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'd be complaining to the charity about the woman who started the bloody hate campaign against you on the net. What a bitch.

OP, you did nothing wrong. Can't believe the volunteer was so unprofessional.

If only people were aware of the waste that goes on in the big named ones... they'd be extremely angry.

You've done nothing wrong OP.

You have profited from your knowledge (recognising the brand) and the time taken (by you) to advertise the dress, not from the charity shop.

@Stayathomenamechange err what part confused you? I literally said imo! Clearly people think similar hence why the OP started the thread 😆

@whitemats why would you not say you bought it in a charity shop?

I don't think you have done anything wrong do what you want with your money

No costs to them, apart from:

Rent on their premises
Energy for lighting and heating
Usually a paid manager
Insurance including public liability
Laundering costs

I’m not commenting on the rights and wrongs of keeping the profit, but a charity shop doesn’t run on fresh air.

So that someone else could buy it and resell it, and keep the profit for themselves?

YANBU. I've made a similar profit myself on an item. It hadn't sold in the charity shop for several weeks, so they reduced it to £5. I bought it, it was too big, eventually resold it for £50.

I buy most of my clothes and jewellery in charity shops and spend a fortune there plus donate loads, they're doing alright out of me.

It’s fine.

As you say, the fact they priced it at 60 quid means they recognised the label, they priced it for a quick sale presumably.

I've done this a few times but would never say it's from a charity shop, I just say 'used' and either good/very good/excellent condition. I've never made much profit, either way it's your money, the charity shop can price higher.

YANBU.
The charity made money from selling you the dress, and you made some money by selling it on.
Some people have a good side hustle doing just that.

I flip charity shop stuff all the time. If they only want ten pound for it, that's all they want. Chances are they wouldn't even listen to you if you tried to tell them it was worth more.

I collect a particular vintage item which shops are terrible at valuing. They're happy with their fiver. I can resell for £50-120 plus.

Personally I’d sell it for the price I paid.

Well yes, I thought this was a pretty common thing. My sister does it to supplement her minimum wage job. The charity got what they asked for it, so what's it to them what the buyer does with it afterwards? It's none of their business. I would lodge a complaint about the charity shop worker who commented on your listing.

I was going to say the same. Charity shop changing rooms are tiny little things too. I would never get undressed in one.

Loads of people flip charity shop stuff. Don't worry about it. It's not like you nicked it from the charity shop. They got what they were asking, you made money, it's a win win.

It says that she's a person who paid the asking price for a commodity.

You, on the other hand, are just a person who doesn't understand the business model of charity shops.

Charity shops get some new items free to sell. And they have internet access. Amazon sellers scout charity shops, and sell on their items. Charity shops get a lot of items stolen from bags dropped outside the shop. You did nothing wrong, but don't mention getting any thing from a charity shop. Always be some one jealous of your lucky find.

You've done nothing wrong. A lot of people on FB are a bit thick, just ignore them. My local FB is excruciating to read; it's like a time-warp to the 70s.

Did you get a lot of 'discustin' comments?

Why? The Charity was never going to get more than £60 for the dress because that was the price tag on it, she hasn't shafted them or taken money from them. People are so weird

You've done nothing wrong. I manage a charity shop and we fully expect that people will buy from us and sell on ... I have a dealer I sell directly to, obviously he needs to make a profit from what he buys. The person who commented was unprofessional though and that's very bad form.

But I agree with Pork Pie, there are significant costs involved in running a charity shop, which is why charity shops are closed down if they are unprofitable.

dawn We recently had an amazing donation of 10 boxes of brand new Nike trainers just left on the door step - thank goodness they weren't stolen .

@AryaStarkWolf I literally said the OP did nothing wrong but it's because of the optics hence why you have people telling her that on facebook! I'm not saying the optics are right or wrong just that they exist, do you understand that?

It doesn't make her look mean or uncharitable at all. And agree with others who've said that staff member was actually very unprofessional