Yes, I definitely think it's a bad strategy for Oxfam in terms of PR. People that give to (and buy from) Oxfam shops do so not only because it's easy and cheap and because of the overall end cause but because of that inherent belief in charity's general 'niceness'. If it gets out (as clearly it already is starting to) that the Oxfam bookshops are working to some sort of Starbucks model of market domination, i.e that they're not as nice as they might seem, then I reckon they might see donations drop and additional questions asked.
(It makes me wonder, actually, how the development of the 'Traid' Oxfam brand for fancier/designer clothes than are usually sold in its shops has affected independently owned boutiques. One would hope that there is a difference between what each shop would get and sell - i.e I'd separate out my great books and clothes to sell cheaply to a boutique/bookstore and my not-as-great ones to give to charity, but maybe not.)
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Date: 2010-02-22 11:50 am (UTC)(It makes me wonder, actually, how the development of the 'Traid' Oxfam brand for fancier/designer clothes than are usually sold in its shops has affected independently owned boutiques. One would hope that there is a difference between what each shop would get and sell - i.e I'd separate out my great books and clothes to sell cheaply to a boutique/bookstore and my not-as-great ones to give to charity, but maybe not.)