The thrill of leaving a thrift store with a huge load of clothing, dishes, furniture, or appliances for a fraction of the price of buying new is fantastic! Finding a set of 150-year-old doors or a simple set of kitchen cabinets that can be painted to look like new and save thousands of dollars… gold!
Often these products are made with better materials and were made to last decades rather than years. There was less built-in obsolescence. New products are made to be disposable, like a $15 sweater that only makes it through the wash twice, or the particleboard table that will not survive the move out of your dorm, or cheap curtains that fray after just a few months of use.
So where do I find these wonderful used goods?
Secondary retailers dot the country offering gorgeous and practical pre-owned products. From small thrift shops to large warehouses, consumers can pop in and leave with vintage barn doors, a microwave, a designer purse, or a Casa Armani console table.
But if the Covid experience has taught us anything, it is that online shopping makes things more convenient and gives us more choices.
We are not yet there with many materials and products.
The internet has not yet peaked in its ability to offer us used products with ease. Think Home Depot or Ikea. What if there was an aisle in these mega stores to purchase used kitchen cabinets or used lumber? Ikea is already on it, but not quite there yet. Home Depot? Nothing stated in public yet, but mark our words, it will happen.
A major roadblock in this shift to pre-owned is the lack of one-stop shopping for goods at the quantities needed.
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1.What if you are remodeling an old house and need 12 vintage doors of the same style?
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2.A contractor must be able to easily purchase all the lumber, doors, fixtures, appliances, and other materials needed for a remodel – quickly, easily, consistently.
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3.There is no time to visit 5 different stores and 10 online platforms to buy what you need for a single job!
Modernizing the Secondary Retail Market
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1.Shopping online:
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a.Thrift Stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army are popular for clothing and home goods, and now online retailers are making these things available on the web. Look at clothing specialist Poshmark and general marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace, Craig’s List, and eBay.
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b.We cannot expect consumers to spend more time and effort to buy secondhand goods.
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c.We need efficiency and ease without the hassle.
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2.Help to squash the biggest waster of all: Construction & Demolition Waste:
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a.Industry pioneer ReCapturit has created an online marketplace for one-stop shopping for recaptured building materials and architectural salvage.
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b.If Home Depot and Amazon birthed a baby, it would be ReCapturit.
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c.Buy it all in one place, in one transaction.
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d.Shop from multiple vendors with (almost) the ease of Amazon.
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3.Shipping costs – dollars and carbon – let’s debunk the myth:
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a.“When comparing buying new with buying used, even with shipping, used always wins. Period.” – Leila Nattagh, Carbon Footprint and Greenhouse Gas expert.
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b.Shipping is a necessary element. Doing it efficiently is the key.
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c.Minimizing shipping is smart. Fiercely holding to the notion that “all materials salvaged should stay in the community” is nonsense. Do you think all those materials came from the community? Of course not. Bricks came from factories. Lumber came from forests. Steel came from steel mills.
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d.If there are more materials being thrown into the dump than the community can reuse, then it is still marvelously better to reuse than to waste them, even if they get trucked somewhere else.
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e.If your local community cannot find homes for 100 Kohler soaking tubs, send them to where they do. Sell that Venini chandelier for $4,000! Your local community needs the money more than the chandelier.
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f.In the near future, large volumes on full trucks, trains, and shipping containers will further increase efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint.
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4.Tax Deductions:
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a.Donors can deduct the IRS defined Fair Market Value when donating to a qualified charity or governmental organization.
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b.If the property value exceeds $5,000, the IRS requires an IRS Qualified Appraisal by an IRS Qualified Appraiser.
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A Multi-pronged Approach
Moving society to a mindset of first considering pre-owned property requires a multi-pronged approach throughout the industry.
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1.Organizations receiving donated property must ensure the property sells and does not languish on shelves for months or years only to later hit the landfill. There are limits to community-based brick-and-mortar shops. Online access is essential.
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2.Online platforms such as ReCapturit must become the standards for resale. One-stop shopping is a must.
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3.A concerted effort between non-profit recipients and for-profit retailers must be enhanced to efficiently move products: increasing supply meeting greater demand.
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4.Shipping of materials is needed for efficient distribution of pre-owned products. As stated above, the environmental value of buying used is ALWAYS greater than buying new.
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5.The tax benefits to donation can continue to be the carrot that brings secondary goods to the market. To ensure IRS compliance, clients must contract with an IRS Qualified Appraiser or risk having their donation disallowed.
The Green Mission Inc. and Probity Appraisal Group
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1.At The Green Mission Inc. and Probity Appraisal Group, we work with clients choosing to donate their property rather than dump it in the landfill.
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2.The Green Mission Inc. specializes in donations of building materials, appliances, fixtures, and other property typically removed during a renovation, remodel, or home deconstruction.
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3.Probity Appraisal Group specializes in donations of fine and decorative art, collectibles, high-end furnishings, and other personal property.
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CONTACT our offices to discuss your potential donation and appraisal:
(540) 322-3884
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VISIT our industry friends at ReCapturit to see what pre-owned treasures you can find or sell your own inventory of treasures!
