In the loft I have lots of Sylvanian Family stuff - a Romany caravan, stables, bakery, and a doll's house [non SF] and dozens of bits of furniture and accessories. And loads of animals- horses, elephants, cats, bears, etc. So I really don't need any more - there's plenty for Rosie to play with, and in time, maybe, Jess and the Manchester Boys. So I really should not have succumbed to the little box in a CS in Wymondham the other day.
"Is it immoral to sell these on eBay?" I asked Bob.
I wrestled with my conscience for a few days, then finally advertised them. After eBay had deducted their fees [I've not used the site for ages, they seemed rather high] I had £20 in my pocket. So I gave some to charity [and bought a small box of Playmobil for Rosie in another CS]
I believe strongly in the Charity Shop system -
- it benefits the charity [esp if the donor uses Gift-Aid]
- it benefits the buyer [cheaper than 'new']
- it benefits the donor [positive decluttering]
- it benefits the community [fewer empty shops in High St]
- it benefits the planet [recycling not landfill]
I know many CS shops are more discriminating nowadays - upper end garments, Boden, Phase Eight, Monsoon etc are priced higher than Primark and Peacocks stuff. And chinaware is often separated into 'everyday' 50p teaplates and mugs, and the posher Denby/Doulton stuff.
My friend bought a £10 suit, and at the till said "It is worth more than that" and gave the assistant £20. Then he asked for a bag to put it in, and she said "I will have to charge you an extra 10p for that" - which seemed rather 'jobsworth' in view of his generosity!!
But is it OK to buy stuff cheap and sell it on at a profit? At a boot fair last summer, I saw a clothes rail where the garments still had their CS tags showing varying prices - but the sign said "All dresses £5". I suppose you could argue the seller had already paid the CS the money required by the charity, and she was taking a risk if she didn't sell enough of them to cover costs and make a profit.
What do you think?
I think that the charities don't have enough staff to sort and sell things on ebay, and if you buy from them, sell it on, and then make a donation, then they are better off? So that's some consolation. It's conundrum
ReplyDeleteI think the CS are dependent on volunteers and as you say, they do not always have the staff to sort out the donations as carefully as they might wish
DeleteThat is a difficult one to wrestle with. On the one hand, the charity wants to sell so any sale is good, particularly if it might remain unsold for all the reasons you gave. However, I sometimes, particularly with clothes, it would be nice for those with less money and who need to purchase in a charity shop, to have the chance to buy nice goods first, before they get sold on.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is something I'd make a habit of doing - I do think it's important to have affordable clothes and household goods available for those with fewer resources.
DeleteWhen we take textiles and shoes, bags etc into R:evolve recycle, we tell people that anything in perfect condition/with tags will be sold in our thrift+gift outlets. This money helps keep our three outlets open. They may withdraw their donation if they don’t agree. Anything that stops landfill is fine with me and of course the charity benefitted twice as you gave back to them from your sale. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI'm always pleased when a donation can be really beneficial to the charity
DeleteEveryone has to decide for themselves but I would have been very sad if you had gone back to the CS and bought all the others sets too - that wouldn't have been playing fair
ReplyDeleteWould it be worth letting the CS know, and then maybe they would have the option to sell on Ebay, which quite a few CS shops do?
ReplyDeleteI have now spoken with someone from their other CS shop. She said that sometimes things slip through at the sorting stage. (but thanked me for letting them know)
DeleteAs someone who was a charity shop manager for most of my working life we had absolutely no problem with people buying things off us to resell, if we occasionally got a price wrong and let something go at a bargain price to a re-seller it just made them come back all the more and buy off us again.
ReplyDeleteOnce we had priced something with the price that we wanted it was up to the buyer whether they kept it or sold it on ... once paid for it was their property.
What I had more of a problem with was all the shoplifters taking our stuff for nothing or making me feel like a security guard patrolling my own shop.
If you had gone back and bought the other packs and sold them on for the same price you could have returned to the charity shop with either a donation, or spent some of the money on other things in the shop, which would then benefit their daily figures nicely.
Thanks for such a full response. And yes it is sad there are shoplifters.
DeleteI don't think it was wrong to resell the items you bought form a CS, especially if you made an additional donation to the CS.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bless
DeleteI've occasionally found something that I liked, that I knew was worth more than the asking price so I have paid more.
ReplyDelete👍☺️
DeleteI'm late to this so won't comment on the charity shop side of things but I just had to say:
ReplyDeleteI love Sylvanian families!!!
Alison in Wales x
I know...so cute!!!
DeleteI think you did the right thing. I remember those toys!
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter loves all things Sylvanian
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