in thinking some charity shops are abit too choosy about what they take

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Took some stuff to the charity shop yesterday. I went to age UK as i had to pop to Wilkos and it happened to be a few doors down. Anyway drop stuff in, i had a big bag of stuff and then a changing mat loose. Woman took bag off me and snapped we can't take that for hygiene reasons whilst pointing to changing mat so i said ok and left shop with the changing mat (left bag with her), i was gonna gift aid but she didnt ask and she was so snappy i didn't like to ask. Anyway changing mat is virtually new, in fact i'm not sure if i did actually use it or not, i had another one when DS was small and it split so i got this one but DS was of such of an age by then that i didnt really use it, anyway i ;d may have used it once or twice but it looked brand new!! Anyway today i went into the mind shop (as it was next to aldi!!) and i had another bag that i couldn't manage to carry yesterday) and the staff couldn't be helpful enough, and they had some 2nd hand pottys on sale (so i'll assume they'd take 2nd hand changing mats) AIBU to be pissed off with Age UK, i know the staff are volunteers but i'm sure they could have looked at my perfectly clean and practicallly new changing mat and throught 'we'd get at least £2 for that, instead of sending me out feeling like i was trying to offload something unclean

I think it depends on the staff at the time. I've had designer kids clothes sneered at and Primark Atmosphere drooled over.

Who knows how they work?

They have to follow policy, whether they are volunteers or not.
I do generally donate to Age UK more as their window displays are lovely and their products tend to be arranged and displayed nicely. The ladies in our one are very nice and grateful for any donations.

I think charity shops which receive less donations/buyers (usually local or lesser known charities) are often a bit more receptive. That is the case around here anyway. If I go to the Cancer Research or Oxfam in the middle of town, they seem swamped and I imagine have to be more selective. It seems like the volunteer is thinking "oh god, another bag", whereas if I go to the local charity shop down the road in my village then usually seem glad for donations.

Have worked for Age UK and other charity shops and they in particular do seem to be very careful about what they take in with regards to safety and hygiene. Rightly so in my opinion.

You may just have hit the shop on a day with duff volunteers, but don't take it to heart that they didn't take the changing mat, surely you understand it's policy and they can't take your word for it being unused.

I wouldn't buy a second hand changing mat. Nor would I donate one. Bloody revolting.

If you don't even know whether the mat was used or not, did you bother to clean it?

They shouldn't have been rude to you but a second hand changing mat is pretty grim

Did she really 'snap' though, or did she just tell you it's against policy?

YABU to be pissed off, you're totally overreacting.

Charity shops aren't rubbish collectors, they take things they think they can sell. They don't have a responsibility to accept anything you don't want. The lady shouldn't have been rude, but you're responsible for getting rid of your own belongings - nowhere has to accept anything.

I agree with you OP, I tend to donate to Cancer Research for family reasons but the woman there is awful and sneery. Anything they won't take we take up to BHF because they've got parking and they've always been brilliant. When we spoke to them about it once they said to bring them anything because if they can't sell it in the shop they can sell it on for recycling. I'm not talking about junk, btw, there were designer clothes but they were a bit musty from being in the attic.

WD41?> Yes it was cleaned with antibacterial wipes but hand on heart i couldn't say if it was used ever or not but if i was looking for a changing mat in a shop i would have snapped it up it is lovely
.

Why is a new looking changing mat disgusting?! What an odd thing to say. I'm sure the purchaser would clean it in any case. How horribly precious and rude.

there were designer clothes but they were a bit musty from being in the attic

So why didn't you clean them instead of expecting the charity shop to do it?

The thing is, charity shops have their own policies and they also know their own customers...so they'll know what will/won't sell.

However, there are some people who become mortally offended when the stuff they're trying to get rid of, is rejected.

God knows why.

Dear lord some people are a bit precious!
Most changing mats are wipe clean so I really don't see what's grim about a used one- would you rather it went to landfill?

Having both managed and volunteered in a charity shop I can confirm that there are rules about what they can and cannot accept sometimes these rules are not their decision but the law, for instance some cannot accept electrical goods unless they have access to a PAT tester as they are not allowed by law to sell electrical goods unless they had been PAT tested. Most of them cannot accept toys without the CE mark (even fairly new ones where the label with the CE mark has been cut off) again that's the law. Anything that needs to be tested for safety like crash helmets and bikes cannot be accepted unless they have trained people to safety check them.

