I get hassled buying "used" clothing.

[Aerojoe]

It's really, really unlikely that anything in a thrift store is an item someone died in. Logistically, in an emergency situation, most clothing is not removed gently- EMTs and other healthcare workers are taught to rip and cut clothing, not to waste time by undressing someone. If someone is hospitalized and passes on, they are unlikely to be wearing clothes, but instead a hospital gown.

Many places will destroy the clothes for the family members (as a kindness) but they ask you if you'd like them or not. All of the people I have known who have had clothes returned from a coroner or a funeral home after their loved one died either kept or destroyed the clothes- they didn't turn them into a thrift store. In almost all cases, the clothes were not usable because they'd been destroyed when being removed or they were in too bad shape to be given away due to the circumstances.

If you have an aversion to wearing clothes someone died in, imagine the aversion the family members would have to giving away clothes a loved one died in to be worn by someone else.

It makes sense but I still won't be comfortable in other guy's clothes

Maybe I'm too sensitive to this kind of things or maybe it's because in my country there isn't any tradition of second handing clothes. You know, in my town there isn't a single second hand clothes shop. Here, all used clothes usually goes to charity, that is to say, to the church.

 

[jodbirch]

I always wash my thrift store clothes before wearing, but my recent thrifting has had me finding some great men's shoes. I have my own "sanitation routine" that I go through with used shoes. I thoroughly wipe out the interiors, spray with both disinfectant and anti-fungal spray, then give them a thorough cleaning and polishing. Good as new! Anybody else have a routine they go through with used stuff to eliminate potential cooties? Even if it's purely for peace of mind?

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I Work 2 days a week in a local charity shop while I wait to get a new full time paid job after being made redundant last year, the quality of the goods that we are given as donations are very good indeed. Including clothes, books, furniture, 45s, 33s, LPs, EPs, dvd/cds, bric a brac etc etc. If we do get anything of poor quality we won't sell it. People get great deals at most UK Charity Shops which are now very well run indeed. We steam/press most clothing items before they are put on display. There is no problem buying "Used" or "Second hand" clothing. Indeed many of us have been getting items from Army Surplus stores for very many years, as others have said here, you can always wash any garments when you buy them from these stores. Don't forget too that the money goes to good causes as well.

 

[Murphy]

Absolutely no problem with buying clothes from Charity shops, great finds available and you are helping the community by donating . Donate clothes I no longer wear as well as buying. As Steveiboy1 said Army Surplus has been around for years and no one bothered about that.

Long may Charity shops flourish.

 

[kiwilrdg]

I picked up a nice paif of wolverine dress shoes for $6.95 at a thrift store Friday. They didn't have as much as a crease or a scuff on the bottom. The laces had only been put in one shoe. The only thing different from the shoe now and when it was in the store that donated it was the box was gone.

I fosted earlier that there are lots of new things at thrift stores. You just need to keep an eye out.

If I buy old jackets that were custom made I will sometimes look up the person on google that had the suit made. It is really interesting on the old uniforms.

 

[ButteMT61]

My only hesitation in donating comes from the knowledge that (from what I've heard) that many of the workers pick the good stuff out for themselves, and it never gets to the store shelves. We give a lot of good items to Food Will - usually a bag or two a week. I gave them 10 pairs of new shoes last month. All items I never wore or didn't fit me right. I'd love to think someone in need got them, but I doubt it went that way. It's convenient to have GW pickup, but maybe I should deliver them to a place that more directly gives to the needy?
Anyway, point is, there's lots of good things to be had at such places. Lots of new items that were gifts that sat in a closet. And used is just fine with me. It's all the rage, isn't it? lol

 

[kiwilrdg]

My only hesitation in donating comes from the knowledge that (from what I've heard) that many of the workers pick the good stuff out for themselves, and it never gets to the store shelves.

I donate to a few groups because I know that the workers in their shops are people who would not have jobs without the thrift shop. There is one shop that I go to that the workers are paid minimum wage and free stuff at the end of the day (plus a ride to and from the shelter, or their apt when they get more established). If the worker is working and it is allowed by the shop I see no problem.

