Anyone been to Value Village lately (Canadians)

[lottaLove]

I haven't been back to VV since about a year ago. I was looking for baby clothes and the prices were down right ridiculous. Walmart, Zellers and even Loblaws are cheaper for brand new than VV was for used.

[KennKonn]

We dont have a VV here.... we have a second hand store run by the women's shelter. 90% of the volunteers are old women and one old man...who think that everything is theirs out of their closet (and pockets)...dirty out of style yet they want close to new prices. My issue is nothing is priced...depends which old lady you go to to what you get for prices, if there was a sign that same kids newborn- size 4 jeans $1 Size 5-16 is $2 then fine you know what you are paying.

They have decided Tupperware is a great seller so they have that marked through the roof....yet I bought 8 glasses there two weeks ago for $1 and checked on ebay...they are going from about $40 and up.

Its all donated...fill the shelves, fill the hangers and fill the bookcases and sell it reasonably. If you get a $1 for something its more than you had leaving it hang of the shelf. I will not spend $5 on a coat for my kids that I don't know if the zipper is going work...$2 I would take the chance. Their back room is so overfull they will never get it all out, they take the stuff off the top and all the "old" donated stuff goes to the bottom. I drove down the back alley yesterday and you should have seen the mountain of donations that came in over the weekend....and the shelves are empty in the kitchen and book rooms.

The second hand store my mom goes to by her place has black garbage bag sales...anything you put in there for $10 as long as you can carry the bag out. IF you wanted to fill it full of clothes then you fill it full of clothes. They have beautiful clothes, lots of name brand with tags. My kids would have grown up naked if not for my mom.

[dinah]

the vv's here are not so bad. sweaters seem to be between $6.99 & $8.99. jeans are probably $10 and up. i do find their shoe and book prices to be absolutely insane though. like $20 for used shoes (which are cheaper brand new!) and $2-$3 for a 10 year old book? crazy.

i've found you really have to look for nice quality merchandise that isn't priced high.

we've had better luck at the salvation army store which is right by our house.

ETA: not everything is donated in VV stores, they do buy some things. in winnipeg here canadian diabetes and the cerebral palsy association go around picking up donations and then sell them to VV based on size and weight. VV doesn't pay much for the items, but they are still paying for them, enough to make it feasible for the diabetes and cerebral palsy associations to have done this for years.

[frugalcdngal]

Oh yeah, the prices are insane!!! I check in the one near me about once a month. I think it is disturbing what they want for used stuff. I can get better prices on brand new stuff at the mall.

Goodwill is no better. I find that the Salvation Army and no name thrift stores are still the best price wise.

I feel very bad for people who feel they have to shop there, who would be better off buying things on clearance or off of kijiji.

[QM]

I don't shop at VV for that very reason...prices are way to high. I also never can find anything at GoodWill, plus I don't like the smell of the store or the fact that everything is so disorganized.

I buy our daughters' clothes from The Children's Place when they have their 50% off the lowest ticked price, their $5.99, $3.99 and $2.99 sales. I buy for the next year and plan accordingly. They have brand new, amazingly cute clothes for way less than VV sells clothes for.

My clothes I buy on sale at various stores...Reitmans, Wal-Mart, etc. I don't buy clothes very often though. I look for sales and often buy for the next year ahead like I do for our girls.

DH buys majority of his clothes from Wal-Mart. He gets two pairs of pyjama bottoms at Christmas every year from my parents. When he needs dress shirts we wait until the men's dress shirt sale at Sears that they have every so often. I think it's like 40% off the lowest ticketed price. You have to weed through shirts, but I have no problem with that. Especially since everything is a lot cheaper and brand new! When he needs a new suit or two, we go to Tip Top Taylor's and look for sale items.

We don't always get sales, but I do my best!

[Daisygirl]

I only go to VV when they are having sales or when I am looking for something specific.

There is a St Vincent de Paul in a nearby town - their prices are AWESOME!!!

[frugalfranny]

There is a St Vincent de Paul in a nearby town - their prices are AWESOME!!!

But it isn't just the VV in Canada...........the one near me is ridiculous too.

I agree about the ST V de Paul..............I was sad when ours closed down. It was a "junkier" or messier store but the prices were great. You did have to really look everything over for flaws.

ALL the TS here are a real hit and miss anymore..........seems like it depends on who was doing the pricing for the day.

[thevillage]

i go there for books mostly, they have an excellent selection for cheaper than any used book store around toronto

[mh3rdwheel]

I have never been to VV Canada how do you go there, I might like it.

[Sophiasmama]

I also go for the books...they were selling stained kids pants for 6.99 in one of the Edmonton locations...it was empty when we went too.

[marmaloonbabushka]

I go sometimes, the problem is there prices are too high, and you have to pay taxes. Salvation Army has no sales tax. It makes for an easy decision. Also Value Village do not accept returns for cash value.

[strezzed]

Lately, I've only been going during their 50% off sales. Yesterday, I went in to get a couple of tops for work and spent $18.06 (incl. tax) for 2 tops. That's ridiculous!

[frugalcdngal]

I stopped going there. The prices are more than new retail. I think people think it must be cheap because it is thrift.....you really have to know your prices.

[frugalwarrior2]

I havent been recently because its on the edge of a much worse area than I care for and sometimes it just smells BAD! Plus the night crowd is scary.
And more than once I had found gross things there.

[Karma]

I used to love the VV in Michigan and always used to find great clothing for my kids. The last 2 times I went the selection was iffy and the prices went way up, ridiculous now