Another Value Village called out for marking donations up to absurd prices

Value Village is again being blasted for overpricing its items after a customer at a Toronto store came across some scrap wood marked up to far more than it would cost brand-new at a lumber yard.

The thrift chain is among the brands that have come under fire lately for charging what residents feel is far too much for certain products, especially seeing as their stock is all pre-owned.

Value Village at Victoria Park Avenue & Eglinton Avenue East were recently selling donated dollar-store coffee mugs ($1 new) for $3.99.

— Kevin Edward Proulx (@kevineproulx) August 10, 2023

While some people have discovered Value Village pricetags covering up original stickers that show an item was somehow cheaper when it was first purchased new than it is at the secondhand store, others have just spotted random artefacts with ridiculous, objectively high prices while browsing — like in this case.

The location in question this time around is the VV outpost near the Stockyards around Keele Street and St. Clair Avenue W, staff at which for some reason decided to tape together two short pieces of 2×4 that were donated, and price them at $4.49.

An entire 8-foot-long 2×4, for reference, is $3.98 brand-new at Home Depot — a lower price for around four times the combined length of these two chunks, which one could consider someone else’s trash.

Timber at Value Village (Submitted/blogTO)

Submitted to blogTO by a reader, the wood is just one example of many now that Ontario consumers have become more discerning than ever, with the increased cost of everything forcing us all to keep more of an eye out for inflation and potential price gouging at all sorts of retailers — even the ones that are supposed to be especially budget-friendly, like VV.

Some cases in the grocery world have been blamed on increased costs on a retailer’s end or, at Value Village specifically, on pricing errors, but this one seems hard to justify.

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Though they were unable to comment on this matter, a representative for Savers — which owns Value Village — has told blogTO that employees at any given location determine pricing based on the quality and condition of objects they receive, along with the price of comparable items in the store and the range of product they have available in that department.

“Savers stores do not receive any items for free. Donated items are purchased from our selected nonprofit partners,” they add, also noting the coupons and other discounts that are extended to Super Savers Club members.

Annoys me every time I try to go to the Value Village near me. Insanely overpriced.

— Maria Shamim (@Mariaa_54) January 16, 2024

Ludicrously enough, the Stockyards Value Village isn’t the only store that has been accused of price-gouging for random lumps of wood — Loblaws was lambasted on social media for selling birch branches for $10 apiece over the holidays.