AIBU to issue a plea on behalf of charity shop volunteers?

[LunaLoveg00d]

We know it's the decluttering season and we know that lots of us are chucking out stuff the kids have grown out of or have got bored of to make way for the new stuff they got over Christmas.

But please, no charity shop wants a jigsaw with bits missing, a colouring book with half the pages scribbled on, a doll which has been given a "haircut" by its previous owner, trainers encrusted in muck, odd socks or cushion covers which someone has spilled red wine over.

Just CHUCK THE BROKEN AND MINGING STUFF IN THE BIN - if it's not good enough to be in your house any more, why would you think it would be good enough for other people's??

(Frazzled after a morning trying to sort out the lovely, quality donations from the post-Christmas crap.)

Also, it has surprised me how many people want to barter when they come in. A picture frame or a jug or a blouse might be £4.50, and they say "I'll give you £3" and I say no. One bloke said I'd just lost my charity £3 by refusing.
I can't actually make that decision because I'm a volunteer, not paid staff, and anyway it might be a 'secret shopper' checking if things are being done properly. (Yes, they do that)
I'd probably still say no anyway. AIBU?

To the pp who said they couldn't be bothered to sort things for charity or recycling and just threw anything unwanted in the bin ... please, please don't do that! Make a tiny bit of effort, why dont you?

Can't be doing with hagglers either. If stuff has been in the shop a few weeks and hasn't sold, we'll half price it. Don't be asking me for a discount on something which has been out for 5 minutes.

I don't mind 1 or 2 pieces missing from a 1000 piece jigsaw. I usually buy them from the chazza for a couple of quid and donate them straight back again as soon as they're done. It's not like the whole thing is ruined because a couple of bits are missing.

Archery you're a braver woman than I am! I think I'd have blushed and then tried to hide it behind something else- but mainly because the ladies in my local shop are seriously elderly and seriously polite- I don't think I'd cope if they'd already noticed

Hagglers! Yes, that's what I meant. Senior moment.

OP how annoying
Actually I have about ten books and a bag of decent clothes which were meant to be donated before Xmas but my mum was ill so I got delayed. I am now leaving it because I am guessing charity shops are overwhelmed! I don't have a car so not like I can just pop by so I figure I will leave it at leadt a month!

Our local charity shops had an issue with shoes going missing (and being replaced with mankey old ones) so they now only put out one shoe and you need to ask for the other one if you want to try them on. Stealing from charity shops has to be the lowest of the low.

Whenever I donate stuff I make sure it's all clean and wearable and toys are all in good working order. I did once donate a whole load of happy land toys but the sound didn't work on the school house (never worked from the day I bought it and ELC refused to exchange it - long story), but I did inform them at the time so they could price accordingly or stick a note on to say 'sounds not working'. It was still a perfectly good toy for a toddler to play with (it never stopped DD playing with it) and it would have been a shame to bin it.

I didn't know some charity shops take rags. I will ask my local one if they accept them. I have a whole ton of clothes bagged up and popped in the attic that would be suitable for rags, mainly stuff DD has outgrown but has a gone out of shape, been the victim of colour run in the wash etc. I've been meaning to find a place that takes rags for ages (fondly remembers getting plastic tat a toy from the rag and bone man for donating stuff when I was a child). I will need to give them a rewash first though as they have been up there for ages.

I just found all the old(er) Christmas decorations which I was going to donate before Christmas but forgot... guess I'll have to wait to November to donate them this year!

I'd never go back and ask for a refund from a charity shop. I bought a book from one recently to entertain DD whilst I was in the hairdressers then donated it straight back and the lady in the charity shop was surprised I didn't want a refund [wow] It was 50p for crying out loud - do people really ask for 50p refunds from charity shops? Horrified about the stories of people 'trying on' jeans/ shoes etc then leaving their manky ones in the place of the newer ones.

People who clear older dead relatives stuff don't like to bin the things out of guilt because they know the stuff is often too old, ugly, damaged etc, don't want it in their homes but feel disrespectful if they binned it all.

I do think many people are just too lazy to take things to the tip or don't like the thought of binning things so like to pretend to themselves that the half burnt candle, old chipped mugs or a carrier bag of happymeal toys will find a lovely new home.

There should be big posters in the windows saying how much it costs to dispose of waste each week. One broken pram takes up half the big bin but is donated because they don't have a car to take it the tip so they CS it rather than flytip. They know CS have to smile and be grateful!

Oh dear, I just watched a documentary about minimalists and have thinned the bookshelves to the tune of about 300 books ( and gone through the kids clothes drawers too), I have about two boot loads to go, I better spread my generosity out across the whole area! Will definitely pre sort the really worn but clean stuff into a bag marked rags though, thanks for that tip, and clean all the shoes properly.

Thanks for all the fish

You sure you need to re wash stuff for rags? It's destined for recycling isn't it?

Quick qu, is it ok to donate bras? Obv wouldn't send knickers, but bras that are in decent nick but just don't fit any more, yes or no?

I recently donated loads to local charity shop as moving home. I felt sort of guilty and wasn't sure if the items were good enough quality as useable but obviously not new - nothing shoddy or horrible, but things like DVD box sets where the cardboard cover was damaged.

I'm afraid I am one of those people who leave donations outside out of hours (no sign saying not to) because there's no way I could get to a charity shop during working hours.

