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?

YY to the observation that people who are truly poor usually buy cheap new items, especially for their children.

@Clydesider

I thought buying something to sell on for profit on could make you liable for tax.

You are allowed to make £1000 a year I believe which similar to interest on savings before you are taxed.

Lots of charity shops don't have the time or resources to expertly value each item and then list them for sale online

True. I work in a charity shop. Also we don't get the "footfall" so to speak that eBay does. Often we know full well that an item would go for a lot more on eBay but as pp says, it's hard to do the joined up admin required when there's the shop to run as well. Loads of folks do it and charity shops don't mind. What is irritating is when people haggle to get the price down more, when you know it's a regular ebayer.

Yeah I have no time for the hagglers. Something priced at £20 - will you take a fiver for it? No, I won't.

We have a system of week numbers in our shop to help us keep track of how long something has been on sale for. Other shops do similar with barcodes or letter codes. One of my jobs every week is to go round the bric a brac and pictures with my red felt tip pen and half price anything which has been on the shelves more than 3 weeks, whether the original selling price was £1 or £50.

The really good stuff goes to an auction house and never hits the shelves at all. We have a good relationship with a local auctioneer which waives the seller's fees on things we give to them to sell. In the last couple of years we've sold an original painting which went for about £2k, various bits of jewellery, a couple of ceramic things and a victorian copper jelly mold which went for almost £200.

I find it deeply concerning that several charity shop staff are so disregarding of the views of those that donate to their shops

You do? So what would you like them to do....quiz people on their intentions towards every purchase? Show a bank statement to prove they are poor enough to be grateful for your cast offs? Sign a pledge of some kind to treasure your shite?

A thrift top can look great with a fresh pair of jeans, quality accessories and an expensive haircut. Head to toe, un-drycleaned or non tailored items made out of fabrics that need ironing, not so much.

I don't understand this, if I wear a River Island top then who's to know if I spent £20 in River Island or £3.50 in a charity shop? I bought a gorgeous winter coat two years ago for £18 which was originally from Monsoon, I'd never have been able to afford £100+ for a coat but I get loads of compliments on it.

I'm going to a wedding soon and so far have a dress which cost me £5, a handbag which was £4 and a hair accessory which cost me £3.50. I refuse to spend £50 on a dress I will never wear again.

@ManifestDestinee

I find it deeply concerning that several charity shop staff are so disregarding of the views of those that donate to their shops

You do? So what would you like them to do....quiz people on their intentions towards every purchase? Show a bank statement to prove they are poor enough to be grateful for your cast offs? Sign a pledge of some kind to treasure your shite?

😂

@ManifestDestinee

I find it deeply concerning that several charity shop staff are so disregarding of the views of those that donate to their shops

You do? So what would you like them to do....quiz people on their intentions towards every purchase? Show a bank statement to prove they are poor enough to be grateful for your cast offs? Sign a pledge of some kind to treasure your shite?

Well exactly.

People lose control over what happens to their donations when they drop them at the sorting room door. Whatever they think we should or should not be doing with their donations, or who they think should be allowed to buy them or not buy them, really doesn't matter because they relinquish all that power.

If there are people out there who really want to control who buys their items and what happens to their items, then they are of course free to sell on themselves, vetting the customers and donating their profits directly to the charity.

People lose control over what happens to their donations when they drop them at the sorting room door. Whatever they think we should or should not be doing with their donations, or who they think should be allowed to buy them or not buy them, really doesn't matter because they relinquish all that power.

I think lots of people are sentimental over their donations and overestimate their worth. You see it all the time on selling sites where people will charge a fortune for things they have made.

@LittleBiscuit09

Morally dubious.

Legally no.

Garbage!!! No dubious morals involved.

You legitimately purchased items at a price set by the shop. You're happy, shop is happy. What you subsequently do with the items is only your business.

This is what all traders do, buy cheap sell high. Keep the money and carry on. Well done you for seeing a good opportunity.

I agree, @slashlover. The number of times someone has handed over a bag of donations with some comment about it all being "really good stuff" or that we will make a lot of money from selling it... and it's really not.

We do not have the sentimental attachment and don't know the history, so we can be objective about its true value.

@NashvilleQueen

It's just not very nice somehow. Yes it's technically fine but charity shops find it hard and so buying something you know to be significantly under-priced so you can make a profit it just a bit grubby.

People who rely on charity shops because they can't afford new might like these items to use. They won't be able to afford the marked up eBay price.

Do what you think is right but I would just you.

Oh dear. The state of this. Well @NashvilleQueen, I'm sorry to say I'm one of those 'grubby' people making a profit from charity shop buys. In doing so, the charity shops get hundreds of pounds every month from me - how much do you donate from the dizzy heights of your high horse? Your concern for poor people is very touching, but there are plenty of reasonably priced clothes to go round, so I doubt that I'm depriving anyone of a decent outfit.

