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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think charity shops ....

143 replies

Hando · 03/12/2009 13:20

Should actually sell what is donated to them, if it is is good condition?

I did some volunteering work in a charity shop. It's a great cause and I had a couple of weeks spare time, so worked my arse off and enjoyed it.

However, I had to leave. I was disgusted by the way they treated the items kindly donated to the shop. Firstly, this charity shop have FAR more donations than they could ever sell. They go through and pick out nicest bits. If it has a tiny mark, missing button etc, then it gets binned.

One day we were told to sort through all that days donations and only keep kids stuff or designer labels- as the shop was getting full. We were throwing away bags and bags of lovely mens and ladies clothes lots of whoch were hardly worn and some really stunning bits. There ar elots of smaller, less well known charity shops in the same street so I offered to take some of the surplus black bags (perhaps over 20 in one day) to them for them to sell. I was met with astonished gasps. We couldn't do that. The "rag man" collects them and they get about £2 for a huge black bag full of clothes ~(sometimes lovely ones) which could have been sold for much much more.

The shop manageress doesn't like certain styles or materials so anything like that has to be binned. Hmmmm.... so she decides the taste of the whole town?

AIBU to be totally dissapointed at the way they treat donations from very kind people?

OP posts:
BonjourIvressedeNoel · 03/12/2009 19:56

I put bags of children's clothes on freecycle and they always go really quckly.

chickbean · 03/12/2009 19:56

We get one or two bags a week through the door for various charities and those companies that "donate a percentage to charity". It's a bit overwhelming. Won't feel so guilty about not filling them all - would rather do a car boot sale and donate the money to charities of choice.

Original poster
Hando · 03/12/2009 20:01

Nymphadora... this was exactly what i said to the shop management. We had lovely designer (used) things not selling for weeks or not selling at all. Then because we had no space, due to all this overpriced non selling stuff, we'd be chucking out loads and loads. Surely better to sell it all cheaply rather than sell only a few bits and bin the rest? Madness!!!

OP posts:
VengefulKitty · 03/12/2009 20:01

What is Freecycle? I have seen it mentioned once here before, bit other than that I have never heard of it.

Imisssleeping · 03/12/2009 20:13

I've been involved in alot of charities.
everyone always donates to cancer charities and age concern never got anything.
Because of that I always take my charity stuff to age concern

Firawla · 03/12/2009 20:20

really puts you off giving to the charity shops to hear this
i think i'll be much better putting things on free on gumtree, or working out how to put things on freecycle
if it's going to be dumped in a skip by charity then i might aswel have put it in my own dustbin and saved myself the walk
its a real waste, there are people in the uk who are very in need of things, why not just have a bin of free items in the front of the store and let people help themselves rather than chuck them out??

ChilloHippi · 03/12/2009 20:35

Freecycle is called Freegle now. You join your local site/s and then you post a message when you have something to give and people who would like it email you. You choose who gets it and they collect it from you.
It's very helpful. I even got a bag of old towels for the dogs yesterday.

fragola · 03/12/2009 21:04

I worked in a charity shop about 17 years ago, so things may have changed since then, but it was so frustrating (for a variety of reasons).

We were told that "dry clean only" clothes went to the rag man, as it was too expensive to have them dry cleaned and they needed to be cleaned before selling them. Of course I appreciate that dry cleaning would probably be too expensive for a charity, but some of the clothes that were chucked out were amazing.

dittany · 03/12/2009 21:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FuriousGeorge · 03/12/2009 21:27

I take my stuff to the Sally Army,MIND,or Age Concern as they always seem really pleased with donations and don't turn their noses up.I fill bags for the local air ambulance too.Our local BHF branch is well known for being expensive.

IMoveTheStarsForNoOne · 03/12/2009 21:33

that's so awful. I've given up giving stuff to BHF and the like, the people who work in the local ones act like I'm causing them agro by dropping stuff off (and it's really nice stuff too, I would never dump crap at a charity shop)

So I donate to Helen & Douglas House now, and Sobell House - they have far less people offering up sellable stock, and they need the money at the moment.

laloue · 03/12/2009 21:36

I, too , was appalled at what got binned for the ragman...I went for an area manager's position with them some years ago and had to do a half day in store,bearing in mind I've worked in retail and shopped charity shops for donkey's years, I was devastated by what went to the bin. Mainly nicely made pieces with no discernible label (home made or hand knits?) .
I didn't get the job after second interview , but whilst gutted in one respect, I was also a little bit relieved that I wouldn't have to contend with that kind of waste.

coolma · 03/12/2009 21:39

Give them to a homeless charity - we always want clothes..

VengefulKitty · 03/12/2009 21:54

Thank you Chillo. I shall go Googling.

I can't find a Homeless shop near me by Googling Anyone know the best way to discover one?

