Posted on 05/11/2020 8:32:16 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
I thought when you donated, it was just bought by someone else locally....
i see.
some thrift stores put some of the specialized stuff online for sale
and
some thrift stores have long had a special section of clothing (and another for other stuff) that they think may be especially valuable or desirable... and they mark up THOSE prices, without jacking up the prices on the 90% of regular stuff
(I think both approaches make good sense for the thrift stores, without doing too much damage to regular store shoppers who just need regular things at economical prices)
Ways to do this include offering warranties on clothing and making tags that inform consumers of a product’s expected lifespan
There is a local fundraising group that makes the most fabulous mittens out of recycled wool items. They add embellishments to them and they’re usually a blend of interesting colors; fun to wear.
They’re getting $25 a pair for them!
I’m sure you’re familiar with this gal? Crispina Ffrench:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Crispinaffrench
I think she has an actual shop somewhere, or mail order as well?
I love shopping Goodwill, etc....I have found some great items, one being an original painting by a woman known as the "grandma moses of California" and I know she exhibited at the SF Museum of art, and this particular painting hung at the Nixon west coast home...someday you'll see me on Antique Roadshow...:)
This isn’t new and there are many reasons beside the cost. In the Philippines I seen boxes of 2nd hand clothes not given away or sold for the simple reason Americans are larger than Filipino’s. If clothes were given away on Indian reservation they would find the clothes dumped in the countryside so missions would sale the clothes the dumping deminished.
I use ‘Goodwill’ as a verb - but I never shop there.
The guy who started it is a money-grubbing douche with a bad reputation. And they take as much as they can out of the company in salaries and perks.
The Capitalist in me says, ‘Fine. Your idea, your fortune.’
The Humanist in me thinks you should give BACK more than you TAKE in a case like this that brings you tax breaks and FREE merchandise to resell for profit.
Do posters realize Goodwill only gifts one eighth of its profits
Its executive compensation for national management last year was nearly 60 million
It pays workers below minimum wage
It receives huge tax and charity subsidies
Its not what folks think
My kids always had designer duds on the cheap, too. They never knew. They just saw ‘new’ clothes on their beds to try on and everyone was happy. When they were teens, I introduced them to the Wonderful world of Thrift. :)
And it was a regular ‘thing’ for me to show up in the rooms with an empty box and instructions to fill it with clothes that no longer fit and toys they had tired of or books we’d all read 100x over.
It's just that wool is easily twice and perhaps four times as warming as fleece, at the same shipping weight and volume.
Good point.
ONE post ahead of you, Wardaddy! :)
Thats a good idea, making blankets out of quilting squares cut from sweaters.
The people Im familiar with are all local. Knitters, braided rug makers, quilters, jewelry makers, wedding planners, etc.
——I think the pickings at Goodwill, etc. will be FABULOUS later this summer once its all sorted and put back up for sale. ;)-——
Maybe but I just saw a GW Eemployee at at drop off box going through the donations. He was picking out all the good stuff. I guess to sell or keep for himself.
You are correct. You are much better giving your clothes to Share, Salvation Army. They are much better “charities”.
Obviously, the article is more about the lack of market for used clothing. This is the clothing that places in the US collect and can not sell. Now they do not want it in third world countries even for free.
Keep in mind, all of those 2020 Super Bowl Champions LA Rams hats and T shirts have to go somewhere. They make thousands of both Super Bowl teams, just so when the clock runs out and your team won, you can buy an Officially Licensed NFL product. All the other losing team shirts got to go somewhere.
Yes I upthread I wrote how my ships used to carry pepe to the third world
pepe is slang for used clothing bales
I wish my mother would have donated old clothing. I had to wear hand me down for 11 yrs AND I have 7 older sisters and I’m a guy!
It’s pretty much across the board, here.
The “VIP” stuff is still separate from the regular clothes but overall, prices went up.
$4 jeans are now $8.
Even t shirts are up 50 cents and even then some are $3 and up depending on what’s on them.
Used to go to a couple of Goodwills in a nice part of town. That’s where a guy like me could find some really nice clothes that some fellow’s ex-wife disposed of. Polo shirts, some even never worn for $2.75. Well, that is until GCF got a little to big for it’s britches and started charging way more...
But I did stumble across a Matchbox carrying case loaded with ‘60s and early ‘70s Matchbox and Redline Hot Wheels cars (about 30 in all) for $15. Score! Haha, probably belonged to the ex-husband as well.
Funny story though.... Was going through the Goodwill store once and a couple of high school aged girls were looking through clothes and were a little flustered. I was nearby and one girl was nudging the other and saying, “Go ahead, ask him.”
So this teenage girl turns to me and says. “Excuse me? Sir? What kind of clothes did they wear in the ‘80s?”
Haha, I laughed and gave my best model pose, sweeping my hand down and across my body, “You’re looking at it, kid...” :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.