Lost Stock Box Haul & Review

A few months ago I posted all about Lost Stock and the fashion parcels they were making to help those impacted by the fallout of COVID-19. Essentially, in case you missed it, with lockdown and everything being shut, many fashion retailers decided to cancel their clothing orders. Now, this doesn't sound like too much of an issue on the surface, but, many of the factories had already made hundreds of thousands of items but weren't going to get paid for them. It was estimated that cancelled orders totalled over $2 billion USD, and this amount is likely to have only increased since. 

Garment workers are grossly underpaid, but garment workers in a pandemic producing items for companies that aren't going to be paying? Well, that's thousands of people receiving no income at all despite holding down their end of the bargain.

Not only were the workers not going to get paid, but the items produced were also going to be sent to landfill. It was estimated that 982 million garments had been cancelled or suspended from 1150 factories due to COVID. That's a lot of clothes. 

So, this is where Lost Stock comes in... For £35 (+ £3.99 shipping) you can purchase a Lost Stock Box. This not only supports a garment worker and their family for a week but you also receive 3 items of clothing based around a little questionnaire submitted upon ordering, saving these pieces from ending up in landfill.. Sounds good, right? 

Almost too good... 

For those interested in the timescale, I placed my order on the 18th May (the day the boxes were launched) and the package arrived on the 11th August. 

So, my order arrived and it's fair to say it was not what I was expecting at alllll. I mean, I obviously had no idea what to expect but this certainly wasn't it. 

My answers for the questionnaire were as follows:

- A normal fit

- Brights 

- No patterns 

- I like to be at the cutting edge of fashion 

Here's what arrived... 

As you can see, it's certainly not the prettiest line up of items. The pink dress is by far the best of the bunch but definitely isn't an item that would get much wear. The yellow top isn't my sort of thing (as you can probably tell from my face in the photo) and the two patterned vests are definitely suited to a more mature wearer, they're certainly not at 'the cutting edge of fashion'. 

Now, I totally understand the logistical nightmare that arranging these boxes probably was and that they were never going to get everyone's order right. But, from all of the posts I've seen online, it seems like everyone had a very similar experience to mine; random items that didn't fit the questionnaire and that weren't ever going to get worn. 

Considering the boxes were originally marketed as being items from shops such as Zara and Topshop, I think it's understandable that people are unhappy with the items they have received. These tops clearly weren't destined to end up in Topshop. The boxes are meant to be worth a total of £70 RRP, but many people have found the items in their boxes in-store in Matalan for much cheaper than this, which has raised a lot of questions surrounding the value of the boxes...

I know people will probably read this and argue that it shouldn't matter because it was all for charity anyway. Well, at the time of release it wasn't totally clear how much of the £35 was going to go directly to the garment workers in Bangladesh. But, it's now known that only 37% (or £12.95) of that is donated, and had I known that at the time, I think I'd have just donated directly. 

Overall, I don't think I'd recommend ordering a Lost Stock Box. Rather than paying nearly £40 for some clothes you're very unlikely to wear, donate the £12 directly and buy a piece of clothing you know you're going to love and wear to death.

Did you order a Lost Stock Box?