Thinking Vinted will see Charity Shops out of business?

[Monty27]

If you're a chazza fan like me have you noticed how they're not busy?
Vinted is new in the great scheme of things and fantastic. It's a new discovery] for me.
I'm not sure how sympathetic I am towards chazzas losing business because the profits aren't shared

I look at the markdowns in charity shops. I have often found a real bargain. I got a brand new pair of Christmas pj's for dh a week or so before Christmas. They were actually on a clearance table of 3 items for £1.50. I did pay £1.50 for them though.
Sometimes it's possible to find a rather large sized garment with plenty of fabric to make into something else, on the bargain rail.

Just realised that auto spell changed chazza to character. And I still don't know what "chazza" is.

You've still not managed to work it out from the context? Yikes.

Agree with @ShanghaiDiva , some donors just want rid of their stuff, but others do want to feel like they are making a donation. Often people will make comments about what things they are handing over, or say that there is BNWT stuff that we will make good money on.

But do they want those letters/ emails? I’ve always been completely shocked when I get one - that the charity would waste time and money (surely each letter is >£1) letting me know that they made £35 off me. I sometimes now just claim I’m not gift aid or drop donations on the counter and run to avoid the conversation and the waste of time it must be for the staff.

As I said, the only reason I can think for the letter is for tax reasons. I think gift aid is only 25% so you can claim the rest back up to your marginal rate.. but unless you’re donating thousands, who on earth would do this??

Maybe there should be a survey of donators to see what people actually want. I reckon these days with such emphasis on fast fashion, waste, global warming etc most would just want to shift their items quickly to someone who would wear them and as long as he charity shop makes something, that’s enough.

It's a legal obligation - charities are required to tell people how much gift aid has been raised on their donations. It's not like when you add £5 to a just giving or something and you know exactly how much you're claiming in gift aid. Many charities ask for email addresses instead of writing.

I use vinted mainly tbh

Ah this makes sense, thank you.

I suppose my point is, that just because people get told how much their donations have brought in doesn’t mean they care? - or rather, they’d probably much rather their pair of good quality jeans were sold quickly for £10 than eventually sell for £30 but take up rail space for 2 months, keeping other stock waiting.

Nothing would take rail space for 2 months. Our shop has a strict 4 week circulation system via a sale rail before it goes to rag. Keeps the punters coming in for new stuff!

@VanCleefArpels That shocks me, tbh.. they don't reduce things to £1 just to get rid & bring more money in?

If nobody wants it, nobody wants it. Nobody is going to buy a dress which is too big/small or just very out of fashion, just because it is cheap.

Sale rail is £2! But YellowPixie is right - if it’s not sold it means the market has spoken.

Lets hope not. Why does everything have to be so dumbed down nowadays.

It’s a legal obligation and the the letter or email advises you that the charity will be claiming x in gift aid as a result and if you have not paid that much in tax I believe you are personally liable for the amount.

We mark down after two weeks. A lot of the fast fashion brands do not sell even for nominal amounts.

We did three weeks at the last shop I was in. When something went out on the rails we'd write a date three weeks in the future so it was easy to go round and pull off the stuff which didn't sell.

I learned the word Chazza on here 😄

I love a charity shop but they can be ridiculously expensive.

charity shops will do what maximises their income for the charity
this will include
meeting legal obligations
pricing according to the market
fostering good relations with donors
encouraging footfall

wrt donors- some will be giving specifically because they support the charity and not simply because they want rid of stuff- therefore they will want the shop to get the best possible price and will be pleased if the value of the donation is increased via gift aid
if an item is of sentimental value or was expensive a donor might be upset if its underpriced, the shop will have to balance that against a realistic assessment of what it will fetch

I suppose because of the financial squeeze for many people, selling on Vinted pays the bills, and can't afford to be charitable any more.

I would have thought that if anything was going to close the charity shops, it would have been eBay years ago. That and the fact that so many charity shops are ridiculously overpriced these days. When I was a lot younger (back in the late 70s/early 80s) my mum, and many like her, relied on the charity shops because they were very cheap. It was like the charity worked both ways, towards the customer and the charity itself.

Just back from a trawl round a charity shop in a local town, they were doing 50% off all clothing today so I got three tops (H&M, Wallis, Laura Ashley) for £6.50. Can't get that on Vinted.

I hope they don't close. I absolutely love them and get the vast majority of my clothes and household items in them. I even buy gifts in them. I donate to them too. I can't be bothered with all that online stuff.

I had a Vinted moment but I’ve gone off it now after a slew of dud purchases. A size 10 skirt which when if arrived had a 22” waist was a good one. I could have worn it round one thigh…

I would urge charity shops not to madly overprice. If you walk in and see some preposterous pricing you don’t look further and just walk out. Pricing by brand is daft if you don’t also consider condition. A Boden skirt is certainly not worth £20 if it is an A-line from 2007, the seat has bagged and one of the appliqué flowers is hanging off.

25 years ago, people were worried that eBay would put charity shops out of business.

It didn't. Neither will Vinted.