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

[Thealarmhasgoneoffagain]

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?

I remember a story about a kid buying branded sports wear from charity shops and selling it on eBay. So much vicious feedback about robbing charities! My
view is he robbed nothing; the additional money he made was attributable to his time spent searching and his knowledge of the items and market.

Why was it even a story? Loads of people earn money that way.

@ReneBumsWombats it was a few years back when it was maybe less common and he was about 15, so the journo angle was ‘enterprising child’ and it all backfired in the comments.

About 5 years ago, I bought my son a playmobil set 2nd hand from FB market place for £15. Ive just sold it on for £30. The set was immaculate, hardly played with and now discontinued.

Do I now need to find the woman I bought it off all those years ago and give her the £15 difference? She was happy with what she asked for, my son enjoyed the toy, I sold it on, buyer loved it and was happy for her £30 and my son got £30 to buy himself something he wanted. No one lost out!

OP you did nothing wrong. I buy and sell all the time in Vinted, I wouldn't think of asking sellers where their items have come from 🙄. If I like something, I pay the asking price.

@Duckytee and @Miffedandold I've reread my posts and can see why you called me out for being agest. I'm sorry. That was never my intention, I was clumsy with my words.

What I meant was...
The charity shop is a big chain so has the resources to gather knowledge, unlike a small independent charity shop which relies volunteers (whatever their age!) having the time and inclination to identify what can be sold for more.

There is a chain of charity shops in my region who are run by "little old ladies" and they are ruthless with amazing business accumin. They realised people were shopping for vintage stuff so opened a shop specifically to sell that type of donation. Similarly they have a shop specifically for children's wear and have kitted it out with a play area. They also have a designer store which is apparently very swish and an equally luxurious wedding shop where they have a link with a design school who upcycle the older wedding dresses into more modern/desirable items. All have their own branding. I don't shop with that charity much because they've become pretty expensive (I guess to pay for the above!) but their model is clearly working for them.

So yes, I'm sorry.

@Duckytee and @Miffedandold I've reread my posts and can see why you called me out for being agest. I'm sorry. That was never my intention, I was clumsy with my words.

What I meant was...

The charity shop is a big chain so has the resources to gather knowledge, unlike a small independent charity shop which relies volunteers (whatever their age!) having the time and inclination to identify what can be sold for more.

There is a chain of charity shops in my region who are run by "little old ladies" and they are ruthless with amazing business accumin. They realised people were shopping for vintage stuff so opened a shop specifically to sell that type of donation. Similarly they have a shop specifically for children's wear and have kitted it out with a play area. They also have a designer store which is apparently very swish and an equally luxurious wedding shop where they have a link with a design school who upcycle the older wedding dresses into more modern/desirable items. All have their own branding. I don't shop with that charity much because they've become pretty expensive (I guess to pay for the above!) but their model is clearly working for them.

So yes, I'm sorry for my clumsy wording.

They priced the dress at £60, extremely dear for a charity shop, so they obviously knew what it was worth...in a charity shop.

She didn’t put a price, the woman offered. Lots of people make money from charity shops. So what, good for her.

How ridiculous, you bought the item fair and square and it was yours to do what you wished with it, as you say it wasn’t a 50p charity shop you paid a fair price for it, not your fault if they didn’t price it correctly in the first place, ignore all the jobsworths who think you’ve done the wrong thing. Tell them to bore off.

Why should she??

WTAF! I haven't read the thread so apologies if this has already been mentioned, but SURELY that's against some sort of data protection...?

I'd look into that and threaten them with some sort of legal repercussion.

What an absolute cowbag commenting on your post (incorrectly) what you paid for it.

Either that, or PLEASE Just put a comment on saying "oh do fuck off everyone" 😂

assholes with nothing better to do with their time than stir up drama 🙄

Why would it be against data protection? OP said she got it from the charity shop, and the supposed charity shop worker just said how much they thought it was priced at. Nobody's personal data was exposed.

This! If it’s a big charity I’d be tempted to post what the CEO earns in response. I won’t donate to any big charity any more, I’ve seen what the money is really spent on.

I haven't read the thread so apologies if this has already been mentioned, but SURELY that's against some sort of data protection...

Yes, it's been mentioned.

It's not against data protection - buying something in public, in person, isn't protected - but it's definitely against social media/employment policy and OP should make sure the shop knows so it can take action to prevent a repeat. The staff member clearly doesn't understand how the shop works.

You have done nothing wrong. tbh I think the woman who works in the shop should have minded her own business! Nothing to do with the shop what you then do with it!

Not sure the lady in the charity shop should be posting how much you paid for it either ,

your only mistake was to sell locally and name the charity shop. there are many scouring these shops every day for stuff to sell on, and it's not a crime. BTW to the PP saying shops are 'rammed', I always wonder why they price stuff so high, surely a quicker turnover and more volume is better?

And obviously, she might have been offered less, and had to let it go for £20 or something. (According to the logic of many on here, the charity shop would then have owed her 40 quid . . . )

Especially when she got it wrong and said £50 instead of £60.

Is that a passive aggressive tone? 🙄😂 I said "some sort of data protection" as I clearly stated, I don't know what I'm talking about.

The shop worker, I'm pretty sure, will not be allowed to go onto a public forum and tell the world what she paid for it, but yes, she's not sharing her personal info, you are correct.

I was trying to be helpful and make the op feel better. Maybe try it sometime rather than pointing out misgivings in other people's posts 😂

I think it was bad of the charity shop to comment. I know loads of people who buy from charity shops and sell on places like vinted to make money.
No one ses business but your own.

Years ago, I worked near an Oxfam book shop. Because it was entirely dedicated to books, they often used to move donations from other branches there, because they knew serious book lovers would a) deliberately look there and b) be prepared to pay more for a valuable or rare book.

A colleague of mine used to regularly buy from and donate to the shop. He once donated a book about the railways that turned out to be very rare - which he found out when he saw it on sale for £80. He was angry with himself for not having researched it before giving it away, but all he could do was take a lesson from it. He was hardly going to ask the charity to give it back to him.

The same works in reverse. The shop OP used chose to sell the item for £60. Maybe now they know that someone would have paid more, they’re regretting selling it ‘cheap’, but they took the view that £60 was the right price; just as my colleague decided to donate without checking the value. The volunteer was being ridiculous to publicly criticise the OP.

As for the buyer’s angry face emojis, I wonder if she was angry at the thought of the charity losing out, or at the thought that she hadn’t got the bargain she thought she had, as she could have got it cheaper had she been the one to spot it in the shop. I know what my money’s on…

He once donated a book about the railways that turned out to be very rare - which he found out when he saw it on sale for £80. He was angry with himself for not having researched it before giving it away, but all he could do was take a lesson from it. He was hardly going to ask the charity to give it back to him.

Should have bought it back and resold for a profit.

The person who put that comment on the post was being incredibly unprofessional if she works in the shop. That's no different to you buying a dress for 50% off in New Look, selling it online for full price and then a New Look staff member commenting on the post.

And once bought, you can do what you want with an item, it's yours. I bet a lot of the people who commented on the post would have done exactly the same.

I ran an EBay shop doing this for years.
The charity wins,I win and the buyer wins.
I would report the charity shop worker and enjoy the £40