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[polly7]

This message was self-deleted by its author (polly7) on Fri Mar 18, 2016, 02:39 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[Nonhlanhla]

1. This is also why I don't buy Tom's shoes

They give free shoes to people in the Majority World, which is well intentioned, but it destroys local business.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[polly7]

3. So true, Nonhlanhla.

I bet most of us don't even think of this .... I know I never realized just how much it was hurting them.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. Welcome to 'charity capitalism'.

Goodwill is actually pretty much the same. They take in donations, sell them, and trade on a reputation of being a 'charity' because they give some small part of the take to charity work, but the guys running it are pocketing a lot too.

It's why we stopped taking items to Goodwill and instead now give them to Vietnam Vets of America.

[polly7]

4. I gather up clothing and bedding, toys, etc. to take to the city's homeless and

women's shelters every few months. Living in a rural area again there aren't a lot of places to donate to - we do have online community pages with people posting for items needed - so a lot of us give straight to them if we have it.

I'm just amazed after reading that how much is being made off these donations to other countries. I'd heard about Goodwill's reputation - that's a real shame.

[yellowcanine]

5. The whole used clothing thing is kind of a giant scam.

Charities collect the clothing donations and people get to take a tax deduction. Then the charities turn around and sell the clothing by the pound to exporters who load up shipping containers and wholesale the clothing to dealers in third world countries. This undermines the local industries and does little in terms of economic development while enriching the exporters.

I suspect that some of the car donation programs operate in a similar way.

[Igel]

9. Yes, no, and maybe.

Like everything else, it hurts some and it helps some. It hurts local industry.

On the other hand, what's provided is so cheap that even the poorest person can get something to cover themselves.

It was the same with the surplus food program that I got some butter and cheese from in the early '80s. The butter and cheese people hated it, because it cut into potential markets: Some people who got the free stuff could afford to buy some. Somebody at my church would pick up all s/he could and bring it to services, where people who had no financial problems would pick it up--that was fine. On the other hand some of those who got the freebies couldn't have afforded to buy any at all. Then again, there were local producers who could have hired additional workers if demand was higher.

As for the clothing, it's really only the stuff that can't move domestically that gets exported.

Some of the indigent who get the free stuff and couldn't afford anything else would get jobs and could afford it; but a lot still wouldn't. They'd miss the free stuff. By the container-full.

[yellowcanine]

10. Many of these countries can grow cotton and other fiber crops

Many have local textile industries. I lived in Kenya in the early 1970s. They had thriving textile and leather industries based on local production and manufacturing which are now making them something of a player in exporting textiles and leather goods. They were fortunate that the used clothing pipeline from developed countries was not as much of a factor as it is today in many third world countries. Between the growing of the fiber, textile manufacturing, and retailing of the products the economic development generated would go a long way toward improving the lives of people to the point that many would no longer need to buy the cheap used clothing. The supply of used clothing would never be completely cut off - but less of it would be coming in from overseas. Poor people would still be able to get cheap clothing.

[dhill926]

6. great OP and posts....

learned a lot....thanks.

[polly7]

7. Yw ........ and I agree, great posts - thanks for those! nt.

[vinny9698]

8. My mother-in-law used to carry "ropa usada" into Mexico

There she had stores that would buy the clothing. They would have a name and underneath that name would be "Ropa Americana".
The poor would buy there because they can not afford to buy a pair of jeans for $20. The jeans in those stores would sell for $5.
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrTcXFb7NlWiiMAMQiWnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTc5OARfcgMyBGJjawM0dmlnMWVwYmRqcjJyJTI2YiUzRDMlMjZzJTNEMzUEZnIDeWhzLWlyeS1mdWxseWhvc3RlZF8wMDMEZ3ByaWQDBG10ZXN0aWQDbnVsbARuX3N1Z2cDMARvcmlnaW4DaW1hZ2VzLnNlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMTQEcXVlcnkDcm9wYSBhbWVyaWNhbmEEdF9zdG1wAzE0NTcxMjI1MjcEdnRlc3RpZANudWxs?pvid=AP1VBzIwNi6bDvCOPuFjswAcNTAuMQAAAAC.y3zA&p=ropa+americana&fr=&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt&type=wncy_dnldstr_16_06&hsimp=yhs-fullyhosted_003&hspart=iry
There is also a big market for used Levi's in Europe. They are sold on the black market at flea markets. The largest flea market in the world is in Paris.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187147-d2476892-Reviews-Paris_Flea_Market_Insider_s_Tour-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

The Paris Flea Market has more than 2,500 ‘stores,’ the world’s largest Flea-Market is a unique Paris treasure – an exhilarating shopping experience. Stalls from around the world, Mexico, Nigeria, Japan, Russia you can buy old Soviet army surplus including vehicles.

French trivia: Why do the French eat snails and frog legs?
The nobility would come and take all the food away from their serfs. In order not to starve they started eating snails and frog legs.