if you take items to charity shops,an appeal

No not mine either Merylstreep but it sounds as if some people on here have those sort of shops How they can turn away just about everything as one poster describe a man at a warehouse doing, beggars belief
Roxy I ve volunteered in my charity shop since a year after I retired nearly 8 years now We have such a lovely mix of old and young volunteers who work hard we have a couple of autistic youngsters who are brilliant at the jobs they do and we all get on so well a lovely boss and I enjoy every minute of my work there I do about 20 hours a week and would do more if life didn’t get in my way sometimes it’s mucky or heavy work but we can wash ourselves we get coffee and biscuits and a lot of lovely customers (a sprinkling of thieves like happens in all walks of life) but on the whole they are nice people who love a chat and a bargain

Can I just say that not all the bags posted through doors are scams. Age UK does a collection every so often round here and all the profits go to the charity.

As someone said though, there’s always the risk of someone else picking them up, or them not turning up when they should and things getting wet (as happened with us when we cleared DMIL’s house). Some charities will collect locally though by arrangement if you have a lot of donations.

Baby items seem to be a problem. We’d a lovely wooden rocking crib, bought by me in the first flush of “I’m going to be a grandma!”. Used twice. It was turned down even by the local shop that specialises in furniture (no baby items). An appreciative PDSA took it and it sold within the hour.

Your shop sounds lovely , BlueBelle.

In our little market town, the charity shops we have are two Age UK, ( a local and a national), Red Cross, a local Hospice, Sue Ryder, and another childrens charity one.

They all keep going, and nearly always have a customer or two in.

They all seem to accept clothes, books, toys, jigsaws, bric a brac. Not furniture, as none of them are very big.

I take in far more than I buy, but I recently bought a little navy fine knit cardigan, looked brand new, and a couple of check shirts for DH to garden in, also very new looking.

My mum enjoyed working in her charity shop too, BlueBelle. She described it as similar to yours, with regular customers and a good mix of staff. She was disappointed when it closed.

BlueBelle

We take donations all through the day up to closing time and often have in excess of 200 bags per day
The only time we have ever put the sign out was in the pandemic when so many people were clearing their houses for something to do and staff was in shortage
Please remember most small shops only have a finite area of space to store big loads of donations in or perhaps some smaller shops are struggling with people off with CoviD and other related health problems
THEY ARE NOT DOING IT TO BE AKWARD
Ring before leaving if you are worried you ll have to bring your bags back home and don’t leave it till 4 pm

We need your donations ( the bags by the roadside are a con)

Don’t stop giving, go in the morning…. but it’s nothing to do with workers it’s storage space Where do you put 200 over filled black bags ?

Thank you for explaining.

People are quick to judge without finding out the facts first....

Maggie and Doodle it’s a life saver for many and you know how they say hairdressers always hear the problems well we are very often ‘social workers’ too We recently hooked up (in the nicest possible way) an elderly unwell gent with a lady customer cleaner to help in his house If people are looking for a special item (an old chap was looking for some particular coloured curtains so to save him having to come looking everyday I took his phone number and gave him a ring when some came in Its a nice caring, sharing atmosphere and makes money for kids charity at the same time
Once a year we all go out for a meal from youngest 16 to eldest 80+ plenty of laughter
It’s one of my happy places

Can those wonderful volunteers tell me about unusable clothing. Do you use it for "shoddy" or rags for recycling. I have clothes which have had several" lives" from work -housework-gardening and are obviously only fit for rags. I don't like the idea of material going to land fill.
I have seen that some better and designer clothes are found in more upmarket areas. Worth travelling to.

Can I also add that the last time I took clothes to the local Charity shop I had rigorously sorted out the good stuff for them and dumped the rest for the rubbish = but when I mentioned this in the shop I was told - don’t bother to sort as we sell all the rubbish to a recycling firm that comes round and gives us a few pence a bag. I had known they did this with books, but I didn’t realise it happened with clothes too. The ‘Mega’ s/h booksellers ( World of Books; Goldstone Boooks;Reuseabook and there’s) go around all the Charity shops in our area (S W Wales) and pay 50p a black bag full - then sell online with no descriptions but a cheap price and sell millions - thus putting us ‘proper’ booksellers almost out of business!! - they then use what they can like that, and recycle the rest for cash .

It might be an idea to sort for them and give the charities your clothes in 2 bags - one for selling one for rubbish. Might help them a lot??

eazybee I heard no-one wants crockery and the charity shops take it outside, smash it and bin it. A friend who volunteered in a local charity shop was asked to do the smashing. She refused and left that shop. Can anyone on here who volunteers confirm or refute that that's the policy ?

