To still buy clothes from charity shops?

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

Been discussed on MN before but would appreciate some help getting my head around a heated debate last night.

I’ve bought clothes from charity shops ever since I started work over 30 years ago. Couldn’t afford a full work wardrobe, discovered charity shops and never looked back.
I am now financially very comfortable. I still browse the charity shops, and still buy from there If I see something that looks like new that I really like. I also buy books and other things eg an old fashioned trifle bowl and some unusual vases.
Somehow the conversation came round to charity shops at my book club last night. I know from previous discussions that most of them wouldn’t dream of buying second hand clothes. A few of us do - the need to spend money wisely never leaves you and I’ll admit to loving the thrill of finding a bargain.
So we revisited that old discussion but with the added very vocal suggestion that it is incredibly wrong of us to continue buying clothes from charity shops in the current economic climate, as we are taking away the opportunity for people struggling financially to buy those clothes.
I was taken aback at the strength of feeling about this, quite vitriolic.
I’d accept it more if we were rinsing the shops and if the shops were short of stock. But between us I think we had bought 10 items this year; we have at least 7 charity shops in our small town centre (all well stocked) and the next town similar.
While I appreciate the charity benefits whoever buys from them, I am now conflicted. I honestly can’t see that buying a few bits from a charity shop is taking stuff away from those that need it (on the basis that there is plenty of stock in the shops, of which there are many). On the other hand maybe they have a valid point. But then if those clothes didn’t get bought the charity would lose out.
I’ve been going round and round on this since I woke up, hence posting. Re-reading this it does sound like I am making something out of nothing but the accusations became quite unpleasant, and I found myself unusually shaken by them so am just trying to process it.
Thank you for reading, sorry it got so long!

I buy loads of kids toys from charity shops despite the fact that I could easily afford to buy them new. Almost all the toys I buy end up being donated back to the shop again when my son grows out of them and I also donate other outgrown toys that I bought new. So no, I don't feel bad about it.

Your friends are being unreasonable there are about 8 large charity shops on my towns high street plenty to go around for everyone I know plenty of rich people who go in them, that's part of the reason they're rich lol not wasting money on Gucci.

The thing is, we can't be both. How can we maximise the money going to the charity when we are selling items for potentially less money than they're worth? If we can get £10 for an item and have that money go towards the charity running the store then why should we only take £5 for it?

Me too save so much money because first hand toys are insanely expensive it's also better for the environment, I do avoid soft things like teddies because of the germs that may be in them but could always be washed I still wouldn't though

This.

Your friends are stupid and/or elitist, thinking charity shops are only for the poor. If well off people stopped buying from charity shops they'd be screwed!

Hate to think what books you're reading!

At the risk of being flamed, I'd say many (most?) of the people who are on lower incomes do not buy clothes in charity shops; in my experience they buy cheaper end (new) clothes, or, in a minority of cases, over extend themselves on relatively expensive clothes and somehow manage.

What a bizarre and oddly privileged opinion. Like there's somehow a limited supply of second hand clothes and we must save them all for the 'poor people'. YANBU.

Also in my area, a local shop manager told me that a group of unemployed people are paid by a ring leader £10 a day (we're in an economically deprived region) to search all the charity shops for items with good resale value. There is often little of any quality left by the time people who go in occasionally visit them for a look.

You're actually buying them to use yourself so ..

Yeah, it's ridiculous.

Tonnes are shipped abroad, tonnes are dumped, tonnes go unsold in charity shops ..... There are also super cheap high street shops that sell new at not much above charity shop prices, like Primark or the Pound Shop. In my experience that's where many people on low incomes shop. Not charity shops.

Your book group would appear to be populated by a number of numpties.

Exactly. It's one or the other. Some charities will have provision of cheap clothing to people on low incomes in the UK as one of their aims, so it won't be a binary choice for them, but it will be for most. I mean, PDSA for example, or Cancer Research, that's just not what they're for.

Gosh, your friends sound very ignorant. There are plenty of reasons to still shop at charity shops even if you are financially comfortable!!

I think some people are snobbish about charity shops and will find any excuse to not buy from them - I suspect that's what the OPs friends are doing whilst trying to keep the moral high ground.
It's a load of bollocks though.
Charity shops are there to make money for their good causes, they rarely have a shortage of stock (at least round here) and are a much needed part of a circular economy. Buying stuff there is sustainable, ethical waste reduction and supports charity.
I have friends who think Charity shops are ick yet will buy from eBay or vinted or vintage shops - there is a disconnect, I don't really understand.
If your friends don't want to shop in charity shops that's on them but nothing wrong in doing it and we should all consider at least reducing buying new stuff as a sustainable choice.

