Charity shops - info please.

[rivermonster]

I took quite a lot of very good quality clothing, cut crystal glasses my mother left me and pottery items to my local charity shop a few weeks ago and I have never seen any of it in there. Does anybody know how they work, do they distribute it to other branches or what happens. I don't want to go in there and say - what did you do with my donations.
I have lots of new stuff I could donate including lots of Denby Pottery but not sure what to do.

 

[Kate1970]

I was a volunteer in a charity shop a few years ago
How the particular one worked, was that items were put out for sale on a 2 week 'cycle" I.e , if not sold within that time, they would be distributed between the other shops in the company
If we were handed in something of particular value, it was posted on the charity's ebay shop
I wouldn't worry too much if you haven't seen your items for sale, perhaps they have enough or similar items out for sale at that time, as I say, I think most charity shops work the same kind of system, I.e on a 2 week system

 

[Kim Mild]

Sometimes it takes ages to sort through everything for sale . A lot of them have am abundance of donations.

Maybe a staff member bought them before they went on the shelves.

Did you leave your details for them to claim gift aid?
I took some of my mother's clothes to the Salvation army shop and they sent me a letter to tell me how much they'd raised due to my items , but ut was ages later I got the letter. I thought that was a nice thing to do ( not sure if it's common practice).

 

[rivermonster]

Sometimes it takes ages to sort through everything for sale . A lot of them have am abundance of donations.

Maybe a staff member bought them before they went on the shelves.

Did you leave your details for them to claim gift aid?
I took some of my mother's clothes to the Salvation army shop and they sent me a letter to tell me how much they'd raised due to my items , but ut was ages later I got the letter. I thought that was a nice thing to do ( not sure if it's common practice).

Yes I left details so maybe will get a letter. Thanks for replies.

 

[PineappleQueen19]

I’m sure if you went in and said you had some higher value items to donate and were wondering how the process works — I think they would really welcome that conversation? It’s essentially someone taking an interest in their work/charity. Maybe if the items go on eBay you’d like to follow the auction etc. And it’s in their best interests to build rapport with people with high quality donations as that benefits the charity. Ultimately - they are your donations and it’s totally ok to ask.

Slightly off topic - a few months ago I bought the most stunning leaf print max mara silk shirt dress on eBay from a women’s refuge charity and it came with a thoughtful hand written postcard about how my donation would be used. I thought of them every time I wore the dress over summer. A real win-win. So don’t be worried that you haven’t seen your amazing items on the shelf.

 

[emm]

I love charity shops, never realised they sold online! I love the idea of that note included, would love to know that information. What is everyone's best charity shop find? Mine is a vintage silk kimono styledressing gown, slightly damaged but not in a very noticeable way and was only £20

 

[LaurieLaurie]

Staff will have had first dibs at it or it will be upstairs on a shelf. I used to work in one.

 

[Kate1970]

Some people think that staff get first choice on items that are handed in, this certainly wasn't the case at the shop I worked in
Items had to be on the shop floor for sale

 

[ATV2021]

I loved working in a charity shop getting first dibs! Some donations were vile mind it was a little local charity and I was the youngest by many many decades so I'd do all the ebaying of the "good" stuff we got or selling via Facebook

 

[peekachu]

I’m employed by a charity and work closely with the shops, I wouldn’t be worried at all - your donations have definitely not disappeared and the charity will do their best to sell everything they can to raise as much money possible!

As you dropped the items off a few weeks ago, they have probably already been sold - depending how busy it is, items can literally be put out for sale and sold after barely touching the rail/shelf.

Or they could be in the sorting/stock room, waiting to be sorted, steamed, priced and then put out for sale. There’s usually mountains of donations waiting to be sorted, most charities rely on volunteers to help and there’s just not enough time to sort items as quickly as they come in.

With higher-value items, they may have been put up for sale on eBay, depop, etc. Sometimes individual shops will do this themselves, others will send the items to the charity’s distribution centre to be sold by their e-commerce team.

If they’ve been on the shop floor for 2 weeks and have not sold, then the items will be ‘culled’ and sent to another shop.

They’ll also send items to other shops if they have too much of something, like menswear, whereas another shop might be short. Or if it’s a high-value item, it might raise more money in a high-end/vintage shop, so they’ll be sent there.

If items are not in saleable condition, textiles can be sold in bulk as ‘rags’ and other items recycled (but it sounds like your donations were in good condition, so that’s probably not the case!)

And if you’re a Gift Aider, you will receive a summary letting you know how much your items have raised, I believe it’s an annual statement but I’m not 100% sure.

Most charity shops will now ask you what you’re donating and will tell you if they’re unable to take it. It costs the charity money to pay for waste removal and sadly lots of people do not realise this. So, if the charity accepted your items - that’s a good sign!

If you’re unsure about donating in the future, then you could sell the items yourself and then donate the money to a charity of your choice?

Anyway, I hope that helps!

(On the topic of charity shops - does anyone else follow a FB group called Charity Shop tit? It’s absolute gold!)