I found a lovely Xmas party dress...

[DiscoBob]

Just as a bit of background, I'm broke and on benefits so can't afford to buy clothes until I really need to. So obviously no budget for an Xmas outfit. I have accumulated plenty of clothes over the years so not a problem.

I also just a couple of weeks ago donated a very large bag of decent stuff to a charity shop. Not designer but not Primark/Shein etc and a couple things that are really quite lovely but just don't fit me.

Today I happened upon a huge pile of clothes spilling out of several bin bags dumped outside a shut charity shop. I had a rummage and came upon a lovely Topshop sequinned mini dress in my size. I was delighted.

When I got home I tried it on and it looked fab. I told my mum and she first of all said it was great.

But then sounded concerned, she said 'oh, I wonder if the person who left it there will mind?'

I was pretty astonished and replied that if they were so precious about their discarded clothing they shouldn't dump it in the middle of the street. Knowing it won't be discovered for at least 24 hours by shop staff. By then it'd probably be soaked from the rain.

Am I in the wrong to think it's completely morally correct to take things in this circumstance?

Or was my mum right? Would you be upset if you somehow found out an item of your fly tipped clothing went straight into a wardrobe rather than possibly making a bit of money for a charity?

Interested to hear everyone's views. TIA.

Make a donation on line to the charity.

I suppose the donor might feel the charity should have got money for it, but anyone dumping clothes on the floor outside the shop shouldn't be precious about it being taken and put to good purpose. If you feel bad about the charity not getting money for it you can make a donation when they're open.

All the charity shops near me have signs saying - no fly tipping. They don't want bags of stuff left outside for days in the rain.
YANBU

It's fine since you donated yourself.

They shouldn't have dumped donations outside of a closed charity shop. You shouldn't have taken something that didn't belong to you, especially knowing the idea was the charity shop would profit from it.

Neither comes out shining, to be honest.

There's a liklihood it would just get binned because it had been dumped outside like that so you're saving it from landfill

Just make a donation to the charity online if you feel they have lost out

Who cares what someone who dumped their stuff on the street would think?! Probably the charity would have had to bin the bags anyway so you've rescued it. Congratulations on your lovely free dress!

I think you need to go in and make a donation, even if only a few quid.

See it as a nice little touch op 👏🏻👍🏻

We can dress it up as it shouldn't have been dumped but the reality is that you have stolen from a charity shop. You need to hope there is no CCTV of you rummaging through and taking property that does not belong to you.

They didn't donate to a charity shop.

They fly tipped their old clothes near a charity shop.

That's not the same. I don't leave cash near my bank and expect the staff to check the streets and allocate what they may find on the floor into my account. If you dump things in public, expect the public to pick them up.

I run a charity and this is one of my biggest bug bears. If you haven't given us the donation, you haven't donated. You've dumped stuff near us, left it exposed to the elements, and given us a problem, not a donation.

It wasn't theirs yet. They hadn't claimed it. It was in the street outside.

I don't think it's "completely morally correct" to take things, no.

But, I doubt the donor has thought about the clothes since dropping them off so they probably won't be upset.

It's fine since you donated yourself
Even if she hadn't donated, its fine.

Enjoy your dress and I hope you look and feel fantastic in it!

I don’t think donations left outside like this get anywhere near the rails for sale. They get rained on, peed on. They can’t be sold.
So no, you did nothing wrong. Just pay it forward with your own clothes donation (though you’ve done that already). Enjoy your new dress 😊

I’d be pleased if something I had donated had given someone so much joy. I give my clothes to charity for environmental reasons really rather than to support the charity. Probably because I’ve fostered through Barnados and witnessed them wasting money on nonsense.

But it doesn't belong to anyone if it's dumped in the street? They knowingly left it there at least a day before the shop would be open.

Even if the bags were more neatly tied and everything was inside, and someone wrote a note saying 'for xyz charity' then maybe I wouldn't have had a rummage.

But they were torn open and stuff literally strewn on pavement.

Thank you. I was overjoyed when I saw it. It made me really happy I'd have something nice to wear for Xmas. And it's a classic style so I can wear it for years to come.

It's fine, don't even think about it. Enjoy the dress!

It doesn't matter. Google it. It's theft. Even if they'd dumped the clothes in a field with no form of human life near by, it is still a crime to steal from fly tipping. What she's done is illegal and also immoral. She has stolen from a charity shop. That's pretty low!

Thank you! That's exactly what I thought about the 'donations'. They'd be ruined.

I wouldn’t have done it myself as the person clearly left it for a donation for the charity but it’s not something I would get that upset over either. It’s a cheap thing to do but if you give a donation then there is no harm done.
Was there CCTV?

It doesn't matter where you found it. It's not yours therefore it's illegal (and immoral).

I did not steal from the charity shop. If someone dumped a load of crap outside my house on the public street would that mean it belonged to me?! Of course it wouldn't.

So what if there is? Honestly, do you think that the OP could be paid a visit by the Old Bill. They are hard pressed to attend when real crimes are being committed!