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?

The charity shop priced it and got the money they asked. You made a mistake in saying where you'd acquired it. The buyer offered the price she was prepared to pay.

@AryaStarkWolf But it does to some, did you not read the OP or the thread? I mean I can see different opinions but maybe you can't... That's my point.

Echoing all the people who have said you’ve done nothing wrong. You paid what they asked and what you decide to do with it then is up to you. How many times do we get told on here that charity shops are businesses? They should have done their due diligence when pricing the dress. The woman claiming to eh from the shop can piss right off. This is also the reason why I refuse to sell stuff on FB, there is always that one person with too much time on their hands ready to pounce or cause hassle.

I know someone whose mum volunteers in a charity shop the amount of branded nice stuff she manages to nab for her at rock bottom prices is unbelievable and yes she does know that the handbag she is paying pennies for is worth over £70 new, and yes the volunteers always get first dibs, in this particular shop at least. Enjoy your £100 and pay them no mind.

You haven't done anything wrong . Your mistake was to post where the dress came from etc... nobody else's business if you ask me. The charity shop made money,the lady who bought it got a bargain and you got your money back plus the time spent to advertise it etc... Even if your intention was to make money off it,so what? Take note from Metabigot reply above.

I’m a volunteer in a charity shop. The shop got £60 and was happy with it. We’re aware that people hope to get bargains to sell on. We know the prices we can achieve in our area, sometimes we can get more on ebay selling to a wider audience. But that is slower than putting it on the shop floor. If a customer pays the asking price, then makes a profit, fair enough.

You made a mistake in saying where you'd acquired it.

@bellabasset why was it a mistake?

Your mistake was to post where the dress came from etc..

@windmill26 why was it a mistake?

To me this is the same sort of thing as people who buy concert tickets and then sell them for more than face value , or buy the must have Christmas toy in bulk and sell it on for twice the price so it doesn’t sit right with me . Technically you’ve not done anything wrong but I wouldn’t be comfortable with it myself .

Lots of people make money by buying and selling for a profit from charity shops. Take the crazy lamp lady on YouTube for example.

I do think that you should report the behaviour of the charity shop manager to the charity as it harassment clear and simple!

The lady who worked in the charity shop commented on OP's ad, so chances are that where it had originally come from would have been revealed anyway.

Once you have bought it it's yours you could sell it for whatever you want to if people will pay, people make a living doing this with clothes and household stuff

I don't think the OP has done anything wrong. I think that morally she should give the £40 profit to the charity, but it's no one's decision but hers.

However I must point out that this post is inaccurate. The shop pays rent. Pays for electricity. Pays merchant fees. Pays for fittings. Pays a licence fee for playing a radio. Pays for security. Pays for waste removal. Pays for the volunteers' tea and coffee. Pays for staff to oversee the volunteers and provide training, support, welfare etc. Pays for auditors to check the accounts are in order. Pays for a window cleaner. Pays for the plumber to fix the loo. Pays for a stepladder for the volunteers to reach the top shelves. Pays for soap and hot water so the volunteers can wash their hands after handling some of the grubbier donations. Pays for fines incurred due to donors flytipping bags outside the shop when it's closed.

And so much more.

Charity shops aren't cost-free to run. They are run from the goodwill of the wonderful and loyal volunteers. From the generous donors who give quality goods and give permission for then charity to claim gift aid on their donations. And the financial costs are covered from the income generated by so many lovely people who but the goods in the shop for a fair price.

Why would you not be comfortable with supporting a charity shop by giving it the exact price it hoped to get and enabling it to continue its business model by keeping stock moving?

Charity shops don't buy wholesale, they don't have the year's must have ticket or toy to sell in bulk. They get a mishmash of stuff and their best way to get profit is to sell at the price it's likely to go for among people who walk in so it's off the shelf and more stuff can go out.

You're not artificially creating scarcity by buying from a charity shop and you're getting them the money they wanted. If you then sell on, why shouldn't you get a finder's fee? Especially if you go to the trouble of listing online? Most people chuck stuff at charity shops precisely because they can't be bothered with the hassle of doing that.

