Recently, many of our customers have inquired about pricing at Fair Tide’s thrift store. Our staff and volunteers deeply appreciate your opinions and input, which is why we feel the responsibility to inform our customers about our pricing structure. We strive to be as transparent as possible to our dedicated customers, so we hope to address many of your Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in this month’s blog post!
How do you determine prices at Fair Tide?
A staff of 5 people and a volunteer group of over 10 people work together to price items so that they reach all 3 of our store goals:
- We want those in need to always feel able to come in and shop for whatever they may need. Keeping this mind, we regularly do market research to make sure that the majority of our items remain lower than those of competitors.
- As a non-profit program, we rely on thrift store sales to keep roofs over people’s heads and provide case management services to those transitioning out of homelessness. In order to maximize our profits, we price higher-end products at a greater value, while still maintaining affordability.
- Our donors view their in kind donation as a fundraiser for our housing program. We have an obligation to our donors to not only emotionally value their donation, but to give it an appropriate physical value as well. We want our donors to continue feeling that their donations are being used to invest in our program.
Are your prices increasing?
No! We continue to price our items using the same formula we always have. Please be aware though that Fall and Winter items, naturally, tend to be more expensive due to thicker materials, added layers, and water/snow resistance features.
How are high-end items priced?
Items that we believe to have a higher value are researched by looking up how much that item (or a similar one) SOLD for, rather than what it was originally listed for. We then price the item at a third of this value. This allows us to still offer a bargain for our customers and the ability for online dealers to shop at our store and purchase items to resell.
How can I justify spending more for higher-end items?
Just know that the item is still priced at a third of our competitors (other used clothing and household sellers) so you’re still getting a great deal! Every purchase also helps fund our homelessness program, where we help homeless individuals/families in the community transition into stable, permanent housing units. Every $31 the store earns houses a homeless individual for a night!
Do your items ever go on sale?
Yes! When we put “new” items out on the floor they are marked with the current month. On the 15th of every month we discount the previous months’ items by 50%. If you find an item that is from two months prior, it is only 99 cents! For example, all items put out in August will be 50% off come Sept 15th. When October 1st hits, those August items will be 99 cents.
We also have a huge sale on the last Saturday of every month where everything in the store is half off. This not only offers GREAT deals to our community, but helps clear things out for new inventory.
Thank you for shopping at Fair Tide’s thrift store, and for supporting our mission to reduce homelessness in the seacoast. We look forward to seeing you here soon!