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.

lololizzy I am speechless. How do you put up with it?

ps I only discovered recently that the CS would take stuff for ragging, Id been taking all the (clean) non-saleable stuff to the textile bank at the tip, thanks to Mary Portas's tv programme....

junk??? hmmm someone who works in a charity shop told me this week how much old keys (and similar) make them every week, they sell them to a metal recycling place, listed a few strange items of "junk" which I would never dream of imposing on a charity shop, which are actually big money spinners for them!

I'm always surprized when I do a car boot sale, the things we think we will be dropping at the dump on the way home, are the exact things that get snapped up first?? so.. hard to tell

but electical items are obviously UR

also YANBU about dumping outside

"We get charity bags shoved through our letterbox at least once a week, asking us to fill them with a variety of clothes / toys / shoes / books / bric-a-brac, and then leave by the kerb on such and such a day"

• many of these are fake and collected by car booters! if you do this ring your local branch to validate it. I and many others never use this route

and the fake bag collecters/bootsalers fly tip what they don't want too

Sadly this is the inevitable result or councils taking one bin a fortnight.

People clearing out are very likely to try and minimise the amount of stuff they call rubbish.

The local charity shop is probably nearer than their local tip (household recycling centre), it certainly has less of a queue and longer hours.

They probably justify their actions by think you might find something saleable in the tat.

YABU

Just to be different

I must confess to having left a bag outside a charity shop once. I worked full time and happened to have a day's holiday mid-week, so took the bag down there, only to find they were closed for the half-day. I had walked there (half an hour) with a heavy bag and had to go shopping afterwards, so no way I could keep carrying it, and I just wasn't going to take it back home. It was years ago though, and I don't think clothing banks were that common then. (Is it too late for me to apologise? I did feel bad.) Now, I would take it to the clothing bank if I couldn't get to the shop in their opening times.

This thread has been an eye opener, I would never have thought to donate rags, even though I knew charity shops send unsaleable stuff for recycling - I assumed it was all stuff that was donated as saleable, that actually wasn't.

I'm stunned that people "donate" shitty underwear / bedding etc. That's horrible.

I always thought the charity shops didn't want stuff left outside when they're closed because it gets raked through, nicked or pissed on.

This thread is an eye opener though. I am in shock at some of the stuff that's donated but having run jumble sales, paradoxically I'm also not that surprised. It was blindingly obvious some people couldn't be arsed to go to the dump so gave it to us to do it for them

Jenstar21 Plenty of people wanting your bras Try Oxfam or www.breasttalk.co.uk/bra-appeal.

I will say simply this

What is one man's rubbish, is another man's treasure!

You may think these things are rubbish but they may be extremely useful to some.

Having said that I haven't seen any of this tat that you are talking about, so it may well be just that! I agree with what someone else said earlier... Maybe these people don't realise their stuff is rubbish and believe that they are actually doing something worthwhile!

PinkElephant, some days I just want to cry ! And other days are ok. I love vintage clothes, I love selling them, that keeps me going. When you find a gem in a bag of crap, it makes it all worthwhile (i may not say the same tomorrow though!) I feel filthy all the time. I've just walked in through the door and totally stripped off. I get so dirty I can't bear to wear work clothes at home. I give it till the end of this year really, then it will be two years.
Also there are volunteers to deal with. I have a few that quite regularly piss and shit themselves. I am no nurse. It means closing the shop for a whle and getting them clean clothes off the shop floor and cleaning them up. If the toilet is trashed (usually the case) eg the floor etc not just the loo, its down to me to clean it, otherwise I can't use the loo. This is the times I've most wanted to leave, not the dirty bags. That's just me. I'm not a carer and I'm put into that role as we have to take on people with problems. It's just part of it. I don't like it because I don't like dealing with adults bodily waste. It's very hard when i have a shop to run. I'm sure the nurses on here will flame me and think I'm pathetic...but I'm not trained and just expected to deal with it.
I do get paid, but it's minimum wage and that's really for all the long antisocial hours and admin side of it (huge amount of paperwork)
Rags are always welcome, no matter how tatty, unless they are filthy (by that i mean unhygienic)
Bras are hugely needed by Scope stores. We get only 65p a bag for a filled sack of rags (unsaleable clothes) . But for bras, a whopping £5 per sack. But even better..it is helping women in Africa (where they are sent) The average woman in Africa does not own any underwear. Statistics show she is less likely to be sexually abused, if she does wear some. So please donate bras, no matter how tatty. It would still be wanted. And worn. Scope benefits, woman's charities and personal safety benefit.

