My Controversial blog post about why I think eBay re-sellers buying from Charity Shops is a bit scummy!

Jon · Jan 22, 2018

I've put this up on the blog today

https://blog.themoneyshed.co.uk/why-i-do-not-agree-with-ebay-resellers-buying-from-charity-shops/

Be interested to know your thoughts...

homie · Jan 22, 2018

Jon said:
I've put this up on the blog today

https://blog.themoneyshed.co.uk/why-i-do-not-agree-with-ebay-resellers-buying-from-charity-shops/

Be interested to know your thoughts...

Morning Jon.
Can't say I agree with you to be honest. It makes no difference to the charity shop what happens to the items after they have sold them and made some money from them. In fact, as you suggested, most charity shops near me are savy to ebay now anyway and check ebay sold prices before pricing their goods, leading to a lot of stock sitting around for longer than it might have done if they'd priced up a bit cheaper.

One thing I don't agree, which you didn't mention is people taking stuff from places like freecycle and then selling it on. The idea of freecycle is you are giving something you don't use anymore to someone else who can make use of it - thus "freecycling" the item and giving it a new lease of life. I don't call selling it on for a quick buck making use of it. For some reason that seems worse to me than buying from charity shops to resell. Although it is two sides of the same coin perhaps.

Jon · Jan 22, 2018

homie said:
Morning Jon.
Can't say I agree with you to be honest. It makes no difference to the charity shop what happens to the items after they have sold them and made some money from them. In fact most charity shops near me are savy to this now anyway and check ebay sold prices before pricing their goods, leading to a lot of stock sitting around for longer than it might have done if they'd priced up a bit cheaper.

One thing I don't agree, which you didn't mention is people taking stuff from places like freecycle and then selling it on. The idea of freecycle is you are giving something you don't use anymore to someone else who can make use of it - thus "freecycling" the item and giving it a new lease of life. I don't call selling it on for a quick buck making use of it. For some reason that seems worse to me than buying from charity shops to resell. Although it is two sides of the same coin perhaps.

You know I had never thought of the Freecycle Angle

I've used that service quite a few times now and it's always been when I've been desperate for something but not had the cash to buy it!

Didn't know ebay resellers were using that service as well to get items...

Justdesserts · Jan 22, 2018

I can see both sides I think, it's not something I'd consider doing but I wouldn't pour scorn on someone who did. I'm at a loss to see how you could make money on an item bought from a charity shop though, the ones round here are more expensive than ebay in the first place!

katykicker · Jan 22, 2018

I think it is a bit scummy to write posts that are aimed at attacking other people and their way of life

BOOM *MIC DROP*

Seriously though, I'm doing a small amount of re-selling this year. I don't feel guilty. I do lots of nice things, donate goods to charity, let them claim gift aid on it, and also the money I'm raising is being used to take my Mum away. She's pretty much a charity case atm so yeah. It's all good for me.

Jon · Jan 22, 2018

katykicker said:
I think it is a bit scummy to write posts that are aimed at attacking other people and their way of life

BOOM *MIC DROP*

Seriously though, I'm doing a small amount of re-selling this year. I don't feel guilty. I do lots of nice things, donate goods to charity, let them claim gift aid on it, and also the money I'm raising is being used to take my Mum away. She's pretty much a charity case atm so yeah. It's all good for me.

CIRCLE OF LIFE!!!

katykicker · Jan 22, 2018

Jon said:
CIRCLE OF LIFE!!!

HAHA so true

katastrophy · Jan 22, 2018

I'm on the fence with this one. When I donate I usually think about which charity I want to help out, not how best to serve my community, so your post has got me thinking. Generally though if it means the charity are shifting more stock and making more money as a result I'm not against it.

Slightly OT but let's call it a side rant... I'm a member of a few freebie groups and it seriously gets my goat when they post charity freebies - usually packs, t-shirts, items etc to be used to help the charity raise money. It just feels so low-life to me to take those items knowing you've no intention of helping out the charity. Some people just come across as so unbelievabley greedy, argh!

Dick Barton · Jan 22, 2018

I think if you pay the asking price at the charity then that is fair enough. I have seen items of clothing in charity shops that have been priced at more than they cost new. Is that not ripping off the public. I once looked up the accounts of the British Heart Foundation and it had quite a few employees getting over £50,000 a year and the prices in their shops can be really high. I once worked in a laboratory for cancer research and I was told they were worth millions and it wasn't the money they needed, it was finding brilliant people to do the research that was the problem.

