Bargaining in Charity Shop, are you?

It is interesting how people who walked into charity shop bargain with themselves about the price of the stuffs in the shop should cost.

As inspired by the book ‘the undercover economist’ by Tim Harford, which I also got from the charity shop, my two weeks experience as a volunteer at Oxfam - who has mostly worked on the shop floor, has given me some thoughts.

To start with, it is surprising how so many people were asking to confirm what they’ve seen. ‘Is this really the price, love?’ asked an old man who selected the coat from the rail, ‘is it really 25 quid?’

I could barely explain, and ‘yes’ was my answer. I had, for a few times, apologized in a good manner that what actually is is not what the customer expected. Well, I am not the one who adjust the price, nor I involve in any process of selecting what product to be on the rail, and no, I do not get paid at all (which should explain that we do not charge extra just to pay for volunteer like me).

Lots of people do not agree when Charity shop sells donated stuffs at such a high price (some even say they stuffs at Oxfam were nearly as expensive as the new ones). Was it the price researcher fault, or was it just the customer expectation about what Oxfam offers?

It is true that Oxfam may price their stuffs in a certain level, but the shop's location and its target group also act as specific means. Oxfam Emporium, where I work, targets a group of people aged between 16-30, and we offer varieties of things from Music to Clothes. Books was the main resource of Oxfam funds, and here we generally provide novels and lifestyle books rather than the academic ones.

Compare to Oxfam on Oxford Road, which is located in the University of Manchester campus. They target university students, which makes them offer more (um-stylish?) teenagers and students clothes at more affordable price. They also offer more academic books and you can find varieties of text books in the shop more than we offer at Emporium. (And I like this store, too)

The thing is that once the shops know their target, they find things that suit their target, which reflected the price. It is possible that the customers who Oxfam Emporium targets are likely to earn more than the customers at Oxfam Oxford Road. The location near the city centre also means that the customers who come in Oxfam Emporium are less price-sensitive, as the shop surrounded by all the shopping stores, while Oxfam on Oxford Road is located between the walkway from Uni to the student halls, and to local area called ‘Curry Mile’

I am not complaining that it was a silly question that people asked why the goods are too expensive (of course, only on some stuffs). It is interesting how people would like to bargain. I find that some people who come into charity shop are looking for some nice second hand goods with satisfying price. This means that they have calculated the opportunity costs, as the goods are second-hand, hence they believe that the price should be cheaper than the new, unused goods.

Nonetheless, the price researchers may do not agree with the customers’ idea. Looking from the perspective of people who work at Oxfam, we believe we only put the good stuffs on the rail, and the price we tagged on the stuffs was carefully observed and researched whether it is reasonable. In the same sense, volunteers are considering about what Oxfam could get, and how they can be spent in the future, as we are raising funds, still we are bargaining with our customers.

However, there are less than 5% of customers I have met, who are sensitive to the price, and consider that they could spend the money more worthy in other shops. I love how people are considering their choices as I believe they are pursuing their best interests, which they have the right to.

Working at Oxfam is a great fun, and I get the learn from the customers and colleagues. I will keep learning and hope that I could learn more about the consumers behaviours. It would be too ambitious to say that I want to be an undercover economist, but having found such an inspiring book has made my work of Oxfam even more interesting.

Best,

Wita

Bibliography:

Harford, T. (2007). The Undercover Economist.

To find the book, follow the link to Tim Harford’s website here