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 don't think you did anything wrong. The person from the shop who commented on your post certainly did though, and I'd complain to the shop.

And I never understand why people buy things without trying them on in the shop.

Exactly this. Enjoy your £40.

I recognised the company because their shop was by somewhere I used to work. No way could I could afford £100s for a dress.

Even if you'd seen it, thought "that's way underpriced" and bought it with the intention of selling it for more, you'd have don't nothing wrong. Weird that so many people are angry about it tbh.

I used to work in a charity shop (think large global charity) and we had to google the price of everything and mark all items at least 50% of the RRP. It's not unreasonable to believe that the charity knew this was a higher value item and priced it accordingly. You bought it for the price advertised, it wasn't quite right so you sold it on. There's nothing wrong with that. You also openly stated on your ad that it was from a charity shop (which most people would not have done). The worker who commented on your post was out of line and unprofessional and it sounds like others are just jumping on the band wagon.

The charity shop got what they thought the dress was worth, the new buyer paid what she thought it was worth 🤷🏼‍♀️ you did nothing wrong, after all something is only worth what someone will pay for it

Delete the post and forget about it

I don't think you've technically done anything wrong but I do think that people routinely doing this is one of the things that is driving charity shop prices up in general making them unaffordable for people who might actually need to use them for financial reasons rather than for sustainability or enjoyment reasons. So I personally would have put the amount I paid on it and accepted that or less.

No-one lost out. The charity shop got £60, you got £40, someone else got a good dress for £100, no-one lost out. Least of all the local landfill which is where the dress could have gone otherwise. No-one knows how much the charity could have sold it for in the shop. They could have stuck a fiver on it and it might have been there for months.

Don’t be ridiculous.

You've not done anything wrong but it makes you look mean & uncharitable so not a good look imo.

Agree @PurBal , I'm a charity shop volunteer and don't have a problem with it either. Once I have put something out for sale at a price which we think is fair, I don't care who buys it, or what they do with it after.

In order to get another £5 or £10 or £40, I would have to photograph it, write a description, upload it onto Ebay or Facebook, deal with queries, arrange to be in at the time the buyer wanted to collect... it's a right pain in the neck.

She gave a charity £60 and helped them move on their stock. Hardly uncharitable. The dress was then her possession to do as she wanted with.

My local charity shop actually encourages people to do this. Their recent FB post said ‘eBay, Vinted, depop sellers please come to *”

Yes, my in-laws used to run a charity shop and they used to keep aside the more valuable donations to sell to dealers etc. DH used to help - the charity got a lot more money that way.

But there's nothing wrong with what the OP did either - the charity hasn't lost out.

You did nothing wrong OP. If your intention was to wear the dress I can’t see how anyone can complain. Charity shops should be better at giving refunds if they want to avoid this.

The woman who commented on your post deserves a complaint made against them, especially as they lied to make it look even worse. She was completely unprofessional, and plain nasty. Even if you had bought the shop to sell, how would she know that you weren’t doing it to pay for food for your children?

How is this driving up charity shop prices?

This. Weird behaviour on your part OP.

And I can guarantee if you’d found a tear in that dress they wouldn’t have refunded your money.

And I can guarantee they would, because charity shops have to abide by the Sale of Goods Act just like everyone else. And if something is not fit for purpose, the customer gets a refund. In fact, where I volunteer, we give refunds on request even though we don't have to.

Didn't take long for the sneering about charity shops and their volunteers to start.

I don't see an issue tbh. Reselling is a big business.

The charity got what they asked.

The women got the dress at the price she offered.

The dress was used and not binned.

And you made £40.

I'd see that as a four way win.

I just bought something from the charity shop for £10 and sold it for 50 on ebay.

I don't feel bad. Charity shop got that they wanted. Buyer got something for 50 that is usually double that and I made about 35 quid after postage. Everyone is happy.

Pretty sure fishnet tights have more than two holes

This is literally the basis of hundreds of businesses - the only thing I wouldn't have done in this situation is saying I'd bought the dress at a charity shop! Enjoy your £40

Why didn't't you try the dress on before you bought it?

You could at least give the profit back to the charity. So you don't lose money and they get a bit more.

Why do people keep saying that she should try it on?

Half the charity shops here (including the big clothes one) DON'T have try on facilities. Even the ones that use to some got rid of the cubicles to try things on due to shoplifters.

Is she suppose to strip off mid store?

I bought a paid of big brands shoes (similar to irregular choice) from a charity for £15, I usually dont pay more than £5 for shoes as Im disabled and my shoes break from dragging my limp. I knew they where £150 pair of shoes and I use to have the SAME pair a size smaller that I had grown out of and knew they wear REALLY well (I wore the other pair for 2 years without breaking).

I kept them for 10 years but only wore them 2-3 times at weddings etc... but as I'm a mam to 3 kids and no longer go out anywhere requiring fancy clothes so in my big spring clean in may I sold them on Ebay for £75... £60 more than I paid but the charity shop I bought them from went bust during covid lockdown and isnt even there anymore and frankly Im in no position to turn down money right now.

Just because I spent more than usual on shoes in a charity shop didnt in anyway mean I bought them to rip off a charity, I genuinly had nostalgia and knew it was worth the money but forgot Im old and boring with no life for 'fancy' stuff.