Yes I can refute that. I am a volunteer and never have had that situation. However some of the donations we receive are unsaleable, we are used as an easier alternative than the local council tip.
Most donations are wonderful, but believe me some are not.
Like everything in life there is good and bad.
I try to think of the good even when pulling soiled underclothes etc from donations.
If less unsaleable rubbish was dumped onto charity shops, the genuine donators would not have the problems.
Books, records cds etc have been overtaken by technology, kindle etc, so whilst most are donated, very few people are actually buying them, even at pence each.
There is a very uplifting side to volunteering, lots of humour, companionship etc, and a genuine will to make a difference, however vilified we as volunteers are.

Oh Izzy I ve never heard of breaking things at all, we sell loads of crockery and lots of good stuff goes on eBay
We sell it individually (one mug, one cup and saucer) or in sets small and large . of course we can’t sell if there’s the smallest of chips or crazing so they are carefully checked and these are boxed and taken away ( not sure what happens to them after that)

I m sure there is bad practice in some shops but I m also sure that’s not the normal

Suelld yes it’s very helpful when some people bring a bag in and say ‘this is rags’ and yes some people do think ahead

Happy sexagenarian
That is similar to my experience, I do want to feel I’m doing some good, but I haven’t got the time to wander all around the town trying to get rid of stuff.

Whenever we have a good clear out now, my daughter puts it on the village page, free to anyone who wants it.

The local school has taken things, and quite often grandparents wanting to have a few things at home.

It works really well, I think we have always got rid of everything she’s advertised.

I have sorted my charity textiles into "good" and "rags" for years. I label the "rags" bags with either a sticky label "only rags" or I write on the bag with a permanent marker. They are always perfectly happy to have a rag bag.

lizzypopbottle

eazybee I heard no-one wants crockery and the charity shops take it outside, smash it and bin it. A friend who volunteered in a local charity shop was asked to do the smashing. She refused and left that shop. Can anyone on here who volunteers confirm or refute that that's the policy ?

How common is smashing it, I wonder?

At a wedding we attended 3 years ago, afternoon tea was served - all on pretty, mismatched china from charity shops. Flowers on the tables were in ditto teapots.

When friends still lived there we used often to visit a seaside tea shop in Devon, where the crockery was all pretty, mismatched items. It was always very busy!

There was also a Cornish holiday cottage we stayed in, with the same. Personally I loved it.

This may not be the right thread,but do charity shops you know take hand knitted children's jumpers and cardigans. I spend all my spare time knitting and have difficulty finding shops that want them My next question is do they sell them for a sensible price or very cheap just to get rid of them before they are sent to the rag factory.

nipsmum

This may not be the right thread,but do charity shops you know take hand knitted children's jumpers and cardigans. I spend all my spare time knitting and have difficulty finding shops that want them My next question is do they sell them for a sensible price or very cheap just to get rid of them before they are sent to the rag factory.

nipsmum, I make the odd blanket for Knit For Peace, a charity that also asks for hand knitted jumpers for both children and adults. You do need to pay the postage though - unless you live close enough to take the things. They are based in Hampstead (N London).

Your nearest organisation for helping refugees might also welcome such things.

Helpfully, one the charity shops here has a large wheelie bin outside where we can deposit outgrown or outworn bras which we are requested to put in a bag. I hope everyone else also launders them first.

Thank you Witzend. I live on Aberdeen and the cost postage is prohibitive now. I used to take them to a lady who collected things like that for charity but unfortunately she passed away during the COVID lockdowns now I am needing to find somewhere that wants them.

nipsmum

This may not be the right thread,but do charity shops you know take hand knitted children's jumpers and cardigans. I spend all my spare time knitting and have difficulty finding shops that want them My next question is do they sell them for a sensible price or very cheap just to get rid of them before they are sent to the rag factory.

I volunteered in a charity shop and we were given hand knitted baby cardigans. A very low price was put on them and eventually the area manager wouldn't let us sell them as the buttons were not sewn on well enough.

Some older people would hope for a chat and one day we weren't busy so I talked to a lady for quite a long time. Eventually she said 'thank you for talking to me. Here is £5 for your charity'.

I gave a very few things away to a charity shop recently; some socks because I've gone over to bamboo ones and a few clothes I've grown out of because I'm on steroids. My main point is that I wear my clothes until they drop - and then would not wish them on anyone though I wish the cloth could somehow be recycled. We have a problem with the end-life of all that we own and on the whole we own too much counter argument is that these items provide a livelihood for other people. Donating goods to charity shop is usually more about clearing one's decks than being charitable. If we were truly charitable we would buy those in need new clothes.

I agree GillJames. Too much stuff is rather a first world problem, but I do think charity shops have useful a part to play in recycling, and as the economy tightens many may depend on them.
In addition at least money is raised for charities. I prefer to buy infrequently, of decent quality and ethically, but it can be expensive to do so.

I've just taken some bags today for my mum....First shop said no...2nd shop ...3 doors down....took them...I drop them 0ff when it suits me..not the shop...if they can't take then...there's always someone who can

Thanks for you' re reply Liz46. Yes that's the problem. Hand knitted goods sell for less than the cost of the yarn. I can assure you all my buttons are sewn on well. It probably was not the only problem.