Do charity shops enable us to justify buying too many clothes?

I don't think so - shopaholics will shop regardless of what happens to the clothes and goods eventually.

Although I like nice clothes, have never liked shopping and rarely buy on impulse - even as a younger woman with no financial restraints I never bought loads of 'stuff'.

Some people just like to shop!

My daughter who is a single mother of four approaching middle age, certainly buys most of her clothes from charity shops. She began doing this as she simply couldn’t afford many items and it was an opportunity to have more but soon became a bit of a second-hand fashionista as she discovered the gems that can be found. She’s a quirky and creative woman and this line of style suits her. So I suspect if she did have spare cash she’d still choose this over new clothes most of the time as she gets such a kick out if it.

MOnica
I think you make a very good point.
It’s made me think of the amount of brand new, with price tags still on that I take out of a donation bag.
If there were no charity shops would that person throw it in their own rubbish and think twice before they bought clothing that they didn’t love.

For my part, I have always loved cloths and always had too many but within my means - I went to art college to study fashion so have often made my own clothes. But 10 years ago I vowed a year of not buying new clothes - it was a fun success from the POV of be temporary. But the big challenge…2 of my children married that year! I borrowed a vintage Laura Ashley dress for one wedding and the second (which was very grand in a castle in Italy) I made my outfit.

It’s made me think of the amount of brand new, with price tags still on that I take out of a donation bag.

Meryl that must make a nice change though from dirty socks, and worse, that charity shops get given.

Riverwalk
It certainly does 😱

I think what I notice is how people buy the same clothes over and over again and never wear them.

Sometimes a bag at the Charity shop I volunteer in will have half a dozen black trousers with the labels still on or several white T-shirt’s or blouses ditto. Or for some reason, jumpers in that purple-pink.🤷🏽‍♀️

I admit to a tendency to navy blue but at least I do wear it (working hard to be able to get into the autumn navy blue trousers😳)

I think some people use charity shops as dumping grounds to rid themselves of unwanted items. The same as those who fly tip another disgraceful habit. They are too idle to dispose of clothes or goods themselves.

One charity we give to check the bags we take in so there are no quilts or pillows etc as they don’t take them now. We used to take these items to two animal shelters close by but they both closed permanently so they go the local recycling centre.

I don’t buy clothes from charity shops now when I was younger I did I never had an excess of clothes then. Now I buy what I want and usually put something not worn for a while in a bag for charity. I would never consider putting something in a charity bag unclean that’s just down right disgusting.

I don't think it would make any difference. Some people like to keep abreast of fashion but don't always have the best quality they can afford and have money to buy duplicates.
We are encouraged to use the one-year rule and if donating to a charity shop leave the tag on. If I applied the one-year rule of if not worn this year donate, my wardrobe would be half empty. I often keep things for more than a year unworn so that I am not walking around like a clone of everyone else. Also, one set of clothes and shoes has now seen me through three weddings 7 years apart.
At least they are sending them to the Charity shop which is benefitting from getting clothes in a better state than sweaty and dirty.
Stop the Charity shops and the over-spender's clothes will go to landfill as will the clothes of the one-year rule followers.

No one wants second hand books anymore, even if they are in as new condition. Our op shops won’t accept them. I don’t like chucking them in the bin when there is nothing wrong with them and so one of my groups has started a book swap. You bring a book to swap once a month.( I have to fess up and say I take 2 or 3 there and bring just 1 back.

Just had a very good rummage through some of the 40 table top stalls set up in front gardens around my village yesterday. I found children’s designer clothes, excellent toys and books for grandchildren plus new photo frame and luxury bath bombs. It raised funds for a local charity and was a fun day.
It was a way of clearing out no longer needed items. In a way shoppers still got a dopamine boost from unexpected finds so maybe no need to shop for awhile?

nanna8

No one wants second hand books anymore, even if they are in as new condition. Our op shops won’t accept them. I don’t like chucking them in the bin when there is nothing wrong with them and so one of my groups has started a book swap. You bring a book to swap once a month.( I have to fess up and say I take 2 or 3 there and bring just 1 back.

I like your idea ronib , In our village, the defunct telephone Kiosk is a book swap. It is next to the recycling bins and people can drop off at the same time. In DD's town, a charity has leased an empty shop and has it set up as a bookshop. They are all categorised and you put a donation in the charity box. You see lots of people in some don't seem to realise it is second-hand books. Good luck with it.

