Friday 13 July 2012

Will it blend?

I don't normally begrudge paying slightly over the odds in some charity shops if I really like something (overpricing is becoming more common, unfortunately) but today's find was beyond anything I'd seen before, and must have been a mistake! 

I was looking for a second hand blender in the big BHF charity warehouse on East Road, and found one identical to the one I have at home:


http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/blenders-mixers+food-processors/wilko-everyday-value-hand-blender-2-speed/invt/0228906/

This exact blender was selling for new in Wilco for less than £5, and similar quality ones can be bought for less than £10 in Tesco and Argos. However, the shop had priced it (and another the same) at £25!

As much as I love to give to charity and buy second hand, I couldn't afford to spend 5 times as much as I did for a new one. Perhaps this was just a pricing error, and perhaps people wouldn't realise, and just buy it for that price. In some ways that's great, as the money goes to charity, but it is a rip off. Charity shops provide a valuable service to those who are less well off, and this one in particular facilitates effective recycling of electrical goods. But if they over price things to this extent, they will force people to buy new, or not at all, which isn't good for the environment or the charity's reputation in the long term.

I've been in touch with the charity shop in question and they have been very gracious at accepting my feedback and agreeing to look into it.




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2 comments:

  1. Do they not have to have everything tested under some EU regs. I recall being told that the cost of testing gear was so much it ruled out selling anything electrical.

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  2. It would be great if someone did just pick it up and pay that much for it as that is the sort of price you would expect to pay if you hadn't shopped around for a modern kitchen accessory.

    On the other hand though, I totally agree that it could give the shop a bad reputation for being over-priced, something that you never expect to hear from a charity shop!

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