To think this charity shop was ridiculous?

[EmptyTheFrickingBins]

Have a fridge, freezer and new double mattress to donate to charity. The mattress is genuinely brand new and has never been slept on because I bought it and then was given a new orthopedic one which was more suitable for my poor bad back! I think I laid on it for less than an hour total.

They've just been and I've never had such an awful experience - they refused the fridge and freezer because "the door seals have gone" (they haven't - I've been using both up until last weekend and never had an issue. The freezer is also missing a couple of drawers (movers dropped and broke them but it's never been an issue)

He then called me a liar over saying the mattress is brand new - because unfortunately I snagged it on the door strip getting it out of the bedroom and it has a few small clicks on the cover.

It has really put me off ever trying to donate anything ever again. I don't have much money and could have sold them in Facebook. The fridge and freezer are a few years old so don't look brand new but do work perfectly well. The way he spoke to me made me feel really small and stupid and I hate being called a liar (I'm ND and not being believed is a massive thing for me.)

If anyone wants to know the charity name I'll share it via PM but it is a big name in the town where I live.

Particularly with large items that would be costly to dispose of if they're not able to sell, of course they will only take items they know will sell easily

So many have said this and it's absolutely true

However many have missed that OP's already sold the items straight away on Facebook, which might suggest that the charity have missed an opportunity

DMIL needed to donate a bed with mattress and a coffee table we decided to go with a local charity which puts together furniture packages for people who are being housed by the council and have nothing ... when they went to leave they asked for money which they said was a donation for the charity taking the items. There had been no mention of this on the website or when I'd phoned to arrange collection

I can't pretend to speak for what every charity does, but that has the flavour of a scam with the drivers trying to make a bit for themselves - especially considering she'd already made a donation via what she was giving them

We have a disposable society now and have done for years - you will find stuff like that at your local council dump - I don't mean that as a comment on your stuff OP just that every day reasonable quality usable items are dumped - sometimes taken by those on the look out sometimes not

Selling the items for £10 each on Facebook marketplace doesn’t mean there’s a good profitable market for them though does it. It would cost the charity a lot more to pick up, clean, store , etc than it would be worth to them. They would lose money or not make any profit for the charity at all!

OP your being ridiculous, they shouldn’t have been so rude but they clearly did not want the items and probably had to just to honest and tell you. Don’t take it so personally? The items NEED to be profitable for them to make money for the charity, they aren’t taking items out of the goodness of their hearts. If they don’t think it will sell for a GOOD price that they can make a profit off then they won’t accept it. Nothing personal to you or your items.

OP sold them for £10 each though, it’s highly unlikely someone would pay enough for those items to be profitable for the charity. It wouldn’t be worth the charities time to sell them for that. They would be either making no money at all after delivery, cleaning, storing costs etc or actually losing money.

What is SN in this context?

Well they were already there so I can't see the pick up cost being an issue, they look clean in the photos and if the OP sold them that quickly it doesn't sound like storage would be an issue.

The logic is flawed though. Offering them online via something like Facebook marketplace reached far more people for free than having them in a shop does. It also reaches different people. The charity has overheads to pay and has to factor this into their pricing strategy.

They can either have one freezer in very good condition that is guaranteed to sell for £50 or one damaged freezer that they might get £10 for (random prices!) - which would you choose to stock?

We have local community pages on Facebook that advertise items for people in need - not sure if you have these but put them on there. There is always someone who could be desperate for the item; if even just to tide them over.

Apologies.. Your post seemed to fit what I was saying... I understand you don't employ them!!!

Didn’t call you anything love. But you are being defensive about it all, like I said in my post.

Just saying that you can’t take everything at face value - it’s an anonymous forum you can say whatever you want to and no one would know what’s the truth 🤷‍♀️

So you are calling the op @EmptyTheFrickingBins a liar but aren't honest enough just to say that.

Which bit do you think he's being dishonest about?

so did the people that bought your 3 items turn up ?
had they turned up in the 15 mins between you posting your thread and selling the items ?

I wasn’t really calling them a liar, but yeah sure whatever. OP I think you’re lying.

