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Post by forestdweller on Jun 6, 2022 7:46:19 GMT
A bit of a rant coming. I once volunteered in my local Oxfam last summer but was so frustrated at their pricing policy I decided that the manager was not someone I could get on with. Here is an example- this wonderful wonderful LP that he currently has in. I remember this when I first started learning classical guitar back in the 80s. The record company was an offshoot of a classical guitar magazine that was around at the time (had some wonderful releases by Jorge Morel and Isabel Siewers as well). www.discogs.com/sell/release/7078982?ev=rbDavid Russell is a fine fine player and this music rarely gets recorded anymore, some absolute gems. Now, the manager has the following pricing policy - he looks on Discogs and sees the highest price charged there. As you can see, it is £19.99. And that is the price he slaps on it. To me it rather takes the shine off visiting Oxfam anymore in the hope of finding a bargain. I know its a charity and they have to maximise their profits but I struggle to think who (other than me maybe) would be passing the shop and be willing to slap £20 down on this. I mean, how many Antonio Lauro classical guitar loving vinyl enthusiasts can there be in my tiny town of Lymington? I'd easily pay £10 for it, but no more. Got to say that they also have in some slightly cheaper discs by Bream, Williams, Eric Hill, and Juan Martin. Someone must have been a very keen collector of guitar vinyl. Robbie
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Post by Onechordtrick on Jun 6, 2022 8:03:48 GMT
I think the days of charity shop bargains are over; I describe my Martin as a charity shop find as I bought it in Oxfam. But I paid around the going second-hand price for it. They seem to be a lot wiser to the value of things and often have specialist outlets for high value items - that's where I bought my guitar following a lead on here.
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Post by woodtoner on Jun 6, 2022 9:07:49 GMT
Oxfam is certainly not a charity I would support.
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minorkey
C.O.G.
Too many instruments, too little time
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My main instrument is: hurting my fingers!
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Post by minorkey on Jun 6, 2022 22:04:59 GMT
Vinyl prices are ridiculous wherever you go. I just don't get it! Yet I can get an album on CD in perfect quality for a quid!
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juliant
C.O.G.
Posts: 317
My main instrument is: Lowden L23
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Post by juliant on Jun 11, 2022 8:14:12 GMT
It's certainly getting harder to find real bargains in charity shops, but there are still a few around. Someone donated a couple of electric guitars to my local shop last year and I got a really nice Vintage Les Paul copy for £50. Mostly it's just awful cheap classicals, which end up with warped necks once they've been left in the sun in the window for a bit. I was sad to miss the Latin Percussion conga for £30, although Mrs.T doesn't agree. (Hey, if it makes a nice noise when you hit or pluck it, it's fair game, right?)
I think lots of shops have a sort of general idea of what things should sell for. Jeans in good nick are X pounds, except for a few brands we recognize which are more expensive. That's why they had a grotty classical at the same price as the Vintage, because they were both just guitars.
It can really help if they don't really know what they're dealing with. Best recent bargain was a counter-top electric grain mill, possibly not something many people would recognize. Lovely bit of German engineering, over £400 new, so definitely worth the £30 I paid for it.
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minorkey
C.O.G.
Too many instruments, too little time
Posts: 2,992
My main instrument is: hurting my fingers!
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Post by minorkey on Jun 11, 2022 8:29:27 GMT
I once volunteered at oxfam and I can tell you their prices are quite high.
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