YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO CHARITY SHOP PRICING

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All around the world, charity shops are well known for their incredible value. Whether it’s clothing, books or even bric-a-brac, shoppers will usually be able to find an item for a cheaper price than it originally retailed for.


However, how can you know what to price the donations that come into your store? After all, you’ll need to input the price of the stock into your charity EPoS system as well as clearly display the price on the product itself. Many charity shops have a pricing system already in place, and will usually vary between departments within the store.

Here are our top tips for pricing your donations in your charity shop!


What is the Condition of the Item?


Not all your donations will come into your store in a perfect condition. In fact, you can expect to receive items of a wide range of conditions – some of which won’t be suitable to sell on.



Buried Under Pile of Clothes


However, from the sellable items that you do receive, you will have to determine what price tag you will give each item. For perfect condition items, you will want to price them a little higher than other similar items which aren’t as good quality wise, but not too high that it will put your customers off. This means remaining below the price that it retailed for originally, which can be researched online in some cases if there is no indication on the item.


It’s also worth researching how popular the item is, or whether the item has a collectible value. If it is a rare item, you may want to see how much it is selling for in other places to gauge how you should price it.


What is your Competition?


There are bound to be a variety of other charity retail shops around your area, so it’s important to understand how their pricing works in order to be able to accurately price your stock.


Town Shopping


It is advisable that you price your goods around the same value that other shops have in theirs. You don’t want to make your items too expensive – that will simply make your shoppers look to the cheaper stores for their needs rather than yours – but you don’t want to price your stock too cheaply that you are missing out on making money on the items that you are selling.


Although it doesn’t cost you anything to receive the donations, you will want to make sure that you’re pricing them correctly for sale to make the most possible money on them while remaining reasonable. After all, it’s all going back into your charity, right?


Who Are Your Customers?


The type of people who live in the area that your store is situated and buy from you should influence your prices, albeit slightly.


For example, if your shop is located in an area which is popular with well off, wealthy people, it may be advisable to put your prices slightly higher than if you were in an area which is popular with shoppers who have a lower income.


Choosing a T-Shirt


Of course, all this advice should be taken on a situational basis, and it is ultimately up to you – the manager – to decide what the best course of action is when it comes to pricing your stock.


If you are new to the charity retail industry and need help with planning and opening your charity shop, be sure to take a look at our handy two-part guide right here on our blog.


If you have any questions about our EPoS systems which are specifically designed for charity shops, please don’t hesitate to contact us today – we’ll be more than happy to help!