AIBU to be annoyed i cant find somewhere to donate clothes

[gingerbreadmam]

i have some clothes i no longer wear as does my dp. we recently moved and dont have the room to keep them so i want to donate them to someone who would benefit from them. also have lots of smelly sets and part used perfume. theyre all good condition some hardly or never worn.

its not as easy as i had hoped. my first thoughts was a childrens home, most stuff be suitable for older teens and then i picked up the idea on here for domestic violence organisations for people that have had to leave their homes. i contacted two local organisations and have not even received a response.

when i was younger i didnt have a lot, big family, i used to get a lot of hand me downs and loved them and would like to give someone else the same joy.

anyone have any ideas?

My local council tip has a clothing bank for the Salvation Army so yours might have something similar

no i dont want a pat on the back i just want someone to benefit from something that is still useful. i saw lots of things on here about womens refuges being good places to send things and thought thats what ill do just thought it would be a quick call / email and then i could drop them off.

i think the easiest option is charity shop or clothes bank which both do some good i guess so i will do that. thank you for all your time and advice.

I never put anything in our clothing bank after spotting some young men pulling everything out with a long wire. I don't want thieves to profit from them.

They ran away when the security guard came, but I'm sure they would have gone back when it got dark.

It's really nice that you want to share the feel good feeling gingerbreadmam.

I donate and shop at charity shops when I can.
Today's work outfit (trousers and a shirt) are from a charity shop - it was in excellent condition and raised about £7 for the charity. I'm always on the lookout for decent kids' clothes too.

The link above to the BBC article tied in with the programme of the same name 'The Secret Life of your Clothes' - I found it absolutely fascinating and slightly shocking - I had no idea that so much of the clothing we donate to charity ends up in Africa, is graded by quality and ends up being bought in bundles by higher-end traders, market traders and at the very bottom, people who walk miles and miles, village to village, carrying huge bundles of our clothes with them to sell to the remotest places. I would recommend anyone to look it up if it's available online.

101 Handbags I saw that program and it was very interesting. The knock on effect on local clothes makers/ shoe makers etc is a bit sad though. Agree it's worth looking up online.

I'm slightly reluctant to donate clothes to my local charity shop - although I do donate - as they really underprice clothes!

ariadne maybe they're aware, as are most charity shops, that there are many people on low incomes who benefit from being able to buy decent clothes cheaply.

And perhaps they want a quick turnover of clothes so they don't have the same over-priced items unsold in the shop week after week.

Aridane- charity shops do have pricing models though.

And what may seem cheap to you isn't to others. I have worked in several charity shops and often the ones that make money are the ones that are the cheapest.
Selling 100 shirts at £1 will generate more revenue than selling 5 shirts at £8.
People who come into cheaper priced charity shops tens to buy multiple items and the shops are far busier. A busy shop and higher footfall means more donations, so more stock and again more profit.

Some of the chains of chairity shops like OXFAM are in danger of pricing themselves out of the market.

Charging more for individual items does not necessarily mean more revenue.

Sure Start centres have links.

I got some Christmas presents to the local refuge by asking for contacts on a Facebook selling site. OK I had to take it on trust that the contacts weren't just going to walk off with the stuff but I got loads of really helpful responses specific to my area

The Salvation Army clothing bank works with private sellers, so only some of the money goes to the charity. According to this article the private company have made over £10,000,000 from donated clothes www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jan/30/clothes-charity-recycling-banks

I was being a little tongue in cheek with my post (as some other posters were saying they were reluctant to donate to charity shops as they overprice clothes).

Actually, I'm pretty supportive of my local charity shoop 'underpricing' clothes. My local area isn't exactly famous for high income, so the shop is appropriately priced for the area - and the funds go to support local causes. Also - yes, good point about the need for turnover - especially as the shop is fairly small and not affiliated with other charity shops (AFAIK). (When I previously worked in a charity shop, clothes that were not sold within one week (or maybe it was two) were automatically rotated to a sister charity shop).