What do charity shops want?

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I have been having a bit of a clear out and found some bikinis that will very unlikely ever fit me again, and that got me wondering would it be ok to donate them, or is that a no no?

Any advice on that and other items would be helpful. Thanks

SchadenfreudePersonified in the cases where it has been simply taken I have made it known. If a token donation has been made and it is by someone that manages the shop it is a bit more difficult.

If it is something that could not be sold due to lack of appropriate labels and would otherwise have been binned then no, because it is better that it is reused than binned. I recently watched a volunteer having to dump a big stack of fancy dress because of fire regulations, he was sad about it, such a waste as they couldn't be re-donated either.

The dumping of perfectly useful items is something I have tried to get them to address, there are shops for unwanted furniture and most of the stuff could be used. Even the council has facilities for swapping or helping yourself but no-one will give it away, just put it out for rubbish. Toys can be sent to places where they are washed and given to refugee children.

Re: animal shelters, they often take duvets as long as they are clean. However, most shelters throw bedding away once it is used and grubby - take a look around, there are big dumpster bins with dirty duvets and towels in. One that I donate to has donations bins for food, bedding, newspapers and accessories, they also have an on site shop and sell 'gifts' that have been donated to their main shop and a section for used pet beds, carriers and the donated food from the supermarket donation collection point. So any bedding, towels, carriers, beds or toys are gratefully accepted there.

I send all my rags to the British Heart Foundation.

I've bought used swimwear in my local charity shop, and often buy and re-donate books. I like to buy something there when I get rid of something, else I feel I'm just using them as a tip. A lot depends on the area the shop is in, the local hospice has several shops all with different levels of merchandise.

Dunno. But things I’d like to be able to buy and never find are:

Decent condition, fairly latest, kids dvds just before christmas would be good.

Good kids hardback books instead of the usual Star Wars anthologies in between dozens of Jamie Oliver cookbooks and Trinny & Susannah fashion book from 10 years ago still doing the rounds

Nice Wellies.

Kids pack a mack style raincoats.

Footballs.

Kids Boden clothing.

Longtime volunteer here. Any charity worth its salt recycles what it can't sell, so everything you give is used or reused, even tho it's miles more work for us. Please give everything, we give it all a second life somehow and we make money for a good cause to boot.

The only things we can't take are this lot, usually for legal reasons.

Fridges, washing machines, big used white goods

• In-ear headphones (hygiene)

• Intimate garments eg pants and elderly bras, socks, trusses etc; not illegal but people can get new just as cheap

• Nightwear without flammable warning labels

• Garments covered in advertising or really obviously big courier company or NHS uniform - yes, there is a crim market for this lot

• Anything discriminatory or insane eg gollywog or Mein Kampf by Hitler

• Unsealed toiletries (they go off)

• Computer hard drives (any software reselling in this way is illegal).

• Jewellery for piercings and pierced earrings. Not illegal but icky.

• Prescription glasses/sunnies.

• Weapons, firearms and ammunition. Why? Many customers can be a little annoying. Don't tempt our dedicated, caring staff.

• Realistic toy weapons and starting pistols, blanks.

• Pointed objects that can be used as weapons (practical and legal reasons). Includes butcher’s knives, flick knives, sports knives, swords, daggers and axes.

• Toys without the CE mark.

• Cot, crib or Moses basket mattresses (cot death risk).

• Children's car seats or booster seats.

• Children's furniture is a legal minefield, so ask.

• Alcohol and food (you need a food selling licence)

• Anything ivory, bone or tortoiseshell. Resin fakes are fine to sell.

• Police, emergency services or government uniforms and vehicle licence plates.

• Upholstered foam-filled furniture unless it was made before 1950 or is labelled with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988.

Thank you Shitley. I'm glad that thrives don't totally escape.

And I agree that if something ^can't be sold someone may as well make use f it - otherwise it's just landfill.

I wouldn't have a problem at all with someone who works in a charity shop buying a donated item at the price the shop has put on it. Why shouldn't they?

Any charity worth its salt recycles what it can't sell, so everything you give is used or reused, even tho it's miles more work for us.

Is this more work/ cost for the charity to take clothes that are only fit for recycling? I always only donate good condition clothes to the charity shop and take the rest to H&M for recycling as I worry that I'd be dumping the worn out clothes on the charity shop

My local charity shop Islamic relief will take everything except printers.

I would also take offence at the comment the staff take all decent stuff for pennies.
I volunteered for years at my local hospice shop. We were all volunteers bar the supervisor who was paid for 15 hrs a week. The majority of us volunteered for a mining or afternoon only (3 or 4 hours )
If we were sorting clothes you was not able to have first dibbs.
There was a pricing code i.e a top would cost £2.50, add £1.50 for Top shop, Primark . Add another £1 for xxx shop. Add £8.00 if designer and so on.
With regard to staff discount - we didn't get any.

I gave some stuff to BHF recently and they said the only thing they don't take is pictures.

Other places now don't take books, one place locally won't take coats due to bulk.

It's best to ask each one.

I wouldn't have a problem at all with someone who works in a charity shop buying a donated item at the price the shop has put on it. Why shouldn't they?

No reason at all, ReanimatedSGB, I have no problem with that either. However, what I do have a problem with are things being taken from stock before they go on the shelves and bought for say 5p when they would have been priced at £5.00 or more as happens in one of the charities that only has one shop to support just one branch of the charity.They rely on the money to keep going.

Have seen several times, items put by the till on a busy day, people wanting to buy and being told no. 'Mary' who works there on that day had put it aside, I know how much she paid because I heard them discussing it.

