Gijs,
British charity shops are strange.
Some pay no rent and half business rates. So all we have here now are restaurants, betting shops and charity shops, plus a few surviving stores. The internet has destroyed our high street.
I have donated el cheapo binoculars with minor faults back to the charity shops.
I bought ten radio controlled new projector thermometer clocks for £2 each. They are accurate to better than 1 second. Dotted all around for astro timing.
A professional model maker died quite old. He supplied RAF museums. His widow gave 700 plastic model aircraft mainly 1/72 scale to the furthest charity shop, which was difficult for me to reach.
I bought 300 and made about 25 trips, carrying them back in cardboard boxes. The charity shop staff and customers damaged 300 or 400. They are delicate. The staff were amazed when I could say "No, I have got that one".
I regret not buying a large one in glorious colours. I can only not identify one Japanese floatplane.
150 are displayed in a glass cabinet. The rest still in boxes.
As an aside, I spent 7 years free hard labour running a flat management company.
The unbelievable number of edicts from Brussels, many conflcting, make running such a company impossible unless you break the rules, many of which are mad.
The fire officers instructed us to dispense with the 6Kg fire edxtinguishers in the hallways as we were told the firemen would save us. We ignored their advice and have fire extinguishers. We have emergency lighting. I have many fire extinguishers, fire blankets and smoke and CO detectors.
There is full emergency signage. Every time I see a door kept open I close it.
Thieves walk off with fire extinguishers, so we paint them all with big letters now.
Modern life is fraught with problems, many of our own making.