Charity Shop Trawl

[Barbirollians]

K 271 should be available on the NHS - balm to the soul .

[teamsaint]

I think I'd have to listen to K271 a few times after 5-10 minutes of such material, or go and lie down in a quiet and darkened room! I wouldn't want to play with paper planes, either.

you seem well up with it in any case Dave !!

Variety is the spice of life !!
( Not sure LCD SS are THAT unsettling , really ).

[teamsaint]

Save your time, teams - Bryn seems to be doing a pretty thorough job there

You'll be left with the usual Rihanna and Haircut 100!

Wouldn't mind a decent Haircut 100 greatest hits if anybody sees one !!
I'll skip the Rihanna though...........

[Ferretfancy]

K 271 should be available on the NHS - balm to the soul .

I listened to it only this morning, with Christian Zacharias and the Lausanne CO -balm indeed.

Zacharias takes the famous slow movement at a genuine walking paced andante instead of the hyper romantic swoon we get too often -great playing.

[Bryn]

Save your time, teams - Bryn seems to be doing a pretty thorough job there

You'll be left with the usual Rihanna and Haircut 100!

Oh dear, spent another £89.70 in there today. Still lots of interesting stuff I already had. I asked, and apparently they have many more CDs waiting to fill the space I and others have cleared in the racks, so I reckon it's worth further visits. Amoung today's pickings were 3 RVW/Bryden Thomson discs, including the London, Pastoral and 9th Symphonies.

[pastoralguy]

Oh dear, spent another £89.70 in there today. Still lots of interesting stuff I already had. I asked, and apparently they have many more CDs waiting to fill the space I and others have cleared in the racks, so I reckon it's worth further visits. Amoung today's pickings were 3 RVW/Bryden Thomson discs, including the London, Pastoral and 9th Symphonies.

I always find it's worth asking if there are other discs. Very often, the charity shop just want rid of them and, hopefully, some more money in the till.

[Ferretfancy]

There's alleged to be an Oxfam Shop at Ealing Broadway that specialises in classical CDs. I don't want a wasted journey on the Central Line, so I wonder of anybody has experience of that emporium, and is it worth the trip?

[amateur51]

There's alleged to be an Oxfam Shop at Ealing Broadway that specialises in classical CDs. I don't want a wasted journey on the Central Line, so I wonder of anybody has experience of that emporium, and is it worth the trip?

I've always meant to trek out there too Ferret - bet the bargains are few & far between

[pastoralguy]

I've always meant to trek out there too Ferret - bet the bargains are few & far between

We have an Oxfam music shop in a very upmarket/'arty' part of Edinburgh that has a very good classical selection with a huge stock. Problem is that almost all discs are £4.99 which, for me, is far too much for a shop selling donated stock. Unless something is either rare or I really, REALLY want it I tend to pass. In fact, it's not the first time I've come home and ordered something I've seen there from Amazon which is still less than their £4.99 asking price. Of course I then feel bad since I should be supporting them but I don't like feeling I'm being ripped off.

[Don Petter]

We have an Oxfam music shop in a very upmarket/'arty' part of Edinburgh that has a very good classical selection with a huge stock. Problem is that almost all discs are £4.99 which, for me, is far too much for a shop selling donated stock. Unless something is either rare or I really, REALLY want it I tend to pass. In fact, it's not the first time I've come home and ordered something I've seen there from Amazon which is still less than their £4.99 asking price. Of course I then feel bad since I should be supporting them but I don't like feeling I'm being ripped off.

All too familiar an experience with Oxfam shops, though it does seem to be at the whim of local managers to some extent. The Winchester one was an even worse example last time we were there.

[pastoralguy]

All too familiar an experience with Oxfam shops, though it does seem to be at the whim of local managers to some extent. The Winchester one was an even worse example last time we were there.

My 'local' Oxfam shop is much more realistic. Their prices tend to be about £2.99 which is ok especially since someone with too much money hands in almost new releases!

[Ferretfancy]

I complained to my local oxfam Shop manager that his prices were completely unrealistic, and he got on his high horse, but I noticed that the prices did fall. Maybe I was not the only customer who felt fleeced. One simple example was a disc of Roy Goodman conducting the Hanover Band in Beethoven's Leonora 3, a sampler disc for his complete set priced at £6 ! Similarly, Gramophone cover discs at £3.50.

The problem is that the managers often recruit an outside "expert" who happens to like classical music, but simply doesn't understand what will sell and what will not.
Of course, the other side of the coin, certainly where vinyl is concerned, is that a collectible bargain pops up and is underpriced.

[Cockney Sparrow]

In the nearest Oxfam shop they have removed the sofa, then the easy chair, then a standard small table chair. So there is nowhere to sit and consider the books of interest. Also, there is nowhere to put a pile of books to stand and do the same - all spaces in the shop that don't have book racks have "product" -cards etc. I clear a space of the product to put books down on the windowsill.

The prices for CDs are, yes, it seems to me, a good 30%-50% too high. Books are by no means keenly priced. In a sense this is helpful because I should mostly stop buying both CDs and books. I did steadily complain over the price labels - they fragmented into 4 or 6 parts whilst spending my time removing them. I know they are an anti fraud (label switch) device but I regularly commented/complained that I shouldn't have to spend so much time removing them after I had paid a more than fair price. |After being told there was nothing a lowly shop manager could do, I suggested that I could write to the MD of the Oxfam shops if it would help. Probably a coincidence but the labels are now one part.

They also seem to have stopped using a pen detector for counterfeit notes when I gave them a £5, £10 or £20 note (avoiding credit cards for the confusion and chaos that often ensues). To make the point about what that conveyed to me - I examined my change carefully in return, including holding notes up to the light, looking for the silver strip etc.

They are always looking for volunteer shop workers - would I like to add my time to the gifted stock, some of it enhanced by gift aid tax refunds, and all at somewhat inflated prices? - err, no. The shop, which I presume pays reduced business rates, gave something away when the manager lauded their success in the local press- IIRC the annual profit was about £50- £60,000.
All in all, it doesn't leave me feeling very positive about the place (it helps in my need to reduce my visits to once a month or so) and it colours my view of Oxfam itself. I prefer to give to Medecin Sans Frontiere or Save the children.

(In the byeline of a poster on another forum - "Perhaps its just me...." ! )

[visualnickmos]

.....and it colours my view of Oxfam itself. I prefer to give to Medecin Sans Frontiere or Save the children.

After reading your post, much of which is my experience of Oxfam too, I fully concur with your last sentence.

[pastoralguy]

Feeling very smug this afternoon! Picked up a sealed Gergiev 'Walkure' for... £2.99 in a charity shop in Peebles.

Chuffed isn't the word.

(I put the odd penny in the box...)