 

[ButteMT61]

I donate to a few groups because I know that the workers in their shops are people who would not have jobs without the thrift shop. There is one shop that I go to that the workers are paid minimum wage and free stuff at the end of the day (plus a ride to and from the shelter, or their apt when they get more established). If the worker is working and it is allowed by the shop I see no problem.

I do if the workers are the only ones getting the "good stuff". I'm sure nobody gets rich working at a thrift store (maybe some owners) but I don't want all the good items never seeing people in need aside from the pickup guys. Just me.

 

[kiwilrdg]

The one that I go to where the homeless and recently homeless get to take stuff as part of their pay does not let them take things before they put the stuff on the racks and the people working there are really decent about the policy. Once while I was checking tweeds a guy that worked there pointed out that he thought one he was looking at might fit me. It was almost like one that I had at home so I didn't get it anyway. He was one of the only guys working there that would pick out stuff that I would call good stuff.

Goodwill does have some employee discounts but the items need to be on the racks (or listed online) before they are bought by employees.

I don't donate items to the thrift stores that have owners. If they are not run by a charity they usually want prices that are too close to retail. There is a large chain of privately owned contract stores in my area selling for a large charity that has very high prices and only returns 10% to the charity.

 

[sheeplady]

I do if the workers are the only ones getting the "good stuff". I'm sure nobody gets rich working at a thrift store (maybe some owners) but I don't want all the good items never seeing people in need aside from the pickup guys. Just me.

I can only speak to the thrift stores in my area, but most of their primary function is to raise money for the organization's other charitable purposes (meals, shelter, counseling), not to provide clothing to the poor. This is why they don't require individuals to provide proof of income (like they do for some of their other programs) to shop there. It's only a secondary function that they provide cheap clothing.

If you work at a shop, you often get first pick- you're there part time or full time, something which most of us can't do. You see everything come in, and you're allowed to purchase from the store, sometimes with a discount. It happens in a ton of other businesses and it's more than fair if the owners allow it.

As far as the owners of the thrift stores making a ton of money, here the thrift stores are charitable organizations, which publish the incomes of their head individuals. While the regional directors of the places make a good income, it's entirely reasonable for supervising thousands of individuals, multiple programs, etc. I think last time I looked, the regional head of one of the organizations that runs thrift stores make somewhere around $100- 150,000. If they were the head of a for-profit company that large, they'd make at least 5 to 10 times that in this region.

 

[ButteMT61]

"Charities" can take anywhere from 0% to much much more. There was some discussion on a local (LA) station this weekend. A woman was giving some numbers on some of the more common peddlers we see here. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of money NOT going to charity at all. Makes me sick, hence the reason we're very picky (nit-picky) about who we give to and how. There's a ton of money to be made in the antique/picking biz. If a well-placed "employee" gets his/her mitts on valuable items before the store even puts them out, a smart individual can make out like a bandit. I've seen the guys unloading the cars/trucks pick like crazed rats to find such items, which is why I question this whole thing. We know our intent is good, but I'd like to know more of it is put to good use, and not made off with by such folks. "Charities" and not-for-profits hide some of the biggest crooks in the community. That is a fact. Sadly.

 

[kiwilrdg]

"Charities" and not-for-profits hide some of the biggest crooks in the community. That is a fact. Sadly.

I agree that there are some crooks. That is why I only donate to shops that I feel are getting the charity value out of my donation. There are lots of shops that I will buy items from (because that is a purchse rather than a donation) but only a few that I will donate items to.

This is a tangent that is not really in line with the original question about wearing used clothes because charity owned/contracted shops are just one method of getting used clothing.

 

[sheeplady]

All of that information is publicly available though. I don't give or shop at certain thrift stores because of misuse of funds (there is one local chain I like). If people are picking the items out of the trucks before they go on the racks, that's a fault of policy of that individual charity, not of charity shops in general.

 

[fortworthgal]

I too know a few people who are skeeved out by used clothing. My husband and I laugh and say we wear "dead people's clothes."

