People Taking Donations Left outside OP Shop

Aerith-Waifu on 06/01/2024 - 11:44
Last edited 06/01/2024 - 12:01 by 1 other user

I was doing deliveries early in the morning to a shop not opened. Next door there are three OP shops, which is not opening yet, but with donations already lined up in front of the shop but not in a donation bin. There is a clear sign that no donation to be left when shop not open.

Three women was going through all the donations and taking whatever they think is good.

I said to them these belong to the OP shop and they said call the police if you want, we are taking rightfully other people's junk as the sign clearly says no donation to be left before the shop opens so we have the right to claim as there are no donation bins.

Do they have the right to claim since the items are not supposed to be left there and there are no bins also?

Poll Options

  • 270
    1: Legally they can take them as it’s not supposed to be there
  • 37
    2: That’s stealing as it was intended for the charity if caught police can prosecute
  • 79
    3: Grey area I don’t really know
Fashion & Apparel

Comments

  • Daddy Chill on 07/01/2024 - 09:44
    +2

    I think you should mind your own business. You are the male Karen

    • Aerith-Waifu on 07/01/2024 - 20:59

      When lots of items end up in the drive away and potentially causing unwanted accident, I think I did the right thing by saying something and also put the items on the driveway back to the footpath.

      But you are entitled to your opinion

  • pn09 on 07/01/2024 - 11:20
    +1

    I might disapprove but I'm not going to tell someone not to do go through stuff at an op shop - I appreciate that the world may not be a good place if nobody gets involved but there is too much mental illness that has been forced into the community through lack of mental health services, as well as plenty of chemically enhanced or just antisocial and aggressive people out there - if nobody's life is being threatened and it's property I won't get involved. If it's property damage I think I'd call police but have never come across this so far.

    Same if I see someone with 3 trays of premium meat and they're scanning the cheapest 4th tray multiple times at the checkout - I think this is stealing but I am not going to call them out. I may tell an assistant if they're nearby.

    I don't disagree that supermarkets are making profits and absolutely people are doing it tough - but the examples of stealing I have seen have not been staples, and have been the more premium variants of the same product. This also just raises prices for everyone else who does pay for what they get at the supermarket.

    And don't get me started on the scum who take something perishable at a supermarket, and then just dump it in a random non-refidgerated aisle which basically means it gets thrown away.

  • nswnotill on 07/01/2024 - 11:38
    +1

    The Op Shops in our area no longer have outside bins. Employees of the op shop told me that 90% of the items left in them or beside them were rubbish and are taken straight to the tip. Our op shops now only accept items that are personally handed in by donors during hours of opening.
    The cost of removal and the Council charges were more than the profit made on the sales of the goods.

  • mrvaluepack on 07/01/2024 - 12:40

    I say fair game. The shops dont really want them anyways according to the article below:

    https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/woman-slams-vinnie…

  • 82norm on 07/01/2024 - 13:28

    Karen bashed in front of Op Shop after confronting bikie wives scabbing through bags. Best mind your own beeswax.

  • beach bum on 07/01/2024 - 15:29

    I think if you’re going to do this , take the whole bag rather than sorting on the street like a feral animal , then you deal with the 95% of the leftover worthless stuff just like the volunteers would have to .
    P.S. there’s a recycling business that comes and picks up bags of clothes from your house for free .
    Better that than dumping on the footpath .
    You’re basically stealing their resources that could have actually been used to help people ,
    or otherwise forcing them to raise prices to clean up your mess .
    Even if the ferals(no.2)rip into the plastic bags it’s still your mess dumped by you(feral no.1).

  • So Was Red on 07/01/2024 - 15:34

    Love a bargain

  • kaleidoscope on 07/01/2024 - 16:50

    Not illegal but its unethical as it was intended for the charity shop or whatever. Then again we can't question the morals of the game because people are… weird

  • newbo on 07/01/2024 - 20:01

    The charity shop considers this to be, "dumping". Is it ethical for the charity shop to pick through it?

  • infinite on 07/01/2024 - 22:03

    People are free to rummage through illegally dumped items as they please, until the items are removed by the local council.

  • tonsta on 08/01/2024 - 00:00
    +2

    This will be most relevant to this discussion. I remember reading about this a few years ago.

    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/vacuum-cleaner-m…

  • R4 on 08/01/2024 - 00:12

    a ssh oles but not criminals.

    Move on.

  • Assburg on 08/01/2024 - 07:04

    It's a pretty high threshold to show property has been abandoned, especially if it has objective value.

    Taking of any property that's not "abandoned" is a trespass against the goods.. leaving either those who left the property, or the op shop operator the possibility to sue them.. (which will never happen).

    The women seem to genuinely believe they're not stealing though, so it'd never be considered as criminal theft.

  • trapper on 08/01/2024 - 11:18

    It's a pretty high threshold to show property has been abandoned

    However, discovering an item illegally dumped does meet this threshold.

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 08/01/2024 - 12:01

    Fair game I say. Technically, it's no different to stuff being left out on the curb, the dumper just wanted to feel like they were doing something good. If people actually want to donate to charity and don't just want to give themselves a pat on the back, then it's not hard to go through the correct channels.

  • Hangryuman on 08/01/2024 - 14:50

    reminds me of video of a Mercedes pulling up and the driver getting out to pick through such a pile and select all the good stuff for themselves - I've seen this described as stealing because it's not their property

    another problem is that such people typically pull out stuff that might have been neatly packed and stacked, and walk away leaving it spread out across and blocking a footpath

    we used to see this outside our block of units until we got CCTV cameras recording 24x7 and contacted agents of tenants moving out who had dumped their stuff to advise the tenants to come back and clean it up or have something like a $200 cleaning fee deducted from their bond - typically it would be gone that afternoon.

  • burns13 on 08/01/2024 - 14:59

    Some well-to-do ferals have a real complex around charity or assistance. Welfare safety nets etc.

  • smpantsonfire on 08/01/2024 - 15:37
    +1

    Option 4: Who cares, mind your own business.

  • jellykingdom on 09/01/2024 - 09:10

    I think its a bit unethical, but nothing worth jail time

  • AS2035 on 17/01/2024 - 22:37

    happens everywhere. I drop things off when they are open.

    The other day coming home at midnight saw a couple going through the big donation bin. He was climbing inside pulling bags out, she was going through them.

    As I live next door I did nothing as t hey looked at me. Had I lived further out would have called the police.

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