Originally Posted by sewbizgirl
Our local charity store doesn't even price anything anymore. If you are interested in something you have to drag it to the checkout counter and after the clerk sizes you up, they make up a price to suit what they think they can soak you for. Definitely have different prices for different folks...
I used to donate nice clothes there a LOT, but the last time I was in the back (warehouse) part of the store where the bigger things are sold, I noticed this huge machine like a trash compactor-- it actually BALED UP loads of clothing into gigantic 'bricks'. I have no idea what they do with these (landfil?) but the back part of the warehouse was stacked to the roof with them. My guess is they don't even look at the clothes you donate... just throw it in the baler!
I go there to keep an eye out for used sewing machines and/or fabric, but they probably wouldn't sell it to me for what I could pay.
I can tell you what those bales of clothes are for--they send them overseas-(SELL them). Living in Vanuatu for so many years (a developing country), we had MANY second-hand shops and they all bought those bundles of clothes-they are usually sold by weight, I believe, from over-seas. Ours there mostly came from Australia because it is the closest first-world country. Most of our thrift shops sold shirts for about $2.00-3.00, dresses $3.00-$5.00, and the most expensive item I have seen there was about $6.00. The natives there have such low incomes and the only other alternative is the CHEAP Chinese stuff that is imported-and about twice the price-so many CHOOSE to buy a better quality (since it is from Australia) even though it is second-hand.