Happy Used Shoe Seller - Note his T-Shirt says Norfolk Public Schools
Teen-agers trying to fit in the perfect pair of shoes
Picking through t-shirt and bra selection
Did you ever wonder what happens to all those things that don’t get sold at the Goodwill store? Or, do all those tons of bags of donations actually make it to the charity shop??
If you come to a local market in Africa, it looks like many of those cast-offs end up for sale here. Everything from used shoes and underwear to stuffed animals gets compacted with machines into bales and shipped here by the ton.
Wherever I go, men are in T-shirts emblazoned with signs of everyday American life, from “Norfolk Public Schools” to “Coastal Heating and Ventilation,” and “Legg Mason Walk for Life.” One day I just started writing down the logos on all the used t-shirts I saw people wearing and my kids like to point out some of their favorites, like “Franklin & Marshall Volleyball Boosters.”
In the labyrinthine market area of Banjul I saw a large warehouse with nothing but stacks of compressed bales of used clothing, and in the town of Brikama a friend of mine knows the used-shoe mogul. As we chatted with him, so many people stopped by to see if the new 25 kg bales of shoes had been opened yet, as each bundle contains such a hodge-podge of styles and sizes, along with a few gems that everyone wants – kids shoes and sneakers are the most popular.
In the used clothing business, the best margins are in shoes. A 25 kg bundle sells wholesale for 2450D, or about $87.50. Each bundle contains about 35 pairs, which each sell in the market for at least 100D, or $3.57. So, there’s about $1 profit per pair. Even compared to selling new Chinese items on the market, more money is made selling these “donations” for a profit than with the super-cheap Asian goods. As we hung out with our friend in his shoe shop drinking the local currant & berry soda, Vimto, I even found a pair of decent Bally pumps I considered for myself.
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