"Charity shops could have a two fold element whereby they make money for the charity but also help poorer people in the local community afford goods, but it appears to be solely about profit*
But how would that work? Ask your household.income at the door and only let in poorer people? Or set up a whole separate charity clothes bank where people can be referred... But that's not the purview of a BHF or cancer research charity.

I'm talking more about the prices. Charity shops aren't especially cheap anymore. You can usually buy cheaper new clothes online or in Primark. I think I have a hangover from growing up in the 1980s. We didn't have so much fast, cheap fashion. New clothes were relatively expensive. Charity shops were very much for poorer people and carried a bit of a stigma. My mum had a skint friend who bought her clothes in a charity shop...it was like a dirty secret.

I think the more people who shop in and donate to charity shops, the better. Better for the charities, for our wallets, and for the environment.

You are in the right.

They are talking nonsense.

Charity shops are a small beacon of light in our increasingly throwaway society. The fact that they speak about them and the people that shop in them speaks volumes, and it needs to change.

The world cannot continue with consumerism the way it currently is. It is not sustainable.

Views and changing and they will, rightfully, be left behind in their viewpoint. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

But the whole point is to raise as much money as possible for the charity they support. So of course they're selling things for as much money as they can reasonably charge. I just don't understand why you think they would sell things really cheap to support poor people (as rich people might buy them anyway, so it wouldn't even be helping the poor, they would pay the same reduced amount)

@CakeCrumbs44 but if it's not selling quickly, it's costing you in space and time. Pricing say a Debenhams jumper at £10 might mean it's left there for a month or two, til the right buyer comes along. Pricing it at £5 might mean it goes in a week, as does the item you're replacing it with, and everything else henceforth. Also, I don't tend to try on in the shop, so at £8 I'll take a chance on a dress, and donate it again if it doesn't fit. At £17, which is about the difference in price between a couple of the shops, I won't bother taking the risk.

We have several charity shops in the local town. The YMCA prices competitively (this week we paid £6 for trainers, £4 for a Jaeger sweatshirt). As a result, this is the one that I go to, if I've only got time for a quick look. It's the one I've taken my teenage daughter to, and then she's gone with her friends. It's the one I drop stuff at myself, and I reckon that's true of a few more people my age, as the brands I've got from there have been upper high street brands, rather than the boohoo/ Asda/ new look that the other shops down the street seem to get.

Presumably they have some sort of system which their pricing is based on, to try and make maximum money while having a good turnover.
Some of our local charity shops are quite expensive IMO, yet they still seem to have new stock every week and are asking for donations so people must be buying it.
I've no idea how they work out the prices but things often seen to be priced at really random amount like £7.35 or £11.75 rather than £7 and £12 so I assume there's some sort of logic.

I work in one - everyone is very welcome. We are in a relatively affluent area so often have designer goods donated- £20 or so for a dress £300 new is amazing value but hardly something someone really struggling could buy!

@CakeCrumbs44 the labels often have a date they were put on the shop floor. In the YMCA shop, generally what I've bought has been days old (bought 6 items, all were dated from November). They also have a bargain room upstairs, where when things hit a certain age, they go up there to be 50p/ £1/ £2.
In the other shop, they are there for a couple of months, obviously depending on the item. You can see from reading the thread above from workers that huge amounts get thrown away still. It just seems daft to me that a 'price it low, move it quick' attitude isn't better than 'best price possible, or throw it away'. Some money in the till is better than potentially none.

You’re also donating stuff presumably in a similar style/size to the stuff you’ve bought - therefore you are not taking anything away from anyone who may want/need it.

Please continue, it’s for the charity anyway.

I’ve seen posts on here that some charity shops are getting expensive to buy in. They’re not there to serve the poor. They’re there to raise money for their charity from whoever buys the clothes. And as others have said it is also keeping textiles out of landfill. Next time you go to discuss this with your friends take the environmental aspect of the argument rather than affordability.

we have a clothing bank near us which provides uniform and baby items for free. I’d avoid using those if I could afford the clothes new or at a charity shop. But even then there’s no rules about being poor to buy and if you’d rather get from there to save the landfill then that’s fair enough. Most charity shops don’t seek second hand uniform. The clothing bank also sells non uniform type clothes to raise funds for themselves as a charity.

What planet are they on? Everyone should buy from charity shops. What a bunch of dicks.