If you shop in charity shops do you think the quality clothing is harder to find?

[Britpopbaby]

I fear it is all disappearing and in its place is the usual super market fashion and fast fashion.

Ive bought some fabulous things from charity shops -over the years, but there just isn't anything nowadays.

I was always under the impression charity shops were a good place to look for quality items at a very low price for those without any spare cash for new quailty items. Now it's not quality items and a high price!

70 items a year! Does that include pants and socks?

I still buy more clothes at charity shops than I do on vinted just as the fit is so important to me now so need to try things on first. I just make sure what I get is quality material and try not to fixate too much on brands. Got a beautiful silk top the other day for £3! So charity shops still have good finds if you have time to pop in on a weekly basis.

The quality of items is very poor in most charity shops now. T-shirts are cheaper brought new in Primark than secondhand and worn to within an inch of their lives in charity shops.

There's an awful lot of wear on donated items too. Nowhere near as good quality as they used to be. I don't bother shopping in them now, it's all Primark, Shein or other cheap stuff.

The amount of sellable clothing has decreased the volume of unsellable items has increased

Charity shops need to allow space for a changing room. It’s the only way they can stand out from vinted now.

I don’t think so! Apparently half of it is worn 3 times or less before being disposed of 🤦‍♀️

The thing is, I think a lot of people’s standards have dropped through the floor and most don’t want to pay the price of decent quality. I ordered a jacket from M&S a few months ago. It had hundreds of rave 5 star reviews saying what fantastic quality it was for the price, and when it arrived it had no lining! So if it flapped open open in the wind you could see the inside of the pocket liners etc 😳. Awful.

Personally I’d rather pay more and have a complete jacket!

I’m very surprised to hear that the average amount of clothing bought per person is 70 items per year - this is only 6 items per month and I would’ve thought the figure would’ve been far higher. I imagine this is because I am surrounded by some quite prolific shoppers!

A few people in my life who consistently purchase (and keep) many more than 6 items each month, are in their 70’s. I wanted to point out their age as I always hear about younger people being into fast fashion and over consuming.

The brands they most frequently purchase from are: Shein, Primark, Reserved, Zara, Uniqlo and Tu. They then ‘top up’ these with various brands from QVC and from a market they visit a few times a year. They also buy a constant stream of costume, and sterling silver jewellery and handbags.

They shop in person, online and on tv shopping channels. I would say they are more likely to be buying and keeping at least 20 articles of clothing per month, sometimes more, and they constantly wear new clothes and have large parcels delivered every time I visit.

I was raised with this type of mentality and over my adult years have tried incredibly hard to wean myself off and buy less and buy better. I recently bought a cardigan for £250 that I’d wanted for ages and have so far worn 12 times and still love it. One of the ladies in their 70’s said they liked it and asked where I’d bought it from and asked how much it cost. When I told her I thought she was going to faint, and she couldn’t stop talking about it, and how I ‘could’ve bought 50 cardigans on Shein for that amount.’ I tried to argue as to why I wouldn’t want to buy 50 Shein cardigans for myself, but I had to give up as I just wasn’t getting through.

I guess that a lot of people , myself included sell their decent stuff on Vinted rather then give to charity shops.

A lot of people seem to sell the branded stuff now, I can't be bothered to sell things so give everything to charity, usually branded stuff like Seasalt

I bought a mint velvet top in a charity shop recently 😄

In terms of what I've bought this year I think I've bought 4 tops from a charity shop, 2 new tshirts, a pair of new jeans,(my old jeans were about 8 years old and had literally worn out) a pack of knickers and a pair of running socks. I expect to keep all of them for years.

I live in quite an affluent area and there are still some good bargains to be had in the charity shops, but yes I do think the quality has declined overall. I suppose it’s only to be expected as the quality of high street clothing has decreased, so it will filter through to charity shop donations.

I’m always surprised by the posts on here about charity shops selling worn out Tu vests for a fiver, and pricing Mint Velvet items the same as Asda George. Most of the charity shops in my area seem quite savvy, they stick all the shein items in a £1 per item bargain bin and the better quality items are priced accordingly. They almost all have changing rooms as well. So I think they’re doing what they can to respond to the changing dynamic.

