To get cross when people offload their old junk on charity shops?

[LifeHope11]

Where I live there are quite a few charity shops & I regularly see things left outside when they are closed, that look like junk - shabby clothes, rusty old buggies, broken toys etc. This despite many of the shops having notices requesting no donations left outside 'because they may be stolen' (or maybe the real reason is 'because we don't want to have to dispose of all your old rubbish').

Yesterday I was walking home from work & outside one shop was a big old computer, it looked like a vintage 1980s model so big that people were practically tripping over it in the street. Who knows if it even worked....anyway it was being rained on so probably wouldn't be working by the time the shop opened. Surely it must be a nightmare for the staff (volunteers?) to have to deal with 'donations' of this kind?

I think the people do this are selfish and thoughtless, maybe they have had house clearouts and can't be bothered to dispose of all their junk properly....so instead of donating good quality, usable things (which they maybe flog on ebay) they dump their rubbish at charity shops and go away feeling all virtuous. However they are too embarrassed to hand the stuff over when the shops are open.

Yanbu.

Yanbu

Yanbu

you could always volunteer and dump it for them?

YANBU

YABU

The clothes can be recycled for which the shops get paid for as can a lot of other donations including old and ancient computers.

Hi fruity, you may be right but what I object to is the way the stuff is just dumped. Perhaps some of it can be used but then the donor should visit the shop when it is open to ask if they can use it - most of the shops request people do this.

Otherwise if it turns out to be worthless the staff are stuck with it.

YANBU.

YANBU. If they thought it was any good, they would take it in when the shop was open.

Hi lucky, some of the stuff is so obviously junk I find it hard to believe they don't know this. And as I say if they are not sure they should ask not just assume.

Yanbu.

I can't work out who is worse; people who dump stuff outside charity shops or those who go through the bags looking for stuff to take.

YANBU.

Our local British heart foundation have a HUGE sign saying they can not accept electrical items at all. Yet, regularly, people dump huge HUGE tvs etc on the street outside

YANBU - except for the shabby clothes - as fruitsummer points out, the clothes can be sold to recycling places. There's a cash for clothes place near us which will pay you about 40p / kilo for old clothes.

But they really should leave them in the shops or collection bins instead of on the doorstep.

Having worked in a charity shop it was always a problem when people dump stuff outside the door, once there was a big wardrobe dumped right outside the door and I couldnt even move it to get the shop open ( we didnt even SELL furniture in the shop) I had to ring the council from a coffee shop to get them to move it, finally opening the shop at 1pm - lost a mornings sales and had to pay to get the wardrobe moved my charity lost out big time over that

YANBU

Actully, my charity shop asks us for old junk (really old computers, rusty old buggies, old raggy clothes unsuitable for resale, basically any old junk) because they receive funds ( from the government i think??) for everything they recycle or send for recycling or something. A lady gave me a leaflet about it when I mentioned that a couple of things might be "too old" to sell but wasn't sure. So if you mask in the charity shop and they tell you this YABU.

But YADNBU about people just leaving it outside when they ask you not to. I find that rude. If you want to take things then do it when you have time and they are open, don't just dump it out in the street!

Fair point regarding things being dumped, and I don't like to see it myself but I do think they should have a better system as I don't think folk have any other option sometimes.

A lot of people have a clear out on a weekend, the shop is closed when they finish so they drop off on the way to work before the shop is open or on the way home when it's closed again. I personally don't have that problem as I'm a hoarder

Near me, the charity shops are begging for donations and in my view beggars can't be choosers.

What really annoys me is the staff in these shops keeping the good stuff for themself or totally overcharging for things.

i spend often hours a day sorting through this crap in the hope of finding the good stuff to sell..
for example...skiddy jockstraps
Period pants
Used sanitary towels and used nappies. Pads often left in knickers.
Old food (used and unused)
Old prescription drugs (you would be surprised at how much my shop gets given. It scares the hell out of me, especially when they've been left outside. eg getting in the wrong hands, or eaten by wild animals, etc. Recently had some contraceptive pills, and anti psychotic drugs)
Keys (we get hundreds!! what are we supposed to do with them??
Old credit / debit cards
Towels and bedding that someone's been sick on or shat on. Sometimes mixed in with good stuff, so you are fooled and put hand in and get nasty surprise
Bags of grass clippings (six sacks, recently!)
Sewing needles, not wrapped up (ouch)
Carving knifes, put loose in bags (colleague had nasty injury)
Used sex toys
Guns (yes, real!)
Followed by (the next week) - bullets for said guns!
Condoms..used
The weird thing is , amongst all the crap you can for example, occasionally find gems eg a Hobbs cardi, new with tags.. mixed in with broken toys and mouldy tights. so it all has to be checked.
Mouldy pillows

I really don't get paid enough though!! I go home smelling, every day

lololizzy that is truly disgusting but not hard to beleive, I hope you get gloves provided?

However I would think that people would brazenly hand you that stuff as well not just leave it outside?

Old unwearable clothes are fine, they can be sold on for rags. It's unpleasant to sort through, but a/ we do get a small amount of money b/ it gets passed on to people in Africa. It's all recycling. Same with old broken electrics etc, mind you, rag man only gives us 15 p per item for elecs!!! But at least we get it taken away.
However..damp , mouldy, unhygienic (eg shit stained etc) stuff has to go in regular bin...and we can have whole bin bags like this.

lololizzy I am really shocked! People actually take that stuff to a charity shop! There is no excuse for that.

Vixxen I hever heard of that most charity shops I know have to pay to get rubbish cleared - my shop paid £1 a bag to get them cleared

lololizzy - we had a gun in one of our donation bags and yes skiddys ugh ugh ugh

And fruity most of the large charity shops ie BHF have very tough rules for staff/vollies buying stuff - when we bought stuff it had to have been on the sales floor for a week at least and someone else had to price it

We do get gloves, we don't use them though. It is too hard to sort and slows us down loads. Also we have to transfer stuff from its bag, into a rag bag. We can't give it as it is, to the rag people. Often is a whole days work of just shifting from one bag to another. Sometimes maybe only one bag in 20 is ok. It's all luck of the draw, we get some good days. It's clothing bank stuff that's dire health hazard but you have to sift through the shit (literally) to find the gems. Also wearing gloves, we can't untie, or tie up, bags wearing gloves and have to work very fast as have quotas and targets. I found it very hard when had cut hands (was always getting rips around nails from digging stuff out of tightly stuffed bags) and getting cuts from what was inside..broken pictures etc. and it freaked me out..germs getting in open cuts...and it really hurt as would get infected. Now..I cover cuts with liquid plaster stuff (paint on Germolene) if a bag looks dire I'll tip it out on floor, but there often isnt floor space. I've got used to it, i've got a strong stomach, i used to work at a vets. Mind you, give me animal waste any day, compared to humans!

if you are the lady with the gun maybe you work for my charity! beginning with S