Some will make a decision on what they can accept due to the nature of the charity, drink and smoke related products will be refused by both heart and cancer charities. Violent and x rated DVDs will not be accepted by a Christian charity like the Salvation Army and that decision will be made at head office level and a list of can and cant haves will be posted in the shop office.

Some will only be able to sell knives and sharp objects if they are able to display them a cabinet and not out on the shelves.

Others will refuse to accept things they cannot sell and will have to pay to have taken away like videos.

Since most councils are now charging for taking away some house hold rubbish many people will just dump the stuff in a charity shop doorway to save themselves money (or a trip to the dump) assuming wrongly that the shop will not be charged themselves by the council when they throw it away.

During my time I have found a gun (yes a real one) a bag of used condoms and more manky dirty knickers then you can shake a stick at in donations, that's why we use rubber gloves and masks when sorting.

Ours won't take video tapes because to quote "their bin isn't big enough for the amount of videos they get".

I have almost 11 years solid of changing mat usage behind me. I am never confident that it's fully clean. This wipe clean plastic surfaces are surprisingly porous - found that out when one of the boys went through a big tomato eating phase. Did Not Wash Off.

I wouldn't buy a second hand changing mat. There are regulations about what can be accepted. Some shops accept electrical goods and some don't, it's a similar thing.

Having volunteered in a charity shop (and my DM also a works for one), you should see the state of the stuff that some people donate. Old pants, trousers with stains inside, socks with holes, it can really be disgusting at times. A lot of stuff is put straight for rags.

I do think though some volunteers could do wrong being a bit more cheerful. There was one shop near us that we stopped donating to after we want in once and the volunteer just pointed to a space on the floor and didn't even bother saying thankyou. My DM always says that you should always be grateful and say thanks as you want people to keep donating.

*with, not wrong! Pressed post too soon.

I think the point here is more the manner in which it was refused? Of course the volunteers have to follow shop policy, but surely they could politely explain rather than being rude?
There are charity shops in our town that I no longer donate to due to the rudeness of the staff when taking things in to donate. I don't want to be praised for it, but I don't want to be tutted at either!

I took 5 bags to a cs - these bags had clothes which still had the shop tags on as well as other stuff. The woman said "great, here's a card, next time you come in you get a stamp for each bag you donate and when you get 10 stamps you get 10% off a purchase."

I said, "cool, do I get 5 stamps today?" And she said"no, I said next time, today was to collect the card. When you donaTe regularly you get the stamps" and went to pick up my bags.

I picked up the bags myself and said, "ok because of that you've just lost a donor" and walked out. Went 3 doors down to another cs and handed them in and gift aided too because they accepted the donation happily as a one off without strings.

Yanbu.

I one took a perfectly decent pushchair which was refused. They said it needed cleaning and if I cleaned it and brought it back they'd have it.

It didnt need cleaning. The fabric was slightly faded and yes the wheels were a bit grubby. But that kind of ingrained grubby rather than been covered in mud.

I took it down the tip.

Different shops have different rules about what they can sell. If they cant sell it, they have to dispose of it. That uses their resources for something that they cant sell, so why would they? It makes no business sense.

Also, you encountered a VOLUNTEER. Charity shops cant be quite so fussy when selecting their staff. Some are lovely, some are old bags. As a former shop volunteer I've met my fair share.

Make sure you a tax payer if you gift aid. My mums friend is a pensioner who got chased by the tax man for £20 as she didnt pay tax. Shocked tax man follows donations so carefully. As a result even though i am a tax payer i dont gift aid as im self employed and dont want my self assessment being more confusing than it is. Never had a cs choosy when i donate items but recently ive been donating via the free sites as finding theres alot of people in need who cant afford charity shop prices. Just had lovely email back from couple who took bookcase showing it in pride of place in their new flat.

I always gift aid mine, it is very easy to sort out on the tax return as the charities send you a letter at the end of the tax year with a record of the amounts.

Bear in mind with the volunteers too that some of them may be working there because they find it very hard to gain employment elsewhere due to learning difficulties etc, therefore they may struggle a little with social interactions.

We dont, we take anything, retro, labels, anything.

We have a pair of Jeans Couture Versace in atm.