Charity shop treasure
Posted by: bornwina on 15 January 2005
I often daydream of finding that mint original copy of Forever Changes in the three for a quid box but all I ever find is Richard Clayderman, boxed sets of Richard Strauss waltz's and Sheena Easton albums.
Has anyone ever found anything worth having or should I give up?
Has anyone ever found anything worth having or should I give up?
Posted on: 17 January 2005 by jayd
At least in the US, "charity shops" are retail outlets, just like your local Naim dealer, and are free to price their inventory as they see fit. Purchasing from them is a transaction like any other - the ultimate destination of the profits is irrelevant. The buyer gets goods, the seller gets the price they chose to affix to said goods. That's the way the system is designed. I see no moral highground to cling to here.
Back on topic...
One local "charity shop" had a copy of "Introducing the Beatles" set aside in a glass case, with a $100 asking price. Took five seconds to see it was a fake. I told them as much, and the clerk just shrugged.
Any treasures I've found have held largely sentimental, rather than monetary, value.
Back on topic...
One local "charity shop" had a copy of "Introducing the Beatles" set aside in a glass case, with a $100 asking price. Took five seconds to see it was a fake. I told them as much, and the clerk just shrugged.
Any treasures I've found have held largely sentimental, rather than monetary, value.
Posted on: 18 January 2005 by Mick P
Jay
It is totally different in the UK.
The shops are usually occupied by charities say for a 12 month tenure and are normally exempt from paying rates or tax.
Also the shop staff tend to be volunteers who may only be paid travel costs.
Most of the goods are second hand clothes and the main customers are the poor end of society.
In the last 10 years or so, they have been selling "posh junk" which includes LPs.
A couple of years ago, the average price of an LP would have been 50p now they usually average £3.00 upwards. This is because they know what the market will stand.
These shops are now a major source of revenue for the charities and anyone who strikes a good deal is not denting the profits of a commercial organisation, they are literarly taking money off the blind, Lifeboats, cancer suffers or whoever.
At the end of the day, it is between your conscience and yourself.
Regards
Mick......self righteous bufoon
It is totally different in the UK.
The shops are usually occupied by charities say for a 12 month tenure and are normally exempt from paying rates or tax.
Also the shop staff tend to be volunteers who may only be paid travel costs.
Most of the goods are second hand clothes and the main customers are the poor end of society.
In the last 10 years or so, they have been selling "posh junk" which includes LPs.
A couple of years ago, the average price of an LP would have been 50p now they usually average £3.00 upwards. This is because they know what the market will stand.
These shops are now a major source of revenue for the charities and anyone who strikes a good deal is not denting the profits of a commercial organisation, they are literarly taking money off the blind, Lifeboats, cancer suffers or whoever.
At the end of the day, it is between your conscience and yourself.
Regards
Mick......self righteous bufoon
Posted on: 18 January 2005 by Tarquin Maynard - Portly
quote:
Originally posted by jayd:
Back on topic...
One local "charity shop" had a copy of "Introducing the Beatles" set aside in a glass case, with a $100 asking price. Took five seconds to see it was a fake. I told them as much, and the clerk just shrugged.
And so they become party to fraud.
Regards
Mike
Spending money I don't have on things I don't need.
Posted on: 18 January 2005 by Not For Me
Back to the matter at hand, the issue with Charity Shop records is that they are 99.9% unmitigated shite like Clayerman, Readers Digest selections, Paul Young, Sade, Phil Collins, The New Seekers, undistinguished classics etc. It is amazingly rare to find anything decent. If there was, I might buy it.
Mike, I can walk past all dozen charity shops in the High Street without going into one, or feeling guilty. Do I need therapy ?
DS
*** And all the little children said "Nang Nang Nang ***
Mike, I can walk past all dozen charity shops in the High Street without going into one, or feeling guilty. Do I need therapy ?
DS
*** And all the little children said "Nang Nang Nang ***
Posted on: 18 January 2005 by jayd
I suppose I did pick up a cd of "The Temptations - Live At The Rooster Tail". Original Motown cd of what is held by many as a seminal live performance. Wasn't my cup of tea, so I sold it on ebay. Got nearly a hundred bucks. Guess it's rare.
Posted on: 18 January 2005 by domfjbrown
quote:
Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Charity shops are set up to raise money for charity, cancer reseach etc.
My dad's got about 6 months to live - he's got terminal bone cancer...
...and from my perspective, if charity shops refused to take all the tat that never sells (have you noticed how many shops ALL have the same selection of "Singalonga Max", "Mantovani's greatest (s)hits" and "Umpteen classical LPs volume 58479572") and made room for sligthly better quality (say, car boot sale level) stuff, they could well make a LOT more money for the causes they want. I've lost count of the number of times I've given up rifling through a charity bin because it's the same old crap as the last shop had... ...it puts the punters off.
Rant over. Because there was one consistently decent charity shop I used to frequent:
British Heart Foundation, Bracknell.
I've scored - amongst other things:
The Wall/Delicate sound of thunder - Pink Floyd (£10 for BOTH DOUBLE CDs - and they're mint).
