Thrift Store Pickers Ethics

[gabumon]

I’m not sure if “second hand item buyers” would be called “scalpers” but at my local thrift store Monday through Saturday we have antiques store pickers “camping out” all day.  In fact every day there are about a dozen people standing at the front doors at opening time waiting to get in. Every day.
This is a church run thrift store and they don’t spend a lot of time researching prices; I think they have one or two employees pricing stuff based on best guess.  Occasionally they’ll price stuff too high but by and large they price to sell.  And I feel like maybe they price things low so that folks can find things there that they wouldn’t normally be able to buy.
(Maybe it’s irrelevant, but it is public knowledge that this church puts the sales revenue into job training for disabled folks and people who are underemployed. They also have full time employees of their own to pay.)

The antiques “pickers” camp out where the new racks are rolled out and clamor and fuss each time a new one arrives.
Disclaimer: Over the years i’ve found some neat stuff here but really only once have I resold something for a profit. (a rare NES cart) even then I only made like $30.  I will also freely admit to buying Nike shoes for cheap when I probably could’ve left them for someone else to buy.

But something about the antiques pickers and their behavior just doesn’t sit well with me. They seem grabby. They seem not quite right. They’re taking advantage(?) of an organization who chooses not to competitively price items (for reasons and faults)
Is this wrong?

[banditpony]

No.

When the store sets something out for sale, it is for anyone to buy.

They’re taking advantage(?) of an organization who chooses not to competitively price items (for reasons and faults)

They are not taking any more advantage then someone else who wasn't waiting all day.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

those are the flippers and the re-sellers.  and you just have to be faster at spotting things than they are.  they can't be in two places at once, so luck is on your side 50/50. 

[Taffeta]

The same happens at carboot sales here but not so much charity shops. They are often fundraising for causes eg one I used to frequent gave funds to the hospital that owned the field. But it is also accepted at many of these that there are different slightly higher entry prices for buyers coming earlier to the field.

I think in the case of charity it is getting more common for these stores to put in demand collectable items on ebay now too. But it is pretty much a game of first come.  At the end of the day no guarantee something will resell successfully and the charity gets the money.

I also agree with banditpony. The price is the price and if it is too low whoever pays it is equally taking advantage. To play devil's advocate you might say that the ones who wait are earning their finds by putting in the hours? And it is impossible to know if by flipping they are making ends meet. I wouldn't do it but I don't suppose it would worry me if others did. The chance they are looking for the exact thing I am is low and if they get there first that's life.

But I have often stood back and let kids raid pony and mh stalls at carboot sales so maybe I lack the hunt ruthlessness of my teen years now...

Edit. Ugh my phone typing gets worse when on a train

[mlp4me]

Hang out at the Goodwill bins around here, it's all re-sellers and people with antique bins. Can get bloody, lol. But yeah, once merchandise is out it really is a free for all.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

My nearby toy consignment shop has taken to listing hard to find or otherwise sought after toys online. When I scored a talking Nightmare Moon for $3, the cashier remarked that she was gonna list it on eBay but couldn't find it (another coworker had priced and put her out). Consignment isn't quite a thrift store, but I do know some other thrift stores are at the point where they may list some designer clothes online.
It sucks and feels immoral, especially if you are in an area where there are tons of people who can't afford much more than the thrift store prices, but it's better than the products not getting sold. The church could also have one person to look into prices, but it's up to them to decide whether or not that may be worth it in the end.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I know exactly what you're talking about, Gabumon.  I've seen that, too.  It's like Black Friday every time they bring out a cart and the employees are constantly having to tell the grabbers not to touch the cart until they park it or they'd never get out of the stocking area with them.  Saturday mornings are the worst for it, I've noticed and some locations don't have as many grabbers as others (Brigham City doesn't seem to have as many as Logan and Ogden is worse!)

I like a bargain as much as the next person but I feel like some people take it to an extreme.  I've seen people grab things out of other people's hands as they're trying to look at something and that behavior is just not right.  With the collectibles case, I once had someone trade out an item that I had gone up to pay for (because they have you pay for collectibles before they take them out of the case so they don't get stolen unless you're ready to check out right then and then they'll walk you up to the check-out with them) and when I went back to get my item they had checked out immediately with the item I had paid for so I had to get something I didn't want because they were dishonest.  It was a video game, btw, and I still hope that it didn't work when they got it home because it wasn't theirs and they didn't deserve to have it.