RJRabbit · 03/12/2009 22:04

Glad to hear the charity shops are selling on ebay. That's heartening.

I feel really naive when I read threads like this. I never imagined that this kind of wastage could occur, on this gross scale, especially in this day and age when the message everywhere you turn is to not be wasteful.

SolosScrapingUpForXmas · 03/12/2009 22:10

Some areas are still called Freecycle.

dittany · 03/12/2009 22:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PrammyMammy · 03/12/2009 23:02

When my ds was born (first grandson to 2 sets of gps) he recieved an unbelieveble amount of clothes as gifts. There were over 10 snow suits (dec baby). He was a big boy and had outgrown lots of it by Feb. My sis and i filled 2 boxes, one from his car seat and another was from the carrycot off his pram, with clothes, most had been worn once and about 30% unused. We gave one box to a church shop and the other to barnardos, the church one was so happy but barnardos looked through the box while we were still in the shop and took the new bits and the snow suits.
Now everything goes to the church shop.

Original poster
Hando · 03/12/2009 23:57

Dittany... It is wastage. Many saleable items are chucked bec ause they have too much stock already. What goes in the bin one day may have been put on the racks and sold for a good price another day if they had less stock that particular day.

Prammy... the volunteers did this at the BHF shop I helped in. The back room and storage area was seperate but visable from the main shop and they'd often comment on the items and make rude remarks before the donator had even walked out of the shop. Some of the volunteers were rude, to me and customers, one lady was VERY rude. However, i was told to put up with it as they can't tun away volunteers. I worked 10 times as hard as I should to make up for the lack of work the others did (mainly elderly women and people with learning difficulties, so understandable when I'm young and able bodied I know). Some of the volunteers used to come in, sit and have their chats and andwiches and generally get in the way or do things totally wrong and I had to sit and sort out all the mess. The elderly lady on the till was a monster and we had many complaints about her.

OP posts:
dittany · 04/12/2009 00:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JoInScotland · 04/12/2009 00:31

I volunteer at Barnardo's and they do try to put out the best of what is donated, but I've never seen them discriminating by brand/label/etc. There is a dedicated Barnardo's book shop down the road, so they send the nice books there, keep the children's books and a small selection of adult books in the shop I'm in, and the rest get pitched in the paper recycling bin. To be fair, there is much more stuff handed in than could ever fit on the shelves.... but they do save the seasonal stuff for the right season (if it's in good condition) and have a vintage section for stuff from the 50s/60s/70s and also put aside costumes for Halloween, etc. We now have a section of glittery gowns and dresses, which must have been saved from donations, for the "party season".

I do take stuff into the shop, since I'm going there anyway, but I also like to give to the smaller charity shops like SenseScotland, Help the Aged, Save the Children and so on. There are so many to choose from! All of the ladies who help out at Help the Aged are really friendly, pleased with any clothes, books or kitchen bits I bring in, and I always see my things on display in the shop afterwards.

BexieID · 04/12/2009 00:31

Have recently donated some of Toms toys to both the baby charity shop and cancer research and have seen my stuff for sale in them. Didn't bother going to BHF as it's further along the road!

I know someone who has dumped kids toys in a playfield and they've been gone the next day.

ninedragons · 04/12/2009 01:27

We have one like this in our area. The woman who runs it is a loon (she has a nasty little chihuahua called Lady Miss Lily and I'm sure she keeps her mother's corpse in the attic in a rocking chair).

She told me they had lock-up storage units because they had too much stock. I thought well, yes, you'd turn over your stock much more quickly if you didn't charge $7 for a baby vest and sell children's pyjamas at $15 for the top and $15 for the matching bottom.

bumpsoon · 04/12/2009 09:18

My favorite charity shop is tiny and has very little storage so they have a price cheap get it out of the door policy , all kids clothes are 50p , adults stuff if it doesnt sell ,goes onto a 50p rail ,ive had some tremendous bargains ,i also take my stuff there too . Oh and if you are after something special like a certain book ,you can request it and they will keep it to one side if it comes in .I have also noticed some charity shops have sales ,not the ones in my local town though , so at the end of summer they have a big summer sale ,that way they get rid of loads of stock ,still get more than the rag man pays and everyone is happy .

SecretNinjaChipmunk · 04/12/2009 09:24

i have only read the first page and i am shocked. i work in the head office of a charity in their retail department and we would NEVER do this. Please write to their head office. we would be gutted to find out our shops did this. we circulate stuff between shops very regularly to ensure they all get good stuff. and the stuff that goes to the rag man is unsaleable. the only thing you might find is that they don't have a good office structure as its a charity not a private company and so are run on a shoe string and the staff may not be that well qualified/ paid.
please do not stop giving donations. find a charity you love and support them. and please gift aid them. it makes a huge difference.