Prove it - Television (12 inch green vinyl, 80p)
Marquee Moon - Television (£1 vinyl mint)
Closer - Joy Division (£1 vinyl mint)
Enya - Enya (the ORIGINAL BBC pressing) (£1 vinyl mint)
Undertones - Undertones (original pressing, without Teenage Kicks) (£1 vinyl - small scratch but plays fine)
..amongst other things, including, err, a Boogie Box High 12 inch (oops!), and Bruce Willis' Return of Bruno (for "Express yourself" - so shoot me!).
That was "back in the day" about 2 years ago though. How the HELL British Heart Foundation in Exeter imagine to ship a copy of Now that's what I call music 7, on completely shagged vinyl in a completely shagged sleeve for £7 is beyond me - it puts punters off seeing things like that at extortionate prices...
There's a G-G-G-G-GREAT cancer charity shop in Heavitree, Exeter though. Just last month I scored three mint Public Enemy CDs for £1.50 each - shut 'em down!!!
__________________________
Don't wanna be cremated or buried in a grave
Just dump me in a plastic bag and leave me on the pavement
A tribute to your modern world, your great society
I'm just another victim of your highrise fantasy!
Posted on: 18 January 2005 by Nime
Some of you chaps are really out of touch.
There are loads of middle class women (and presumably men) looking for label clothing in charity shops.
Do you really think the smug look as they climb into the Audi, Mercedes or BMW parked outside is because they beat the price UP before leaving with an evening dress or suit for under a tenner?
I drove my wife mad by asking if I could pay more for some items. My offers were always refused so I've given up trying!
Though they don't mind small change being dropped into the collection container on the counter. Where it is a prime target for drug addicts. As per a couple of paragraphs in this week's paper. A known 28-year-old addict did the rounds. Each time he was released he just went off to another charity shop and took the collection. Including breaking a shop window to steal a specially large Asia Appeal collection.
BTW: It's not the charity shop customer's fault that people get cancer. People get cancer for many reasons. None of which have anything to do with buying scratchy old records for more than they're worth.
Nime
There are loads of middle class women (and presumably men) looking for label clothing in charity shops.
Do you really think the smug look as they climb into the Audi, Mercedes or BMW parked outside is because they beat the price UP before leaving with an evening dress or suit for under a tenner?
I drove my wife mad by asking if I could pay more for some items. My offers were always refused so I've given up trying!
Though they don't mind small change being dropped into the collection container on the counter. Where it is a prime target for drug addicts. As per a couple of paragraphs in this week's paper. A known 28-year-old addict did the rounds. Each time he was released he just went off to another charity shop and took the collection. Including breaking a shop window to steal a specially large Asia Appeal collection.
BTW: It's not the charity shop customer's fault that people get cancer. People get cancer for many reasons. None of which have anything to do with buying scratchy old records for more than they're worth.
Nime
Posted on: 19 January 2005 by TomK
My son claimed that every charity shop in Britain had something by the Spice Girls. Having put this to the test in many towns in Scotland I reckon this could well be true. No matter where you are, which shop you're in, there'll be a Spice Girls CD, video or book lying on a shelf unwanted by anybody. Maybe they should be a bit fussier about the stuff they accept.
We tend to trawl the charity shops in our town every 2 or 3 weeks and have a pleasant hour or two buying odds and sods we don't need like out of date X-Files books etc. I quite enjoy it and my wife actually does buy the odd piece of clothing for herself. Luckily she's one of those folk who can make something costing a fiver look it cost a hundred quid.
We tend to trawl the charity shops in our town every 2 or 3 weeks and have a pleasant hour or two buying odds and sods we don't need like out of date X-Files books etc. I quite enjoy it and my wife actually does buy the odd piece of clothing for herself. Luckily she's one of those folk who can make something costing a fiver look it cost a hundred quid.
Posted on: 19 January 2005 by woodface
Hi All, Finally got logged in!! Anyway I bought three records recently (Night & Day - Jo Jackson, Tapestry - Carol King & Paul Simon - Paul Simon) each was about a pound, I cleaned them up and they are fine apart from the last one! The Jo Jackson record is a classic and I felt really pleased to get it for such a price. I went back a day later and they had another on the racks for the same money; ultimately it is demand & supply. Mick, I am sure you are a nice enough guy but please count to ten before you post!
Posted on: 19 January 2005 by JRHardee
Me, I dream of going to an estate sale and finding a 552/500 system being sold for a hundred bucks a box.
If I buy it, am I robbing the dead?
If I buy it, am I robbing the dead?
Posted on: 20 January 2005 by kid spatula
according to the metro (i know, i know) £1000 will feed 700 tsunami victim families for a week.
how much did your naim setup cost? how long could it feed 700 families for?
how much did your naim setup cost? how long could it feed 700 families for?
Posted on: 20 January 2005 by jayd
quote:
how much did your naim setup cost? how long could it feed 700 families for?
Your point??
Posted on: 20 January 2005 by Webke
Your point??[/QUOTE]
Hmm, perhaps this a somewhat simular attitude that the "great" GWB adhered to when donating the sum of money that he did so kindly to the Asian disaster etc. He obviously didnt think on relative terms to the daily cost of iraq.
