Stuff dumped outside charity shops

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

We've had this regularly at our local charity shop (the small one which isn't in the town centre and has parking outside). They have a big notice in the window and even a permanent swingy metal sign outside in the doorway, both saying, in very big letters, not to leave donations outside, as they will be stolen.

What makes people do this? Surely, even without deliberately ignoring the two signs, they must realise that their 'donations', even if potentially good enough to resell, would be waiting there for weeks or even months before the assistants would be back and have to move them to get into the shop - a shop which is far too small to house several big bits of furniture anyway.

They must know that the items will be stolen (if any good), end up strewn across the streets and/or, should they still be there once the shops can re-open, any remaining items that were once saleable will now be damaged by the weather, dirty, have been weed on by animals, attracted foxes and rats etc. - so they will have to pay business rates from their charity funds to get the rubbish taken away - along with the stuff that was always rubbish from the start - and clean up the resulting debris.

Tips are open (free for domestic users). If you have good stuff to get rid of, you can leave it in front of your own house with a sign saying 'Free - please take' and it will go quickly.

What possesses people to do this? Are they genuinely thinking that they are doing a good thing? Are they deliberately trying to cost a charity money? Do they know that they're behaving badly, but hope that the fact that there happens to be a (closed) charity shop next to their chosen fly-tipping zone will act as their deniability get-out clause, should they be challenged?

Surely it's easier to move it to the front of your own property for passers-by to take? If it's good stuff, but no longer needed by you, wouldn't you want to make sure that it's taken by people who can make use of it and not just left out for days/weeks to get ruined? And if you've already gone to the trouble of putting it in your car, why wouldn't you just drive a little further to the tip?

Just why do they do it?!

we only do the for free thing if its good condition. usually like a childs bike or scooter and only ever one or two items and usually goes pretty quick!

[quote londonmummy1234]@RunningFromInsanity well, it's not fly tipping if they remove it at the end of the day if they have no takers. We do it at my house (London) and everything goes, usually within an hour or so![/quote]
No time restrictions on flytipping.

But generally yes if you only leave it out for a few hours and then bring it in, then fine. Mostly here it’s stuff no one wants or they leave it out overnight and it gets wet and ruined.

I know one charity shop that has solved this problem. They have a large metal clothes bank outside the shop with a notice asking people to place donated items into the "bank" The stuff is kept dry and secure.

It would not be possible for all shops as there might not be space but it is a great idea if there is space. .

I can see how CCTV could help, but the problem is that the shops run on a goodwill basis - and as fully justified as they are in taking action, I'm guessing that a lot of the sort who fly-tip would be the same ones who believe they're never wrong and play their face about it.

Word would spread that 'they aren't grateful for donations, nasty people, clearly don't really care about raising funds for xxx charity etc.' - even though the people hurling the abuse clearly don't care about costing them time and charity money in forcing them to get rid of their rubbish.

There is a perception, whether true or not, about refuse collection in this country, and things refuse collectors won't take. Councils charge a lot for taking things away that are non-standard, some only collect once a fortnight. I'm sure this contributes to the unacceptable behaviour that the OP describes. Two wrongs don't make a right of course.

Our tip doesnt have a charity section, everything there gets binned or recycled rather than reused. Perhaps there is a bit of a need for somewhere to take old stuff that can be reused in a larger way operation than a charity shop. Like a swap shop site in each town.

@Paul72

I know one charity shop that has solved this problem. They have a large metal clothes bank outside the shop with a notice asking people to place donated items into the "bank" The stuff is kept dry and secure. It would not be possible for all shops as there might not be space but it is a great idea if there is space. .

There are a couple of issues, unfortunately there have been incidents where people have broken into these banks stolen what they wanted and left everything else outside so the problems doesn't go away, the other is that unless these banks can be emptied, they get full stuff is then left outside so again the same problem. At the moment the staff in the Charity shops would not be allowed to empty the bins and take things into the shop if they are on furlough, its a serious breach of furlough rules, the only people who could empty the bins would be volunteers in a shop where there are no paid staff, or if the charity chain had a clothing bank, clothing bank workers are allowed to work so could empty the bins but they would most likely take stuff to a central depot so the hop wouldnt get the donations anyway

"similar to the people who donate stuff which will never sell, nobody wants a colouring book your child has half completed or the broken crayons they used to do it.*

I don't understand why people do this if it isn't good enough for your child it isn't good enough for somebody else's. I work at a community project and the guff some people donate is ridiculous and we have to bin it !

@RunningFromInsanity

My pet hate is people who dump (usually a load of rubbish) outside their house with ‘free’ written on it. Too lazy to take it to the tip.

It’s all flytipping.

Not here. You aren't allowed on the tip premises if you don't have a car and you're only allowed 4 items to be collected (for a fee) from the council. It's not being lazy, it's not having options that are accessible to you.

It horrible and wrong but it's so difficult to get rid of stuff. Our tips are open by appointment only, the tip is only accessible to those with a car, no vans, nobody on foot. As for leaving it outside the house with a label, I think that probably a London or city centre thing, nobody would ever walk past my house. Instead I use a facebook pass it on group and the charity bags that come through the door. I live in a naice area and get a lot of charity bags but know of others in different areas who never get the bags.