To think Vinted has killed charity shops?

[Finlesswonder]

I'm sure in posh towns or areas they are still alive and well but I went into 3 or 4 in my city yesterday and they were completely barren, I guess because people are now thinking why give their unwanted stuff to a charity when they could make a few bob?
It's a bit sad I used to love a mooch around a charity shop but these were seriously slim pickings! Anyone volunteer in one and know if that's true or did I just get unlucky with the day?

Simple fact is allot of the workers cherry pick the donated stock and don't pay. Having voulenteerd at alot I have seen it most places.

Secondly the stock they don't sell huge volumes of it especially clothes gets given to specialist company's to recycle or dispose off. Now I know alot of these drivers and they all sell most of what they pick up on eBay, car boot sales, vinted and Facebook. All dents and brand name stuff.

So no I would not donate any longer onto of most charities are paying their executives silly money. Chances are your donations are only funding someone who it was not intended for.

Agree that a lot of people donating clothes or books or toys do so because they want to pass them on to someone else who needs them. If I want to give money to a charity it's more efficient to do it directly online than to give stuff to a charity shop that might not even sell.

It is comical that so many people are having a pop at charity shops. Lots of people clearly want items below market value.

Yes. Market value for everything has gone up.

Agree that people have an over inflated idea of who exactly wants their cast offs .. yes, toys and books in good condition, clothes that are that be 'different' or quirky will sell, good quality household items etc ... but I am sure that most of us who work or volunteer in charity shops know that at least 70% of donations are unsaleable. Of course Mumsnetters can't believe that people just dump 'rubbish' on charity shops but it absolutely does happen.

No one (not even the 'poor' ) wants worn our bedding, chipped china, grotty old A4 files etc yet I frequently have well meaning 'doners' giving me things and saying 'this would be ideal for a new home owner/student/refugee' ... I have to smile politely and spend yet more time deciding how to responsibly recycle other people's rubbish.

So no I would not donate any longer onto of most charities are paying their executives silly money

All executives earn 'silly money'. It comes with the stress and hours they work.

But the charities are only paying the rate for good staff. If they made their policy to only pay half the going rate for the top jobs 'because we are a charity' then no good candidates would apply. This would be even worse for the company, and the people that they set out to help!

If your company decided to cut your salary in half would you still work there?

@Soapyspuds while I agree with you I think people see that as the problem too, charity shop = volunteers so they assume everyone else up the chain is either a volunteer or should be making bare minimum because "it's charity"
People don't want to think their donations are paying someone higher up because they don't see that as supporting the charity in the same way.

I donate specifically to the charity shops which try to help local people as well as making a profit. The one I donate to always has a rail of kids school uniform which is totally free, you just take what you want. Because they realise it’s important for kids to have clean clothes for school! And if you go in and tell them you have an interview they will kit you out in respectable clothes for free. And if you’re heavily pregnant they will give you a bundle of toys and baby clothes. They also specifically employ a number of people with learning disabilities, to help them gain skills and improve their lives.

And they still make a profit for their charity while benefiting the lives of local people, who appreciate their activities and make an effort to give them good donations. I think people prefer that to simply price gouging and trying to make maximum cash with no concern for their local community!

I find that charity shops in run down areas only have rubbish because if they do get anything decent, they send it to another branch in a posher area where they can charge more for it. I live in a fairly deprived area and I purposely drive 30 minutes to a particularly charity shop in a posh area because I know the charity sends all its good stuff there from all over the region.

Went into one of my local charity shops recently looking for a nice dress for a family party. There was a lovely blue Coast dress that caught my eye until I saw it was labelled up at £65!!!
Yes, it was a nice evening dress but I would think twice about paying that much for a dress new. I couldn't believe my eyes

Charity shops should take into account that while they might be selling an expensive branded dress a bit cheaper than buying new, the fact is it ISN'T new, and also the fact that unlike buying new in the shops there isn't the choice in the charity shops in either sizing or variety in that one particular dress/jacket etc.

I popped into two charity shops Friday. You can see the other form it’s window.

I purchased some men’s smart work shirts in the first £1.50 for a M&S shirt looked brand new. £1.75 for a blanket.

Popped into the other to see what they had. £4 for a Asda men’s shirt. £6 for a blanket.

The comparison between the prices in both shops that are basically competitors. The second shop also sells brand new furniture. The first doesn’t.

First shop has a huge turn over of items and customers. Second shop was empty bar us.

They are pricing themselves out of customers. Why would I pay extra to one just because it’s a flasher shop when I can walk 20 steps and and get better quality for less.

My son volunteers in a charity shop, started for his DofE but stayed on. He spends a lot of his time uploading stuff onto the shop’s eBay account. So they’ve already expanded into this arena.

