I live in Australia and the same thing with charity shops.  It used to be that people would donate and you could find things for fair prices but what is happening is they are run by people who just steal whatever comes in that they think can fetch a dollar on ebay.  Days of digging are gone. There are almost no second hand record shops left in Melbourne city (There used to be many) and the record fairs used to be so fun and great to attend, but now, it's all about pickers and profiteers. I miss going to a record fair and having a nice conversation with a stall holder about a weird record I found or something they have that has a story and we can share the moment of appreciation and chat about a fair price that isn't strictly about screwing someone over for profit because they understand it's not always about money it's about the love someone has for a particular artist or record. I never have any intention of reselling what I find, it goes into my collection and loved - There is the difference between people like me and damn PICKERS for profits. They ruined everything. There is one small place I go to where I get down underneath the benches and it's dusty and filthy and records are periodically shoved in there all in a messy pile. I absolutely love it and I come out with filthy hands, sneezing from dust, and a sore back and knees, but the ONE treasure among a million pieces of garbage is worth it.

The comedy sold it 🤣👍keep hunting!

Charity Shops have external “experts” for various commodities who get first dibs on new donations. All the good vinyl was snapped up before it had a chance of going on sale in the shop, hence only “land fill” is left.

Hello there.

Back in 1985 or maybe 1986. I walked into a charity shop just off Felixstowe seafront and I was looking through the vinyl. I am a big Kraftwerk fan. I was flipping through the vinyl and I stumbled across the second album Ralf  and Florian. They was asking 50 pence for this album and I bought it. That same album today is now worth because it's an original. Between 250 and £300.

The best ever result I've ever had in a charity shop. The other result was a couple of Gary Numan items that are now worth quite a bit more than I paid for them.

Just goes to prove. That you can stumble across that chance finding.

The problem with charity shops nowadays is. They have a filtering system have the absolute Crud ends up on the shop floor. Many items either get taken by the workers and the other stuff gets sold on private sale sites like eBay and the like.

Pure.

Speaking of Coldplay, you look a bit like the singer.

Seeing this leaves me thankful for what I have.  Cheers and good luck mate! 👍

Cd’s sound even better when heard through a high res mp3 player.

There may be many shops but like most there is nothing nothing you would want not even my Nan because she put it there got to love you for doing this

I find very little in the charity shops here in Wiltshire now. The Phil Collins CD you picked up, I also got from a charity shop and was quite surprised how much I enjoyed it. Sounds great too.

Not surprised at all David. Finding great vinyl in charity shops dried up a few years ago now, which is actually why I started focusing on building my CD collection from them since the pandemic I'm now closing in on 2000 CDs. It's still worth a quick browse just in case, but with the massive vinyl surge, the shops have been picked clean of gold by hunters. Honestly, you have much better luck on Facebook Marketplace these days, though things are either overpriced or the real bargains get snatched up instantly. Always worth keeping an eye on local searches, though!
~Shaun

I still love going to these but Charity shops are kind of hopeless if you're into more heavy stuff

It's very rare to find anything good. I'm sure the charities have records graded and picked out before they go on public sale.

"remember when people thought this was jazz"  - harsh but fair

Good dig David, shame about the lack of finds but the enjoyable commentary made up for it! I've been disappointed like this on some occasions myself, I suppose it's quality over quantity in terms of charity shops! Many a time have I been to a high street full of charity shops and seen nothing in any of them but the usual fodder!

There are people who go all over the country doing it for a living, its all down to luck these days!

The people who work in the charity shops know now that that the good vinyl is worth money now and squirrel it away.

All the good stuff never makes it onto the shop floors of charity shops anymore, The rare & expensive albums all go through the back doors,

Seventh Tree by Goldfrapp is an excellent album - beautifully recorded. Happiness is a wonderful track - best played loud!

Found 4 x 'Hits' 2LP comps from 80s today in Caerphilly, South Wales in one of the charity shops. VG+ cond. for £1 ea. Snapped those up as they'll go for several quid ea. But, overall charity shopping for music is almost fruitless now!

I prefer this type of video to the 'I found a £4,000 Beatles album in a charity shop for 50p' ones. Yours is reality TV 🙂