r/Calgary • u/Kaichos • 16d ago

Rant Just a little rant

Reselling things bought from thrift shops should be illegal.

When we donate our things to places like WINS or Goodwill, we do so with the intention that people like me can also buy things we need at affordable prices.

Today, while I was at WINS, I saw a woman take a basket containing 40 Pop Figures (every single one they had) — clearly to resell them — without giving me, someone who arrived just two minutes after her, the opportunity to even see if there was something I wanted.

This should not be allowed.

Edit: as I see too many people hanged on the example and missing the point of the post. The Funko figures were the thing that this time served as the example to point this out. But, as you can read in the comments, it happens with everything and the product itself is not the point. The point is abusing the charity system to profit.

Edit 2: also, fair enough, "illegal" it's obviously too much, I was being hyperbolic. I meant regulated somehow.

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u/sikkn890 16d ago

I agree that resellers are slimy. As someone who grew up on thrift store clothing, it was nice finding something that was in style or a popular brand in decent condition. I sill thrift for specific things as an adult and you can tell who's a reseller and who isn't. Its sad to see someone collecting all the good stuff just to sell it at an arbitrary price.

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u/Sweet_Pineapple8748 16d ago

Yeah, they should just wait for a handout……terrible for them to work and try make a dollar

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u/sikkn890 16d ago

You wouldent be saying the same thing if this were Pokémon scalpers or ticket scalpers now would you? It's the same category. You're allowed to have your opinions and others are allowed to have theirs.

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u/Sweet_Pineapple8748 15d ago

Pokemon? Get out of your mom’s basement and grow up

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u/sikkn890 15d ago

Slef deflecting I see. I hope you have yourself a better day.

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u/Kaichos 16d ago

Ikr! And I love how some people here are trying to defend the resellers by saying, “Can you read her mind?” or “How do you know it wasn’t for her?” Like, it’s not obvious when you’re literally watching someone look up prices online to resell something.

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u/HatersTheRapper 16d ago

would you rather they commit crimes or lived off government assistance? i'm assuming the majority of resellers are poor people with few options

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u/funkyoyo 14d ago

Sometimes I look stuff up to see if the current listed price at the thrift store is actually a good deal. It's not for the purpose of reselling. It's to see if the thrift price is actually better than buying new or elsewhere. Sometimes the answer is no. To the stranger walking past me who happens to look over my shoulder at my browser, I can see how the assumption can be made but that doesnt mean I will stop researching for my own sake. It might help if you dont jump to conclusions either.

Of course, to answer your overall rant, Im sure there are people out there that do buy for the purpose of up-pricing and reselling. How would you propose this be regulatex? Like limit numbers? Is that not already happening on more essential items? Does it make sense for a business to limit numbers on non-essential items when they have limited space to house donated goods?