Why do people take crap to the thrift shop?

Question

We donate our good and still useful stuff to the thrift shop. I feel if I would not give it to a friend then it is not food enough for thrift shop (good will, salvation army places like that ). I have seen in several thrift shops around here stuff that is just not useable. Things like broken toys, board games with missing pieces, clothes with bleach stains or other permanent stains on them, vases that are cracked, pitchers with broken handles. Some of these shops have had the same things for years because people won’t buy them. We asked one of the shops once and there is a rule that because of their status that basically they have to accept everything and put it out and not throw it out and they have to put it on the sales floor. Why do people not just throw out these things out?

Answer 1

Because even though it's crap to you, it might not be crap to someone else. Like someone will want to refinish the an old table and make it look new because they can not afford to go out and buy new furniture. A lot of furniture from a thrift store is in really good condition and a lot of it has history that is why I buy things from thrift stores. Almost everything in my apartment is from a garage sale or thrift store that my mom and I refinished or painted and it looks new.



EDIT: Some people look at something from a thrift store as a project. My son's lamp is a fire engine, it was missing a wheel and a ladder. I made the ladder out of clay and let it dry as well as the wheel. I just see it as it's missing my touch and that's why a piece is missing.

Answer 2

I've always donated my things and have the same rule : ) If I would not give it to friends and family then it's not worth donating. However I have never shopped in a thrift store. I don't know why. Until about a month ago my husband and I went to one, then another, then another! Now we go every so often. My kids always want to look at toys and I hate it because I can tell my 3 year old that it's broken or whatever, my 2 year old doesn't get it. So that sucks. I think it;s rude. I get that we all have our own thoughts for the what's junk but some people are just plain ignorant.



The "one mans trash is another mans treasure" thing only goes so far. Ripped, stained or dirty, grungy clothes and items are just rude to donate. toys with a bunch of missing pieces ir barbies with all their hair cut off. that's simply trash.

Answer 3

I agree with the others.



The age old saying says "One mans trash is another mans treasure"



We donate a lot of stuff too but if it is useable we throw it out.



We have a few really nice thrift stores here. Last time we were there we found something we really needed that others may just throw out. It was the bottom to a Tupperware bowl we use. Ours at home was cracked and we couldn't use it anymore to hold liquid. It still held solid stuff pretty well but liquid would leak out of it. We were thrilled to find it.



I know artist will buy cracked vases or pitches to use the glass or clay from it.



I don't understand selling bleached, stained or torn clothes but like someone else said using them for dog beds or liners in crates would work.



I do agree with you though because I have gone to some that are pretty much just selling junk. My mother in law takes all of her daughter in laws (including me) on a long weekend trip. We stop at every thrift store, Good will, yard sale & other sales along the way. A few stops were pretty much useless. We saw broken board games, puzzles with just a few pieces in it, books falling apart and clothes that looked like they were worn by paints. The second we got out we passed around hand cleaners. lol



As for the rule "because of their status that basically they have to accept everything and put it out and not throw it out and they have to put it on the sales floor." -



I'm really surprised to read that. But I was thinking this may be a rule set by the area that collects the donations. Such as a church, Good Will or a school funded sale. This may have to do with a tax law & being a non profit organization.



People do throw things out. We live in a college town and a few times my husband has taken things to the dump he comes back with things that look almost like new. Last time he found a large cases of brand new books. They are real estate books & getting out of debt books. All like new. Some even made a noise when you open it showing it was never even opened. lol Those are going in my eBay store as soon as I have time. ; )

Answer 4

I haven't a clue, I always throw out broken items or things missing pieces because it just isn't worth anything. You would think that the broken stuff would be hazardous to keep on shelves, someone could get hurt just looking at the merchandise.



A few years ago I was taking a trip to Haiti and asked for clothes donations. When sorting through some of the stuff I came across a flannel nightgown with all the buttons missing and safety pins holding it closed, pants/shorts with the crotch ripped, and shoes that pretty much disintegrated in my hands. I seriously hope they had their "Donate" and "Throw out" pile accidentally mixed up.