[Sky_Rocket_Sammie]

I've seen it here and it sort of amuses me. As I grew up relying on thrift shop purchases off and on.Back when nobody wanted to admit that they shoped there. So long as nobody is body checking (hockey term) it's fair game. Does it suck? Sure but thrifting has become popular and those of us who shop there have to contend with it.

 I guard what I put in my basket jealousy cause I've seen people snag other folks items. Aside from that if I'm there at opening I people watch and hang out.

[CinnamonOnions]

The prices are what the prices are, low or not. You're still paying to the charity or the seller, even if you buy to resell.
 I honestly do that myself to earn even some money by myself. I see no issue in buying to resell; Thrift shops around here don't simply care if something is valuable if it's not a dish or a decoration so I can easily get stuff worth more for 0-3 euros. I usualy balance it out on can I get more than 5 euros for this? If not I'll leave it except if it's free. If I can get 10+ euros why the heck not.

[brightberry]

I'm kind of just happy people are recycling this stuff.  It can't be too bad if they make a lot of quick sales.  Putting stuff on ebay is a lot of extra effort that may not pay off in the end.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Well I think there's a specific chain of stores that is even worse than Goodwill for the bin chaos....  Does it begin with D and end in I ?  :-p 

My mom and I had a LOT of fun going crazy in those bins!    Many ponies were found!  Ahhh memories!
All I can say is, those re-sellers are quite the industrious group, aren't they? 

[gabumon]

oh LBS!  you know it.


Thanks for these thoughts everyone.  Luckily for me, I guess, is that vintage MLPs (and Transformers) aren't worth much (save a few) so I usually don't cross paths with the pickers.

I guess I just needed to vent my odd feelings about this all.  I think in general that the store is helping people - yes it's first come first serve - but that's what's important.

[Skylar]

Gabumon, I know exactly what you are talking about!! I worked at one of them a few years ago. Try being the poor person bringing a cart out and having these jerks all over you before you even have it parked where you want it! And some of these folks can be pretty mean. Fighting over old toys and discarded items. I guess it was amusing in its own strange way.

[Taffeta]

I guess thrift store manners must be different stateside to charity shop manners over here. I have never seen anyone even touch stock coming in. Most charity shops have their backroom doors open when the store is open as staff move between there and the desk depending on custom but I have also never seen anyone cross the staff line or try to accost the people putting new stuff out. People wait patiently for others to get out of the way and queue nicely at the counters.

And nobody tries to take stuff someone else has already picked up.

Sometimes you might see someone ask the staff if they have any of x or y items, but that's the extent of it.

Some of the stores in the areas I visit have high end stuff and some rarer things at cheaper prices (because some of the neighbourhoods in this region have more money than sense, to be blunt) but it doesn't seem to matter.

Although a couple of the towns do have warning signs about pick pocketing, that's a whole other (and london-wide) issue not related to charity shops in general.

There's also a big rambling antique store which has a lot of expensive stuff and very few locked cabinets or security measures and that also seems to be fine. There don't seem to be a lot of staff watching, or cameras, but everything seems to work out...

[banditpony]

I guess thrift store manners must be different stateside to charity shop manners over here. I have never seen anyone even touch stock coming in. Most charity shops have their backroom doors open when the store is open as staff move between there and the desk depending on custom but I have also never seen anyone cross the staff line or try to accost the people putting new stuff out. People wait patiently for others to get out of the way and queue nicely at the counters.

It depends on the store. I don't really see that in the 30+ thrift stores that I had frequented. If the store thought it was an issue, then they need to make rules against it. Example: I have a store that has a rule that merchandise ONLY goes out in the AM. (So if you find something with a broken tag, or question a price, it'll go in the back and not come out till the next day). It's been that way for 25+ years.

Although IIRC our goodwill outlet dumps stuff out in mixed bins and people will crowd over them during prime shopping time.

But as someone mentioned, it's always first come first serve.

I went to a flea market to sell -- and my dad was going to set prices. When I was unloading at 5:30am (and my dad was still at home packing other stuff), a pushy guy came over asking me about the stuff as I was trying to unload and get situation. It was annoying even though he was polite, buuut, right when my dad came, they made a fantastic deal (including all the BIG items in my dad's truck) And the guy helped us price other things.

and I've known people to just claim "I'm buying the whole table (of merch)" at estate sales as people look at individual items.

So right. shoving, pushing, stealing = bad manners. And THOSE people only represent a small percentage of those who flip/resell/buy.

camping out is fine. flipping is fine. buying things at low prices is fine. and they aren't taking advantage of the store by buying there.

And the thing is, is if that's their livelihood, and they need to fight like that... they are really in a low place.