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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I've done nothing wrong by making money on a charity

433 replies

Thealarmhasgoneoffagain · 18/10/2022 16:11

I bought a dress for £60 in a charity shop. I didn't think many people would recognise the brand as it's locally made but it would have cost about £300 I think and would probably be a ooak. I'm asuming the charity shop knew this though because of the high price.

I bought the dress for me but it doesn't fit. I didn't want to get a refund from a charity shop but at that price I can't redonate it either. So I put it on my local FB page askimg for offers. I said it was from the charity shop but I didn't put how much I paid. If anyone asked I would have told them.

Someone offered me £100 and I accepted. They collected it and messaged me afterwards to say how happy they were.

Before I could remove the post someone commented that they worked in the shop and it cost £50. Now I'm getting lots of abuse about being greedy and ripping off the charity. The lady who bought it has put angry faces on it. I also have a couple of things on there for free and people have made nasty comments on those. I've removed all my posts now.

I don't feel bad about making money on the dress as that was never my intention. £60 was much, much more than I would normally spend in a charity shop and tbh I don't want to donate the £40. It was a proper charity shop, not one run by little old ladies who price everything at 50p because they don't know any better.

The lady who bought it, offered £100 and never asked how much I paid and was happy until she found out I paid less. I do feel bad that she won't enjoy the dress though as it's a beautiful dress.

AIBU for keeping the £40?

OP posts:
RewildingAmbridge · 18/10/2022 16:13

Why didn't you just advertise it for the price you paid if you just wanted your money back? Technically you've done nothing wrong. Not something I would do though.

BloodAndFire · 18/10/2022 16:14

This reply has been deleted

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PurBal · 18/10/2022 16:15

I know people who have side hustles based on buying cheap, steaming, taking nice photos and listing elsewhere. No I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. The shop knew it was valuable and listed it as such. They know they don’t have the breadth of targeting the market as the internet does. I used to work for a charity shop about 10 years ago (employed not volunteered) and I wouldn’t have had a problem, everyone is happy. Maybe try Vinted or similar next time.

PurBal · 18/10/2022 16:15

And in our shop everything was sold as seen, you couldn’t get a refund.

AnApparitionQuipped · 18/10/2022 16:16

The charity should have priced it at £100 if they wanted £100 for it. If it was £60 to start with they clearly recognised it was a designer label of some kind, because £60 is not on the charity shop scale for non-branded garments.

Cigarettesaftersex1 · 18/10/2022 16:16

Just remove the post, it'll be forgotten about soon

Discovereads · 18/10/2022 16:16

YANBU,
But this is why you should never ever sell through FB or disclose details such as buying something in a charity shop.

Set up a Gumtree, eBay or Etsy account under a nickname.

HappySalmon · 18/10/2022 16:17

Can you donate the extra money you made above £60 to the charity?

Fireballxl5 · 18/10/2022 16:17

OP charities don’t pay helpers, they don’t pay business rates and yet they run their shops like businesses. Their stock is mostly donations.
They are often competing with small businesses who have to pay wages and proper rates.
They made £60 without any costs to them.
And I can guarantee if you’d found a tear in that dress they wouldn’t have refunded your money.
Enjoy your £40.

PicaNewName · 18/10/2022 16:18

Of course you did nothing wrong, you bought cheap and sold dear, you don't owe the charity shop anything. Next time just don't put that in your advert.

Divebar2021 · 18/10/2022 16:20

Staff in a charity shop have the same access to the internet as the rest of the world… they can check brands and re-sale prices and price their stock accordingly. If you said you saw an opportunity to make a bit of money off a purchase I wouldn’t have judged.. there’s a whole industry of “vintage” sellers on Depop etc who scour charity shops for brands.

AnApparitionQuipped · 18/10/2022 16:20

HappySalmon · 18/10/2022 16:17

Can you donate the extra money you made above £60 to the charity?

Why should she? The charity could have priced it higher or put it to auction on eBay - they didn't. It doesn't matter whether the OP bought it to wear or to sell on - she has done nothing wrong.

I bought what I saw as 'a nice clock' in a charity shop for £2.50 and later discovered it was worth about £70. I've no plans to sell it but nor am I going to go back and give them £67.50.

user1471457751 · 18/10/2022 16:21

Why would you mention you got it from the charity shop and also invite people to ask how much you paid for it? It's like you wanted to cause arguments.

You haven't done anything wrong but people, particularly on fb groups, get uppity about the weirdest things.

TulipCat · 18/10/2022 16:21

You paid the required price in the shop. It probably wouldn't have sold in the shop at £100, so they made the best price they could within the limitations of their environment. They got £60 for their charity. There is nothing wrong in selling on. As PP have said, next time don't put the history in, just advertise it for what it is.

toomanyflapjacks · 18/10/2022 16:21

I'd have thought any good will (and thoughts of donating money) towards the shop by the OP would have dissipated in response to the charity shop volunteer commenting negatively on her marketplace post!

OP YANBU at all.

CredibilityProblem · 18/10/2022 16:21

If it's a cause you like then maybe you could split the profit with them. But they're no worse off than they would have been if you'd liked the dress and kept it. And better off than if you'd returned it - because they might not have resold it.

If you'd paid a fiver for something you knew was valuable and then resold it then you'd have been on morally shaky ground. But a relatively high price of sixty quid shows they've made an informed decision about what to charge.

Thesearmsofmine · 18/10/2022 16:23

YANBU I would actually complain to the charity about that person commenting the way they did.

toomanyflapjacks · 18/10/2022 16:23

Also- my local hospice shop has an ebay seller account where they list more valuable items. It's not beyond charity shops to do this!

RandomUsernameHere · 18/10/2022 16:23

YANBU at all, you've done nothing wrong! Also, people are missing the point that it takes time and effort to sell things. So if you'd sold it for what you paid you would still be out of pocket in terms of the value of your time.

vivainsomnia · 18/10/2022 16:23

Sorry I don't believe a minute that you bought it fir yourself. If it was a lot more money than you've ever spend in a charity shop, you would have tried it on.

I think you knew very well that you could make a profit and that's why you did mention the price.

Is this bad, I don't know, but pretending you had no intention of making a profit is hypocritical.

Metabigot · 18/10/2022 16:24

I've worked in charity retail for one of the well known national charities and the amount of money they spunked on management conferences, inflated salaries and unnecessary and excessive travel allowances..... honestly you have nothing to feel bad about.

WHEREEL · 18/10/2022 16:24

There is nothing wrong with how you handled the situation.

Whatsleftnow · 18/10/2022 16:25

Where I am the charity shops have regulars, trawling for things to sell on at a profit. It means that stock moves quite quickly which is what the shop wants.

Thesearmsofmine · 18/10/2022 16:25

Also for everyone who is saying she shouldn’t have tried it on, our local charity shop has one cubicle with a curtain that doesn’t pull across properly so the who shop(and those walking pst) can see you.

YellowTreeHouse · 18/10/2022 16:25

YANBU and I would also make a complaint about the charity shop worker.

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