Why are Oxfam such a ‘rip-off’?

[Barry]

Today I did my occasional trawl of the charity shops looking for interesting records, CDs and books.

Despite my better nature I visited our local Oxfam, which specialises in the above (rather than clothes or bric-a-brac). They generally charge £4 per CD unless it’s a ‘special’, for which they can charge up to £8, or if it’s a cheapo compilation where they might charge as low as £3! Nonetheless I have picked up a couple of interesting items in Oxfam: Terry Riley's ‘Poppy No-Good and the Phantom Band’, a Levellers’ Compilation CD and some classical odds and ends.

What annoys me is their pricing of LPs. Anything by Decca in its SXL series will be priced at around ~£30, almost regardless of condition and so too will almost anything conducted by Furtwengler, Klemperer, Böhm and other early, but well respected, conductors.

Now I realise that Oxfam seeks to get the most out of the items that are donated to them; they are a charity after all and have to make the most of their assets – but at times they really do seem to be having a joke. Most other charity shops charge £2 a CD and if ithe item is deemed to be rare 10 – 20% below what was typically obtained on eBay. Not Oxfam.

Today I saw a book in Oxfam, albeit one which might be out of print, for which they had the temerity to ask £25! Upon returning home I logged onto Amazon and ordered the very same, a new hardback for £7.20. No doubt Oxfam had priced the paper ‘age spots’ as being worth at least a tenner or more!

To give you one more example of their ineffective pricing policy, over a year ago I took along a rucksack full of photography books. One of these was deemed by their ‘expert’ as worthy of being displayed in their glass case of rare books. It’s still there, not surprisingly, as they want £75 for it. At that price it is likely to stay there.

Has anyone else had similar experience of Oxfam, for better or worse?

[Marco]

Good evening, sir! Where have you been? You've been very quiet lately :)

Perhaps too busy slurping Margaux? ;)

Marco.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Hi Barry,
You've hit on one of my pet moans!
I've been arguing for ages now that if they charged realistic prices I would have spent many hundreds of pounds with them over the last 7 or 8 years, while in actual fact they've probably only had £50 or £60 from me.

The result of their policy is that (especially) records stay on their shelves for years & I suspect in the not too distant future, they'll take the view that no-one buys records anymore & they'll stop stocking them completely.

Just this week, I've seen a copy of 'Court & Spark' by Joni Mitchell on a cheap reissue label priced at £17 and rendered completely unplayable on one side because of gouges that look like they've been made with a plough!

[leo]

Got to agree with you chaps, I actually went in there today, being a late user of vinyl thought I'd have a browse to try and get my rather small collection up.
I don't mind paying a bit extra for them but was annoyed to find majority of the ones I wanted was scratched quite badly

[Rare Bird]

I've seen collectors 45rpm on the back wall in Oxfam with price tags..Greed kills remember

[Spectral Morn]

My local Oxfam is excellent. Books and Cds and LPs priced to sell. I have bought lots of classical there (mainly as its in good to mint condition). I think it must depend on who runs it....as there seems to be wild differences between the shops (no standard pricing policy).

I was in the Perth Oxfam in Scotland last September and did quite well with albums by Working Week, all in good to mint nick and priced at a couple of quid each. However some of the albums were a little dear for condition etc. The Oxfam in Inverness was not too bad overall, but a little dear on books....see no unifying policy..or so it seems.

I like charity shop hoking, and generally do quite well. Can't afford high street shops now (not that there are any decent ones now..have you been in HMV recently :doh::( do they want to stay in business ?), and I prefer to support charities when I can. However I have felt like Barry from time to time. There is a charity shop in Glasgow and I am not saying where, that has a fantastic selection of vinyl, reasonably priced and not in bad nick. I stop there most times I visit Scotland, on the first day and last day of the trip, unless we are going way North in which case its Perth...and I come away with a bag of Lps :)


Regards D S D L

[Beechwoods]

I don't have a local Oxfam. My local 'thrift' is the Salvation Army, and their pricing policy is excellent. Cassettes for 25p flat, vinyl for £1 or less. Quality is variable, but you can afford to take a punt and they aren't taking the piss. IMHO places like Oxfam should grade the stuff they get carefully and sell the decent stuff online. They're never going to get best price on the high-street; and they shouldn't charge rip-off prices on the high-street either. Just my HO!

