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?

I’ve noticed people rifling through charity shops for anything with a tag on and a reasonably decent label to presumably sell on vinted. They have armfuls of stuff and it’s all different sizes etc. I think that’s unethical and I wouldn’t buy from a vinted seller if I thought they were doing this.

@Zingylimes that's exactly why I'm selling a few good things on vinted and giving 50% to charity of my choice- I saw someone clearly doing this in Bath the other day and was suspicious

What's the controversy with Oxfam? I remember something but can't remember what it was exactly.

Why? Reselling is absolutely normal thing to do

Haity, women and I am sure few other

My son works for a charity and while their donations have dropped during the CoL crisis, their shops are doing better or at least just as well.

The shops aren't there for bargain hunters, they're there to fund their services which are vital to the local community and no other organisation is providing them. I don't really care if you're no longer getting designer bargains. I care that the charity keeps going. And I send all my old clothes to charity shops. Sometimes they are really good quality, but I've just gone off them. I'd never send rags or dirty things to a charity shop. That's just disgusting.

I'm not surprised though as I was once collecting stuff for a school fair and people actually sent broken stuff and dirty old clothes for that too. My front room where I was storing them smelt for months afterwards.

Yep!
has anyone said all the volunteers are thick yet? Then my bingo card will be complete .

It's not unethical. The charity shop has got the money it wanted, which is the highest price it can realistically get in its market. It's limited to footfall in a bricks and mortar store. It won't be the same as the price you can get from a massive online audience.

Also, the charity shop's business model is to shift stuff fast so the stock is constantly rotating. It will actually make less if it lets an item sit there for weeks taking up space that could be selling more stuff, even if it eventually does go for a higher price.

Charity shops like resellers because they keep buying and getting stuff off the shelves. Having done that, there's nothing wrong with them charging a finder's fee if they resell. The shop doesn't care what you do with stuff after you buy it. Wear it, sell it, rip it up for rags or line the dog's bed with it, they don't care. It's yours now and they've got the price they wanted for it.

You can choose not to buy from a charity shop reseller if you prefer, but don't kid yourself that they're doing anything wrong. They are supporting charity shops, keeping stuff out of landfill and enabling sustainable shopping.

No point in even looking at clothes in charity shops. Rails of tat that would hardly sell for 20p in an old fashioned jumble sale. Stuff from brands like George prjced dearer than new in the actual shop. And charity bosses paying themselves six figure salarues Not surprised folk have stopped donating good stuff.

I hardly ever take stuff to the charity shops now as often they have signs up saying no donations and I then have to carry the stuff home (I don’t drive).

When they put the bags through the door for collection most times they don’t turn up and I end up taking it back in to save for next time.

Agree some of the prices are too expensive. A fiver for a used Primark top bit ridiculous.

I have had a few bargains lately though, All Saints dress for £12 and a Linea jumpsuit for a tenner, always worth a look for premium brands 😀

yeah I don't have an issue with resellers either. We have a guy who comes in every so often and looks at the jewellery we have in the locked cabinet - the good, expensive stuff. He quite often buys a gold ring, or a necklace or whatever and will take those to his upmarket antique jewellery store or antique shop where he can get more for it. He is polite, never tries to haggle on price, and has also given advice on stuff that he spots that he's not interested in buying.

We get what we wanted for the item, he gets a wee profit. Everyone's a winner.

Amen to this.

The charity bashing on MN is tiring (and prevalent).

Charity shops pay full rent. They pay full utilities. They pay full salaries and volunteering costs (insurance, training, welfare etc).

They price items for what they will sell for. If they sell too low, then I 100% guarantee that it won't be bargain hunters or 'the poor' who can snap up a bargain. It'll be traders on the lookout for items they can flog on Vinted.

They are obliged to sell for for the best price they can achieve. Their sole reason for existence is to raise money for the cause they are associated with. It would be against their constitution to sell for prices purely to benefit the community.

They are generally inundated with tonnes of stuff that is simply unsellable. In order to discover its unsellable, staff and volunteers have to sift through bags containing some pretty dubious items. It's not a task for the faint hearted.