I think that morally she should give the £40 profit to the charity

It's her finder's fee. Why is she morally obliged to lose it?

Of course charity shops have costs. And their business model is fast moving stock. It's not worth the time to hold on for prices you won't get in store.

They are run from the goodwill of the wonderful and loyal volunteers.

Yes, they are. Stop trying to use these people to guilt trip the OP. They are also run from people who do what the shop wants and buys the stock at asking price, fast.

Sometimes I think the world's gone mad on here. Of course you did nothing wrong Op. How simple is it to point out that the charity got what they wanted for the dress and that you, after further advertising, were perfectly entitled to end up with more? You didn't do the shop out of anything.
I went into a charity shop once because I spotted a pair of shoes in the window for I think £12 that I knew were rare and would get more like £100 on EBay (vintage Irregular Choice shoes). They appreciated being told but said that if they got £12 and someone got a bargain it was fine - the idea was to move stock quickly. Think about it - their aim is to sell and bring in some income, nothing to say it has to be at the highest price.
"Morally" you should give the difference to the shop? We don't know your circumstances but I would bet that some of the people saying this are also on other threads bemoaning how some families are going to struggle this winter. Maybe Op is one of them? In any case, it's legitimate to buy from charity shops and sell on, and nothing immoral about it.

The person who did wrong was the person from the shop who publicly breached your right to confidentiality, and also lied about what you paid. I wouldn't let that go unchallenged.

Charity shops work on the basis of pile it high and sell it cheap. They want a fast turnover. Unless it's a very affluent area, nobody's going to go looking for top of the range designer items in a charity shop.

The employee or volunteer who criticised you is the one in the wrong here. I would be giving the charity head office a call and complaining.

Cmon you knew you where going to sell it for more, otherwise you would have tried it on at the shop, who buys a dress for £60 but doesn't try it on first?

I often resell things I've bought in charity shops.

I volunteer in a charity shop, I'm the lady on the till. We know perfectly well that some of our customers buy stuff to sell on. I mostly know which ones they are, too, as they see something and then stand and google it.

Not a problem at all. We get what we're asking (and given the low footfall compared to ebay, probably less than it's worth) and the customer knows s/he can get a bit more online.

Ebaying is pretty much too time consuming for brick and mortar charity shops.
Shops are well aware and are not bothered because it bumps up the sales.

I wasn't trying to guilt trip anyone. I was merely responding to the post I quoted who implied that there is no cost to running a charity shop. There are many costs, which are kept minimal thanks to the volunteers.

Actually, on reading the thread further I have changed my mind about the OP being morally obliged to give the £40 to the charity. Other posters have correctly pointed out that that everyone wins in the situation OP describes.

I also think that the person who berated OP on Facebook should be pulled up on her behaviour though. She has not represented the charity in a good light.

Once you bought it, it became your property
Theres nothing dishonest about making a profit on your own items, you couldve sold it for £1000 and it still wouldnt be anyones business

People do this for a living , they buy cheap name brands in charity shops and sell it on
Some charity shops dont know the real value of things
And ive also worked in charity shop,
the way they treat donated items is disgusting
Alot of the clothes still end up getting binned
The one i worked in had a whole storage room full of donations up to the ceiling, rotting away and also had mice running all over the place

Thats why its better to give your items away for free on facebook or olio, or try and find shelters that need donations

Dont feel guilty about it and you should make a complaint about the loose lips charity worker

You didn't want to get a refund because you knew you could sell it on at a higher price. Am I correct? I don't see why you couldn't have taken it back.

We do get very kind customers who give advice on how to price things, especially in the days before we could all look things up on the internet. I put some very expensive boots in the window far too cheaply and someone was kind enough to point out they were seriously underpriced - I repriced them & they sold very quickly at the new price.

You did nothing wrong at all. I did it myself spotted a pair of irregular choice shoes in a car boot sale got them for 5e. Needed a good clean and tidy up. Sat in my wardrobe as every time put them on was like no they don't suit me. sold them for 40e on Ebay then. Still a bargain at 40e