'Mary' had a glint in her eye 'Oooh is it new?' whenever I donated something she liked the look of and I knew where it would end up. I mentioned it to the charity and stopped donating goods to them.

Some shops have a policy that staff cannot purchase unless something has been on display for a while first, these shops are run differently to the smaller ones, and it is probably those where the thieving doesn't happen. Or not as much.Much better but not always possible maybe.

My local shop told me about a week that they were desperate for men's clothes.I noticed they had a pair of men's boots without shoelaces, so I took some spare pairs the next day. They had sold the shoes but said they would use the shoelaces.
That shop always seems grateful for my frequent donations.

It might be worth considering donating to a shop in the middle of the high street - I tend to drop things off at the nearest one to me, and I'm sure others do too.

Socks, clean ripped tights etc go in the rag bag.

There is a local free books shop near me takes books and magazines. People can go in and pick up 3 free books or magazines.
They'll even take the weekend magazines from the newspapers and supermarket free magazines, old academic books, foreign language books and so on.

The clothes bins and collections may be for profit so check first.

My local charity shops are cheap and often have stock like Boden, Hobbs, Jaeger, Ralph Lauren etc for under £5.

We try to find a new home for most things. Unwanted gifts used to go to school raffles, now to charity shops. We can reach one that will take small electrical items as they have a volunteer able to check them. At times one shop will refuse books, can usually find another to take them. We have given away/ freecycled broken but high value when new equipment - we give it a week or two before going to the dump but other people can be better than us at fixing things/ find spare parts useful.

The nearest RSPCA wont take duvets because they cant wash them, try freecycle as people who make toys or quilts may use them as padding.

Our library refuses even (fiction) books in very good condition, that confuses me as surely they could sell them for library funds? However I've seen a clothes rack with coats/ jumpers and a help yourself if cold sign in a library. Supermarkets may have shoes/clothing boxes for the Salvation army or similar. Old sleeping bags, even if not in great condition, are welcomed by homeless charities. If you can find someone who will take items for a womens refuge they need toiletries and clothes for people who flee with nothing.

Bubble wrap, cardboard boxes, tubes and once used padded envelopes are popular on freegle. I'm told charity shops like bubble wrap too. If you have a poor area nearby bubble wrap sprayed with water can be used as insulation on windows, spray the bubble side and it's supposed to peel off easily in summer. I havent tried this, saw it on you tube.

Large cities will usually have shop somewhere selling recycled large items, however they are very fussy about condition.

Curtain from a charity shop can be bought for making fancy dress costumes.

*PineappleDanish

Oh and to add to the list of can't sell...

those free CDs or DVDs you get with newspapers used pots and pans

All actually sell very well.

France is not the only country to have book boxes, wish they could be introduced here but then the charity shops would make less money.

There's a charity shop near us that always takes our sons old toys, I give them a good wipe first. Any toys you buy from the likes of argos, mothercare, smyths etc will have a CE sticker on the bottom or engraved in. Toys from Amazon and Ebay are but more sketchy at times and might not have them. I've never bought from Ebay and only a few things from Amazon and they did have that sticker/engraving on them

The charity shop where I used to work took bikinis. Also decent condition bras, which were one of the best sellers, especially the larger sizes.
British Heart Foundation have a number of shops specialising in books. The one near me does sell other things, but books are its main part of the stock - arranged by category, alphabetically etc. It really is a labour of love! I have also seen book collection points in several train stations, where you can take a book and leave a donation.
BHF also have several furniture shops, and will come and collect. I have used them a couple of times, and found them to be very reliable.
I donate unwanted towels, blankets, sheets etc to a local animal sanctuary.

We donated our 3seater settee and two armchairs to BHF. Excellent condition just needed a change of colour. The men who came to collect would not accept one chair as it no longer had the fire label on it. I think I ripped it off at some point when it was coming off. Never mind it being identical to the other items. Eventually took it to recycling centre. Hope it lived on in someone else’s home.

I buy bras in charity shops.
Who hasn't bought one only to find it didn't fit properley.Might as well pass it on.

I think most charity shops charge far too much for books. Went into British heart foundation recently and they were 2 or 3 pounds each, I also think they only accept new-quality books. Why would you pay 3 quid for a charity shop Martina Cole book (for example) when Tesco etc sell them for 4 and the library have loads?

However, another charity shop down my road accepts any book with all the pages and not stained/smelly, sells them for 50p each with a 20p bargain bin for tatty / rubbish ones, and they fly out as fast as they come in. Found loads of fab, eclectic stuff in there.

As this shows it really depends where you take it.
Some places without storage etc might say no to things that take longer to sell, whilst those items might sell well somewhere else or another shop woth more storage might be happier to give them time.

Also check with animal shelters etc. I ocassionally volunteer at a rescue and people get really shirty when we decline things however sometimes things are a nightmare to wash or unsafe eg soft toys and bedding that rips in a certain way.

I helped out at a sorting site for a charity shop - the items they couldn't / wouldn't sell were bagged up as rags.

The rags can make more money than some of the shops so please donate old clothing etc as the rags side brings in good money!

Towels are sold to animal charities etc, unsaleable items are bundled for traders who sell at carboots etc

@HelloYouTwo donate duvets, blankets and towels to your local dogs trust or animal re-homing centre. The animals don’t care if it’s been used.

Bras can be donated to be sent to countries where women are disadvantaged if they don't have a bra. There used to be baskets in shops specially for them to be collected, parcelled up and sent off, I think it might have been an African country, rather than donated and possibly sold with the ragging.