Aibu to make money from a charity shop purchase?

[Partnerprobs]

Recently went to a charity shop and found a couple of items for sale that I liked and were in very good condition. A handbag and a book. Both were in a locked cabinet. I bought them for £25 in total and have sold them on eBay for £75 and £34 pounds, so I’ve made about £84 (less eBay fees which I haven’t seen yet)

My best friend was really shocked and said it’s like stealing and I should donate the money to the charity - this has surprised and unnerved me as I thought it was fine (as they were in the cabinet so had been picked as higher end items, and also they were more expensive than normal items)

I thought it was a lucky break and was looking forward to treating myself.

Aibu?

The thing is as well, whoever donated the items will have known what their approximate value was and would have donated them with the view that they were donating either roughly that value (or at least a decent amount of cash roundabout that value).

Ie: If I donated a bag that I knew would get at least £100 on eBay, then by donating it to the charity shop, I would presume that I was donating roughly £50 worth of proceeds or thereabouts. When in fact, it was much less than its value

*much less than 50% of its true value. Would the person donating still have donated if they'd known? Probably not!

YANBU. You paid the asking price, and the charity got their money. What you do with the items is entirely up to you. Boggles my mind that anyone would think this is stealing.

I never find anything decent in charity shops.

Once OP has bought them they are hers do do as she wishes so doesn't really matter if she sold them for a £1 or £100 or kept them for that matter. The £25 that they cost probably went towards the CEOs big fat pay cheque anyway

@Boredmotherofone

*much less than 50% of its true value. Would the person donating still have donated if they'd known? Probably not!

If you want to be sure that a certain amount of money goes to a charity, sell the item and donate it yourself. Otherwise, you accept that the charity will be doing the selling and accept what it thinks is acceptable.

@Boredmotherofone

The thing is as well, whoever donated the items will have known what their approximate value was and would have donated them with the view that they were donating either roughly that value (or at least a decent amount of cash roundabout that value).

Ie: If I donated a bag that I knew would get at least £100 on eBay, then by donating it to the charity shop, I would presume that I was donating roughly £50 worth of proceeds or thereabouts. When in fact, it was much less than its value

Years ago, I donated a load of clothing including Karen Millen and All Saints stuff (didn't have the time or energy to eBay). We had a letter from the charity saying our 2 bags of clothing had raised just over £20. Some people got an absolute bargain it seems (if the stuff even made it onto the shop floor). I would not be surprised if they went on to eBay their bargains.

I don't ever presume charity shops would price stuff accordingly. They sell Primark and supermarket brand stuff at near enough new price where I live.

I am a reseller and also volunteer in a charity shop (they know what I do!). The charity shop don't care who buys their stuff and what they do with it - they only want a quick turnaround and to meet targets. If they sold everything at the prices they might go for on eBay they'd be waiting a long time!

In our shop items go out for a few weeks and then if unsold go onto a sale rail and then if they don't sell again they are given to the rags man etc.

We actually love resellers coming in as they tend to boost profits massively as they're buying in bulk rather than a few quid here and there.

@BroccoliFloret

The ethical thing would have been to donate the profit to charity, or to have told the shop manager of the market price possible for the items

That's more than a little patronising.

Managers in charity shops are, by and large, clued up about what things sell for. They know what they can get for an item in their particular shop. They know what they can get for it on Ebay. They have made the decision, based on dozens of factors which nobody here knows about, that it's better to sell it for £25 in the shop than £70 or whatever online.

Managers really don't need well meaning customers pointing out their "mistakes", many of which probably aren't mistakes.

This exactly.

It's fine. Charity shops want to get the money, they aren't about getting the highest price. I saw a brand new pair of Irregular Choice shoes in a charity shop for... £5! Went in and had a chat with the manager, told her she'd get more like £80 on EBay. She said that they really just want to get the items sold and it's fine if someone gets a bargain or sells on as far as she's concerned. She wasn't set up to do on-line auctions. I gave her £10 and sold them on Ebay for £85.

Before someone jumps on saying how immoral and I should have take my ill gotten gains to the shop - I really needed the money, it was an absolute godsend at the time. If you buy stuff to wear, use or sell I think it's perfectly fine.

I stopped selling on eBay because it took too long, selling prices were unpredictable, I had to bother with p&p costs and logistics and there were selling fees. Much better to sell stuff easily and quickly at a fixed price. If any of my buyers were prepared to do the work and faff that I wasn't to get a bit more cash for the stuff, I honestly didn't care. I'd got rid of the stuff and got the money I'd wanted.

I don't do it, it's similar to buying gig tickets and selling them on at an inflated price, which doesn't sit well with me morally.