Re rags: Our council accepts clothes for recycling - they need to be placed in a bag in the glass caddy of the recycling bin. Might be worth checking Thanks for all the fish.

It seems to mostly be men who don't understand that you shouldn't donate stuff in bad condition- just throw it out. My DH is like this. What is it with men that makes them not want to throw out stuff that isn't useful any more?

There is a secondhand bookshop chain in the US called Half Price Books. The great thing about them is they'll buy anything you want to sell them (though I still recycle books in bad condition). I imagine they recycle some of what they buy. But they're a business, not a charity, so I don't feel bad about foisting unsellable stuff on them. For some reason, it bothers DH when I sell books to them. He'd rather I went around to other bookshops looking for better prices (which I'm not going to get, there's not much demand for most of the books I read). I don't know WHY it bugs him so that I just want to get the job done!

42andcounting - re bras, if local charity shops won't take them for resale, there are charities that do want bras.
My old workplace had a bra collection bin, the poster on it said that useable bras would be sent to developing countries where bras aren't very available to be resold to women there.
Can't remember the name of the charity now, but if you google you will probably be able to find out which charities collect bras, and how to donate old ones.

42and I think good quality bras are ok, I heard on Radio 4 a charity shop manager saying they were always crying out for decent bras because people don't donate them as they wrongly assume they are not acceptable.

Snatched there's no point getting all huffy and defensive. Charity shops sell the stuff you donate. If it's damaged or incomplete, why on earth would you think anyone would want to pay for it??

OP yours is a good point, well made

I was in our local cancer research shop recently. A couple came in and were emptying a hatcback full of yellowing paperbacks into the shop. The lady who worked there stopped them and said they could only take a couple of bags. The chuntering that went on!
I am no expert but when clearing elderly relatives houses i do check first which shops would like what. Local oxfam does paperbacks. Hospice shop kids clothes and bric a brac etc.

I wouldn't bother re-washing items destined for rags if they're clean, but just a bit musty because they've been in the loft. That's fine. For stuff which is caked in mud though, it would be nice to have it cleaner.

Our charity shop doesn't re-sell any underwear or swimwear unless it comes in with the tags still on it, never worn. It can all go for recycling though so bags of washed bras are fine.

On the "interesting" DVDs - we had a bag of Dutch erotica DVD handed in, didn't sell them in the shop but they made quite a bit when we sent them to Music Magpie! The other thing we get a lot of which we can't sell are those free CDs and DVDs which you get sometimes with newspapers. We can keep the CDs to play in the shop, if appropriate, but not the DVDs.

SOme charity shops will take electricals, ours doesn't but I think the DEBRA shops will. It's not because we're being awkward, it's because the law is that electricals have to be PAT tested before sale and haven't the ability to do it. So even brand new still in the box things have to be binned. Battery operated things are fine, just not things you have to plug in.

I don't mind doing refunds for bigger items - refunded a customer yesterday who had bought curtains not being sure whether they'd fit her windows and brought them back when they were too long. She had her receipt and it was all above board. Some people do ask for refunds on a £1.99 scarf because they've changed their minds which is a bit much. I think stealing from charity shops is the lowest too but people do it LOTS - we have no way of measuring it though as it's only when you spot empty hangers you realise something's gone. Ticket switchers are the worst - we have a man with learning difficulties who works on a Saturday afternoon, he is great on the till but doesn't sort stock as he has no concept of worth or value. When he was working last week a thief took a label off a cheap 99p ornament and put it on a £50 Poole pottery vase which we had on the counter. Volunteer sold it to the customer for 99p as they knew no different. That's low. Stealing from a charity AND exploiting someone with an obvious disability. We also have no security tags or CCTV. It's all very well putting up "shoplifters will be prosecuted" signs but in reality unless you catch someone in the act it's almost impossible.

YANBU op.
But I wouldn't want this thread to deter people from donating really good quality stuff to charity shops.'it's a really important source of income for some of our local charities. I can't donate huge amounts of cash, but any good quality (Boden, next etc) clothes that haven't really been worn (we get a lot of clothing gifts/unworn hand me downs) I do donate.

I didn't know about bras. Or rag recycling. So far I've sent decent clothes that still have life in them to charity shops and worn clothes and all underwear to tip - including some expensive and hardly worn bras

I recently had a big post Xmas and pre house move sort out. We build every puzzle to check pieces. Card jigsaws got recycled when a piece was missing but nice wooden puzzles say a board with 10 spaces for cars and a nice magnet to pull them out had one cat missing. On local selling pages people still buy and sell things in this condition so I assembled and put in tight sealed sandwich bags and donated. I really hope this was sellable for them and didn't cost them money to dispose of. Any thoughts welcomed pls OP as I have some more to go through before we move. Thanks.

One car missing not one cat!

Wooden jigsaws - I think it depends on the individual shop. We wouldn't sell those sorts of jigsaws with bits missing but only because we are inundated with donations and can be very choosy about what goes out on sale. Other charity shops which struggle to get donations may be happy to sell shape sorting type puzzles with one bit missing. So there's no real answer ;-)

I would hate anyone to be put off donating to charity shops. Charity shops do not function without donors who are generous enough to give us the stuff they no longer want or need. I'm just asking donors to use a bit of common sense!