Thinking Vinted will see Charity Shops out of business?

People have been using 'chazza' for years.

Our chazza shops are far too expensive now. I use vinted far more. Especially for 'new' items.

I’ve never bought or sold on Vinted, though my Dc do buy things occasionally.

I can’t be bothered with selling clothes online, so I prefer to take to a charity shop. We don’t have much now the Dc have stopped growing - DH and I tend to keep wearing things until they fall apart.

I occasionally buy from eBay, but much prefer physical shops, so I’ll look in the charity shops first. In the last few months I’ve bought 2 coats and a skirt, plus a pile of books from charity shops and a suit from eBay.

Personally I hate charity shops being overrun with “brand new without tags” tat that high street shops couldn’t sell.
One thing I like about charity shop clothing is you can see how well something has worn, I don’t want to buy brand new rejects.

Vinted really annoys me since they changed their listings to S,M,L etc rather than 10, 12, 14 - makes searching for say a size 12 much more difficult as it's now in with the 14s in 'M' and a lot of the listings don't even specify. No idea why they've gone down that route but it adds a whole lot of time searching. Apart from that I do love Vinted. My local charity shops are still busy though in general, though expensive.

Charity shops don’t do themselves any favours with the high prices they charge. They seem to forget that they are selling second hand clothes.

That said, I can’t be bothered either looking at or selling on vinted, and charity shops are a much easier way of getting rid of things.

The charity shops I go to are in an affluent area and are always busy when I go in. I buy nearly everything I need in there, both house stuff and clothes. Saves a fortune. I never buy clothes online as I need to try things on before I buy. And I enjoy a trip around charity shops, I don’t enjoy shopping online.

I'm not sure how sympatheticI am towards chazzas losing business because the profits aren't shared

100% of the profit of a charity shop
goes to the charity.

The entire purpose of a charity shop is to raise money for the charity. Charity law doesn’t allow them to do anything else.

Who do you think they should be sharing their profits with @Monty27?

maybe you could have sympathy with the charity beneficiaries who will lose out as a result of cuts in services e.g hospices that close, homeless shelters that close….

'Chazza'???? What a ridiculous word!

Its been a thing where I live for at least 15/20 years. Its not new.

I don’t think everyone is wedded to Vinted. I still prefer eBay. But with the COL crisis & a focus on sustainability I think there’s room for everyone.

And you typed it all out at 3am too!

@SunSparkle thank you for posting that, it was a very interesting read.

They will be facing the same pressure of other high street stores. Less footfall, online competitors, higher utilities costs, customers having less disposable income.

Plus -

Drop in quality of high street fashion affecting donation quality.

Less availability of experienced volunteers due to cost of living and need to stay on paid work/rise in retirement age.

No, the charity shops near me are very busy. Most are curated like boutique shops. One of them is the most successful in the country for its particular charity.

I have given thousands of pounds worth of stuff to charity. I can’t really afford to do that anymore because of low pay crisis. I now sell on Vinted and only stuff that doesn’t sell gets taken to charity.

I rarely bought at charity shops but I do buy from Vinted.

Some people like to browse in real time shops others not. But quite a few of the charities are going into Vinted or other online shops as well to ensure they are present in both environments.

I use a combination of both. I buy a lot of DCs clothes on vinted, but I am ridiculously shaped so need to try things on before I buy. I also like to feel and see the fabric before I commit to buy. The charity shops have got very expensive and there are some in town that I avoid completely now. I refuse to pay £15 for second hand Primark polyester.

Yes, agreed. I have always bought a mix of new and second hand, and used to buy really great quality things from local charity shops. I live in central London where there are lots of people buying quite expensive clothes and used to donate.

This is obviously not happening now as the clothes I see in my local charity shops are in poor condition and mostly very cheap brands. But the prices are stupidly high.

I sell on Vinted and donate to charity shops. Charity shops also sell items on Vinted and EBay so I’m sure they will survive.

I donate books to National Trust, I just take them along when visiting

I donate everything, I couldn't be bothered with selling. I think the customer base is probably different for buying.

I think there’s a market for both. I use both - as a buyer and seller/donator

Ha ha what? This is such a common term for charity shops!

I sell books on vinted, some charity shops dont take them anymore but ive never managed to sell any clothing so they go to the charity shop, i have to try everything on before i buy so i wouldn't buy clothes off it either.

There are lots of charity shops near me and generally they are really busy. They were absolutely rammed with customers before Xmas. I donate there, don’t have time or headspace for vinted. I donate a few bags every month and they always take them. I agree the quality isn’t always great in charity shops as people probably do sell online if they have time.

Thought it already was.. I say chazza