Jon · Jan 22, 2018

Dick Barton said:
I think if you pay the asking price at the charity then that is fair enough. I have seen items of clothing in charity shops that have been priced at more than they cost new. Is that not ripping off the public. I once looked up the accounts of the British Heart Foundation and it had quite a few employees getting over £50,000 a year and the prices in their shops can be really high. I once worked in a laboratory for cancer research and I was told they were worth millions and it wasn't the money they needed, it was finding brilliant people to do the research that was the problem.

I know quite a few women at work who refuse to do the Cancer Research 'Race for life' due to how they spend their money...

Chammy · Jan 22, 2018

Jon said:
I know quite a few women at work who refuse to do the Cancer Research 'Race for life' due to how they spend their money...

We refuse to give to the larger charities as we refuse to pay the fat cats at the top for their huge salaries and bonuses. Any charity who can pay people to go door to door trying to guilt trip people in their own home to cough up doesn't need our money.

We support the smaller charities where possible, those that don't have 4-5 charity shops in each town, those who can't afford big TV commercials or to pay celebrities to advertise for them.

fraserbooks · Jan 22, 2018

I have also posted this as a comment on your blog post. I actually help in a local charity shop (I was there this morning). We get far more stock donated than we can possibly sell and we rely on ebay sellers and the like to buy some of it. The charity also runs its own Ebay shop and we send things we think will make more online there.

The alternative is to send excess stock to book recyclers for 5p a book or textile recyclers for 50p a bag. As a business we have to pay for waste collection. I do think buyers should be wary buying from charity shops for resale we often have "designer" handbags with no proof of authenticity. We also appreciate a local book dealer who brings in a box of chocolates if he has made a good sale.

maisiemog · Jan 22, 2018

Jon said:
I know quite a few women at work who refuse to do the Cancer Research 'Race for life' due to how they spend their money...

I won't either, they have some staff members earning 6 figure salaries. I have a whole list of charities I refuse to give money to Roger because of how they spend their money he or some of their ethics. Usually we go for small and local. When I ran London last year I did it for a very small charity and loved knowing that every penny I spent was going exactly where I wanted it to.

As for eBay reselling. I get what your saying but you've in effect made a donation to the charity for the item, once you've paid for it it's legally your possession to do with as you wish. Plus I fail to see how you can make much money doing this. Often they price is higher than I would make on eBay. Free cycle selling bugs me. I've given something and then seen it on a FB selling group a few days later.

Dick Barton · Jan 22, 2018

I know several managers of charity shops on very friendly basis. Sometimes they ask my advice and I guide them where I can as to pricing on ebay. Sometimes I am offered items by these people as they have not been able to sell certain goods and I make a contribution. The whole key to making money on ebay is knowledge. A classic example was a friend who told me not to go looking at the books in O........as they now had an expert price all their books and there was no money to be made. The friend was also a dealer in lace. Cutting a long story short I purchased a booklet for 99p and sold it for £92, so much for the expert. The moral really is research, research and more research

katykicker · Jan 22, 2018

Chammy said:
We refuse to give to the larger charities as we refuse to pay the fat cats at the top for their huge salaries and bonuses. Any charity who can pay people to go door to door trying to guilt trip people in their own home to cough up doesn't need our money.

We support the smaller charities where possible, those that don't have 4-5 charity shops in each town, those who can't afford big TV commercials or to pay celebrities to advertise for them.

Same! Local hospice, etc

The Reverend · Jan 22, 2018

I read your blogpost.

I think you & I are probably from a different time and as such consider charity shops as something different from what they are today.

W'n I were t'lad the charity shop is where you bought dead men's jumpers for 50p so that you had a warm jumper. You could buy jeans and jackets there too. They took EVERYTHING in and all the coats were £2, Jumpers 50p, Jeans were £1, as were trousers, and paperback books were 25p each or 5 for a pound. Hard back books were generally a quid each, but they didn't get many of them. The reality was that many a house-mum clothed her kids, and maybe herself/husband in these bargain clothes. No-one would know but thats what charity shops were for. Sure, they allowed the people in the detached houses to empty their closets and feel good about themselves. It also helped them know who to judge when in Sainsburys as they were wearing YOUR blouse that had that little 'nick' that no-one would notice except you.

I think in the last 10-15 years the tide has changed and now they are places where a commercial enterprise sells you items for just less than RRP (or more if they think they can get away with it) where the people who used to give away stuff now occasionally go to BUY things so they get a warm feeling inside about helping people out by 'buying' clothes which hopefully no-one down the rotary club donated!

The fact Charity shops DO charge so much means that if you buy something, you can do what you like with it. Of course, not all charity shops are looking to get the most £££ for an item but they do sell items for what they are worth ... to them. If you see something for 50p and can sell it for £50 on ebay then so what? If you want, tell them they can get more for it online. Most wont care. If you feel REALLY bad just donate a load of items for them to sell or make a donation to the charity shop of your choice, if it makes you feel better.

