Your Town / city

[TWR]

Have you of late noticed the amount of charity shops coming into your are? In our town there are about 10. a lot of shops shutting down because of the rates yet these shop pay nothing! is that right or has the wrong information been passed?

[bellazella]

They are filling up empty spaces, but i feel they should pay something

[starone]

Are you sure they pay nothing? I think some of them pay a reduced amount and are also responsible for the local council rates. A lot of people are welcoming them because they can get such good bargains from them.

[sandyRoe]

I don't know about the rates, but I'd sooner see charity shops than boarded up windows.

[percypineapple]

we have a load of charity shops, but our town has no closed shops, any that become vacant are now quickly snapped up by charities or for polski supermarkets and polish drinking dens, at least its keeping the town from turning into a ghost town. the trouble with charity shops is that the person at the top of the chain is making money from virtually unpaid shop staff, and only a small amount goes to charity, so yes, they should pay rates.

[bellazella]

They only pay for the shop manager, the other staff are volunteers

[erin-x]

We have them popping up everywhere and they're all crap! I think the quality of them depends on where you live.

[bellazella]

And they aint that cheap

[fruitsalad]

No they are not cheap my local charity shop was selling a secondhand primark top for more money than when it had been new in primark

[sherrardk]

We get a lot of Polish and Portugeuse cafes and supermarkets - seem to be there for a couple of months and then the shop is empty again.

[shoota]

Good for books though - I never buy a new novel.

[Ann]

I love browsing in charity shops but some of them are getting greedy now - the prices have rocketed recently, better to buy clothes on Ebay except you can't try them on.

[bravejordy]

I know exactly what you mean, fruitsalad. A few years ago I went into the Heart Foundation charity shop in my local shopping precinct and saw a shirt I liked. The price tag had £2.50 written on it but I only had two quid so I asked the lady behind the counter if she'd accept the two quid for it. She refused. I was annoyed because whenever Heart Foundation collection sacks had come through my door I'd always donated whatever I could. I came out of the Heart Foundation shop and there was a Stolen From Ivor clothing boutique directly opposite with a rack of shirts just inside the doorway. I couldn't believe it when a saw exactly the same shirt on the rack, brand new and only £1.99. How on Earth can a charity shop justify selling a secondhand one for £2.50 ? Since then I've given HF charity shops a wide berth and their collection sacks go straight in the bin!