A reader question:
Hi Muffy,
I wonder if I may ask the readers a question please.
I regularly clear items from my closets that for whatever reason I have stopped wearing. They are always in excellent clean condition with lots of wear still in them. Currently I am having a more serious "cull".
I always take these garments to our local cancer charity shop (Yorkshire Cancer Research - I live in the U.K.) and never consider selling them myself despite them being high quality items in excellent condition. I have got to know the married couple who manage the shop on a voluntary basis very well and they always tell me they're pleased to see me because of the quality and condition of the items I donate, on which they make good money for the charity which is very close to my heart. (This morning I took in a number of knitwear items for which they were very grateful)
I would like to ask the readership what they do with their garments if they decide they no longer need or want them. Do they sell them or do they donate them to charity as I do?
Kind regards
The brutal truth is that there is far less demand for used clothing than there used to be. Even the few charities that do accept throw away most of what they get. My strategy is to buy the sort of clothes that will still look good worn and mended and wear them out.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree. The brutal truth is that first of all, there is a difference between this, what the reader donates (excellent, clean, not trashy clothes), and simply trash (sorry!), which people should throw away but something makes them thinking, they can still make money on it.
DeleteThe other thing is that most of those excellent clothes from charity stores (this is my opinion), are being purchased and sold back on platforms like eBay or Etsy with a very different price-tag (often playing on people's emotions). How surprised I was, when looking for a certain garment once from a very particular brand, from 60's or 70's, I have found it on those mentioned platforms with sending from...Ukraine.
Well, I don't suggest anything, but once I had a similar story with my son's beautiful clothes which I gave (only few) to our cleaning lady, hoping that she will give them to someone in need. And she told me, without any thoughts, that she sold them. I don't need to say how surprised (and a bit disappointed), I was.
So, from now on, nothing "to donate", sorry. In every country you have plenty of re-sale platforms. It's true, there are a lot of second hand or vintage clothes, but sometimes they are really unused (still with labels), and if they are 100% in excellent condition, naturals fabrics, differently woven than natural fabrics now, so why would I buy today's often poorly made, form mostly blended with polyester fabrics, clothes?
I will be moving next spring & will only be taking a small amount of clothing & personal items. Everything else is being taken to Goodwill.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good question which I struggle with. The default here in America is to take everything to Goodwill, but I doubt if the clothes I donate to them find a happy second home. What do they do with them? Shred them to recycle the fabric? In any case I never see my contributions there which worries me. There are a few good quality second hand shops around, but they are small and have limited space. Sarah's Cupboard in Connecticut and Miles in Motion in Maine for example. Those may be better options for the best quality items. I am not about to start my own Ebay store, too much like work. And then there are dishes---three generations of them and no children to give them to. I joke that I may drive them to Replacements in McLeansville, North Carolina for resale, if they will take them.
ReplyDeleteI donate to a local faith based charity where I believe all the proceeds go into my community. I sometimes see people there buying in bulk and no doubt reselling but this particular charity has their own eBay store in which they will usually offer the choice items at market value.
ReplyDeleteAs you live in Yorkshire, have you considered selling through Marrkt in Easingwold? - https://www.marrkt.com/pages/visit-us.
ReplyDeleteI haven't Ken as I don't want to make money on my unwanted clothes, I would rather the charity did. Yorkshire Cancer Research know what they are doing and get a good return on our donations (we get a report on how much they make from them) and they do re sell everything in their shops. We also have personal reasons for donatinng to them.
DeleteI was suggesting that you sell through Marrkt (perhaps realising a higher sale price given its reputation as a source of high quality used garments) and donate the proceeds to your chosen charities through Giftaid.
DeleteI realised later that that is what you meant Ken and it was a nice well intentioned comment so thank you
DeleteI attend All Saints' Episcopal Church, near the University of Texas. We, along with a half dozen other nearby churches, operate programs to help people who really need help, many of them homeless. We offer choices among gift cards for groceries and the like, bus passes, rent assistance, and utility assistance. We also offer breakfast tacos, snacks, hygiene kits, and much more. We used to donate clothing as it came in, but it was all quickly snapped up by those at the front of the line. Now we donate all clothing to University Methodist which runs a program called the Fig Leaf. Every Saturday the Fig Leaf is open at ten. Clothing is organized, sized, and hung on racks, very much like a store. I believe other nearby churches are similarly directing clothing to the Fig Leaf. There is plenty of demand for all sorts of clothing.
ReplyDeleteSt. Vincent De Paul is an excellent choice. One of the cashiers told me the organization helped her by paying her rent.
ReplyDeleteI donate all types of items to a local Thrift Shop. I am happy and if the items are bought to sell the Thrift Shop gets their money and everyone is happy.
ReplyDeleteThe retail outlets are very few and far between here in the northwest corner. Several sizable towns (+\- 60 square miles) have a gas station, but certainly no stores that sell clothing and household goods. There is a charity thrift shop in the town next door to ours. If someone breaks a glass or needs a simple kitchen item, like a strainer, the thrift store will often be the go-to. Almost every one ends up shopping there sooner or later, not just the poor. I refuse to do business with Amazon. They have laid ruin to many of our small town retail centers. So, if I need something I start at the thrift shop. Often the thrift store will not have the item. So I’ll likely end up eventually purchasing it on a trip to thé city or when I find myself in a more populated area. I did once find 3 virtually brand spanking new J Press OCBDs at the thrift store for 25 cents (!!!) each. I wore them for a while and then returned them to the thrift store so someone else might buy them and wear them, for a while, before likely then giving them back to the thrift store. There be life in “thé country.” You also run into just about anyone, including the weekend Range Rover crowd, at the local dump where they have a “swap shop.” It’s a good place to source things like books and old but functional garden tools. Duxbury Mass (aka “Deluxebury”) is supposed to have the best dump swap shop in New England.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like things are very different here in the U.K. The charity (thrift?) shops, certainly in the area in which we live, attract high quality donations and know their value. One or two of them are run very much like boutiques and attract buyers from all walks of life. I have a very well dressed friend (and I really do mean well dressed) who, apart from underwear and socks, buys pretty much all his clothes in charity shops!
DeleteGive to friends.
ReplyDeleteI would only give to friends if they were going to make a worthwhile donation to charity
DeleteBoth of my parents died recently; they wore very high quality classic clothing their entire lives; most of it purchased on frequent trips to the UK (we live in California). While we may have had some success with selling it on Ebay (we’ve never done that) the work was beyond anything we wanted to contend with. Our Goodwill was happy with what we brought in; hope someone is getting good use from it. Sadly, even here in San Francisco few people still wear elegant, classic clothing unless they are over 60. Everyone else always looks as though they just came from the gym.
ReplyDelete