What to do with well-preserved but no longer needed items is decided differently in Germany
Despite numerous flea markets and various online exchanges where well-preserved clothing can be sold, most Germans prefer not to sell items that have become unnecessary, but to donate them to those in need. According to a recent survey on this topic conducted by sociologists at the international market research institute YouGov, 72 percent of respondents said they send their items to donation containers of the Red Cross or other charitable organizations. As reported by Deutsche Welle, 1,187 German citizens took part in this representative online survey.
In second place by a wide margin is the habit of giving used clothes to acquaintances. 35 percent of women surveyed and 24 percent of men surveyed give unwanted items to their friends.
Selling clothes as a way to part with unwanted items comes only in third place. It should be noted that the survey was designed so that respondents could choose more than one preference, so the sum exceeds 100 percent. So, the third favorite on the list follows closely behind the second: 35 percent of women and 22 percent of men offer their used clothing for sale in second-hand stores, at flea markets, and online.
The questionnaire also included options such as 'throw away' and 'keep – might need it later'. 21 percent of respondents said they throw away clothes, and almost one in four (23 percent) admitted to keeping them in hopes of wearing them again someday.
Another question in the study was rather hypothetical. 63 percent of respondents indicated that they would turn in their old items to fashion stores if they received a discount on a new purchase. But since such an opportunity is very rare in reality, only four percent of respondents said they get rid of excess items this way.
In their survey, sociologists asked how often Germans go through their wardrobe and sort items into needed and unneeded, offering three options: less than once a year, once a year, and twice a year. Each of these options received 28 percent. As in other parts of the study, there is a clear difference between men and women: women more often sort out unwanted items from their wardrobe than men. As for age, the trend is that younger people sort out excess clothing more often than older people.