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.

So it's ok to steal from a charity shop because the police don't have time?

But nobody ,in this scenario has stolen from a charity shop.

Shall I call crime stoppers on myself or do you want to do it?

I'm not frothing, dear. I'm trying to be helpful to both the OP and the charity. The OP has committed a crime, she will almost certainly get away with it but if she didn't realise what she was doing is illegal, she might think twice next time. As might others in this thread who seem to think what she's done is ok. Also, the charity has lost potential income there. There may well be someone out there that needs the money from the sale more than she needs a sparkly party dress.

Ime charities don’t accept clothes that have been dumped outside the shop and left in the rain as they don’t always have room to dry them and can’t afford to dry clean them.

Anyone knows that to give items to charity shops you go to the correct door (usually at the back) during working hours.

Charities specifically request that people don’t dump items, as they often have to be thrown away at their expense.

Whoever dumped these bags in November didn’t care what happened to them or how much hassle they caused the charity.

If someone dumped a load of stuff outside my house in the public street that would not mean it belongs to me. So the stuff didn't belong to the shop.

You've rescued it from landfill, well done!
I hope you have a lovely time wearing it this Christmas and that 2026 turns out to be a better year for you.

Ignore the moral high ground crowd.

She has. I've said it several times. In the eyes of the law, what she had done is theft and a criminal offence.

The person in the wrong is the person who dumped a bag of clothes outside the charity shop. That isn't donating, it's fly tipping. Charity shops are constantly begging people not to do it. In all likelihood the item you took is the only one that will get used - the rest will be binned.

She has. I've said it several times. In the eyes of the law, what she had done is theft and a criminal offence
Who has she stolen from?
The flytipper doesn't want them and now the charity shop cant receive them . Actually they weren't even given to the charity shop.

A lot of people don't realise that dumping items outside a charity shop is illegal and counts as fly-tipping. The shop will not be able to use any of the stuff (dogs will have peed on it, rats or foxes may have chewed it, insects might have got into the bags and it might have been soaked by rain.

Strictly speaking, the dress still belongs to the person who fly-tipped it.

But don't feel bad about taking it, as it's one less thing for the charity shop to dispose of.

I wouldn't give money to a charity shop unless I bought something but I would donate clothes. In this case I might just give them a fiver next time I go past. I can't really afford any more than that sadly.

"Wow. So it's ok to steal from a charity shop because the police don't have time? Morals not your thing then."

What a idiot you are. The clothes were fly tipped, Charity shops ask for people not to do this, they cannot take them. OP found a lovely dress she will wear for years, a garment that will be used.
Congratulations on your find and recycling.

Enjoy your dress and your Xmas party.

Yes. Who have I stolen from?!

It's not the shop. And you can't steal from someone when they are giving the thing away. Or literally fly tipping. So it belongs to the council waste department?! I'm stealing from them? Ok then.

If for some bizarre reason it's illegal I think I'll just have to say it's one law I'm comfortable not conforming to. As it's a shit law with no moral purpose.

Thank you! That's really kind x

Thank you so much. That's really nice of you to say x

I think a lot of people love to be doom mongers instead of wishing people well.

Its clear the fly tipper just wanted an easy rid of stuff and by leaving it near a chartiy shop eases her conscious by 'doing something good' without caring theyve created an issue.

People are going on that she has 'stolen' from a charity shop. How can you have something thats not been given to you or belongs to you be stolen from you. Its been made out that she has been shop lifting.

The OP has had the good fortune to find something nice ,just at the right time when she's done on her luck.The naysayers are going on about theft, saying ridiculous things about cctv cameras ( as if the police are going to come out to a discarded dress they wouldn't even come out when I was assaulted a few weeks ago!)

Op thank you for doing your bit with the fly tipping however small! I also hope you sparkle at Christmas!

I used to volunteer at Oxfam and agree with the PP that “donors” who dump their stuff are the pits.

I don’t usually do “what if” but consider: someone drunk decided to piss in the bags, someone decided to chuck their half eaten kebab over the bag, it rained or snowed on the bags!

All of these are entirely plausible outcomes.

FROM WHO? It was IN THE STREET!!

Sorry OP, I feel like I’ve pissed on your lucky find. Enjoy your lovely dress, and a very sparkly night!

A fiver's fine or less if that's all you have. It's better than nothing.

It just made me giggle that money never came up in the conversation between you and your mum.

I used to manage a shop that had charity shops on either side and we were open significantly later than the charity shops, and we'd see people do this all the time. It was a common occurrence and not really frowned upon by anyone. The assumption generally was that if you were rooting around in bags outside a charity shop you needed to be, so no one paid it much mind.

You'd already paid it forward anyway with your own donation. Goes without saying to give the dress a good wash (I hope you did before you tried it on!) but otherwise enjoy it.

Thank you! Same to you and I appreciate your kind words. Things haven't been easy. But I know life is tough for everyone. X

However as the item was dumped outside the charity shop it almost definitely would have been binned and the charity shop wouldn't have seen a penny (and might even have cost them in waste)

This way they might actually get some money as OP could make a donation

I did try it on without washing! Eeek. It smelt really clean?! But yeah I'm gonna wash it before I wear it. Thank you! X