Charity Shops Making Donations Uncomfortable

I do doorstep collections no problem.

After my mum passed I called in to my local charity shop to ask if they wanted mums clothes.
Mum was always a very smart lady and kept her clothes in very good order. She would never wear anything she called 'fuddy duddy' .
Their answer was, if you don't mind them going to the rag man we'll take them! I just said, don't worry I'll find somewhere who wants them.
I found our local 'Mind' charity who were more than willing to take them. Although it is a mental health charity, they also help people find accommodation and furnishings, so all mums furniture went to them as well.
Sometimes you just have to pick and choose where you donate to.

I would like to know what Charity Shop’s policy is regarding worn out textiles. It used to be called Shoddy, but now seems to be called rags which can be re-cycled. I think they get money by weighing in the rags. I suppose it depends on the space they have to store it.
When I had a shop, I used to value and make small repairs for a local charity, brought in by the shop manager who lived nearby.

We are really lucky in our town and have a charity book shop where I take and buy books. Always thanked. I do put my donations in stiff paper carriers collected over the years from shops when they used to give a bag free. So the donation looks better than in an old carrier bag.

Same with clothes to the hospice or BHF shop. Always clean and folded and in small quantities. But I can do that as I live a short walking distance and pass by them frequently.

All the charity shops have bags and boxes of stuff left outside on the pavement on a monday morning. That must be a heart sink moment for the staff arriving. They have to climb over the rubbish before they can open the door.

My stuff has never been inspected, but I have no idea what happens to it when it's taken behind the scenes.

As I said we are lucky in our town. I can believe all the stories above of not so friendly shops. Often the attitude of the staff filters down from the manager. And the attitude of the manager filters down from the "powers that be" of the charity. Happy manager happy staff.

Far better to sell 20 at £2 than 2 at £7

I quite agree. Get rid of more stuff quickly, making room to put out the rest.

I think many more people sell on Vinted and similar, though looking at comments online, that doesn’t always work out well.

I am sadly disappointed by the attitude I get when making donations to the local hospice shop, including ; “It isn’t rubbish is it ?”
Who in their right mind would go to the trouble of lugging a heavy bag all the way there when they can put it in the bin ?
I’ve been told independent charities are more appreciative and have found the Dizzy ( Diabetes charity ) shop welcoming but they are farther away.
I have also used Anglo Doorstep collection and found them very good but there are things they don’t take.
We are moving house, downsizing from a large family home, and I hate waste and I’m finding the brainpower and effort to give stuff away to appropriate places to be exhausting !

Magenta I have not personally experienced that but a friend did in tragic circumstances. A young daughter died and her clothes were taken to an Oxfam shop where each garment was inspected at the counter, those disdainfully rejected were handed back to the grieving family.

Cancer Research has one pound rails of clothes so you can't go wrong!
Some of my friends are brilliant at finding bargains in charity shops. I'm less good unless searching for something specific for a fancy dress costume or a particular colour.

It's true that if you go to shops in wealthy areas the quality is much better. I almost walked past a charity shop recently thinking it was a high end boutique!😅

Most clothes where I live are cheap to start with from Sainsbury's or Asda.

25Avalon

A lot of charity shops are closing down so maybe that is why staff are feeling disgruntled.

Most are not "staff" but volunteers, working in often hot stuffy situations. Not sure they should be grateful. But in some shops acceptance of items is a management role as they manage the space, and so a volunteer sitting out the back may not be able to attend to you. In one of our shops, there is a notice telling people to deliver to the side door, bit it is often ignored as is the notice telling people they are full.

However, I found this from Sue Ryder who picked through what I offered and then handed me a gift aid form to sign, without even asking me if I was eligible. Part was a nearly new recliner that would have fetched a couple of hundred at very minimum. Plus quite a quantity very high end coats, hats and jackets, also nearly new. (Books, bedding, tea sets, cutlery) Then I got a letter thanking me for contributions which fetched £6!

Our local charity shop is always very pleased to take in donations. I know that some items are sent to other branches, depending on demand. We also have a charity bookshop who are always grateful.

I looked in charity shops for some summer tops last week. They were all quite faded or well worn and priced at £7 or more. So I went on Ebay and bought some lovely ones there at £2.99 or less plus postage. This came to under the £7 the charity shops wanted and was delivered to my door. I think the prices are too high. Far better to sell 20 at £2 than 2 at £7.

