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?

Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should. If I donated something either with the intention of the charity making money or to benefit someone in need, I would be annoyed at someone buying it for personal profit. Vulture like.

@MissM2912

Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should. If I donated something either with the intention of the charity making money or to benefit someone in need, I would be annoyed at someone buying it for personal profit. Vulture like.

Most people donate stuff to charity shops because they can't be assed to flog it themselves. Seeing the piles dumped outside the shops in the early hours is proof enough of that. You are more than welcome to sell the stuff yourself and then donate the money to charity. You will probably raise more money too. Too much effort? Yeah, that is why people donate stuff to them.

@MissM2912

Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should. If I donated something either with the intention of the charity making money or to benefit someone in need, I would be annoyed at someone buying it for personal profit. Vulture like.

Give over it’s not bloody Jurassic Park

Give over it’s not bloody Jurassic Park hmm

Haha, that made me snort!

I often see a window display in charity shop windows that is obvious someone died and their loved ones just emptied their house into bags and boxes, and dropped it off.
There is one near me at the moment which is floor to ceiling Elvis Presley stuff.
It is charming that some people think others donate stuff to charity shops as some altruistic thing. Be honest, you can't be assed to sort through it and sell it yourself, and taking it to the tip seems in bad taste.
Ask anyone who works in charity shop.. they get given stuff that should be in the bin and incinerated for infection control.

Anyone that I know who gives stuff to charity shops is doing it with the intention of it being used to the benefit of either the charity or someone in need- otherwise you would just dump it!! I don’t know anyone who donates stuff with the intention of it being sold on for profit. There is a difference between buying from a charity like for example St Vincent de Paul and a second hand shop.

A very close friend of mine died of cancer last year- she specifically told me she wanted her clothes to go to Cancer Research to fund research. It was something that was really important to her in her final days. I know she would be upset that someone would profit in this way. As I said- not legally wrong but ethically so.

@MissM2912

Anyone that I know who gives stuff to charity shops is doing it with the intention of it being used to the benefit of either the charity or someone in need- otherwise you would just dump it!! I don’t know anyone who donates stuff with the intention of it being sold on for profit. There is a difference between buying from a charity like for example St Vincent de Paul and a second hand shop.

OP bought the items and paid for them. The charity did benefit from that.

@MissM2912

A very close friend of mine died of cancer last year- she specifically told me she wanted her clothes to go to Cancer Research to fund research. It was something that was really important to her in her final days. I know she would be upset that someone would profit in this way. As I said- not legally wrong but ethically so.

If your friend's clothing was sold by the charity shop, then how does it matter what happens once the money has changed hands? The person who bought the clothing could be wearing them, selling them on, giving them away, burning them, cutting them up to reuse as something else... anything. Maybe someone buying from a charity shop and reselling at a profit is in dire straits themselves and needs the money.

My mum's dear friend left a vintage leather jacket when he died that she sold for good money on eBay, which she donated to the hospice he spent time in. If she had given it to a charity shop, it would have made that same hospice about £5, if it sold.

All being said, I am sorry you lost your friend.

This. In spades!

The items were most likely donated by someone hoping they would raise as much money as possible for charity/ possibly one that was especially important to them. Maybe Macmillan nurses looked after a family member, maybe action for children provided counselling for a bereaved child, maybe PDSA provided emergency surgery they otherwise couldn’t have afforded for a beloved pet. You don’t know- and really if you can make further money you should give it to the charity if you can.

I say Fair play to you

@MissM2912 you don't know much about large charities and the way they're run if you think they're all ethical.
I find most large charities and their shameless begging abhorrent.
My df is 90.
He's inundated with charity begging letters.
My dsis works in charity shops. She actually gave a customer £5 of her own money after a pressure cooker they'd bought didn't work and the shop refused to refund the customers money.
The customer was distraught because they couldn't afford to lose the money but the charity shop manager was intransigent.
Self employed businesses with families to keep have to compete on the high street with charities that don't pay the same taxes or staff wages.
Imo other than Christmas cards they shouldn't be allowed to sell new items.