Today I would say was an average day for me...(ie sorting)
so approx 30 pairs of trousers with piss stains inside
several pairs of women's shorts with crusty gussets
Several pairs of old fashioned knickers and swimsuits with crusty gussets (I apologise to anyone eating!)
Kids clothes with dried poo on
Bedding with dried blood and mould
None of this I bat an eyelid at, it doesnt bother me too much if the stuff is dry.
If its fresh / still damp - it's a problem.
Mould is my absolute worst. When you open a bag and there's wet towels/ bedding maybe months old as been left in a clothing bank, and you can literally taste the mould and the room is full of the spores. It makes me heave and I freak out as it reminds me of grotty student days with black mould on the walls
A few weeks ago, I unwrapped a blanket full of dried up dog poo. And a bag of ahem heavily stained sex toys and underwear. People will donate anything, and I mean anything.

I know this wasn't the point of the thread, but this has really motivated me to sort through my clothes and get them to the charity shop! I may also bundle up a hundred or so few of DP's t-shirts that he assures me still have plenty of life in them, despite them being virtually see-through.

How can people knowingly "donate" filthy items like lololizzy has described, and actually hold their heads up and look the staff in the eye? It's beyond me.

what is rags to us, is welcome to , for example, a woman in Africa. It is not just clothing, it can reduce her risks of assault.
As for the filthy stuff, my shop has flats above the whole parade. I think a lot of people leave us rubbish when their bins are full. There's a lot of flytipping too. But many people think literally the most disgusting item is usable. They don't think about the people working for free, dealing with these items. If they volunteered for even an hour, they'd probably think twice. I've had many people quit after an hour or so because they're too squeamish!

lolo I think you're a bloody hero to be honest. I am a bit worried about your health though, have you considered a mask at least? Mould spores are grim.

yes I have them but keep forgetting to use

Can't defend people dumping filthy/damp stuff at all BUT I do agree it can be difficult to get to charity shops during opening hours - none of the charity shops where I live are open on Sundays, or after 5pm, and a few only til lunchtime on Saturday. I don't have a car so can't easily get stuff there anyway, but even when I was with my Ex (who drove) often our only day to drop things off was a Sunday. A couple of times we did leave bags of stuff (good clothes, toys etc I should add) - I didn't like doing it BUT it seemed to me better than not donating at all.

Who do I send bras to, mine are worn till they fall apart, but teen daughters produce out grown, but wearable ones.

I admit am shocked about this - had no idea. DD has just got job in charity shop, (saturdays), no pay but will be good experience. Had no idea she might have to do this though. Thought that people mainly gave good stuff. Admire you lolo for doing it - we need charities.

Thanks loads to all of you who have told me where I can take unwanted but still good, bras. My Mum has a pile too, so we'll get donating!

Yanbu re dumping and people giving genuine shite like sanitary towels and used condoms!

But yabu re other items, my mum worked in a charity shop and said clothes which were not sellable would be recycled so the shop would still get something for them.

I am SHOCKED that there are such trampy bastards out there that would hand in shitty or period stained etc items, wtf is the world coming to?

When I have handed stuff in to our St Rocco's shop or items to the local dogs home I wash and fold it. I told DH the other day he needs to have another t-shirt amnesty, rather than chuck his holey ones away I will ask the shop if they take rags though.

I have left two bags of books on the shops steps once though simply because they were shut and I was working full time and they were well wrapped so (I thought at the time) would not get rained on. Never thought about somebody nicking them or pissing on them though.

I spent hours sorting through DD's old clothes, washing, folding etc. because I didn't want the charity shop to think I was a slob. I felt a bit guilty as well because I'm crap at ironing and couldn't get everything to look tidy.

I feel a bit better now, clearly my bags would have counted as decent donations even if poorly ironed. :o