I paid £6.00 for a lovely top in Help the Aged last week. It goes beautifully with a pair of very expensive Italian trousers I bought the previous week from a little boutique. I've got lots of good value buys from charity shops.

Son took a brand new wedding suit , once worn, cleaned, with new white shirt and tie, to local charity shop, still in its suit bag, worth about £500, bored assistant took it, didn't open the bag, grunted, said nothing . a few weeks later son went back with something else, bag unopened , just left as he'd handed it in. He was upset, as it was his father's , who'd died not long after. However Chest Heart and Stroke are unfailinglykind and helpful., and appreciate donations.

I volunteer in a local charity shop and we take most things , except electricals and bedding unless it’s in its packaging. We rarely turn donations away unless our back room is too full. We also ask if donations can be brought it before 4.30 , because we like to leave the shop and back room clear for staff the following morning.
We always thank donors and knowledge them as we ask if they are gift aiders .
And I’ve never seen a staff member go through donations and dismissing stuff in front of the customer, that’s so offensive .
Someone up thread mentioned a decline in quality in charity shops and I must admit I’ve noticed now we rarely get high end high street like Hobbs, JigSaw and Mint Velvet . We get a lot of primark and supermarket clothing . So I’m assuming people are selling on vinted .
So to the OP not all charity shops and their staff are the same .

fluttERBY123

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/
Check these people out. Not Northern Ireland but everywhere else. You just need a doorstep I suppose. We have stacks of books about to be collected.

No, not everywhere else.

The charity shops in my area have been very gracious in receiving my donations-a staggering amount of small dresses .
I estimate at least a hundred of them mainly generated by one of my daughters.
But my paperbacks were refused.
Not having the physical strength to lug them in my grannie trolley on the bus -after giving away as many as I could-they went in the paper recycling bins.
Since then I've given away more clothes and some crockery.
I still have too much stuff.

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/
Check these people out. Not Northern Ireland but everywhere else. You just need a doorstep I suppose. We have stacks of books about to be collected.

Jane112, That is exactly how I’m treated. I took in a bag full of good quality clothes. The girl who took them didn’t have English as her mother tongue. She didn’t say “thank you” just carried on about gift aid, so before I left I reminded her it is always good practice to say “thank you” to customers!

mrsmeldrew

I am astonished at the prices charged for what is clearly a well worn second hand piece of clothing £10 plus for tops.

Some charities just don’t get it. We take whatever we can get.
We are lucky in that the powers that be don’t want anything to do with our shop as long as the money keeps rolling in
So us volunteers decide the price. If someone makes us a reasonable offer, we take it.

I go to a particular shop in Northern Ireland where the volunteers accept all donations with gratitude. Find a good shop and stick to it.

Sago

When clearing out last year prior to our move, I went into a cancer charity shop, I explained I had a lot of bags and boxes, (a full Royal Doulton dinner service in one).

I asked if they could wedge the door open for me whilst I lugged it all in.
They said no as it would be draughty, 1 young man and two women watched as I carried the first lot in and didn’t even hold the door open.

I was livid so I took it all back and watched them open mouthed as I left.

I drove to Sue Ryder who directed me round the back to their loading area and got two volunteers to help me.

Brilliant ! I think I would have done the same, it's so rude .

Its volunteers and you can't tell the personality of them, I was one and some are just filling in time ,then others really want to support the cause the money goes to. Plus sometimes the bottom of the bag has things that shouldn't be donated either dirty underwear or broken items,but if you ask can you go through the bag it can offend, I once came across a pair of well handled rubber boob's , I didn't know what to price them so they went in the bin

A friend of mine decided to volunteer at a charity shop when she retired but left when she realised that other volunteers were helping themselves to some of the good stuff and not paying.
I believe that, although most shops are staffed by volunteers, some of the staff are people who are having to do unpaid community work so don’t really want to be there. Maybe these are some of the people that OPs have encountered.
Having said that the charity shops that I donate to are always very pleased and I get regular letters telling me how much my items have raised. I always sign up for Gift Aid too. Most of our local shops will collect and Oxfam was very happy to collect a large number of old books.

BlueBelle. 😟

We are lucky to have a friendly Oxfam shop, with lovely staff, volunteers and Manager.
They take my donations, and help me rummage for dressing up costumes at certain times of the year.
I donate frequently, so it's always small bags. Perhaps that makes it easier for them to accept.