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> The charity aspect of thrift stores, at least historically, has been the money that you give them when you buy stuff there. That's actually completely backwa

> The charity aspect of thrift stores, at least historically, has been the money that you give them when you buy stuff there. That's actually completely backwards. The public good that a thrift store provides is to make cheap, essential things accessible to people who can't afford anything else. Goodwill is a nonprofit because there is no profit in making cheap, essential things accessible to people who can't afford to anything else.

azornathogron 5y ago
I don't know anything about Goodwill, but in the UK there are several charities that run shops and their purpose is as the parent describes - the shops generate revenue for the charity to carry out its work. The first sentence on the wikipedia page on Charity shop [1] (and "Thrift shop" redirects to the same page) says: > A charity shop (UK), thrift shop or thrift store (USA) or opportunity shop (others) is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. The Goodwill.org page About Us > Our Vision for Transformation [2] has a section "HOW LOCAL GOODWILLS DELIVER IMPACT" the third item of which starts: > Goodwill retail operations generate revenue that supports our mission work. [...] So, it's possible these things are dual-purpose and intended to meet both goals, or that some thrift stores have the goal of raising revenue and some have the goal of making recycled items available cheaply. But certainly parent's point is not backward - at least many thrift stores explicitly operate in order to generate revenue as a form of funding for charitable ventures. People with money buying things from charity shops helps the charities. It's what they want. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop [2] https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformation/ https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformat...
- subpixel 5y ago
  If I could edit I would say "this overlooks the impact that thrift stores have on their communities" or something similar.
bruceb 5y ago
The difference between Thrift store prices and new garments in many cases is less than it used to be. Look at uncool stores, JC Penny, Walmart, and a few others, and you can get clothing for very little.

azornathogron 5y ago

I don't know anything about Goodwill, but in the UK there are several charities that run shops and their purpose is as the parent describes - the shops generate revenue for the charity to carry out its work. The first sentence on the wikipedia page on Charity shop [1] (and "Thrift shop" redirects to the same page) says: > A charity shop (UK), thrift shop or thrift store (USA) or opportunity shop (others) is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. The Goodwill.org page About Us > Our Vision for Transformation [2] has a section "HOW LOCAL GOODWILLS DELIVER IMPACT" the third item of which starts: > Goodwill retail operations generate revenue that supports our mission work. [...] So, it's possible these things are dual-purpose and intended to meet both goals, or that some thrift stores have the goal of raising revenue and some have the goal of making recycled items available cheaply. But certainly parent's point is not backward - at least many thrift stores explicitly operate in order to generate revenue as a form of funding for charitable ventures. People with money buying things from charity shops helps the charities. It's what they want. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_shop [2] https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformation/ https://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-vision-for-transformat...

subpixel 5y ago
If I could edit I would say "this overlooks the impact that thrift stores have on their communities" or something similar.

bruceb 5y ago

The difference between Thrift store prices and new garments in many cases is less than it used to be. Look at uncool stores, JC Penny, Walmart, and a few others, and you can get clothing for very little.