Things that IRK YOU at thrift stores

[kahnartist]

Some of us LIVE at local thrift stores, and it would be interesting to post things that irk you, and can be a learning lesson for management. Put 'em down and lets have a laugh.
1) Get an answering machine and use it to post hours of your store and opening/closing of holidays. Gee, you get these things FREE...use one to help your customers with a short message!
2) Broken mirrors and locks in dressing rooms!
Please have extra mirrors and hardware in your back room. Again, a lot of this stuff is donated (hall mirrors). It isn't that difficult to mount a mirror and screw it in a wall. Same with sliding locks.
3) Messy thriftstores with clothing on the floors, drinks spilled on the floor, etc. Staff should spend 20 minutes after closing to pick up every item on the floor to rehang the next day. Nothing worse than entering a messy store. Post: NO FOOD OR DRINKS and force patrons to give those items up when entering the stores.
4) No chair in dressing room for your purse, etc.
Again, chairs are donated. Please add one in EVERY dressing room if there is room
5) Clothing racks un-labeled (with what they hold), and nothing color-coordinated. Here in San Jose, it is nice to see clothing color-coordinated on a rack to find items easily. Maternity and large sizes have their own racks so you don't have to dig for this stuff.
6) Wayyyy over priced merchandise that isn't worth it. With the advent of dollar stores, it is a shame to see 'cheap' merchandise over priced. Plastic bowls, cups, fly swatters; things of this nature should NOT be more than a buck! It is a rip off for your customer base. Not everyone who buys at a thrift shop owns an antique store or drives a Lexus. Know your prices and price accordingly.
7) ADVERTISE for donatations. Craiglist.org is a FREE classified service in almost every US state. If you are a charity, get on there and post for donations so people can donate and refresh your merchandise. Also, give tax slips if you are 4013C.
Restrooms NOt open to customers. The Goodwill in San Jose is limiting rest room use due to 'liability'. I'm sure it is for theft reasons as well.

[secondhandnation]

I'm reading all these with the knowledge that many nonprofit thrifts are run on the backs of volunteers and only so much can be done.  With messy customers who often bring in their children and leave tons of items in dressing rooms, it's very hard to keep up.  The store I used to work for cleaned for at least 30 minutes after closing each night, and that was with all the staff, in front and back, going around tidying up.  People are messy pigs in dressing rooms no matter what store it is.

Also, the store I worked at kept two bathrooms - one for customers, the other for staff and volunteers.  Needless to say, the custodial team was always cleaning up turds on the floor in the customer bathroom - and worse.  Unfortunately, things that are "public" often get treated terribly.  I can totally sympathize with stores that have a no public restroom policy, especially if customers are using these bathrooms for activities other than regular use (use your imagination!)

But, yes, I would agree that dressing rooms need chairs and mirrors (and a posting indicating that shoplifting is a crime;  St. Vincent de Paul has a sign that says "Stealing from us is stealing from the poor" which I think is a good reminder.)

One of my favorite things to see in a thrift store is a section of "Better Quality" or a collection of seasonal items.  I will pay a little more for items that I don't have to dig for.

I hate seeing Target clearance pricetags that are less than the thrift's price tag.  This annoys me. 

I don't want to see clothing with stains or pills.  Stores can bundle that stuff up and sell it by the pound to rag dealers.  Bad items like this waste valuable display space.

I don't like it when thrift stores waste precious display space with unsellable junk. 
For example:  cross country skis, window blinds, dot matrix printers.  Some things are garbage, pure and simple.  If it kills you toss out your cross-country skis, go here and see how other people recycle them for other uses:

http://readymademag.com/printarchive/article?id=1103

[MrsGoodwill]

I don't want to see clothing with stains or pills.  Stores can bundle that stuff up and sell it by the pound to rag dealers.  Bad items like this waste valuable display space.

AMEN!

[Jay2TheRescue]

I'm reading all these with the knowledge that many nonprofit thrifts are run on the backs of volunteers and only so much can be done.  With messy customers who often bring in their children and leave tons of items in dressing rooms, it's very hard to keep up.  The store I used to work for cleaned for at least 30 minutes after closing each night, and that was with all the staff, in front and back, going around tidying up.  People are messy pigs in dressing rooms no matter what store it is.

