UK charity shop profits plummet amid shift in secondhand clothes market
Source: The Guardian ·
British Heart Foundation describes ‘exceptionally challenging’ trading after Oxfam’s retail profit reportedly fell 23% amid rise of platforms such as VintedProfits at some of the UK’s best-known charity shops have plummeted as they face a number of pressures, including from online secondhand clothes platforms, prompting claims that a key part of the sector’s fundraising model could be under…
From the source
Profits at some of the UK’s best-known charity shops have plummeted as they face a number of pressures, including from online secondhand clothes platforms, prompting claims that a key part of the sector’s fundraising model could be under threat. According to unpublished accounts seen by the Financial Times, Oxfam’s retail profit fell 23% to £4.9m in the last financial year, compared with £6.4m in the previous year. The British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has the biggest high street presence of any charity in the country, has announced plans to close 150 stores after they made a £3.3m loss in the last financial year. Cancer Research UK and Scope have also closed, or are closing, some of their shops. But these losses come despite UK spending on secondhand clothing having quadrupled over the past decade, rising to £8.8bn a year, according to GlobalData. The shift has come alongside the rise of websites such as Vinted and Depop, suggesting that people who might previously have donated…
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