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

[netibiza]

I also "donated" by accident a victorian opal and diamond ring which was in a ring box that I gave in a job lot to a charity. Luckily they knew my mil and gave it to her as I was in Italy at the time, and searching through our volkswagon bus for the ring!!

[Ellipsis]

Hmm, interesting question joko. In your position (as someone who gives to charity) I would keep it - emptor fortuna - you'll probably end up giving it in other ways anyway ...

But what if you were in the charity shop, considering buying the handbag, and found the fiver in it. Would you then hand the fiver in? Or would you buy the handbag complete with the fiver and then pocket the fiver? In other words, what is it about the situation that justifies keeping the cash?

[joko]

miss prim, i am not having a go at you because you disagreed!
that was the point of the question - to get a gauge of opinion!

i tried to debate back on your comments ... but you tried to imply i should feel guilty and wrong if i didnt return it by telling me what i 'really' meant by asking the question ... i have told you why i asked a few times now... why cant you just accept my reason for asking the question is purely out of curiosity and not some deep seated guilt and fear of doing the wrong thing?

anyway forget it now, thanks for your opinion missprim, duly noted

[joko]

net, thats lucky!

ellipsis - mmm interesting angle... i really dont know on that...
i expect that would be a spur of the moment, think later answer
i mean if they dont know its even there, is it stealing from the shop?
or would the next person just buy it and not find it til they got home... the outcome would then be the same...

i suppose itd be a bit like finding it just there on the floor in the shop - does that make it the shops?
its clearly not come from the till, its clearly come from a shoppers pocket - so in the absence of the 'dropper' - whose is it?
is that a case of finders keepers too?

[China Doll]

I'd happily keep it :c)

[tamborine]

a man bought a 50p bracelet from a charity shop, it was gold valued at £20k on Antiques Roadshow, & his property !

[joko]

wow tambo! thats amazing... in that circumstance i would probably give a small donation to said charity shop - especially if they saw the episode haha
i wonder if the donator saw the episode and realised...? you'd be gutted!

im off to check all my other charity shop buys, including the linings of all my bags and coats ... i might be some time! haha

[Prudie]

I'd keep it, it's a piddling amount and you think it's a discontinued note anyway.
Interestingly, on ellipsis' scnario, if I saw it in the bag in the shop I'd probably hand it over,

[DTCwordfan]

legally yours; morally is the debate here, that is for your conscience......

[tamborine]

It was a torque type with dragonish head. No hallmarks & was chemically tested to be gold & ancient.

[Robinia]

A fiver, and it's been a few years? I'd keep it without guilt...but I'd probably spend that much and more the next time I was in there anyway.

[Old_Geezer]

Re find before buy scenario. Maybe what justifies keeping the cash is that the buyer and seller know as much as each other so no one is holding an unfair advantage over the other ? Just a thought.

[joko]

yes DT, obviously legally its mine... but the question is, morally, why should i need a conscience on this?

its not like deepdown i think i am wrong an that morally the money should go to the charity - but i am simply choosing not to give it to them because i want to keep it ... i am choosing to keep it because i dont believe it belongs to the charity.

so why should i feel guilty?


robinia, i pretty much spend about that almost every time i go in! haha


yes AOG, i suppose if the other doesnt know its even there... i wonder what the shop staff would think if they saw you find it... would they think it was theirs, or accept it was a 'lost' item and its finders keepers?

[tamborine]

I worked in Barnados & we often found wads of notes in gents suit pockets. The charity kept them.