CHARITY SHOPS...

[Del.Monte]

I am an inveterate charity shopper and also donate quite a lot of stuff to my local ones every year. On a recent visit to Mrs.Quinn's/NCBI/Vision Ireland or whatever its latest name is, I handed in a large bags of DVDs - mixed standard ones along with a large quantity of newspaper promotional ones. I was amazed to see the promotional ones emptied into the recycling bin and was told they are aren't allowed to sell them. Can you believe it? Presumably some fool of an overpaid manager in head office had spotted the wording carried on most promo DVDs - For Promotional Use Only - Not For Sale - you couldn't make it up. The wording is obviously aimed at unscrupulous retailers who might be tempted to sell them separately and not to charity shops selling donated secondhand items. Can you imagine the Guardian/Telegraph/Star etc. suing a charity shop for selling promo DVDs?

[PogMoThoin22]

It's been years since we had a device capable of playing a disc

[Del.Monte]

It's been years since we had a device capable of playing a disc

That's hardly the point I was making - charity shops still sell thousands of CDs and DVDs every year as there is a market for them and there's zero reason for the NCBI shop to be 'scared' of selling them. As for not having a device that's capable of playing a disc - that's your loss. If you're a collector of physical media you need to have multiple devices - my laptop has a disc drive, I have a CD player, a DVD player, an audio cassette player and until recently a VHS player as some movies never made it to DVD. I digress, as my point was that some charity shops need to spend more time increasing their income rather than rebranding.

[nlgbbbblth]

It's been years since we had a device capable of playing a disc

I just don't get that.

I buy CDs and records every few days.
A bunch of BDs and DVDs every month.
Turntable, CD player, BD player (also plays DVDs) are used every day.

I don't buy VHS anymore but still use the VCR every few weeks.

[nlgbbbblth]

@Del.Monte - that's unusual behaviour from the charity shop. Must be a new policy - really pointless. One thing I did notice about the free discs - often the aspect ratio would not be correct.

For years, second hand record shops never had an issue selling promo CDs or vinyl. I'd say most of them still do.

[nlgbbbblth]

I'd like to add - surely they could have just put them in a box marked "FREE DVDs" i.e. not charge for them.

Putting them in a recycling bin is sheer waste.

[PogMoThoin22]

I just don't get that.

I buy CDs and records every few days.
A bunch of BDs and DVDs every month.
Turntable, CD player, BD player (also plays DVDs) are used every day.

I don't buy VHS anymore but still use the VCR every few weeks.

Yes in our house I've ethernet and an android box at every TV, everything is streamed, Tivimate for live TV, Jellyfin for movies and TV (currently 200TB+ in cloud storage) and YouTube music. I have Chromecast audio at a technics stereo so I can stream music to it from my phone or tablet. Years ago I converted all my music collection to digital but I rarely listen as it's all available to stream on YouTube music. I used to rip DVDs but now I look to download better Blu-ray quality copies, 4k with Dolby Vision and Atmos where available. There are softwares like Radarr and Sonarr that completely automate the process of downloading movies and shows as soon as they're available

[nlgbbbblth]

Yes in our house I've ethernet and an android box at every TV, everything is streamed, Tivimate for live TV, Jellyfin for movies and TV (currently 200TB+ in cloud storage) and YouTube music. I have Chromecast audio at a technics stereo so I can stream music to it from my phone or tablet. Years ago I converted all my music collection to digital but I rarely listen as it's all available to stream on YouTube music. I used to rip DVDs but now I look to download better Blu-ray quality copies, 4k with Dolby Vision and Atmos where available. There are softwares like Radarr and Sonarr that completely automate the process of downloading movies and shows as soon as they're available

I stream as well (Spotify, YouTube, Netflix etc) and use a couple of HDDs for TV and film stuff that I've recorded. But there's so much that isn't available to stream (particularly archive TV and many films) so the physical copies are also needed. There are a number of quality BD labels like Arrow, Indicator, Second Sight, Criterion releasing great films with proper extras and books.

Downloads and streaming are ok as an option for music but again, packaging and sound quality of the physical format (CD and vinyl) will always push them to the forefront. Particularly well done genre box sets and special editions of albums.

It's not either / or for me. The digital / streaming method is just another option in how I consume the media.

[Cobham]

I keep a selection of DVD films and have lent them along with a mini DVD player to people in hospital. My present laptop has no dvd driver but I got a plug in to attach. I have a good DVD player and a record player but sadly they are stashed away and I wonder if I can remember how to work the DVD one? I 'ripped' a lot of music to digital and now have it on a mini player so handy for travel as so tiny.

[Norman Breaks]

The charity shops 'should' be an easy way to dispose of stuff you have that would still be useful to others but maybe you need to find a different one or try to give them away through a free ads service?