A Charity Shop is a retail establishment operated by a charitable organisation to help turn donated items into hard cash.

Charity Shops can be found in most countries, but have their strongest presence in cities located in England and the United

States, although in the states they are more likely to be known as thrift stores. In the States thrift Store shopping is now

such a popular past time that it has earned its own slang term ‘thrifting’.

Thrifting

The slang term for thrift shopping ‘thrifting’ refers to shopping in a thrift store, flea market, boot sale or charity shop.

Thrift shoppers are an aggravate of all class and cultures. They consist the poor who are just looking for a good bargain,

the businessperson buying to sell on at a profit, and the wealthy, looking for that something special that can’t be found in

Bond Street or Fifth Avenue.

Charity Shop Thrills

Charity shop shopping is a thrilling and addictive past time. First of all you have the intrigue of imaging who may have

owned the items before and what story these items may have to tell, (could that be Madonna’s old jeans hanging up on that

hanger for £3?). Secondly, you have the same excitement as that experienced by a gold digger or diamond prospector, just as

they may get a rush of excitement when they see a glint from something shiny in the mud, a ‘thrifter’ will get the same

feeling when they find that expensive prada handbag they have always been looking for. Charity shops quickly turn snobs who

would at one time boast about how many hundreds of pounds they spent on that pair of shoes, to someone who boasts, and brags

about what bargains they have found.

How to find a charity shop

Most big towns and cities have a charity shop or two located somewhere at their heart so always be on the lookout and don’t

be afraid to ask people if they know of any.

The job can be made a little easier and you can save a little shoe leather by doing some searching online first, just search

for “charity shop London” or “charity shop New York” etc, to make the search even easier you can use the services of a simple

charity shop guide like this one The London Charity Shop Guide.

The Future of Charity Shops

Charity Shops have been around for some time now and all indications point to them being around for some time yet. In these

times when the cost of living increases and wages do not, it seems that charity shops will still remain popular not only

because of the money they raise for good causes, but also because no other store offers quite the same mix of exclusivity,

and essential bargains in quite the same way as a Charity shop can.

A Ciarrocchi
Researcher