finding money in an item from a charity shop...

[joko]

i bought a handbag a few years ago and havent yet used it...i got it out before and noticed a hole in the lining and felt paper, and on putting my fingers through, found some old receipts, tissues and a fiver.

i told my friend and the first thing she said was ''ooh you have to return it!"

i said "to who?" and she said the shop, as its a charity shop...

now as far as i am concerned it isnt theirs any more than its mine... the donater did not 'give' it to them - i am sure that if they had known it was there they would have removed and kept it (it looks like its been there ages actually - all brown and squashed)
if i found it on the pavement i would not think, 'oh i must donate it as it isnt mine', so not sure how this is different really...

so, just curious what you think - do you think it belongs to the charity shop or me?
i know 'technically' it belongs to neither of us - it belongs to the donater - but as i have no chance of knowing who that is, i would say it is mine to do as i wish ...

i dont really care here, i am not trying to justify my keeping it- its only £5, i was just surprised by her reaction that i couldn't keep it...its such a low amount i hadnt even thought about it, just shrugged and put it in my pocket.

i am NOT asking what i should do here - i know what i think - i just wondered how many would agree with me or her...

(by the way, I spend a fortune in charity shops and also donate tonnes of stuff to them, so i dont feel guilty or like i am depriving them of anything- i actually have no idea which shop it came from anyway - there are 5 in my street alone...)


also what would you think if itd been a few hundred pounds?
would that be a different matter?

its an interesting 'quandary'

thanks

[B00]

Wouldn't hesitate....

Keep it!

[mxyzptlk]

You've bought the bag and contents - no problem as far as I can see.

[tonyav]

Finders keepers.

[Nibble]

Given the time scale involved, i.e a few years, I'd keep it, as the money in question would have been returned by police as not claimed after 6 months. Therefore, no question it's yours.

[joggerjayne]

If the bag contained an unpaid bill, would you pay the bill?

[ummmm]

In those circumstances I would keep it.

[missprim]

it's down to you of course but I would take it to the shop and tell them you found it in the bag that you bought from there.
I would get more pleasure from the gratitude they would show you for donating the money than I would from keeping it.

[ummmm]

Silly thing to say Jayne. It's not like the person sending the bill is going send reminders to the handbag!

[mccfluff]

the ethical thing to do would be donate it to the shop charity. i'm ashamed to say i would probaly think "bonus" and go have a pint on the mystery benefactor

[Old_Geezer]

It belongs to you. If you have a conscience about keeping it make a donation to a charity.

[mrs_overall]

I would keep it, but knowing my conscience, the next time I was in the shop I would end up putting half of it in the tin on the counter

[joko]

missprim - you could say that about any money donated though...

and i hardly think theyd get out the bunting for a fiver...

[Old_Geezer]

I'd not pay the unpaid bill, but I'd be entitled to keep it.

[VHG]

My mother died recently and asked for anything we did not want to go to the local RSPCA charity shop (she always supported animals). So I have been taking stuff up to their shop in large bags.

The other day after dropping some stuff off I noticed a large van pulled up outside the RSPCA charity shop and on the side it says "clothes sorted" and "books sorted" (or words to that effect).

And loads of bags (including my mothers) were taken out and thrown in the bag of the van.

Now I was always under the impressions that if you took stuff in the shop it was sorted and resold in the shop, but it made me realise that they are just as much "big business" as any other business.

So I would keep the fiver.

[joko]

i am actually vaguely thinking its a very old fiver... its pretty old looking an i think it may be the out of circulation one... will have to check

over the past 6 months i have been clearing my house out (bit of a hoarder) and must have given the local shops hundreds and hundreds of pounds worth of goods, so i dont feel like i am depriving them - no doubt i will go in and spend the money in a charity shop anyway - i usally do...haha

[Old_Geezer]

Assuming it wasn't being nicked, then surely however the charity maximises income/ minimises costs, is ok ?

[joggerjayne]

It's not such a "silly thing to say" ummmm

In each case, you find something in the bag which suggests that someone else may be out of pocket.

Do you take it upon yourself to rectify the situation?

What if the bill was for a repair to the bag, and has clearly been overlooked?

[missprim]

Why did you ask the question in the first place?
I think you might be slightly unsure whether or not you are doing the right thing.
If you were 100% certain it's ok to keep the money, then you wouldn't have asked.
I'm just saying I would donate it back to the shop as I know I might feel slightly guilty if I kept it.

[ummmm]

Now you're making up scenarios which weren't in the OP.

[rowanwitch]

donated goods often go to central depots for sorting with certain types of item going to the shops where they are most likely to be sold some charities now have specialist shops like the Barnados childrens ones that only sell kids stuff and oxfam bookshops