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DON'T KILL THE GOOSE WHICH LAID THE GOLDEN EGG

Dear Ed,

I heard on the radio this week that many charity shops have become far more sophisticated in the sorting and subsequent pricing of garments.

Partly to look for a shirt and partly to check this out, I stepped  into the British Heart Foundation shop in Folkestone's Sandgate Road.

Expecting the prices to be a little more expensive than when I last looked in one of these shops over a year ago, I was a little shocked when I saw the prices of the shirts.

As a rough guide in a charity shop, a basic shirt will set you back about three quid, but if it has a label with 'Gap', 'Next', M&S or Levis, you could be stung for between double and three times that basic shirt price, and it didn't seem to matter about the condition of some of these branded clothes.

Now you may think seven or eight quid is no big deal for a second-hand shirt, but when I later went  into the Edinburgh Woollen Mill shop in the town, I was able to buy a quality brand new shirt for just a couple of pounds more than the charity shop.

Although charity shop shoppers do help many deserving causes, for many of them part of the fun is snapping up a bargain.

If they can't do this anymore because the shops have become too savvy, I can't see shoppers continuing to shop there and the charities will inevitably lose out.

I know some people use them purely to help the charity, but I am sure the vast majority have other motives.

When charity shops first hit the high streets, local businesses complained that they were paying less for their high street presence with lower rates and were putting established stores out of business. If they continue on this current path, the established businesses will soon be able to turn the tables and start to undercut the charity shops.

J Cullen