Is it my imagination, or are the prices at places like Good Will and other "donated used goods" places also going up quite a bit?

I have only been a couple times, but to me for a thrift store they seemed high. Might be why I don't go back :?

It seems to vary at the stores I visit. For awhile the prices got a lot higher, but I think their sales went down and now they are back to what they used to be.

The only thing I've shopped for regularly over the years is old sewing machines (which I fix up to donate to a local non-profit that teaches quilting classes to the disabled). I've found that prices vary dramatically from one Goodwill to another, so I confine my visits now to the ones that tend to have reasonable prices. When their prices went up for about a year, I quit buying until the prices came back down.

Ours have always been on the high side...for a couple dollars more I can buy new clothes... and some of the jeans have seen "much" better days and they still want $7-$9 a pair... The other items are priced all over the place LOL

On the flip side, my mom volunteers at a charitable thrift store in her small town. They sell their clothes by the bag-full. One bag (as much as you can stuff in there) for $5.00. If you see something you want, you offer to pay a certain amount and the volunteer at the desk either accepts what you are willing to pay or counters with a more reasonable amount. (As in you won't get a hand-made quilt for $2.00!) If you don't like the counter price, you can haggle a little and if you still aren't happy, you can put it back. Pretty much everything is reasonable. They aren't trying to fleece the customers because most who shop there are genuinely needing the items they are purchasing and are not just bargain hunters who will resell the items they find or can afford to pay more.

We have seen that the Salvation Army and the Boys Club thrifts have gotten someone who knows how to display items, with scarfs, jewlery etc. it looks very nice and not as cluttered but the proces always go up when they start doing this. Also our 2 shops that I named have a lot of well to do people that come only looking for antiques and antique jewelery and that makes a difference. Our Good will just opened this spring and they seem to be staying the same, but I do think they are higher than salvation army.

I picked up a porcelain doll, sells for 55 dollars....I paid 7! Love it!

I don't know, but our goodwill has LOW prices! I got several yards of fabric for under $2 once.

I'm a volunteer at my local charity shop for over 10 years. I think that we give good value.

THe thrift store prices around here are all over the place in price. Things that are valuable go for nothing, other things that are junk are priced high. You just have to take the time to search, and know what things are worth to you. I like to go on 1/2 price day!