Also, the store I worked at kept two bathrooms - one for customers, the other for staff and volunteers.  Needless to say, the custodial team was always cleaning up turds on the floor in the customer bathroom - and worse.  Unfortunately, things that are "public" often get treated terribly.  I can totally sympathize with stores that have a no public restroom policy, especially if customers are using these bathrooms for activities other than regular use (use your imagination!)

But, yes, I would agree that dressing rooms need chairs and mirrors (and a posting indicating that shoplifting is a crime;  St. Vincent de Paul has a sign that says "Stealing from us is stealing from the poor" which I think is a good reminder.)

One of my favorite things to see in a thrift store is a section of "Better Quality" or a collection of seasonal items.  I will pay a little more for items that I don't have to dig for.

I hate seeing Target clearance pricetags that are less than the thrift's price tag.  This annoys me. 

I don't want to see clothing with stains or pills.  Stores can bundle that stuff up and sell it by the pound to rag dealers.  Bad items like this waste valuable display space.

I don't like it when thrift stores waste precious display space with unsellable junk. 
For example:  cross country skis, window blinds, dot matrix printers.  Some things are garbage, pure and simple.  If it kills you toss out your cross-country skis, go here and see how other people recycle them for other uses:
http://readymademag.com/printarchive/article?id=1103

I can say that I have bought old dot matrix printers and skis both from thrift stores.  I actually need dot matrix printers at my business because they stand up to the harsh environment in a dry cleaners.  I use it to keep a log entry of where all the clothes are located in case of a computer failure.  The ribbons are $20 each for my printer, but they last about 6 weeks so it is far cheaper than n inkjet printer. 

The thing is the store needs to put older merchandise on sale.  If a store has a pile of 20 sets of skis, then they need to have a sale on sporting goods.  If they have 20 computer monitors on a shelf then they need to put them on sale, and afterwards put a more reasonable price on them to move them faster.  I really like thrift shops that put all merchandise over 30 days old on 50% clearance sale.  It keeps the inventory fresh, and the clutter down.

-Jay

[Mattie]

I really like thrift shops that put all merchandise over 30 days old on 50% clearance sale.  It keeps the inventory fresh, and the clutter down.

Yes!  I don't understand why some stores will keep items for months without lowering the price.  Back in January or February I found a basket full of 1960s plastic letter openers.  They were giveaways from Fuller Brush; some had a salesman embossed on the handle and some had a saleswoman.  There must've been 50 or 60 of those letter openers, and I could see them all marching in an art project, but they were 46 cents each.  I asked for a discount if I bought them all but was told NO.  I went to the same store a few weeks ago and would you believe they're still there?  And still 46 cents?  I asked again for a discount if I bought the whole batch, and again, NO.  Why??  What are they gaining by letting these things gather dust?  I can't afford to spend twenty five bucks for all of them, but I'd buy them for ten or even fifteen.  But no, they don't want my money.   

[Jay2TheRescue]

I really like thrift shops that put all merchandise over 30 days old on 50% clearance sale.  It keeps the inventory fresh, and the clutter down.

Yes!  I don't understand why some stores will keep items for months without lowering the price.  Back in January or February I found a basket full of 1960s plastic letter openers.  They were giveaways from Fuller Brush; some had a salesman embossed on the handle and some had a saleswoman.  There must've been 50 or 60 of those letter openers, and I could see them all marching in an art project, but they were 46 cents each.  I asked for a discount if I bought them all but was told NO.  I went to the same store a few weeks ago and would you believe they're still there?  And still 46 cents?  I asked again for a discount if I bought the whole batch, and again, NO.  Why??  What are they gaining by letting these things gather dust?  I can't afford to spend twenty five bucks for all of them, but I'd buy them for ten or even fifteen.  But no, they don't want my money.   

