Thrift pricing

[Tammy]

I can hardly stand to go into some of the Goodwill stores in my area anymore because of the pricing.   We have several stores that charge very reasonable prices but there are some that are on the ridiculeous side
mainly on knickknacks, kitchen wear and books.  What is it with some of the prices they charge on books!   Does anyone else have stores that have outrageous prices?

[Good Buddy]

Tammy,

I agree with you completely. We went to a Goodwill in St. Augustine and they wanted $4 for each hardback. We left within 3 minutes of entering the store.
There's also a Salvation Army near us that sells used dressers for $135, and used sofas for $200! There's a Habitat ReStore here that's just a huge storage space for above retail priced things. I guess they're trying to get what they can for it, rather than, sell it fast at a good price.
We'll just have to keep on looking for those goldmine thrift stores.

[alexandra]

I don't like it when the prices reflect what the person doing the pricing thinks the item is worth new -- yes, I do shop at thrift stores because you get more for your money, but we can't forget that these items are second-hand.  A car depreciates TREMENDOUSLY just from being driven off the lot -- for clothing, it is the same.  Especially if the item has been washed more than a few times.   It is a given that it will smell musty and need to be cleaned too.

I have a favorite store, but two things there make me crazy.  First, I once made a comment how much I appreciated the price on a cashmere sweater I was buying.  The manager snatched it back and exclaimed -- "that's too low, I'm going to find out who priced them and deal with this. " Yeah, I got the sweater for that price -- and I never gave the manager a compliment ever again (she has since been fired, I hear).  The thing is, the sweater (as most thrift store cashmere) had small holes in it that I had to sew up.  When I see a cashmere sweater at the store for twenty dollars (they price them that outrageously if it's a men's sweater), I have to just laugh.  The bargain is what's making it all worthwhile! Just because an item is made of cashmere, doesn't mean it's high ticket once it's on a hanger in a thrift store.  Also, the item is slightly devalued if the store uses staples to adhere the price tag, which should be taken into account.

There is a guy at that same store who regularly overcharges me for paperbacks.  They're supposed to be ten percent of cover price, which means .59 cents for a 5.99 original price.  He charges 99 cents.  So, when he is there, I don't buy books.  After all, you can get one dollar paperbacks at the Dollar Tree and other discount stores -- new!!!

Thriftily (but somewhat snarkily ;-),
Alexandra

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Hey, all-
I realize I''m coming to this discussion late, and I apologize; I just recently found this forum.

While there certainly are items at thrift stores that are higher than you''d expect, and I do think prices are getting higher as management begins to realize the kinds of in-demand items that can come in-- some of these items also would go for a LOT more at antique stores. For example, recently a local Salvation Army had had a pair of antique alabaster lamps, one with its original shade, and they were going for $50 for the pair.

I admit, I do love a good vintage lamp, but didn''t need these-- and the $50 price was steep to me for a "save it for when I might need it" buy. Someone did end up buying them, by the way. And if they were to buy the same items in an antique store, it would have been significantly more. Plus, the $50 went to the charity. So it''s not a terrible deal all around. Just depends on perspective, really, and how you assess your budget.

I think the thrill of the find-- just absolutely never having an idea what you might stumble upon at a thrift store-- is my greatest joy in thrift shopping. It''s possible to find that perfect thing you never even knew you needed.

Happy thrifting,
Jenn
www.thriftshopromantic.com

[kitschicat]

I have a friend who works at the Salvation Army and she''s offered me quite a bit of insight into the pricing and politics of the place. I''m sure what holds true for one charity thrift may well carry over to the others (Goodwill, Vinnie''s, etc)

Each store is apparently measured for its sales like any commercial retail store. For instance, they compare what one store''s volume of sales in a particular department is to the others in the region. Additionally, they have pricing that the regional HQ would like to see all of the stores use as a guideline, but every store is different depending on staff. At my friends store, for instance, there is a rather unpleasant woman who thinks she is scoring points with the district manager by setting high prices on items, when in reality, he has very clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with her methods because it slows down sales. She thinks "well someone would have to pay X amount for this new, so I can charge $1 cheaper than what they''d pay over at the retail store." WRONG. The district manager, the store manager, and all of the co-workers have pointed out the flaws in her reasoning but she is convinced she is right. She''s a keyholder, so she feels she has authority over the rest of the people doing pricing. I think many stores have this personality in them, perhaps several of them, and you can see it reflected in the pricing. It''s unfortunate because they would move greater quantities of merchandise if things were priced reasonably/realistically. Here in the metro Detroit area, we certainly have a plethora of thrifts from which to choose, and if one is overpriced, we will go to another that is not. Eventually these stores will have to learn that they just can''t overprice. Just because thrifting might be popular doesn''t mean they can gouge.

[aliceatthepalace]

Hello;  I am very interested in hearing what everyone has to say about pricing.

I have been a ''thrift-shopper'' for almost 40 years.  However, now I am seeing the other side of the pinched penny: I sort and price items for one of the big ''original'' thrift shop organizations, and everyday is a huge challenge, especially in regards to pricing. 