[Spectral Morn]

I don't have a local Oxfam. My local 'thrift' is the Salvation Army, and their pricing policy is excellent. Cassettes for 25p flat, vinyl for £1 or less. Quality is variable, but you can afford to take a punt and they aren't taking the piss. IMHO places like Oxfam should grade the stuff they get carefully and sell the decent stuff online. They're never going to get best price on the high-street; and they shouldn't charge rip-off prices on the high-street either. Just my HO!

I know another place in Scotland that has loads of tapes..blank and recorded on for really good prices i.e cheap..lots of Lps but I didn't have time to look last time + funny opening hours. I must look at the LPs next time I am over.


Regards D S D L

[Barry]

Good evening, sir! Where have you been? You've been very quiet lately :)

Perhaps too busy slurping Margaux? ;)

Marco.

Good evening Marco,

Yes, your are right, I have been a little quiet of of late, although I have been pottering around in the Library, trying to add some images to make some of my submissions less 'dry' by adding some images (the results of which I'm not entirely happy with).

The truth of the matter is, there has been a lot of activity 'behind the scenes' recently in AoS. January seems to have been particularly difficult for the Moderators and all of this has caused me to 'sit back and pause'. To be blunt, some recent threads have caused me to ask: "Is AoS the forum I thought it was when I joined (a year ago)? And if it is, did I misunderstand the 'manifesto', and is AoS a forum I still want to be part of?"

Right now I'm not particularly cogent, haveing consumed a bottle of indifferent but pleasant, 2002 Placacio del Conde 'Gran Reserva', so you will have to wait until such time as I can marshall my remarks more succinctly and eruditely. Suffice it to say, that I have been troubled by certain 'de facto' statements made by some Senior Moderators lately, suggesting that there is a 'manifesto' or policy to which AoS members are expected to tacitly subscribe.

I'll try to outline my concerns latter, but this is why I been 'quiet of late'.

Regards

[Rare Bird]

Infact OXFAM have a e-bay user name

[Marco]

Hi Barry,

No worries. I'm aware of what you're referring to. However, I think you'll find that stuff has largely been resolved now, and we're back on track.

Anyhow, PM me your thoughts and suggestions on that matter and we can discuss them accordingly :)

In the meantime, enjoy your temporary state of inebriation!

Marco.

[Barry]

Hi Barry,

No worries. I'm aware of what you're referring to. However, I think you'll find that stuff has largely been resolved now, and we're back on track.

Anyhow, PM me your thoughts and suggestions on that matter and we can discuss them accordingly :)

In the meantime, enjoy your temporary state of inebriation!

Marco.

Hi Marco,

Back again, although since I'm on my second 'finger' of Tesco Armagnac, no more cogent (sadly not the Janneau; it's amazing how short a time a litre bottle can last amongs friends and cognisicenti!).

Clearly you are perceptive enough to have anticipated my concerns. Yes, I was disturbed by some recent postings and notice that so too have others; however some level-headed replies by members have caused me to 'hang back' and not be too hasty. I have also been reading and thinking about some of the postings made to the thread "What is the Art of Sound", initiated by Steve Toy. In some ways these relate to my 'Parthian' post just before Christmas, commenting on a letter published to Hi-Fi World. I have been pleased with some of the carfully considered and well expressed replies so far, and will give you my thoughts soon.

Also, upon my return from 'Castle Marco', there were some 150 posts to catch up. Some of the the threads had strayed into what can be best described as 'laddish humour', and although I'm the last person to be shocked or upset by references to bodily functions, did cause me to do a 'double take'.

Anyway, I'm back on track, so 'business as usual'.

Regards

[Marco]

Nice one, Barry. We very much value your contributions. Enjoy the Armagnac!

Speak soon :)

Marco.