Actually I would say - exaggerating / embellishing the truth.

just saying that they’re being very defensive and as such I question their posts a little bit. her story does change a bit with the man who came to pick the bits up, and it’s all convenient that they sold OH SO FAST on FB. I’m sure they did sell but I doubt people were rushed off their feet to buy them.

Are you saying it was impossible to clean the black marks near the seal? or in the top left? These marks, along with the missing shelves and the the marks on the metal shelves make it look grubby. Appreciate it may look and smell cleaner than the impression it gives, but it's a fair first reaction to those photos, IMO. I have bought second hand white goods and I swerved any that looked like they came from a house clearance or a HMO. That just my opinion, YMMV.

No, it doesn't show that. The number of people who visit a charity shop is going to be tiny compared to those searching online. We have items we send to our charity's eBay page because we know that it may sell for £200 on eBay but we wouldn't even get £10 for it instore. Believe it or not, UK charities have staff who know their demographic more than people who have never worked or volunteered in one.

A charity shop might 300 customers per day where 10 are looking for a fridge. A FB marketpage might get 300 visitors in an hour, all of whom specifically searched for a fridge.

The problem is that a lot of people try and use charity shops as a means of getting rid of old furniture for free instead of having to pay the council to take it away, so they have to be particularly vigilant.

Also, the things you're selling are among the risky things for a charity shop to take. Fridges and freezers require special disposal because of the chemicals they contain, so would be a real ballache for them to get rid of if they can't sell it. Mattresses have to meet fire and safety regulations to be sold on, so again, they have to be extra vigilant about taking them. And I can see why he didn't think it was new, because it does look dirty in the photo.

He shouldn't have been rude to you, of course. But I can see why he didn't take the items. And I also think perhaps the rudeness might have been a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other, because you do seem a lot more angry and worked up than I would be about someone not wanting my old fridge.

My local charity shop also sells on line. £10 is better than nothing. I don't know when charity shops changed, they used to be of benefit to the charity and people looking for something in their price range now they seem to want to charge high prices. I understand how the OP feels, I took two pairs of leather riding boots to a charity shop, hardly worn (husband was disabled in an accident so could ride) very good quality, they looked down their noses and examined the boots like I was trying to offload rubbish. Never went there again.

Regardless of the economics they should not be rude and calling the OP a liar is disgusting.

Whereas you are just making things up because lets face it you weren't there and the OP was.

is it BHF?

we had the same with a wardrobe and chest of drawers, they would not take them

Where have I made anything up? All I’ve done is suggest posters apply a bit of critical thinking. I think you could benefit from that advice too.

£10.isnt better than nothing if it's cost the charity more than that in time/fuel on the phone discussing it, arranging the logistics of collecting, the collection itself and then the storage for however long it sits in the shop before it sells. They also have overheads for their premises and staff wages and costs.

I'm a bit perplexed as to why people think the charity is in the wrong here - they would take it if they thought they'd have a reasonable enough margin on it, all things considered, but they're under no obligation to collect anything at all.

I get that you feel the guy was rude but there are shades of grey in these social interactions and kindly, I think you'd benefit from putting it behind you and moving on, OP.

If it's got the fire label on then that's all it needs from that POV

My local charity shop also sells on line. £10 is better than nothing.

The fridge and freezer would also need to be PAT tested before selling which is approx £1 per item for us. (We use a contracted company who come once per week) and would need to be stored until tested, this may mean that the charity then has to refuse other donations to make £8 or £9 on OPs item.

My main issue would be tone. If they declined politely that would be fine. If they were rude, then I would be pretty cross. I see no need for rudeness but so many people are these days.

Even if the drivers were paid - did you ask them? - it doesn't alter the fact that charities won't take big articles unless they are pretty sure they can sell them. If they can't sell them, then they have to pay to have them disposed of. Getting rid of junk that is dumped on them by contributions they can't control costs most charities a fortune.

It's irrelevent that you managed to sell the stuff. A targeted ad on FB market will shift a lot of stuff, but charities can't do that.

And if I see what I think is an error, I will correct it. I don't think I need your permission.