Another thing is that all the charity shops in my area are ALWAYS accepting donations. Where I used to live this was very much not the case, and I’ve read on here that in some towns and cities it can actually be really hard to donate clothes. My guess is that the charity shops in my current town accept everything but dedicate a lot of time to sifting through it all and are realistic about the fact that they will have to dispose of a lot of it and won’t be able to put it on the shop floor. Of course, this is only possible if you have enough willing volunteers, which is not the case everywhere.

i think it depends on the shop

Charity shops are horrible now. It's not just the fact that they're increasingly decked with cheap polyester, acrylic, satin and viscose, there's also been a huge decline on the amount, variety and quality of the household things like plates, glassware, furniture and I think this has to be down in part to a generation that is dying that used to buy and donate quality stuff, and now the stuff that's increasingly becoming available instead is old Ikea, old BHS, old Woolworths, White Company etc...which were all massed produced. I saw a lovely old mahogany or other hard wood vintage chiming clock in a charity shop the other day, it was the price of a small mortgage comparatively speaking! When something decent comes in, it is then slapped with a massive price tag, which seems somewhat appropriate in light of scarcity, but also massively incongruous to the charity shop mission in my mind.

I think that generally speaking the quality of clothing bought new from places like M&S has declined massively recently. I buy most of my clothes from charity shops and some of the best pieces I find are not necessarily in the most affluent areas - a next-to-new Loro Piana top for £9 in a gritty bit of north London for example. You have to hone your eye to work through rails of the crap stuff and spot the gems, but I still find plenty.

Zara seems to be breeding on the rails right now, both new and used - they seriously over produce! It’s horrifying how much is manufactured that will end up in landfill eventually.

Wow, I did NOT put the link to M - and - S in my previous post!

It links automatically to The Marksy and Spencery now. It's a relatively new thing MN are doing. You have to change it a bit if you don't want to shill the brand!

That's a MN thing, probably some part of an advertising type contract they have with some companies

Interesting that MNHQ is turning our posts mentioning that brand into what are essentially adverts for it. Despite it being subject to a massive cyber attack last week and not taking online orders atm! Not impressed with this at all.

I agree about quality and people not knowing what good quality tailoring and fabrics are.

The number of people that claim their Shein outfit is of great quality and they got so many compliments…either BS or you are surrounded by people who don't know either.

Poor quality, awful fit, rubbish fabrics…they stand out a mile.

These poor quality mass imports are unethical in their production, but are also ruining our high street as companies cannot compete…( failing until we are all left with Shein).

Some of the charity shops I visit will have Primark t shirts at the same price as new. We had a new Heart Foundation one open, the clothes are £30/£40, the aren't fancy brands. I think everything has gone down in quality,my DD gave me a Monsoon dress,it's very badly made,as is m and s these days. On a pension, so it's usually vinted.

I do think charity shops can be too expensive nowadays. I was in one recently and picked up a box of two drawer handles. From Dunelm originally £4 to buy new priced at £6! I’d of bought them at £2 tbh.

I did find a lovely cashmere jumper in there for £40 years ago which is a wardrobe staple so I keep popping back in hope.

There's 2 charity shops near my daughter, best I've been in. Last week I got a beautiful Coast black coat for £6. Like new. A Seasalt waxed blue jacket £4. The other one I got 4 Coast tops £3 each someone had obviously had a clear out. I picked up Cath Kids ton backpacks for my granddaughter think they were £3 each. I go in regularly, lots of tacky bobbly t shirts and bobbly jumpers but if you keep looking you can get some good stuff.

I can still find good stuff too but it’s getting harder and the decline is accelerating faster than I expected. It’s hitting the vintage range too. I can’t see there being much left in a few years time.

I live in an ok town and am a regular shopper in the charity shops… in the past I’ve had Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Daks, Hobbs, and other nicer high street brands but I seriously doubt I’d find anything now. It’s a see of tat and actually most of it I wouldn’t have bought new let alone second hand. I have just bought a Whistles dress still currently for sale at around £160 and I’m ok wearing it for £12 but my god it wasn’t worth its full price. If I go to v fancy areas I can pick up some nicer bits but I would be charged c£30 for a £300 dress or leather bag which I think is fine. There’s no designer items for £2 which you often hear other shoppers funding. The only issue is these areas are a bit of a desert for bigger sizes so it’s not really worth the trip if you are anything over a size 14. ( although Mounjaro use is apparently causing the donation of more bigger sizes than before)