it was like £7 ?
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Avatar for gwagon
gwagon
18
Some charity shops can be quite expensive. They can charge unethical prices for used items. I would definitely haggle from charity shops.
Original post by the bear
well it kind of fits in... should charity shops be treated in a special way or just like normal shops ?

if the book had been like 50p i would not have bothered... it was like £7 ?


I guess it does, but from their point of view is it fair ware and tear for second hand book? I have no idea
Original post by gwagon
Some charity shops can be quite expensive. They can charge unethical prices for used items. I would definitely haggle from charity shops.


I think sometimes they just have no idea what something is worth as well. I once saw a set of 4 drawings for £100. Two weeks later they were now £40!
Original post by skeptical_john
By that logic why let them knock the £5 off? If you were going to pay that price anyway, all for good causes etc... My theory is that they have got this stuff for free and the sooner they move it the better, I bet some of these books have been there for a while. Had I haggled successfully they would have made £16 more off me than my chickening out.


Yes, I suppose that you are correct in that they got the stuff for free, and they want to have a quick turnaround so that more stock can be displayed.

I suppose that I still wasn't 100% sure about buying the hi-fi when I had a first look at it, though when the staff let me have a bit of time to think, and then knocked £5 off the price because the remote control was missing (it's relatively easy to buy a remote anyway), it kinda helped me make the decision to buy the hi-fi.

Chances are, I'd have probably bought it even if they hadn't knocked off the £5 from the price, but it helped me and it helped them as they made some money and now have more room for more stock.
If I was in a full time job and doing ok I would probably not even bring this up but as a student my course books are probably going to cost around £200 this year.

Lets look at this another way, in this day and age where old books can purchased for £3 inc delivery on amazon/ebay in most cases I could probably get the books cheaper.

I might go back and ask for %20 off if I spend over £20. Quite often these books end up back in charity shops!
When I volunteered in a charity shop we were told never to haggle with a customer. The price that was stated was the price it should be sold for.
whether they got things for free doesn't matter. They are normal shops so if something is not sold as faulty you have a legal right to return it.

If an item is overpriced you can try pointing that out and you can try asking for a bulk discount, slightly more chance with the latter but generally staff are volunteers and are unlikely to be able to give you a discount. Personally I wouldn't do it, too much like taking candy from children.
I really want to step foot inside my first charity shop one day. However,if the items are second hand,are they sold at a generally cheaper price?
i'm guessing you're not indian?
as a gold trader i have haggled with them as i look at buying on a scrap base not a retail base
Original post by jamesthehustler
as a gold trader i have haggled with them as i look at buying on a scrap base not a retail base


And what's your success rate like?
I worked at a charity store for a month and I remember a woman came in to try haggle over a teddy bear for £1. She wanted it for 62p. I thought to myself "Lady, you've got bigger problems right now than trying to get a cheap ass teddy bear at a slightly lower price, gtfo". Unless an item is hundreds or thousands of pounds, haggling is just wrong, especially in a charity shop. If you have to haggle in a charity store of all place, you have some major finance issues you need to sort out immediately

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