New Royal Mail Price Rises = More Landfill??

[selling-uk]

Well, not sure about anyone else, but the latest Royal Mail price hikes are "the straw that broke the camels back" in my case and have prompted me to go through my listings and weed out out about 25-30 items and just bin them and off to landfill they will go!

I'm just a private seller, selling unwanted items such as my glass ornaments, kids toys etc and the items have been listed and relisted a few times but everything always sells eventually if the price is right.

However I've had to keep increasing prices to cover the ever increasing postage cost and with the new, substantial price hikes on top of the two last year, it's just made certain items too expensive to even try an sell, so off they go.

This is a shame really as we are all expected to think more about the environment, so rather than dispose of unwanted items, I prefer to resell as much of my old stuff as possible as I see it it as a win/win/win situation.

* I recoup a little of the original outlay.

* Buyer gets an item at a fraction of the original price.

* Saves the item going to landfill.

So the unintended consequence by the greedy, including the shareholders is that in my case, that is a couple of bin loads of waste going to landfill!

[*vyolla*]

If the items are good enough to list on eBay then surely they're good enough for a charity shop to re-sell and make a little money on?

So, why would you consign them to landfill?

I keep seeing sellers make this same statement like it's some kind of 'I'm having a hissy fit so will punish the planet' stance. Weird. 

[cobwebcottage]

If you are concerned about the environment, why would you send items to landfill when there are an abundance of Charity shops who would gladly take them?

[zoomingmouse]

The hikes are a big jump, I agree>.

You don't have to bin them though - do a bootsale, give to a charity shop, or list as a joblots/pickup cash sale.

You could also have a look at other carriers that are cheaper, but pack accordingly!

[indigo-island]

Charity shop, fb market place, local buy and sell pages or what ever your local version of freecycle is - we have a group where I live called 'Don't just bin it'....... you'll be amazed who really wants things you don't

[daro2096]

I briefly "worked" in a charity shop. Do you know what happens to items that don't sell? They get destroyed and thrown in the bin/skip at the back of the shop. So they will still end up in landfill.

[swat090346]

I volunteer in a charity shop and have done for the last 15 years and can assure you that things that do not sell are NOT put in the bin for landfill.  We have a collecting firm that comes every week and takes all our unsellable clothes and textiles, tatty books  dirty socks and underwear smelly clothes and household textiles, electrical items that don't work and clothes that have been in the shop for 3 weeks without selling that we have to dispose of to make room for newer better offerings. They then recycle everthing and pay the shop a small amount to take them. 

We do throw out broken ornaments, toys that are broken or with pieces missing, dirty toys and cookware that is in a disgusting greasy state, dirty duvets and pillows smelly rugs and other disgusting items that we get donated, but that is all. You would be surprised at the items that people bring, why they expect us to sell them when they are only fit for the bin I will never understand.

So please do not accept the fact that some unsavoury things do go to landfill as an excuse to not donate to charity shops

[*vyolla*]

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@daro2096 wrote:

I briefly "worked" in a charity shop. Do you know what happens to items that don't sell? They get destroyed and thrown in the bin/skip at the back of the shop. So they will still end up in landfill.

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Even if that really is the case, the point being that donated items have the chance to sell if donated to charity instead of going straight to landfill. 

[btr.style]

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@daro2096 wrote:

I briefly "worked" in a charity shop. Do you know what happens to items that don't sell? They get destroyed and thrown in the bin/skip at the back of the shop. So they will still end up in landfill.

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If it's clothing then it will be bagged up by weight and sold into the rag trade (£1 a kilo, maybe even less). More often than not, it will then be exported to then be sorted at a rag factory. Anything beyond use will be sold to a recycling factory. Anything good will be graded and shifted off to wholesalers to sell to retailers. 

Some stuff finds it's way back over here but most of it will remain there. A lot of the items being desireable to people in/around those countries as they can't get those brands/types of clothing over there. 

The same happens the other way round too. So the UK ends up getting a load of overseas charity shop excess/unsold clothing/rags. 

[daro2096]

I worked in Aged UK for a few weeks. I saw them destroying CDs, DVD, and other stuff that hadn't sold.

[rjwilmsi]

Increasing postage costs make it more difficult to sell lower value items. Many items not worth the postage cost. Particularly if the item is small but not small enough for Large Letter size. This has been the case for a few years now, the latest uptick in prices is no different.

For those items one option is to sell in lots - don't sell one at a time, sell a minimum of 2 or 3 together. Otherwise, yes, as others say, charity shop is the answer. That's not going to 100% guarantee that the item reaches a new home, but at least it's better than binning it.

[dibuysell]

Thats correct - British Heart hang your head in shame. I have seen the amount that gets thrown and disposed of 2 times a week and its not being recycled but dumped into landfill.  so 2 x 3 ton bins = 6 tons per week - at least 50 times over the year - 300 tons! There are broken items in there but things that could be re-used. The public needs to wake up to these Charities - in the front door and anything they dont want out the back. Sad but true.

[eastern-lights]

What would you have charities do with unwanted unsaleable CDs and DVDs? Store them forever?

[robbtyke132010]

I think there is a company that will take all unwanted DVDs & CDs  & books - they then sort them into categories & sell them on in bulk. it must take about  ten thousand years for a DVD to actually disintegrate into dust. 

Many charity shops are actually refusing to take them - they just don't sell anymore. There are community libraries such as supermarkets that take books for people to borrow. I have always wondered about leaving some of my DVDs there for people to take home but I suppose you have to be careful, a 6 year waltzing off with Halloween 2 expecting a Disney classic may be a problem!