There is a small thrift store near my home that has a shelf with about 15 computer monitors on it, and then in another room they literally have piles from floor to ceiling of old computer equipment, old TV's & VCR's.  They have never had a sale that I know of, and new donations pile up in the parking lot, and they try to keep them covered with a tarp, but inevitably the merchandise gets rained on.   If they simply would have a sale like maybe a $2 sale on TV's, VCR's and computer equipment all that stuff would be gone in less than a week, and they would have lots more room in the store for more profitable merchandise.

[ChrisMiss]

I agree that the stores should move the merchandise.  I've been to several stores that have a date sticker on the items.  After about a month the stuff is usually about half off.  It really doesn't make any sense to let the stuff just sit there and take up space.  Move it by cheaper pricing so more stuff can come in.

[secondhandnation]

Moving the stuff is so important -- why else would you want to keep coming in regularly?

Computers and heavy electronics are expensive to trash, so low prices are the only way to go!

That letter opener story is absolutely stupid - by being greedy, they end up making 0 profit.  And you're probably the only person who has use for that many letter openers. 

[ChrisMiss]

I guess my number one pet peeve at a thrift store is when they don't have newspaper to wrap glass items in or they're really skimpy using it.  Don't bother wrapping the glass in a plastic bag, that won't protect it.  If they don't have any newspaper I will go get some out of my car to wrap the item in.  I will blow steam out of my ears and my mouth if they just throw the glass item in a bag with no wrapping at all.  It just ticks me to no end.  Don't treat it like junk.  If it was junk to me then I wouldn't buy it!

[thriftyjane]

What I really dislike is that at several stores near me, nothing is priced. The price depends on who is at the register that day. Mostly, everything is very cheap, but sometimes I'll get a cashier who says "oh, this is pyrex, I'll charge you $2" or "these are COOKBOOKS, and I'll charge a dollar each" You'd think that since I was buying nearly 10 cookbooks, they'd cut the price a little. Nope. I need to stop going in there when I'm dressed in nice office clothes. Grrrrr.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I haven't found that lack of pricing in thrifts as much, but in antique malls all the time!

I'd wanted this one bowl that perfectly matched my set of thrifted pink Depression-style glass. And the guy who ran the registered wouldn't even call the vendor to see what the price was. Instead he took it from me and hid it behind the counter.

Next time I went into the store, it was gone. So either he never got it priced, or he sold it to someone else.

But it was a sad day in Whoville for me over that one. (sniff!)

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Mean People are my #! Irksome experience at a thrift store--or any store, or anywhere at anytime.

TSR:  Could it be that maybe the clerk wanted that yummy bowl for himself??

A thrift in my area had a rule that if it wasn't priced, it could NOT be sold and had to go back to HQ to be priced "properly".  Of course, once those items were pulled from the floor, they were never seen again.

[Big Daddy Audio]

What I really dislike is that at several stores near me, nothing is priced. The price depends on who is at the register that day. Mostly, everything is very cheap, but sometimes I'll get a cashier who says "oh, this is pyrex, I'll charge you $2" or "these are COOKBOOKS, and I'll charge a dollar each" You'd think that since I was buying nearly 10 cookbooks, they'd cut the price a little. Nope. I need to stop going in there when I'm dressed in nice office clothes. Grrrrr.

Objects without prices are ignored by me, as are garage sales where there are no prices.  It's obvious that you'll charge what you think you can get out of me.  If the items in your thrift store are unmarked, or the items at your garage sale are not priced, don't expect me to ask, unless something is pretty special and I mean really special.

That is all.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Heh- SeSo, I hadn't imagined the fellow was the type to hoard pink Depression glass for himself... but I guess ya never know. :-)

[Tammy]

I would have to agree with the statement about items not prices getting sent back to the warehouse to be priced up.  How annoying that they waste the manpower and gas to send a vase or a book away that will end up being less than $2.00.

Thrift stores can't always help this, but there could be more clerks that get stern with parents and their kids about A.  Letting kids run free, B.  kids that totally distroy the toy area.  I enjoy looking for Fisher Price little people items and it irks me to pieces when I'm in the toy section and there are items all over the floors to maneuver around.