DH took donations to a charity shop and came back with s candle in a pot, boxed and sealed. He paid £25 for it. It was not my taste at all, it was oink and I only like cream candles. D H knows this so I queried why he bought it. He said the assistant in the shop said it was worth a lot of money and he should buy it.
I looked online and sure enough, identical ones were selling for over £120. I put it on ebay and it sold for £80. It was bought by the proprietor of a gift shop in Cornwall, I imagine it would be sold at profit.

If they sold everything at the prices they might go for on eBay they'd be waiting a long time!

Well, several charity shops near me run eBay shops for donations which they judge will fetch 'vintage' or antique prices. And one of the managers is extremely canny & knowledgeable. I heard him give quite a definite response to a shopper who tried to bargain a price down - he mentioned that they didn't price things so others could sell them on for profit. He knew what she was trying to do ...

And I agree with him. The thought that people - not the charity - try to make money out of donations is a bit repugnant.

@KaycePollard

If they sold everything at the prices they might go for on eBay they'd be waiting a long time!

Well, several charity shops near me run eBay shops for donations which they judge will fetch 'vintage' or antique prices. And one of the managers is extremely canny & knowledgeable. I heard him give quite a definite response to a shopper who tried to bargain a price down - he mentioned that they didn't price things so others could sell them on for profit. He knew what she was trying to do ...

And I agree with him. The thought that people - not the charity - try to make money out of donations is a bit repugnant.

Yes some charity shops have eBay stores as many of them do know the value of the stuff they're selling. Some charity shops don't have eBay stores though, and they just want to sell stock on quickly.

Most people don't go into charity shops wanting to spend £20 upwards on a single item, regardless of what it is.

My shop manager is very savvy and knows exactly what she's doing also. She also has strict targets to reach.

She doesn't see resellers as 'repugnant' at all. Rather she sees them as helpful to the charity.

Do you think a charity shop prefers one person who comes into the store and spends £5 or the reseller that comes in and spends £100?

The charity shop is still getting the money for the item regardless of who buys it and what their intentions are.

I think what you did was really exploitative and not something I would do personally.

Resellers are helpful as they keep things moving or charity shops would run out of space if people just bought the odd item, that stuff that OP bought could have sat there for ages and might have had to be reduced

@MissM2912

I think what you did was really exploitative and not something I would do personally.

’exploitative’ ?

What tosh

How exactly is it not exploitative?? She used someone’s good will to her own advantage? Textbook definition of being exploitative. The shop presumably sold the goods thinking for personal use and not to be flogged on eBay at a profit.
They may well not care but the nice thing to do would be to donate the profit back to charity.

I also personally don’t donate clothes to charity shops on the basis that they will make money- but that someone in need and with limited money is able to buy clothes.

She used someone’s good will to her own advantage? Textbook definition of being exploitative. The shop presumably sold the goods thinking for personal use and not to be flogged on eBay at a profit.

The person gave the item so the charity shop could get the money, op did that. What happens after that transaction the shop won't care about and is not their business, they got what they wanted in terms of money.

I do this all the time.

@daisyjgrey

I don't do it, it's similar to buying gig tickets and selling them on at an inflated price, which doesn't sit well with me morally.

But people doing that are depriving others from buying the standard price tickets. Buying from a charity shop is not depriving anyone. The shop got their money, and that is what matters.

It’s distasteful. Would it be ok if you bought something from a friend or family member and then did this?
As I said legally- fine, ethically no, and would really put me off someone.

@MissM2912

How exactly is it not exploitative?? She used someone’s good will to her own advantage? Textbook definition of being exploitative. The shop presumably sold the goods thinking for personal use and not to be flogged on eBay at a profit. They may well not care but the nice thing to do would be to donate the profit back to charity.

The shop doesn't think about how the person purchasing is going to use the item. The shop cares about hitting sales targets and getting as much money as possible - pricing items extremely highly does not to that. The bag could has sat there for a month priced at £50, or the shop could have used that space to sell 6 bags at £20 each.

I see things undervalued in a charity shop and I let them know, backing it up with online evidence on one occasion so I think it's a bit off tbh.

We get people 'helping' us with that as if we are too stupid to use the internet or ask others/google for info,. Example - a bag we had recently. We're not allowed to send it to the eBay team as no way to check it's authenticity. We had it out for £50 - not a sniff, £35 - nothing, £25 - someone came in and told us it was worth £50. FFS.

@MissM2912

How exactly is it not exploitative?? She used someone’s good will to her own advantage? Textbook definition of being exploitative. The shop presumably sold the goods thinking for personal use and not to be flogged on eBay at a profit. They may well not care but the nice thing to do would be to donate the profit back to charity.

I don't recall seeing signs in charity shops saying you are not allowed to resell items you buy. I have seen it in places like scrapstores (pay a set fee for a basket or trolley you can fill with stuff), and things like clothes swaps (where you pay a £ to get in and can take all the clothing home you can carry).