Answer 5

I don't know. I'm hoping to find a rag co donating place for clothes I have piled up that don't fit my kids because I'd feel guilty giving them to charity shops and taking up room that should be used for nicer clothes - that aren't full of stains and holes. It takes me so long to shop at charity places because I have to sift through all the clothes I can't believe anyone would want. Maybe if really cheap for rags or something - but then wouldn't you just go to the rag section?

Answer 6

One persons trash is another person's treasure. If a game is missing a piece, maybe a person would want to buy it to replace pieces in a game they already own, If a clothing piece has a stain on it, maybe someone buying it isn't bothered by that but just happy to find a piece of clothing to keep them warm. What may seem like "crap" to you, may very well be the exact thing someone has been looking for.

Answer 7

That is not true for all thrift stores. I worked in thrift for years and we had a rotating system for merchandise to insure that items that did not sell did not stay on the sales floor too long. Why waste valuable sales space for junk that will never sell? Also, as we did put out our fair share of what we called "low end" merchandise, stained or torn items were trashed and not put out. We received too much merchandise on a daily basis to have to put out rags. The stores you go into either are not getting enough donated, the better items are going out the back door in the hands of employees or they are just too lazy and unmotivated to clean up their store.

Answer 8

I donate everything to my local charity shop because they can sell anything that can be recycled to places that will pay money for the objects. Fabric and metal in particular. I usually use the shops fabric or shoe drop dumpster, if the objects are really worn/ruined. Broken things I don't donate but a board game with missing pieces might be just what someone needs to complete their missing piece board game!

Answer 9

lol, I was at a thrift store last week looking for shorts for my 5 y old and actually found 2 really good pairs. But at the same time I saw bunch of underwear hanged up in hangers with like 75 c tags on them. And these were not new underwear, I mean it wasnt stained but it was faded and all obviously worn multiple times.

I dont know who would ever donate used underwear nevertheless BUY it lmao so gross.

I only buy toys and games from one store in our area because they check them and wont sell stuff thats missing pieces ( unless its clearly marked that its missing something)

I guess some people just wont throw stuff out, weather its underwear or broken toys..

Answer 10

I know people (artists) who go to thrift shops and specifically look for "trash" that they can turn into art. They buy up the board games, missing pieces and all, and do something with it. People will buy things you might not expect. They find beauty in the missing and the broken.

Answer 11

Some people like to get the stained clothing to use as pet bedding or for painting or something like that where it's going to get ruined anyway. Some artists like to get broken things to use in their work. Usually I see that kind of thing thrown in a big bin for free or next to free. One man's trash ... lol. A better place to donate unusable clothing, sheets, etc though is animal shelters because they always need stuff like that for bedding.

Answer 12

I think some people just have a hard time throwing things in the garbage and they feel SOMEONE out there will use them. But you are right, if it's stained, broken, missing pieces it should be either recyled, re-purposed, or just plain tossed in the garbage. Nobody wants to BUY that junk.

Answer 13

Probably because they have a ton of stuff and are too lazy and too cheap to take it to the dump. The things I donate are always in good condition and it makes me happy to know someone will get good use out of them. If it's broken things or things that are beyond repair and have been used to death, I put it in my husband's truck and he takes it all to the dump.

Answer 14

I have a friend that donates crap to the Salvation Army and Goodwill. I mean she even donates old tooth brushes. She says she can't bear to throw "useful" stuff away and if they throw it away, well, that's on them. I have tried to explain that all she is doing is costing the charity money because they have to pay to have her crap hauled away. She doesn't get it.

Answer 15

I throw out my stained or ripped clothing, I only donate things that I don't fit into anymore or no longer like the style of.

Answer 16

I'm not sure I believe the stores have this rule. Are you really saying they are _legally required_ to put on sale things which are obviously dangerous or unhygienic? That can't be right.

Answer 17

One man's trash is another... eh, you know the rest.

Answer 18

Just because you think it's crap, doesn't mean that it _is_ crap.

Answer 19

Why do you treat the parenting category like a thrift shop?



Just sayin'

Answer 20

do you work or asking question all day