Charity shops, I apologise

[thedevilinablackdress]

I've loved charity shopping for over 30 years, but like many I've long mixed it with online second hand shopping.
The stories in this Guardian article are not new to those of us who've read threads on here, work in the shops or know people who do.
I never sell online myself and am a very mindful donatter, but my own eBay addiction and Vinted dabbling is contributing to this in a way.
Shops won't want to discourage donations, but it seems more push back on the mountains of crap is needed.

www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/oct/13/people-sell-their-best-stuff-on-vinted-how-charity-shops-became-a-dumping-ground-for-unsellable-clothes

Nothing to do with the staff having no idea.
All our stock is put on the rails for a maximum of 14 days. We date the stock and take items off to rag every week so there are continually new items on the rails. We get so many donations we have to rag stock off the shop floor regularly to make space for the next lot of donations.

At the moment we have a circular rail which holds around 40 pairs of jeans. It is always full, as we sell them they are replaced. Our jeans are £2.50 a pair. We must rag 20-30 pairs of jeans every 2 weeks.

Doesn't matter if they are cheap makes or Levis, we work on the theory that if they have sat on the rails for 2 weeks and not sold they need to go to make room for new stock.

Blimey jeans are something I would pick up in a charity shop if they had them! Don't rag them for goodness sake! Get rid of some of the other tat you put out instead! This just shows that staff have no idea.

Our figures consistently showed that trousers and skirts were very slow to sell. We could sell 20 tops for every one pair of trousers, and we had decent branded trousers from Next, M&S, Zara etc. The general feeling is that people are happy to buy a dress, jacket or top but are not comfortable for whatever reason for wearing something which has been around someone else's bum and crotch. BNWT trousers sold OK. Used didn't.

Have the same problem. Originally 100% Egyptian cotton sheet but must have worn thin and now has a tear in it. DH must have had a torn nail and ripped it. It's got to go in the weekly waste collection and rot on a dump as can't go anywhere else. At one point it would have been turned into carpet tiles but not anymore. It's very sad - I hate waste.

Everything I take to a charity shop, regardless of whether for re-sale or rags (which I put in a separate bag) is washed and clean but sadly not everyone has done this - the few spoiling it for everyone and now the charity shops are refusing to take stuff and I don't blame them.

In my shop , we have back up stock all ready to go on the shop floor , when a rail gets depleted . So those Levi’s upthread would be backup or sent to another shop . Parking is easy at my shop , so we get loads of donation . Some of the shops are in a town centre with minimal parking , so stock gets passed on

I always give our good quality (bought new) clothes to Age Concern. SometimesI have to complain because if a temporary volunteer handles the stuff they don't attach my account number to all the donations, and then I don't get notified when they sell. This really irritates me. Especially when have see my donations in the shop and then have seen that they aren't there any more.

I think asking whether charity shops make significant money is a good one. You’d yhink theyd be taking it in free stock, free Labour, often reduced rents and rates. Although the turnover can be in the hundreds of millions the net profit seems generally to be under 10%. which is why charities are trimming their worst performing stores

The amount they generate is dwarfed by by legacy gifts. I do wonder though if larger charities recieve more legacies as they are so visible on the high street and if that will change if they shift to out of town warehouse style thrift superstores.

If you want to get a good deal in a charity shop now you have to work there.

The best stuff the staff get the first shot at.

I think another reason for jeans and trousers not selling well is that many charity shops have closed the changing room due to shoplifting. My shop hasn’t had a changing room for over a year . Customers do get 28 days to return items though .

There could be other reasons for not seeing your donations in the shop. Out of season clothes go in a winter or summer bag. It could be backup stock or stock sent to another shop .
or it may have sold . We’ve had donations in the morning which have sold by the afternoon.

Age concern notifies you of every sale?!

AFAIC I give my postcode so that the charity can claim the gift aid and I get a summary at the end of the year of how much my stuff sold for in total, which I can put on my tax return.

At my shop items have to be on the shop floor for 2 days before staff can buy them.
Although I have seen staff squirrel away stuff .

I find it easier to eyeball a top and decide if it will fit than to do so with trousers (which might fit on the hip and bag at the waist, or whatever).

Please tell me what the best stuff is?
is your best stuff the same as my best stuff?

😟 thats awful

Do you mean your gift aid number?

Why is it awful?

Great article.

I like the term 'wish give'. It's useful. Comes up on here reasonably often when people are talking about having to sort through loads of stuff, be it their own or someone else's, it's often clear that some people won't accept the idea that there being life left in something doesn't mean a charity shop can reasonably expect to get enough for it to cover the costs of labour.

Because the person owning shop makes money and not the charity (shop )!

@wavingfuriously they both make money - and the shop owner and possibly any staff are actually employed.

The charity shop sells at £5 (or whatever) on the donation of a top, making £5 gross profit before shop overheads.

The vintage shop sells the top at £10 (or whatever) and makes £5 gross profit, from which they have to pay staff as well as shop overheads.

Both parties make a margin. All good.

People always go on about best stuff. As I said upthread my best stuff is quirky ceramics, knitting yarn, history books, other craft stuff, the occasional dress, jigsaws for my mum. I have zero interest in clubbing outfits, children's clothes, handbags, shoes, board games, recipe books, hats.

The owner of a local boutique at one point was buying goods from there to sell in the vintage section of her store.

No you have misread. The owner of a local, for profit shop, was buying stock from the charity shop. Which is fine.

Plus the vintage shop will pay full rates to the local authority, contributing to the local area. Charity shop - either 80 per cent or more discount, so not so much.

Vintage shop might pay VAT and likely will pay some sort of income tax/NI - so again giving back.

Charity shops are not necessarily a public good - they might be good for the specific charity, but they are quite harmful to local economies and high streets.

Exactly! Volunteers taking all the ‘best stuff’ gets trotted out on all charity threads. My best stuff is detective fiction, which I buy with my staff discount, read and re- donate with my gift aid number.

Charity shops are not necessarily a public good - they might be good for the specific charity, but they are quite harmful to local economies and high streets.

I’m not convinced of this - on grounds that vape shops and nail bars proliferate in any empty stores, not boutiques and greengrocers.