Charity shops are for the good of the cause. They provide an opportunity for people to make a financial contribution to charity. They provide volunteers with an opportunity to be involved in their community. And, in my personal experience, have provided some wonderful people the opportunity to rebuild confidence after long term unemployment, or poor mental health, or widowhood, or developing skills etc.

All my life I've taken stuff to charity shops, furniture, clothes, my mother's house clearance. I figured it was a way of donating.
However I now try and sell the good clothing on vinted instead. I've made about £50 on what would have been a bag of donations. DS prom shoes cost £40 worn once I got £10.

I have always boycotted Oxfam but used local charity shops. I am happy to buy good quality but used items, or textiles for craft. Recently though they ask far too much for stuff I would send to the textile recycling.

as the shop I volunteer in takes £5k a week I don’t think they are unhappy…
it’s only in mumsnet where all shops are selling over priced bobbly primark items in a shop that they rent for free and where volunteers take all the best items before they reach the shop floor…

Datapotater
Just last week I had a huge charity bag through the letterbox. It said it wanted nice handbags. I had a nice handbag that I never use, I stuffed it in the bag and then thought "wait, how much will I get off Vinted?"

Those 'charity' bags are nothing to do with charity; the money from donations which are sold go straight into the bag provider's bank account. Check them out; look up the charity numbers to be certain but all the ones that were helpful pushed through doors here are scam artists.

Vinted/Ebay all the way but I do support Red Cross. They'll send a courier for a parcel of 15 items so that's where my Boden/Whistles/Reiss goes.

We average about £3500 - £4000 a week in our shop. We get figures on net contribution - how much goes to the charity after all costs like rent, fuel, salaries have been taken off, it's about £100 - £125k a year.

In 2018 it was the men sent to Haiti to help who had paid sex with women and girls. Their point was it was helping because money.
Everybody else point was the power imbalance and ffs child abuse.
Not one man ever charged.

Current day, a short film they put out (not Oxfam UK btw but yes oxfam) about terfs and in the recent past also how white women are ogres for wanting rapists put in jail.

Oh yes how “greedy” of charities to try to make money.🙄

I have a couple of local indie charity shops near me and they are thriving.
Never short of stock or customers.
Most stuff is a pound or less and pricing is flexible.
A winter coat or new unworn boots cost around £3.
The shop is always buzzing with customers and people donating.
Stock turnover is high because of prices so customers return frequently. I visit weekly and always full of new stuff,
Despite the low prices I suspect they make a bigger profit than Oxfam or similar which are usually empty ( and very expensive)

A lot of the stuff on Vinted probably comes from charity shops, particularly if it's priced quite low by the charity.

I thimk the worst is that anyone sane will logically see that Haiti could nkt have been the only place this happened. The handling of it was shameful

Me too. I only sell new items on Vinted

No, Vinted (nor ebay) haven't killed charity shops. Charity shops have done it to themselves. They are stuff full of things they can't sell and the shop floor is full of over-priced stuff. I think there is a gap in the market and we could return to "jumble sales" where you can get an armful of stuff for a couple of quid. That would overcome their problem of not being able to shift what they are given and also mean people would shop there.

I saw a coat recently, it was obviously not new, it had some piling, but it was quite nice, not a big brand. But £45! I can get new and unworn for less.

Volunteers do take stuff, but they pay for it, obviously.

MIL used to run a charity shop for a hospital and often kept stuff for us to see if we wanted it. If we did want it. we had to pay the going charity shop rate for it. She also used to give DH more expensive items to sell on ebay and he would give the money raised to the League of Friends.

That doesn't take away from the fact that a lot of charity shops sell overpriced tat. Much like non-charity shops in fact. We need to stop buying tat generally.

I just put my stuff in the clothes recycling banks because I am too lazy to hawk my "wares" around the local charity shops and fill in gift aid forms or be told to go away because they aren't accepting donations (because they charge too much and can't shift the stock they have). However, I tend to wear my stuff until it falls off me, so I don't have much that is good enough to sell anyway.