Hmm, perhaps this a somewhat simular attitude that the "great" GWB adhered to when donating the sum of money that he did so kindly to the Asian disaster etc. He obviously didnt think on relative terms to the daily cost of iraq.
Posted on: 20 January 2005 by jayd
Ahh, I get it. Jumping on Mick's guilt-mobile. Anyone who doesn't sell everything and give all proceeds to charity is a schmuck.
Unlike many who just make noise about the unfair shake charities are getting, I've both lost my father to cancer, and battled it myself and won (for now). I also spent the larger portion of my childhood years in destitution (no, not the kind that means we didn't have enough closet space or enough tvs for everyone to watch their own favorite program simultaneously; the real kind that means regularly missing meals and health care, having no indoor plumbing or electricity, and wearing clothes donated by the community.)
All of you who are going on about this can take your holier than thou attitudes and indelicately insert them. If your quality of life is any better than those you deign to protect, you're being hypocritical. Myself, I've lived it. I do what I can to help those still living it, and that includes some blood kin. My conscience is clear.
And what any of this has to do with finding the occasional nifty bargain in the used record bin, I still don't get.
Unlike many who just make noise about the unfair shake charities are getting, I've both lost my father to cancer, and battled it myself and won (for now). I also spent the larger portion of my childhood years in destitution (no, not the kind that means we didn't have enough closet space or enough tvs for everyone to watch their own favorite program simultaneously; the real kind that means regularly missing meals and health care, having no indoor plumbing or electricity, and wearing clothes donated by the community.)
All of you who are going on about this can take your holier than thou attitudes and indelicately insert them. If your quality of life is any better than those you deign to protect, you're being hypocritical. Myself, I've lived it. I do what I can to help those still living it, and that includes some blood kin. My conscience is clear.
And what any of this has to do with finding the occasional nifty bargain in the used record bin, I still don't get.
Posted on: 21 January 2005 by kid spatula
i thought my point was quite clear (and my conscience certainly isn't).
i read yesterday that the sum of money i spent on my naim gear could feed 1400 families for a week. i'm feeling guilty and wondered what everyone else thought about it.
that's not being "holier than thou", nor is it jumping on anyone's "guilt mobile".
i read yesterday that the sum of money i spent on my naim gear could feed 1400 families for a week. i'm feeling guilty and wondered what everyone else thought about it.
that's not being "holier than thou", nor is it jumping on anyone's "guilt mobile".
Posted on: 21 January 2005 by Lomo
In answer to your question, Kid Spatula...Anyone with a conscience must feel guilt but it is all relative. None of us can fix the world's problems individually but togeather we can make a difference.
If you gave up spending money on hifi would you give that money away to others worse off than yourself and when you had done that what would you do next. I suggest you forgo buying a CD once a month and send that money to an appropiate organisation who will ensure that at least one child somewhere in the Third World gets fed and has an education.
Thats not even a compromise when you think about it. Without a strong consumer economy in the West we have buckleys of providing what's needed for the developing world.
If you gave up spending money on hifi would you give that money away to others worse off than yourself and when you had done that what would you do next. I suggest you forgo buying a CD once a month and send that money to an appropiate organisation who will ensure that at least one child somewhere in the Third World gets fed and has an education.
Thats not even a compromise when you think about it. Without a strong consumer economy in the West we have buckleys of providing what's needed for the developing world.
Posted on: 23 January 2005 by Rasher
We all have a choice about how we conduct ourselves in everyday life; do we buy Nestle products?, do we buy Shell petrol? etc etc. If you want to start down that road you ulitmately have to give it all away and live a minimalistic life - but most of the time we weigh these things up as we go and accept a compromise. If we all gave up everything to live a life as a bhuddist monk there would be no doctors and nurses to treat the people with cancer that kicked all this off, so tell me how this helps? It helps only to ease your own guilt and avoid the issue by not being party to anything, ie. "Leave me alone it isn't my problem and you can't accuse me of anything".
We all need to make our own choices and judgements in everything we do, and we do this mostly unknowingly, privately, and without judging others for their own chosen path, and unavoidably being contadictory somewhere down the line in the process. We can therefore (including the hypothetical Bhuddist monk) be found to be hypocritical. That's what we do. That's what make us who we are. And as we all want to know who we are, we should embrace it all; other peoples views, and most of all not be afraid of our own.
We all need to make our own choices and judgements in everything we do, and we do this mostly unknowingly, privately, and without judging others for their own chosen path, and unavoidably being contadictory somewhere down the line in the process. We can therefore (including the hypothetical Bhuddist monk) be found to be hypocritical. That's what we do. That's what make us who we are. And as we all want to know who we are, we should embrace it all; other peoples views, and most of all not be afraid of our own.
Posted on: 24 January 2005 by kid spatula
the reason these thoughts arose was because i was on a tube train, reading the metro, with £1700 in my pocket. i was off to buy a car as my old one had worn out. i read that £1000 will feed 700 tsunami victim families for a week and wondered how much i really needed a car. then i really started to wonder how much i need a really expensive sistem. then i wondered what everyone else thought and how other people felt about the issue.