When I lived in Victoria there was a charity shop down the road which always had designer brands in. But they were priced pretty heavy. I saw a peice of pottery that my mum likes and went to enquire the price. They were selling it for £20 MORE than I could buy one delivered from ebay (£40 total!). But someone will buy it, or they'll reduce it.

No charity shop is going to go bankrupt because you made a profit on something you bought from them, thats for sure.

The Reverend

BreeziOG · Jan 22, 2018

Jon said:
I know quite a few women at work who refuse to do the Cancer Research 'Race for life' due to how they spend their money...

I avoid Cancer Research and the ‘pink cancer’ causes for this reason. Even the money spent on research isn’t used properly, the marketable, poster friendly diseases get money thrown at them, while the more serious, aggressive and less publicised cancers are woefully underfunded. And don’t get me started on the chuggers...

Jon · Jan 22, 2018

BreeziOG said:
I avoid Cancer Research and the ‘pink cancer’ causes for this reason. Even the money spent on research isn’t used properly, the marketable, poster friendly diseases get money thrown at them, while the more serious, aggressive and less publicised cancers are woefully underfunded. And don’t get me started on the chuggers...

Scuse me mate.......

Jon · Jan 22, 2018

The Reverend said:
I read your blogpost.

I think you & I are probably from a different time and as such consider charity shops as something different from what they are today.

W'n I were t'lad the charity shop is where you bought dead men's jumpers for 50p so that you had a warm jumper. You could buy jeans and jackets there too. They took EVERYTHING in and all the coats were £2, Jumpers 50p, Jeans were £1, as were trousers, and paperback books were 25p each or 5 for a pound. Hard back books were generally a quid each, but they didn't get many of them. The reality was that many a house-mum clothed her kids, and maybe herself/husband in these bargain clothes. No-one would know but thats what charity shops were for. Sure, they allowed the people in the detached houses to empty their closets and feel good about themselves. It also helped them know who to judge when in Sainsburys as they were wearing YOUR blouse that had that little 'nick' that no-one would notice except you.

I think in the last 10-15 years the tide has changed and now they are places where a commercial enterprise sells you items for just less than RRP (or more if they think they can get away with it) where the people who used to give away stuff now occasionally go to BUY things so they get a warm feeling inside about helping people out by 'buying' clothes which hopefully no-one down the rotary club donated!

The fact Charity shops DO charge so much means that if you buy something, you can do what you like with it. Of course, not all charity shops are looking to get the most £££ for an item but they do sell items for what they are worth ... to them. If you see something for 50p and can sell it for £50 on ebay then so what? If you want, tell them they can get more for it online. Most wont care. If you feel REALLY bad just donate a load of items for them to sell or make a donation to the charity shop of your choice, if it makes you feel better.

When I lived in Victoria there was a charity shop down the road which always had designer brands in. But they were priced pretty heavy. I saw a peice of pottery that my mum likes and went to enquire the price. They were selling it for £20 MORE than I could buy one delivered from ebay (£40 total!). But someone will buy it, or they'll reduce it.

No charity shop is going to go bankrupt because you made a profit on something you bought from them, thats for sure.

The Reverend

I get what you're saying about the larger chains but I can't see 'North Leeds Charity Shop for the hard of hearing' having a massive budget since ya know, it's only open 3 days a week as that's the only time Doris will volunteer to open the shop etc.

Someone made a good point on the blog post

We forget how many people with not a lot of money use these shops to buy things from!

homie · Jan 22, 2018

The Reverend said:
I read your blogpost.

I think you & I are probably from a different time and as such consider charity shops as something different from what they are today.

W'n I were t'lad the charity shop is where you bought dead men's jumpers for 50p so that you had a warm jumper. You could buy jeans and jackets there too. They took EVERYTHING in and all the coats were £2, Jumpers 50p, Jeans were £1, as were trousers, and paperback books were 25p each or 5 for a pound. Hard back books were generally a quid each, but they didn't get many of them. The reality was that many a house-mum clothed her kids, and maybe herself/husband in these bargain clothes. No-one would know but thats what charity shops were for. Sure, they allowed the people in the detached houses to empty their closets and feel good about themselves. It also helped them know who to judge when in Sainsburys as they were wearing YOUR blouse that had that little 'nick' that no-one would notice except you.
The Reverend

Did anyone else read Rev's reply and imagine a cobbled street with the music from the Hovis advert playing in the background?

"We lived in a cardboard box in the middle t'street, all we had to eat were grit and carrot shavings...." etc

My Controversial blog post about why I think eBay re-sellers buying from Charity Shops is a bit scummy!

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