Not a charity shop as such; but gives some of the profits to Cancer Association. In my little town in Northern Spain, a second-hand shop was set. I went today and it had a decent variety of LPs (about 200 or so), including an US pressing of Elton John's "Captain Fantastic" or some old Elvis greatest hits records. Unfortunately, CDs are very limited in quantity. I will go there once in a while to check out, and post here my findings.
"More adventures in record collecting - The UK charity shop." Sorry if this seems critical, but there's a clue in this thread's title. UK. Not Spain
Have approached again that charity shop and scored 2 bargains: the beforementioned Captain Fantastic album by Elton John (US pressing) for 3 euros, and a Spanish pressing of Moody Blues' Seventh Sojourn for 4 euros. In a record shop, they were asking for 12+ euros each. Both in inmaculate condition. I also found The Beatles' White Album (with a number in the front cover), which I will buy next time, and Let It Be, but the latter was nearly unplayable and the cover was destroyed. "No thanks!", I said.
I saw a beat up copy of Soft Machine 4th in Scope today and they were asking £7.50 for it. I didn’t get it as it convinced me they Hadn’t checked the condition at all when pricing it. The cover alone should have knocked off a few quid. Shame as I thought it was a pretty good find, or would have been if it looked remotely playable.
More bin diving at my local Air Ambulance shop (back up to 3 for £1). The Moody Blues - Days of Future Past (Deram 800 006-2) Little Feat - Feats Don't Fail Me Now (Warner Bros. 256 030) The Band - Stage Fright (Capitol CDP 7 93593 2)
Seems be an inordinate amount of 'Black & White Minstrels Show' LP's from the late 70's kicking around. Picked up Status Quo's 'The Best Of' on Pye for two quid in decent nick.
Passed on a set of original Japanese Oasis CDs with obis because they were a bit scratchy. Original prices were around the 2,400 to 2,800 Yen mark. Now reduced to £1 each.
I posted this elsewhere but this is an example of the kind of ridiculous pricing that has crept in over the last 12-18 months to charity shops in the UK. Our local charity shop changed management towards the end of last year and the pricing of classical records has become really crazy. I suspect they are just guessing prices based on Amazon and now many of their records are more expensive than classical record dealers. They are even selling classical CDs in some case at over £8 whereas you can pick up Targets and other 1st press CDs in the pop section for £1.99.
Went to the shop this afternoon and checked the condition of that White Album. Full of scratches and marks, and the cover wasn't in the best condition. I skipped that. But, for the pricely sum of 3 euros each, I bagged: - The Best of Gladys Knight And The Pips (UK Buddah from 1975). - Save The Last Dance With Me (a 1975 budget compilation by The Drifters with not so famous songs). - Arc Of A Diver by Stevie Winwood (the 1980 version from the UK), and - The New Goodies LP (again, from 1975, including the weirdest lyrics sheet I've ever seen). Maybe they are run of the mill albums for those in the UK, but not so common here in Spain. And in immaculate condition as well. So, a fantastic afternoon for me.
Sadly, ridiculous pricing has been going on for much longer IMHO At least five years at a guess. Oxfam are the "villians of the piece". I once Googled about an LP I had just bought at a record fair for a £1 & the Oxfam website wanted £15 ! Whats the catalogue number for that brass band LP? Looks interesting(not for £30)
EIL have a copy for £15. From their catalogue is seems to be SCX66541. Think there might be digit one too many though in the catalogue and price I see Oxfam currently have The Final Cut in VG for £175 on their 'Great Value & Second-Hand Vinyl Records - Oxfam GB' website Pink Floyd - 'The Final Cut' Vinyl LP Pink Floyd | Oxfam GB | Oxfam’s Online Shop I wonder if they'll ever get a REM Monster CD for under £250?
Thanks for that. I have a childlike fascination for recordings of brass bands. Possibly because I'm labouring under a misapprehension that recording them tests all the skills of a recording engineer. Pride of place in my brass band recordings "collection" is a 6 CD Readers Digest compilation which I bought for the pricely sum of 25p ina charity shop (Needless to say not an Oxfam shop!)
I haven't read this whole thread but I see some people refer to the cds that you always see in charity shops. How about those cds that you never see in charity shops? Nick Cave springs to mind.
Maybe the A9/B7 matrix DSOTM is more to your taste at £149.99. This one seems rare as it doesn't contain the stickers or poster Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd - SHVL 804 | Oxfam GB | Oxfam’s Online Shop
Have Oxfam never heard of Discogs? Via that website I earlier actually found a copy (from a real record shop that lists there) for £25 including shipping. Are UK SHF members interested in some sort of campaign????
I pick up perhaps a dozen or so CDs from charity shops per year (sometimes it's more). I could pick more, but I'm trying to cut back. Perhaps the most valuable has been Tangerine Dream's Firestarter, which I picked up for 99p at a Mind shop (median value on discogs is £29.43). The rarest has probably been the PDO target variation of Al Jarreau's High Crime. It's one of those target variations that could fetch £50-£60 if two bidders got involved. Unfortunately, the condition isn't great. In fact, if it was the normal target, then I would have left it.
