Scam of door-to-door charity donation bags

I think for some it's a convenient way of getting rid of unwanted items and that's more important than the amount received by any charity.

Some people cannot get to a charity shop so it is better than putting it into general rubbish.

Charity shops in my area only take donations on certain days and times which can be awkward, they also do not sell supermarket clothes so they just get sold for textile recycling which possibly makes less than the bags you mention.

Quizzer

I receive a door-to-door charity donation bag almost every week. How many people realise that almost none of these actually come from the advertised charity. They are circulated by companies that collect clothing etc for sale, often abroad, and give a small donation to the charity.
The bag I received today says that it donates £105 per tonne to the air ambulance.
Working on a very rough average of 500g weight per article of donated clothing, that means that the charity would get a magnificent donation of approximately 5p per item!
If these items were donated to local charity shops they would be sold for realistic prices, all of which would go to the charity.
It’s a scam!

In my experience of volunteering in a couple of charity shops, only a small percentage of items received are actually sold in the shop, most are rejected and go in the waste collection. Donations can be rejected if they are out of season as small shops cannot store many things, dirty, too worn, old fashioned or with missing buttons/zips etc.

One of the shops only accepts donations if dropped off in person so that they can be checked first.

I am aware of that but do use them as it's not easy to carry stuff to a charity shop - I don't drive. I am more concerned to avoid wastefully filling landfill with decent clothes. If people in poorer countries can buy quality clothes cheaply because of these collections, I don't see a problem.

I put a sign up on our front door no charity bags. They were being put through the letter box at six o clock in the morning. This is not acceptable especially at the time we had two dogs howling like wolves.

I haven't had a charity bag shoved through my door since before the first lockdown and I agree that they are an easy way to get rid of unwanted items especially if you don't have a car like me!
I try to be careful which bags I donate to - there have been some circulated where the charity doesn't even exist and those collecting on behalf of certain charities only sell the items on to todays equivilant of a rag man !
Where possible, I use the bags and when I go to the supermarket with my son in his car, put the bags, whichever denomination in the clothing bins that are provided , usually Salvation Army or the local fire service rather than an unknown charity.

I turn the bags inside out and use them for our plastic recycling!

Nobody ever comes to pick them up again, here.
I don't mind in the least who benefits from the stuff.

I never use the ‘charity’ bags as I don’t like that they give so little to the charity they claim to support. I am able to park close by to my favoured charity shop so that is where I go.
Without transport woukd make it too hard it to take heavy bags on public transport so would understand using the bags.

Oh we always use the bags too nanasam. Usually as bin liners.

I am aware but many don't realise.
I only put in stuff that charity shops wouldn't want.

I haven't had any of these since Lockdown 2020! One thing I was told was check the bag label. If it has the name then the Ltd company sign, it is just a company collecting or indeed perhaps a scam. If it says Registered Charity then the registration number of said charity, then that is genuine.

We get masses of them, although less than before lockdown. I use mine to gather up the shreddings when we've been shredding paper so they don't fly around when the recycling bin is emptied. We have a 'textiles' collection along with our recycling collection. If I think charity shops won't have a use for something I put it in the textiles collection. I think the Council sell them on to the overseas 'rag' people and give the money to charity.

We haven’t had these bags here for years, long before lockdown I d say at least 5 years

We live out of town and never get any but I would be quite happy to put sub standard or supermarket clothes in them as I know charity shops only want the best. My problem is that I have loads of crockery I need to get rid of . It is too heavy to carry to the charity shops so what should I do with it?

I check to see if they take bric-a brac or other items as most only want clothing. That way I have managed to donate small items of crockery, books, etc. I don't care where it goes if someone somewhere can use it then it is better than sitting in my cupboards. I use unwanted bags as bin liners.

Take the crockery to a carboot sale. It is sociable and fun.

I only fill bags which benefit the local air ambulance service, as I know the bags picked up door to door are taken to their large shop/warehouse and decent things will be sold, rather than just sent for recycling. Smaller items I take into my preferred charity shop in town. Years ago, a friend alerted me to the scams, when a British Heart Foundation bag dropped through the letterbox, marked that it would be collected on a Saturday, which he knew the bona fide organisation never did. The British Heart Foundation do home collection Greenfinch, but don’t know if they are in your area. They also take electrical items and furniture.

Our church did a clothing collection many months ago to raise funds, but received very little for the large quantities of donated items. We then did another collection recently but put the donations on display for church members to take what they wanted for a cash donation. Before the man came to collect everything we opened up to the public on a Saturday morning, offering tea and coffee to those who 'rummaged', then any really nice items were taken to a local charity shop, a couple of bags of suitable items are destined for the Salvation Army for the homeless - currently in the boot of my car waiting for me to take them - and the remainder sold to the man who took the first lot months ago. The donations from those who took items amounted to vastly more than we received the first time round for only a little more effort and at least 2 charities should benefit.
I never put items in the collection bags that come through the door as they are somewhat misleading unless you read the small print.

I take ours to the local voluntary fire station they have a big holder. The rest I put in the village recycling which is sold towards the upkeep of the village hall.

Thanks to those who responded about the crockery. I don’t know whether car boot sales have started up again yet in my area but I will investigate. We do have a BHF shop in my area but it is 6 miles away.

I’m aware of this. Also some go to car boots. I take to charity shops.

It is not true what you say about none coming from proper charities. Look at the charity number on the bag to make sure it is legit. I worked for the Red Cross and these bag were a godsend when they came from a good area. Please do not tar them all with the same brush .

I donate to charity shops direct. Any charity bags which come through the door are used as dustbin bags. No way would i encourage these creeps.