The images say it all, don't they, rabbit. Wow.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I agree with CocoLion that it is good that there are so many options for clothing that is no longer useful to its owner.

Makrame, thank you for sharing your story about how resold clothing helped you. I agree that it is hard to see the flip side, which is lost jobs. It is difficult when economies change.

Rabbit, your examples show the "dark" side of donating, if you want to call it that. Sometimes we really don't want to help those in need but want to help ourselves. I remember one time a family in our parish had a fire and lost everything. The pastor of the church said that anyone who wished to donate to help the family could do that by putting money in the collection basket earmarked for the family. Well, apparently the family was inundated with offers of old refrigerators and old cars and the like. It was so bad that the pastor had to put a note in the bulletin saying not to offer this stuff but only to offer financial donations.

It also reminds me of a nonprofit where I used to work. We sent humanitarian goods to Russia on a periodic basis (not for natural disasters). The woman who ran the nonprofit started telling people to include $5 with each bag of donated clothing to cover shipping costs (it is very expensive to ship overseas). Of course, some people were incensed.

Anna, you are quite right that my clothing size is not going to be helpful to most people, no matter what I do with my used clothing—even if it's in pristine condition.

I really don't have a problem with resellers buying things from thrift stores. At least in the UK, all of the thrift stores that I know of are charity shops of one kind or another, so the charity gets the money from the sale regardless of who buys it. I am happy to pay a bit of a markup for secondhand clothes on eBay or what have you if it means that I find exactly the size I want, rather than rummaging through all the thrift stores and not finding anything that I can wear.

I don't have a problem with local resellers for many reasons already mentioned. I do have an issue with the effects on developing nations. But I never saw donating clothes as a "gift" so much as a convenient way for me to get rid of stuff that might have further use in it. In my honest opinion, there's no moral high road in donating stuff I don't even want any more and don't have time to sell. It is not a justification for purchasing more. And once I knew about the developing nations issue donation was no longer even "guilt-free".

One small suggestion - I belong to a local neighbourhood facebook group and people use it very succesfuly to virtually curbcycle stuff. For example, I've acquired a deep fryer and recently found a home for an orchid I know I won't tend back to blooming stage. There are also websites dedicated to this purpose. It probably works best for kids' stuff though. This way you know where the stuff is going (although I have heard of it being "redonated" and could surely be resold as well - still doesn't bother me, but I've seen people getting upset about it).

If I saw someone heading to donate a nice piece of furniture or I suppose even clothing, I would totally offer them money. I suppose a "nicer" way to put it is, "I'll make a donation to the church to pay for it", but I'd assume the donator could decide to do that with the money. I wouldn't be trying to steal the donation from the charity, just recognizing the value of the piece and cutting out the middle man.

Mander, you're right that as long as the charity receives the money from the clothes—even if they are resold—good is being done.

Jules, you were able to say what I couldn't find words for: donating clothing to me is not so much a moral high road as it is a way to first help myself but also possibly help someone else in the process. I'll be honest that my first thought is about myself; if the clothing still has use left in it, so much the better. But it's not mainly about philanthropy. And you're exactly right that if a person offers someone money on the spot for something, the original owner can still be free to refuse and take the item to the thrift store anyway, or the owner can take the resulting money and donate it themselves. It's good that different choices are available.

I was deciding between selling and donating.This thread made my day, reading how many people are thinking "big picture" and responsibly, with pleasure.

A couple of months ago I discovered a homeless women's shelter right down my street in the Lutheran church. Ever since, that is where my culled clothing goes. I always have a "there-but-for-the-Grace of God-go-I" feeling thinking about the women there. I find I am much more generous about my give-aways knowing who will wear it. There is a woman there who greets me with delight because she knows we both wear size 10 shoes.

On the other hand, no one haunts my local Goodwill for finds more than I do. My currrent favorite Fall booties are some Munros that I found for

In my years of shopping Goodwill, I have to say I've seen a handful of shoppers who are reselling... Of course it happens, but the majority are buying for themselves and we all delight in talking about our wonderful finds. I love the special needs employees who work there and who light up the place!

I've noticed a few of the things I've donated appearing in my local consignment store; I asked the owner and she said the charity store sends better stuff there and gets the revenue earned. I don't have a problem with it as my donated things are usually mistakes that I am glad to lose, and the charity store that I drop things too specifically supports women who need shelter. I do feel that once the item is donated I've let it go and don't need to know where it went to, as long as the charity benefited.