Once at an estate sale I picked up an awesome pair of vintage black oxfords, my size, still in the box. Paid something ridiculous like $2 for them. Got them home, opened the box, and noticed on the end of the shoebox was written, "Grandma's last shoes." I have to admit, even I was a little freaked out by that one. But I still wear them. :laugh:

I work for a not-for-profit religious organization. We don't have a thrift shop, but we do run a clothing ministry that gives free clothing to people in need, determined through social workers and other outlets. Even though I do not directly work in that area, the donations do come through the office where I'm located.

In my 15 years here, I have seen some very nice items come in for donation, and even a few antiques. And occasionally the person donating the items has encouraged us to pick whatever we want from their donations, and even brought items in for specific employees as a gift. But that is quite rare, and I can honestly say I have never witnessed dishonesty or "picking" involving our donations.

 

[sheeplady]

I too know a few people who are skeeved out by used clothing. My husband and I laugh and say we wear "dead people's clothes."

Once at an estate sale I picked up an awesome pair of vintage black oxfords, my size, still in the box. Paid something ridiculous like $2 for them. Got them home, opened the box, and noticed on the end of the shoebox was written, "Grandma's last shoes." I have to admit, even I was a little freaked out by that one. But I still wear them. :laugh:

I work for a not-for-profit religious organization. We don't have a thrift shop, but we do run a clothing ministry that gives free clothing to people in need, determined through social workers and other outlets. Even though I do not directly work in that area, the donations do come through the office where I'm located.

In my 15 years here, I have seen some very nice items come in for donation, and even a few antiques. And occasionally the person donating the items has encouraged us to pick whatever we want from their donations, and even brought items in for specific employees as a gift. But that is quite rare, and I can honestly say I have never witnessed dishonesty or "picking" involving our donations.

That's a bit freaky. I'm sure they meant something like the last pair she bought or something. lol I hope.

I'm glad to hear that there is no picking going on where you are. I can't imagine picking happening in most of the thrift stores here; most of the people in the thrift stores seem really honest (and would have no clue about what to pick) and a majority of the stuff is in such condition that in better economic places, it would probably be thrown out and not sold.

 

[Deco-Doll-1928]

I love shopping at thrift stores or used clothing stores. I have no problem buying and most of all wear clothes a person has already worn. Plus, if you think about it, new clothes are not immune to this either. When you try something on at a department store (i.e. Macy's, JC Penny, etc.), how many people do you think have tried on that very same item of clothing before you tried it on?

Personally I think this is what makes wearing vintage fun. I like to imagine who it could have belong to, how much it meant to them, and all the things it could have seen. Each vintage piece is a part of history. I love to "carry" on that tradition by taking care of it the best I can so future generations can enjoy it just as much as I did.

I have had friends over the years that thought wearing used clothing was weird and something icky (although I do admit that I would never buy undergarments or swim wear). I could never understand that and thank God my current friend that I hang out the most with has zero problems with thrift shops.

 

[ButteMT61]

If it doesn't have bullet holes or human hair, I'm good... lol

 

[jamespowers]

If it doesn't have bullet holes or human hair, I'm good... lol

:rofl: How about animal hair?
I got in a turn of the century cutaway coat over the weekend. The seller didn't mention it was covered in cat hair.:eusa_doh:
The dry cleaner fixed it right up though. Now I need to decide what kind of vest to wear with it.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My brother always tells me "people died in those clothes." Well, frankly, the generation that's passing now had much more fashion sense than folks today!

 

[ButteMT61]

:rofl: How about animal hair? I got in a turn of the century cutaway coat over the weekend. The seller didn't mention it was covered in cat hair.:eusa_doh:The dry cleaner fixed it right up though. Now I need to decide what kind of vest to wear with it.

There was a guy selling a "new" A-2 Good Wear jacket on VLJ that was full of pet hair and had grime in the collar. I let him have it in the thread and he claimed it was "just the camera playing tricks" lolHe sent me nasty PM's and eventually took the jacket off. That stuff grosses me out. Otherwise, used is cool. NOS even better sometimes.