The charity shop in question wasn't selling stuff for $1000. I suspect you'd be hard-pressed to find something for $100. Of course this approach is open to abu

The charity shop in question wasn't selling stuff for $1000. I suspect you'd be hard-pressed to find something for $100. Of course this approach is open to abuse. But I suspect pricing was usually on the "low end of normal". There are multiple volunteers, all donating their time so the charity gets some income. I don't think there's much risk of there being excessive abuse. I'm pretty sure the IRS isn't interested. If the store wanted to give stuff away they could.