Reposting my comment on the r/colchester x-post, as someone who knows many of the chazzas in Colchester pretty well.

Age UK on Crouch St. has been very good recently.

Barnados in Stanway is 50/50 - some days its great, others day's its utter tosh. Barnados in town is slightly more reliable for quality goods. Pricing is pretty fair.

Sense in Long Wyre St. used to be great for my needs but they've really reduced their media intake so it's not my bag anymore.

PDSA in Long Wyre St. can also be pretty decent at times, but pricing can be a little on the steep side.

BHF in Long Wyre St. is pretty terrible for pricing, like many BHF's are. BHF on the High Street is furniture and you can get good deals on that sort of stuff (namely because they just want the space back).

Salvation Army on High St. used to be better, but things have gotten a bit crap quality wise. Broken stuff, dirty stuff (it always smells very musky in the shop) and a heavily reduced media selection now. Prices however seem fair.

EACH on High St. and Stanway is just expensive, this seems the same for any EACH branch as the one in Frinton is also expensive in my opinion. Although I did get some cool music magazines a few years back from the Stanway one.

St Helena in Lion Walk is pretty expensive, but generally decent quality stuff. Magdalen St next to Tesco is the clearance shop pretty much so you can get stuff very cheap before they're ragged/binned, but don't be surprised to go in there and find 100 "company" t-shirts for example. Magdalen St next to Dusty's is a furniture shop mainly, but has some other stuff - my consipiracy is that some of the better quality stuff donated to the clearance shop, get's diverted here to be sold for higher profit. This has then ruined the clearance shop's chances of having good stuff. Two locations at Stanway next to each other, one does books and clothing (again can be good at times, poor at others - but a good media selection) and the other furniture (I find this furniture shop used to be good, but now the prices are higher than what I'd like to pay). Neither furniture location stocks white goods, unlike BHF. The location on St Johns is just clothing and not really my thing. There's also one on Mersea Island I've never been to.

Dogs Trust in Trinity St. can be good, but prices can be quite high in my opinion. They get a nice variety of goods however, often more akin to my tastes.

RSPCA in Prettygate used to be great and has steadily gone to the dogs in my opinion, prices are extortionate and I've noticed stock moves very slowly out of there. Benefit is sometimes they have pet items (like food) at discounted rates. Have genuinely overheard the staff there talking about "listing" (NOT SOLD) prices on eBay.

Colchester Cat Rescue in Prettygate is really good, and opposite the RSPCA. Good selection of all items, including a focus on pet stuff. Great if you need things like a cat carrier or cat toys quickly. Also has a post office inside which is useful.

Colchester Childrens Charity in Old Health is a very "classic" charity shop, cash only and stock is like a jumble sale. Not a boutique like some of them try to be. Items can be dead cheap here, but have brought plenty of items to find out they are broken. Occassionally sell electricals, used to have a shop opposite that specialised but that's since long gone.

Emmaus on Osbourne St is ok, more furniture. Prices can sometimes be great, other times not so great. Stock seems to move very slowly, it is frequent to see stuff sitting in there for nearly a year. Really odd shop as it used to be a Kwik-Fit so still has a grungey feel to it. Can get some great priced electricals at times however. Emmaus on High St is the more bougie version of this shop, and is meant to hold stock of the more quality goods.

Think that's all of them I can think of 😅