A charity shop volunteer has shared her thoughts on haggling, saying she is open to it if done with respect and a smile. The volunteer, who has been working in a local charity shop for two years, also revealed that older items are more likely to be discounted.
Charity shops have become increasingly popular across the UK as shoppers turn away from fast fashion in favour of quality second-hand finds. Platforms such as Vinted, Depop and eBay have transformed the second-hand market, with record numbers of people buying and selling pre-loved belongings online.
The volunteer, who works for a regional charity supporting a local hospice, said pricing is simple: shelf space is key and rotation of items needs to be high to keep cash flow high.
How pricing works in the shop
She explained that 95% of items are priced without looking them up, as staff have good knowledge of what similar items have sold for before. For the other 5%, where something is unusual or potentially valuable, she will look up sold prices online and put the item on the floor for half of that amount.
Each tag includes the financial week number, so if something has been on the shelf a while, staff will reduce it, and then reduce it heavily until it sells. The volunteer suggested shoppers check the week number on the label, as older items are more likely to be open to a haggle.
What makes a haggle acceptable
She said: "I don't mind haggling if it's done with respect and a smile. Extra points if they mention gords mid haggle. If they're aggressive or rude, I ain't gonna budge."
She added that she is more likely to agree to a haggle if an item has been on the shelf for more than a few weeks, or if the customer is buying multiple items in one go.
Donations and resellers
The volunteer also revealed what happens to items left outside the shop doors, despite the shop not accepting further donations. She said the shop has dedicated sites with parking for drop-offs, and because it is a hospice, they receive a lot of house clearances and items left in wills.
She said: "People still leave stuff outside the shop after hours, usually stuff we can't sell and it then costs us to dispose of it." She added that volunteers do not rifle through the best items before they go onto the floor.
She said: "We want to sell things, I want to make money for what I think is a good cause. Maybe we're lucky as it's a hospice that people donate decent stuff to."
She also said they get bequests where someone who died had a hobby they loved, so occasionally they get a load of vintage cameras or LPs that are interesting to research.
On resellers, she said: "Yeah of course eBay, marketplace have changed the market and that's just technological progress. We get resellers in the shop quite regularly and personally I'm OK with it as I don't care who buys our stuff, it's all money for the charity."