Where do we ''get'' our prices?  Despite what trasenstine said in her post, there is no standard list; I don''t know of one, and if any of you do, let me know where I can get one.  However, I do check ''completed sales'' on ebay and other sites, and I still shop at the thrift stores (ours and the competitors), flea markets, garage sales and even an antique shop now and then.  I try to keep in mind what I would be willing to pay for something.

A major gripe is the ''dealers'': they tell the clerks "This item is WAY overpriced", proceed to get a ''discount'', then sell it in their venue for many times what the ''way overpriced'' price was. This practice makes it even that much harder to gauge what would be considered a ''good'' price. 

I like to be able to price items inexpensively so that anyone can buy them and feel they got a deal, but if I do, the above mentioned buy them all in one swoop (especially knick-knacky things and ANYTHING that looks antique).  So I am often stuck as to what is truly fair to all.

Please post your comments.  Thanks.

Alice

[kitschicat]

According to my friend who works there, here in the SE Michigan the Salvo''s do have a guideline for pricing that they provide to their employees, and they track whether items are being sold at the prices within those guidelines at the individual stores.

[Tammy]

I was back in one of the higher priced GW stores yesterday and even heard another customer talking to her friend about how high the knick knack type items are.  Now that they have their Xmas items out I was noticing that some of the prices they put on the used boxes of lights were the same prices the local Big Lots was selling them for brand new! 

Tammy

[aliceatthepalace]

 :)Thanks Trase for your imput;  if your friend can get one of those lists, please post!

I understand that each division can set their own rules and guidelines for pricing(or not), and unfortunately our ''majors'' have not yet joined the 21st century.

[kitschicat]

Alice- I don''t know that she could post as it is likely an internal document and I, of course, would not want to jeopardize her employment by posting it, but I will ask.

I simply wanted to clarify that some stores do apparently use a set of guidelines for pricing. Whether those are adhered to or not is the question! LOL Of course, you know the situation at your store and as you mentioned, there is no guideline for pricing in your store, but it''s apparently different in the location where my friend works.

[Good Buddy]

I too can''t see how a thrift store thinks they could get equal too or above retail price for some items.
I think it has to do with the philosophy of the director or manager. There''s a chain of 4 Disabled American Veteran''s stores here that keep raising their prices even monthly. They''re selling paperback books at $1.49. These 4 stores are actually for-profit but they buy the items from DAV to sell for about 15% of what they price the items at. Each store has a minimun of 15 employees at a time that all have to be paid at least $6.50 an hour. That''s why they have to charge so much. 20 years ago when I was first shopping these stores their prices were 20% of what they are today. They now seem to cater more to low income people rather than thrifters who do it for fun and style.
The less expensive something is, the faster it''ll sell, but that also means that the charity gets less money or the employees have to make less, or the store has to depend on volunteers.
The Thrift Industry might even have more crazy pricing than regular retail. I guess that just means we need to pay more attention and make sure that the stores that do price things more fairly stay in business by us frequenting them....

[alexandra]

I apply the "Big Lot/Dollar Store Test" ... if I see an item that is in a thrift/second hand store and I know the same item can be found for less at a discounter (taking into account age and availablity), I take a pass.  I like to support thrift stores and thrift shopping, but realize that these outlets are getting their merchandise at little or no cost, with less overhead than a retailer (the retailer has more costs built in to the price due to shipping, warehousing, handling, rent, etc.).  That''s why I think it is silly for thrift stores to price items at prices comparable to retail -- their stock is often used, and it is earning them a huge profit margin when you compare the mark-up to cost.  Why pay $1.49 or more for a wineglass that Dollar Tree sells for a buck?

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Loves dogs]

Just a comment to this line.  I worked at a Thrift store in Bismarck, ND for 4 years.  So many things get donated its hard to know what to price things, we would have pricers go shopping to Dollar Stores, Marshal Fields, Kmart, Walmart, etc. so we could price appropriately.  But if something came in, and we would have no idea what to price it, you don't want to price it too cheap, Motto was you can always go down, but never up.  If someone let us know they seen it at Dollar Store we would then change price.  A lot of the bigger thrift stores have rent, electrical, employee wages, warehouse & sorters there, etc.  But I do know they can get to high, we would be told go higher, or this is to high, you have to price shop.  A lot of work goes into it.  But I love it.

[adapt]

i used to work at a thrift store and due to my voluminous knowledge of tag dating i was able to drop a few "hints" to the primary men's pricer. i never did price items directly. at the store i worked at, they have a chart next to the hanger lines that says what items should go for higher prices. however, the list is horribly outdated and doesnt reflect current "high ticket" brands (7 for all mankind, citizens of humanity, paper denim & cloth, et al). that's how i (and a lot of customers) manage to get really nice stuff at cheap prices; they simply don't know any better.

[ChrisMiss]

In larger cities thrift stores get more donations, have a larger volume of items to sell.  In smaller towns they don't get as many items donated.  Many thrift stores in the larger cities have a huge warehouse of goods yet to be sold and more coming in every day.  I think if they sold the goods for less then they'd still make a profit on volume of sales.  If the prices are considered too high by the buyers they will not buy.  The items will sit on the shelves, warehouse gets fuller, etc.  If they price the items lower the buyer will buy more, the store will make money.