How much?
So I was in a charity shop in Chiswick this morning – which perhaps means they saw me coming – but an M&S cashmere jumper with a pretty significant hole and a stain on the front was on sale for £25. They’re only £60 brand new. I only wanted it as a replacement blanket for Ellie’s ‘blankie’ but for that money I could buy a brand new top in the phase eight sale next door.
I understand that the more money they make the better for the charities they represent and I genuinely don’t begrudge that most of the time, but they seem to’ve lost all sense of proportion. It used to all be 50p/£1/£2.50 type pricing, which is clearly never going to make anyone any money fast but surely there’s a sensible middle ground somewhere?
They seem to be totally out of touch with the current reality of retail pricing where Primark is selling t-shirts for £2 or £3 while other high street names seem to be having permanent sales, bringing their prices down, in many cases, to below those in the charity shops.
Maybe someone will just do the naughty trick the shop assistant told me about – take the item to the changing room, rip off the tag and swap it with another cheaper item’s tag – clearly bad form.
Needless to say I didn’t swap tags, but nor did I buy it (or the Phase Eight top) and so the charity loses out and so does Ellie, whose current blankie is on it’s last legs, having been reduced to mere threads after 5 1/2 years of loyal loving.
Emily Manson 
I’d be interested to know which charity shop it is. (If it was Mary Queen of Shops, I’d be shocked given Mary Portas’s influence and her tough talk on pricing!) Sadly, the shops on the high road and the wider area hkave astronomical rents to meet and I expect this has something to do with it. I bought a perfectly decent man’s shirt, (I’m painting), in High St Ken for £7. It’s been a long time since I bought from a charity shop but I didn’t think this price was too much given inflation over the years and the area. In my view Chiswick is becoming a cash cow for local government and will lose its character and supporters if it can’t redress the balance.