We'd all be a lot happier if we stopped associating second hand with 'cheap' and understood it as part of a sustainable circular economy which charity shops facilitate. Buying much less, but much better stuff is better for everyone in the long term.

Raising money for charities which we ourselves may benefit from in the future is better for everyone as it relieves the burden on the state.

Providing people with somewhere to recycle their stuff is better and helps keep landfill (which costs money and impacts the environment) down.

Keeping the high street alive is better for local economies....etc etc

It really isn't about the horror of overcharging for a Primark shirt. The real horror is the existence of Primark in the first place which makes us all believe we need new, very cheap stuff all the time. This, in turn, undervalues the charity shop which has an important part to play in long term sustainability.

Providing people with somewhere to recycle their stuff is better and helps keep landfill (which costs money and impacts the environment) down
If this is the goal then prices need to be affordable, and the price reduction needs to reflect the fact that it’s not new. Otherwise stuff doesn’t get recycled - if it’s not much cheaper than new, people will just buy new.

My point is new should be better quality (so worth something to successive owners) and more expensive. People will buy less but value it more.

No charity shop should have storerooms bulging with stuff. If the stock they have is not shifting, then it's too expensive; it's as simple as that. They should rotate stock that has been there more than X weeks to a 5 for £1 rack or something.

I find Vinted a faff so I tend to drop at a charity drop bin. Luckily, I know of one on an industrial estate off the beaten track because the ones at the supermarket are always overflowing. Last time I took stuff to a physical shop, they made it feel like I was inconveniencing them, until they realised my donation was mostly baby clothes.

These oft repeated threads make me really sad.

Sad for the teams that run them. For the volunteers. For the shoppers. And for the donors. All of whom seem to be fair game for a bashing.

Why do I never see threads criticising other retailers or businesses for their working practices? For their salary structure? For their mission statement? For their values?

No charity shop should have storerooms bulging with stuff. If the stock they have is not shifting, then it's too expensive; it's as simple as that. They should rotate stock that has been there more than X weeks to a 5 for £1 rack or something.

When you have more stuff coming in than volunteers to process it, you have storerooms bulging with stock.

This is why I think it's just not a good enough model for people looking to repurpose items. It's too big a job for a small shops volunteers to manage. Without easy reliable ways to donate and knowing that a lot of it will be thrown out because the shop can't cope it's no wonder people would rather use things like vinted or give away via social media.

Business models aren't always going to endure and maybe this one is just on its way out because we have different ways of giving to charity and repurposing our things.

Oh and I also disagree that if you reduce stuff enough, people will buy it.

We had a donation from a menswear shop which had closed down, a box of gents "slacks" which were 100% nylon/polyester fabric, lovely shades of cream and pale blue and olive green. Clearly a box which had been in the back of their stock room since about 1983. But the trousers were brand new as in never worn. We stuck them out at £9.99. Didn't sell. Half priced them to £4.99. Didn't sell. Half priced again to £2.49. Didn't sell. Eventually they were all (we had about 80 pairs) put on a 99p rail and they still DIDN'T SELL. Because if you're young and slim enough to be a man with a 26 or 28 inch waist, you do not want crimpolene trousers you've seen your grandad wearing.

Other things off the top of my head which nobody wants however cheaply you price them - teeny tiny 1970s wine glasses which hold a thimbleful of wine, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, men's ties, loom band kits, cold shoulder tops, glass decanters, cufflinks, teapots. DVDs and CDs becoming increasingly hard to shift even at 3 for a quid or whatever due to the rise of streaming.

Agreed which is why the trade in renting and buying second hand designer stuff is thriving.

I don’t use Vinted. I use and donate to local charity shops. Less than before though, as they have put their prices up, and after seeing a used Primark tee shirt for more than it would cost new, I’m less thrilled.

I think people see that as the problem too, charity shop = volunteers so they assume everyone else up the chain is either a volunteer or should be making bare minimum because "it's charity" People don't want to think their donations are paying someone higher up because they don't see that as supporting the charity in the same way

Totally agree.

The problem is that people cannot distinguish between those who work the charity shop floor and tills who are often (but not always) volunteers presumably not needing the money of paid employment, against the higher level directors and execs who are doing a job and getting paid the appropriate salary.

Paying half the going rate would be a false economy.

Personally I give to charity because I want items out of the house and they are too little in value to bother selling online, but in too good condition to bin. What the charity shop does with them or their proceeds of sale is not something I care about.

I went to a few in York this weekend and the prices were ridiculous like £6 for a second hand Primark T-shirt. Not sure who they think will pay these prices unless people are just looking to recycle. DH bought me a little cotton bag and whilst that was new stock it was £14 which I thought was extortionate.

You never visit fwr where we are currently damning lush, m and s, Budweiser, among others. Some of us even boycott them.