@BroccoliFloret

I agree, *@slashlover*. The number of times someone has handed over a bag of donations with some comment about it all being "really good stuff" or that we will make a lot of money from selling it... and it's really not.

We do not have the sentimental attachment and don't know the history, so we can be objective about its true value.

As soon as it hits our charity shop, even if it's BNWT, it will lose at least 50% of it's value. People in our area will not pay £7 for a top originally £10 even if it has never been worn. So people telling us that their coat cost them £200 3 years ago seem to think we'll get over £100 for it. We won't, we might get £20 if we get the right person but it will probably go for £10.

We were inundated with DVDs (people bringing in 3 or 4 boxes at a time) and were selling them at 10 for £1, a lot of them still had the sticker on the front saying £9.99 etc. People are less attached to DVDs so probably see that as sensible on our part. If you do that with clothes/bags/ornaments then people are up in arms as there is emotional investment.

Many people actually trawl charity shops for those expensive items that no one knows the value for.

A friends FIL is a taxi driver and does this between jobs. He's found paintings and all sorts of high value.

He always gets them valued and sold and then donates a good chunk to the charity he found it in.

There is nothing immoral about paying what someone is asking for a product.

I doubt that I'm depriving anyone of a decent outfit.

You're selling it on, so someone's getting it who wasn't at the charity shop. It may cost more than the charity shop price but it'll still be less than a new price, and I don't see why you should seek, source and list these things without being paid for your time and trouble.

@DrSbaitso

I doubt that I'm depriving anyone of a decent outfit.

You're selling it on, so someone's getting it who wasn't at the charity shop. It may cost more than the charity shop price but it'll still be less than a new price, and I don't see why you should seek, source and list these things without being paid for your time and trouble.

This is very true. Also, selling clothing on isn't the quick and easy money people seem to think. Laundering, mending/repairing if necessary, photography and the actual listing all takes time. I also renovate leather bags. I do it because I enjoy it and I want to give second hand goods a new lease of life. I've 'rescued' bags on the verge of being thrown out and sold them on at a good profit - only after thoroughly cleaning, polishing and re-stitching them.

selling clothing on isn't the quick and easy money people seem to think.

Of course it isn't! That's why most of us prefer to just give it away.

I have a very specific aesthetic to my dress sense. It's not to everyone's taste, but I like it. It's also not very easy to find. I've never had any luck in a charity shop, but I sometimes strike gold online. If someone makes these gems available to me when they wouldn't otherwise be, why should I not pay them a finder's fee?

@MissM2912

IntermittentParps It is irrelevant that they think it is ok- my personal opinion is it is in bad taste to profit personally out of charity shop finds. I work in charity senior management, so also have experience of the sector.

But in this case (and all cases where someone buys something from a charity shop, regardless of what they're going to do with it), the item DID raise money for the charity – the money the charity asked for it. And how do you define 'a useful way'? Why is a costume less 'useful' than a book (to take the OP's case) that for all we know might have been bought on eBay by someone who will love it? Or by them as a present for someone else who will love it? How is that not useful?

Worry not. Traders go round charity shops all the time exactly with that intention. The charity made money, you made money and everyone is a winner. Just don't tell your friends because judging by the AIBU/AINBU polls, about 7% of the population might not understand.

Personally I would donate a cut of the profit, just because I would feel guilty.

I work in charity senior management, so also have experience of the sector.

I wonder if PP has experience in an actual charity shop? I find that senior managers often have no clue what working on the shop floor is actually like. (Was also true in supermarket retail).

Do some people just not understand that in almost all cases, the charity simply cannot get the online price, and is happy to get the price it can get?

It won't sell for the online price in a bricks and mortar store with a limited number of viewers who are in there looking for stuff dirt cheap. If they aren't selling online, it's because it's not possible or time/cost effective to do so.

They are not being deprived of the higher price because it's just not something they can get with their selling platform. So they are happy to get what they can for it, and as the business model relies on stuff selling quickly, they'll make more if they can just keep shifting the stock. They're costing it in terms of money made in a week through stuff moving fast, not money made per item.

The fact that not a single charity shop worker on here has any issue with the practice surely proves that it does not in any way hurt the charity!

And they DON'T CARE if someone else made more from it with their completely different, time consuming selling platform. They're just glad to get what THEY could get for it!

DrSbaitso, I think it's more the case that people like trying to make themselves out to be morally superior, albeit in the face of actual charity shop staff patiently explaining why they really have no reason to.

Do you think all those celebs give their time for free at these charity events? Remember Terry Wogan was paid to present "Children in Need"