50 Random And Unhinged Things People Gave To Charity Shops That Confused Or Cracked Buyers Up

Saunders, the founder of the Facebook group, shone the spotlight on the history of the community and what's expected of the members.

"The group started in 2013 trying to make lyrics for a song which did get written and performed," he told Bored Panda.

"Many other groups appeared afterwards so I really took the group seriously and worked on it daily," Saunders said that the group inspired many other similar communities to form.

"Folks love commenting and posting odd stuff," he explained why weird secondhand goods appeal to so many people as a topic in itself. The founder added that there were actually 5 charity shops near where he lived.

Saunders shared a bit more about the team running the group, as well as the challenges that they regularly face. 

"We have a team of moderators now who share the burden of the enquiries/posts. The volunteers aren't paid and members talk to them and expect a service. Facebook, eh?" he told Bored Panda.

Charity shopping, according to Saunders, "is an exciting thing to do because you never know what you're going to find."

"You can't go into the shop and expect to find something because, more often than not, you'll find something that you weren't looking for. Then, of course, you find some highly inappropriate things like used sex toys they don't realize are actually sex toys, overly revealing leotards, or mini erotic statues. Members take a pic pretending that they are taking it for a friend and post it on the group," he shared.

The founder of ‘C**p You Find in Charity Shops’ shared that he'd been working in comedy "way before Facebook tightened up its standards," so he'd already set out a "baseline set of rules about not victim-shaming or bullying."

"We don't allow tribal objects for example because although they might be funny, they encourage people to comment on inappropriate jokes. When you look at our rules, they have been carefully honed over time." Saunders revealed that they have to deal with a lot of people who are trying to post adverts or extremely inappropriate or illegal content.

"Most members are from the UK and Australia, however, we actually reach many countries," the founder told Bored Panda that they have a global audience, but Brits and Australians make up the majority. Not everyone in the world might have charity shops, however, everyone can still enjoy looking at and commenting on the weird things found there.

The founder of the group also revealed a very interesting (but rather expensive) tradition the community used to have before. "We used to give a mug away every month for the best post and most active member." However, since the Facebook group isn't monetized, the costs of sending these prizes quickly added up, so Saunders had to stop.

The ‘C**p You Find in Charity Shops’ Facebook group has been up and running for an entire decade! In that time, the group has grown into a very active and dedicated online community that absolutely loves good humor and having a laugh. At the time of writing, the group had over 315.6k members. 

The entire point of the community is to post strange and low-quality secondhand finds, as well as to poke fun at the pics that others share. Laughing at bizarre items is encouraged. However, nobody should make fun of their fellow members.

According to the administrator and moderator team running the whole show, everyone should focus on the comedic side of things. So, for instance, there’s really no room for comments encouraging others to go back and buy all of those weird finds because they might net a neat profit when resold.

Members are encouraged to share the name of the shop as well as what part of the world it’s found in whenever they post a photo. If you feel that the item you’ve seen might offend someone else or be very insensitive, it’s best to err on the side of caution and leave it out.

There’s also no room for taxidermy items, furs, or animal horns. What’s more, Facebook users are asked not to post pics of shoes or boots because the difference in taste causes a lot of “needless drama” and unkindness between members. Who knew fashion made people so emotional?!

The founders of ‘C**p You Find in Charity Shops’ also have a few other niche Facebook groups, including one for any treasures you stumble upon, creepy dolls, as well as Cliff Richard memorabilia. So there’s a bit of everything for everyone, depending on their taste. 

Going to charity shops, garage sales, and secondhand shops can be a lot of fun if you’ve got an adventurous spirit. You never truly know what you’ll find. So if you have some patience and flexibility, you can really come across something incredible—or incredibly dumb-looking! Whatever the case might be, you’re bound to make someone’s day if you share the photo online. There’s nothing quite like making others smile and laugh with dumb stuff.

Aside from the comedic aspect, buying secondhand goods really is a great approach to living in these economically weird times. You can save a lot of money if you’re willing to buy furniture, clothes, and items that aren’t exactly new. That means that you’re cutting costs and leaving yourself some cash for other things that we all love. Like paying rent! And buying food!!

Secondhand shopping is also a fantastic way to reduce your carbon footprint and be more eco-conscious. When you’re using something that would otherwise have been thrown out, it means that you’re voting with your wallet and not paying for the production of new items.

Statista notes that the apparel market amounted to $1.53 trillion in 2022, set to grow to $1.7 trillion. Meanwhile, BBC Future points out that a jaw-dropping 85% of all textiles are thrown away in the United States. This amounted to 13 million tons in 2017 or 37 kilograms (81.6 pounds) of clothes per American.

Meanwhile, Earth.org looked at just how much waste there is when it comes to the fashion industry. It’s responsible for a fifth of all global water pollution and 3% of CO2 emissions around the world.

It takes roughly 20,000 liters (5,283 gallons) of water to produce a single kilogram of cotton. That translates to roughly 2,700 liters (713 gallons) per t-shirt (aka enough for a single person to drink for 900 days). 

The reality is that only around 12% of the material used for clothing actually ends up being recycled. Many materials used for our clothes simply can’t be recycled, so they’re burned or dumped. Some possible solutions to this would be to change what materials are used, upgrade our recycling technologies, and encourage people to buy and sell secondhand clothing.