Quite a few people, particularly families, tidy out their wardrobes of garments that are no longer worn at least once a year. They take these surplus clothes to shops supporting charities and good causes like Dr. Bernardo\’s, The Salvation Army and Oxfam, who them check them for damage, launder them and resell them. The profits created are passed on to the pertinent good cause.
The point is, that these shops will not take \’rubbish\’ because they would not be able to resell it. They would actually lose money after laundering, displaying and dumping fees. Therefore you will not find clothing with rips, tears snags or stains on them. In fact, most clothes, including shoes are of very high quality.
Probably more than at any other time in the last fifty years, people are aware of the need to recycle things and, as money is short, a lot of people satisfy their need to contribute to charity with superfluous clothing instead. In the days when families were larger, clothes were recycled by handing them down, but in these days of 1.4 children, there is no one to pass them on to, apart from the charity shops.
Children grow up quickly, so it is not long before an article of clothing is of no more use to a family and it is such items that are usually passed on. T-shirts and jumpers might be only six months old and some have never been worn, like that bright pink jumper that old great-uncle Fred bought for Johnny last Christmas and he refused to wear. But a young girl would love it. Now and then, you can buy whole outfits for less than the price of one article in it.
Suits, jackets and overcoats are especially good buys and come in all types of colours and styles. They are very expensive goods to buy new, but can be a fifth of the cost in a charity shop. The knack with charity shops though is to call in habitually and often.
Because of the nature of the business, charity shops do not carry racks of like items in all the various sizes, rather, they have racks of one-offs. It is first come, first served, so it is best to call back repeatedly.
Do not be fooled into thinking that you have to be destitute to shop at a charity shop. The charity shops have always refuted that image and many famous people have said that they often shop there.
Sometimes, people are looking for a particular style, but it was last year\’s and the large department stores no longer carry those items because they have moved on. Charity shops will have them. This can be a good way of picking up period accessories and costume jewellery.
Some of the bigger charity shops also carry furniture and those shops can be very handy for finding a matching piece of something too. They are good for finding mirrors and occasional tables. Many charity shops carry a wide variety of last year\’s books too. You can get a handful of recent books for the cost of one from a book shop.
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