Gosh Nanna8 we do great business in books at the charity shop I work at What we don’t sell in the shop we sell on eBay Amazon or Ziffit and make extra money that way It’s mainly the dirty or worn old books that have to be chucked
There’s also book finds leave one laying on a public bench or wall for someone to find you can leave it in a plastic bag if the weather is bad There’s groups that do this I used to belong to one I can’t remember what it’s called though You had a sticker to put on it and recorded when you found one

I recommend Andrew Brooks 2019 book Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-Hand Clothes.

He explains how recycled clothes are traded across continents and uncovers how retailers and international charities are embroiled in commodity chains which perpetuate poverty and dependence in sub-Saharan Africa.

A thank you to all those of you who buy new books. I can’t remember when bought a brand new one. I’m always prepared to wait.
We have an old telephone kiosk too in our village that doubles as a library.
I’m too old now to wonder if I’m ultra fashionable, but when I look at clothes in the shops they doesn’t seem to be much difference between what they are offering and what I have in the wardrobe.
I’m wondering if I can wear the dress I wore to my DD’s wedding (25years old) to my nephews this year. I love it.
So any things donated to charity shops etc. end up in landfill in third world countries.

I don’t look in charity shops for myself, because whenever I used to, I never found anything I liked.
Dds fare a lot better in their area - they often find virtually new, or actually new dresses originally priced at say £60, for £8-10. Some even have the labels still attached.

Some people will buy masses of clothes anyway. I used to know someone who was endlessly buying, but only if things were really cheap in the sales. When she once showed me her latest ‘bargain’ trousers, I asked how many pairs she had at home.
‘Probably about 70’.
But so many of her ‘bargains’ ended up in piles cluttering up the house, her dh eventually got so fed up, he took a load of them to - wait for it - the tip! Brand new things, never worn! Couldn’t even be bothered to take them to a charity shop! I was so bloody 🤬!

People certainly do buy books round here from charity shops (says she, with a pile of at least 20 of them just waiting to be read ). It's the one thing my volunteer charity shop worker friend says they run out of constantly, and always need more of. There's a designated Oxfam book shop in a nearby city and it's always busy too - we had a clear out recently and donated around 15 boxes of vintage annuals and books to them. They've been in touch to say that most of them will be listed online and they hope to make a decent sum from the sales.

I also buy second hand books from World of Books, if there's something I particularly want.

Oh, sorry, I digressed there! Back to the subject....

I rarely have any decent clothes to give to a charity shop because I buy my clothes to last - I wouldn't dare say how old some of them are, but many of the shops I bought them from are defunct. By the time I'm finished with them nobody would want them! Again, my friend's charity shop takes them - they sell "rags" on and are paid by weight for them.

My local church organises a monthly book swap so you bring a few to put in, get tokens for the number given and then take out the same number. Tea and cake is available plus chatting. No charge for admission but small price for refreshments. Also way of meeting people.

Caravansera

I recommend Andrew Brooks 2019 book Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-Hand Clothes.

He explains how recycled clothes are traded across continents and uncovers how retailers and international charities are embroiled in commodity chains which perpetuate poverty and dependence in sub-Saharan Africa.

I read an article on that Caravansea. We think we are doing good so justify ourselves in taking old clothes to charity shops and then buying new ones, but we are not doing good.

My mum was a shopaholic. So many shoes & sandals for instance - she would’ve needed to be a centipede to wear them all. To be honest I think she bought so much because (a) she could afford to after a truly rotten childhood from the age of nine and (b) half the time she didn’t realise what she’d already got in her wardrobes.

Fortunately I dint inherit her shopping gene. I have little interest in clothes. I buy as a need rather than ‘want’. I don’t ‘go shopping’ as I’m sure browsing that way fuels the habit.

My carbon footprint is smaller because of this. I am not materialistic in the least.

My book habit costs me enough disposable income!

Redhead
You can’t imagine what people dump on us 😡
My lovely manger never turns a bag away. I’m managing for 6 weeks so there will be some upset people 😉

I volunteer in a charity shop and books are really popular particularly paperbacks . We always need more . Some of our regulars return the books. I love my kindle but I prefer a book and take both on holiday .
As for clothes , I love clothes and mix high end with high street. I wear most of what’s in my wardrobe and have a cull twice a year and sell either on vinted or eBay . Worn and tatty stuff gets used as cleaning rags.
Volunteering in a charity shop has opened my eyes to where stuff ends up.
And to people donating stuff that’s dirty and tatty . I think they just bung it a bag without thinking , can this be sold? Or they they think we have a washing machine!!

The biggest donation my local charity shop got was seven years ago when I took early retirement. Since then I live in jeans/shorts, t shirts and jumpers, as they wear out, really worn out, they get replaced. My only donations now are books, occasionally an unwanted raffle prize.