I manage a charity shop AMA

[DaanSaaf]

Some of these were getting a bit high brow so I thought I'd lower the bar

What's the best item that's been donated to your store? And what's the worst?

And because I'm currently donating a lot of baby clothes, is it best to send them ironed or is washed but slightly crumpled ok? I have A LOT of baby clothes and no desire to iron any of them

Liking your username. Does it do your head in people leaving bin liners full of stuff outside your shop? Do you get many people expecting things for under a pound? Is there a hierarchy of who gets first dibs?

Do you get first dibs on anything donated?

Do people donate questionable items?

Best was an 18k gold bracelet which fetched £400. Worst is a cross between a dirty vibrator and a pair of knickers with panty liner still attached

Creased is absolutely fine, we steam everything. As long as they're clean, we're happy

What do you think of resellers?

Leaving bags outside is a ballache and is actually fly tipping. Especially if it's been raining

Yes we buy things but always pay what we'd put them on the shop floor for.

Ordinary resellers don't bother me, ie people making a few quid out of things. The 'expert's annoy me who act like they're doing you a favour by giving prices for, for example, watches and cameras because they're enthusiasts when they've already made a big profit in their head.

Why do the volunteers in my local shelter and oxfam give me the stink eye when i drop stuff off. I am not donating rubbish, only clean useful things. They dont know me. I never see the same one twice but they always look miserable.

No idea zen! That would make me take my donations elsewhere though.

I need advice. Can someone message me please. Last month I was late and took a home pt to find out from the doctors it was a false positive. Left it at that and Now this month I’m 6 days late. What do I do?

Start a thread in a more sensible location? Or do another HPT, but surely that's obvious?

Chloe you need to start your own thread, try on conception or chat

We've never had a pregnancy test donated btw although I did find a used one in the toilets

Do you like getting books donated and what happens to the books that don't sell?

Yes we love books. Unsold ones go to be recycled and we're paid for them.

Do you wash things before they go out or not?

Do you ever pass stuff on to other charity shops, eg if you get kids clothes but don’t selll them?

I find charity shops overpriced nowadays. The worn Primark top priced at £4 when it was £3.50 new kind of example. The worst near us are the Chest, Heart & Stroke shops which has been all vintagified with wooden floors and styled with vintage things (no tat). I was looking for a dress to wear to a wedding & found a (worn but good condition) Monsoon dress for £60. Despite liking it, if I had £60, I'd be shopping in Monsoon, not a charity shop!

£18k?! Weewww! Do you need to have a good eye for what carries more value? I'd have no idea if a bracelet was real gold or not!

Thank you, that's a relief one more stupid question, is it worth including a bag of things that may have stains to sell as rags? I hate binning them but I'm not sure if my preferred charity shop would accept them or not

We don't wash things, no.

Rags are welcome, even more appreciated if they're marked as rag to save us sorting through.

You do get an eye for things, it just comes with experience like most things I suppose.

I agree with some shops being overpriced, we have sold dresses for £60 but they were bnwt, originally priced at £180! We generally charge 1/3 depending on condition.

Everything goes out with a 2 week date on, anything not sold after then is transfered to another shop.

Do you get people “bartering”

Oh god yes. People ask daily for reductions, it's pretty annoying. Only today a customer had items totalling £110 and offered £50.

What are your best sellers? I love unloading to the chazza