[quote Debetswell]@MissM2912 you don't know much about large charities and the way they're run if you think they're all ethical.
I find most large charities and their shameless begging abhorrent.
My df is 90.
He's inundated with charity begging letters.
My dsis works in charity shops. She actually gave a customer £5 of her own money after a pressure cooker they'd bought didn't work and the shop refused to refund the customers money.
The customer was distraught because they couldn't afford to lose the money but the charity shop manager was intransigent.
Self employed businesses with families to keep have to compete on the high street with charities that don't pay the same taxes or staff wages.
Imo other than Christmas cards they shouldn't be allowed to sell new items.[/quote]
There was an elderly lady in my hometown who took her own life after being inundated with begging letters and phonecalls from charities :(

@MissM2912

Anyone that I know who gives stuff to charity shops is doing it with the intention of it being used to the benefit of either the charity or someone in need- otherwise you would just dump it!! I don’t know anyone who donates stuff with the intention of it being sold on for profit. There is a difference between buying from a charity like for example St Vincent de Paul and a second hand shop.

I work in a charity shop and A LOT of people donate instead of just dumping their stuff. I'd say at least 30% of our donations are absolute rubbish.

Would you rather the resellers didn't buy anything and it just sat on a shelf for months or was sold to someone else for less money?

I think it's unethical tbh, but a lot of things in life are. I also think there's a problem with charity shops employing volunteers who can't correctly value/price things up in the shop - so things like this happen and people buy the stock cheaply and sell them for more.

Not only is is not wrong, as the charity store is still getting it's cut first, loads of us do this as a side hustle.
I love exploring second hand shops, and getting great deals. I also like reselling at a better price. I have an eye for quality, and timeless pieces. Why not sell them on to someone who will treasure them?

@Bumbl

I think it's unethical tbh, but a lot of things in life are. I also think there's a problem with charity shops employing volunteers who can't correctly value/price things up in the shop - so things like this happen and people buy the stock cheaply and sell them for more.

I don't think volunteers have the time or inclination to be looking up the potential resell price of every item that gets donated. A lot of people volunteering in charity shops might not be able to hold down paid work. Or they are retired and want to fill their day.

This is absolutely fine to do. I think that much of the clientele of charity shops is shopping there for precisely this purpose, and I agree with the PP who called it a win-win-win. It's part of the business model of the charity. Not morally dubious at all.

Yes I agree with you - I'm not saying they are intentionally making a mistake or just putting any price they fancy on.

But I guess it's the charity's decision to use volunteers rather than paying staff, and again it's part of the 'is this ethical?' conversation around charity shops.

Would it be better to pay wages and then get slightly more money per item? Or is it not worth their while.

@Bumbl

I think it's unethical tbh, but a lot of things in life are. I also think there's a problem with charity shops employing volunteers who can't correctly value/price things up in the shop - so things like this happen and people buy the stock cheaply and sell them for more.

Depends what you mean by "correctly value", we might know that something is worth £50 but we also know our customers and that we might only actually get £30 for it in our area.

I'll give you an example - sometimes we get cots donated, lovely wooden ones which probably cost well over £150 new. We can't even get £40 for them, most of the time we'll get £20 max. Now, a lay person may come in and see a cot priced at £20 and think we haven't priced it correctly and don't know what we're doing when we actually know our customers exactly.

I think it's ok but I wouldn't do it myself. I guess if I was really skint I might do it though.

Yes I should have made it clearer - when I said volunteers 'can't correctly value' stuff I didn't mean because they don't know how to etc. I appreciate that most will know their stock and customers well.

I guess in a lot of shops if something was priced at its 'correct' value a lot of people would say 'this is way too expensive for a charity shop'.

I guess in a lot of shops if something was priced at its 'correct' value a lot of people would say 'this is way too expensive for a charity shop'.

We've had several things we've priced accordingly then had to drop when they didn't sell especially ornaments, glassware, electronics etc.

I buy from charity shops, auctions, car boot sales etc for things I want for myself or family members
I also buy things to sell for a profit
Sometimes the things I buy from aforementioned are unwanted or I get bored with so sell on
I’m also the CEO of a charity that doesn’t have charity shops or online selling but I donate my time n money to them in other ways
Maybe if I didnt wheelman deal I couldn’t fo thus

It's not a big deal.
I sometimes buy things, use them for a while, then sell them on for more than they cost.
Nobody has to buy them; they do because they're happy with the item and price.