Those charity clothes bag collections

[maybemyrtle]

I'm probably the last person to realise this, but those donation bags that come through the door from different charities? The donations actually go to a private company that just make a pathetic donation to the named charity per tonne of donations received. £50 per tonne, which is nothing!

I'm very annoyed because I donated a load of decent stuff a few weeks ago in this way that could have done quite well in a charity shop.

some are from charities and some are from companies. I always check the leaflet for the charity registration number before using the bag. I bin the ones from companies

I don't even bother checking, they go straight in the bin, clothes go a local charity shop.

I keep the bags and use them for rubbish and take my clothes to the local charity shop.

I only fill them with absolute rubbish- old towels , ancient T shirts, etc etc- and all my old clothes are either ebayed or taken to a charity shop.

I just use one, where I know that the clothes go to a local charity shop.
Or I send them to school when they have a collection.I know they don't get a lot of cash for the clothes but its something they wouldn't otherwise have

I just use one, where I know that the clothes go to a local charity shop.
Or I send them to school when they have a collection.I know they don't get a lot of cash for the clothes but its something they wouldn't otherwise have

I use them for my bin

Take donations direct to a charity shop.

I just wish I'd known before - I usually donate direct to local charity shops but the convenience factor won out, plus I honestly thought it was from the charity it said it was! Oh well, shan't make the same mistake again.

Give your good bits for the charity shops, the stuff they will actually sell and make a profit on after they've handled it and got it ready for sale. Fill the bags with with everything else. The company has to make enough to keep running and pay staff. It's often the charities that don't have shops that use these companies, they may not get the biggest cut but it's money that they wouldn't get otherwise. It's also not labour intensive to a charity.

I use the bags to put stuff that I want to take directly to the charity shop. This is the only way the charity gets 100% of the profits.

Yup it's bit of a scam I think. They will still get money for the unsaleable clothes by selling them as rags to businesses

In case anyone's interested, I emailed Audosta, the company that sent the latest bag asking fr more info and this is their response:

"Thank you for your email.

Firstly, we donate £500 per month to each of the four charities which we represent. This is paid irrespective of any clothing collection made, so we donate £24,000 in total. At the end of each year we calculate the total tonnage collected for each charity and multiply that figure by £50.

If the resulting figure is more than the £6,000, the charity will get the additional amount, if less, then nothing further is paid.

All costs are borne by ourselves. Cost of bags, design , shipping, distribution/collection , so charities have no risk whatsoever.

The clothes that you kindly donate via our collections are sold mainly to Eastern European countries, but we hope to expand to other areas of the world.

I hope this gives you some insight into our operation."

Will still be donating to actual shops in the future!

I didn't realise that! What about clothing banks? the ones you get in supermarket carparks along with the bottle banks, recycling bins etc - does anyone know where those clothes go?

Where I am the clothing bins are the same people. They sell the clothes and make millions off it. I live in a fairly wealthy area (not uk) and there are four of those bins at our local supermarket. The stuff I've seen go in there is amazing.
I bet if people knew it wasn't going to charity they would think twice. I take mine to the local church shop.

A charity shop is always a good choice, certainly if it's close to a high street with free parking. Not everyone can afford to pack 3-5 bags of second-hand clothes and drive to the nearest charity shop and then walk down the street with those bags. For me, it's a waste of time. I prefer to donate online so that the charity can come and collect the items from my home, saving me time and generating profit for the charity. 😀

Just checking then, it's ok to put ripped, ancient, or stained clean clothes in the "company" bags because they are used to make rags?

Hi, usually the list of items accepted is written on the charity pack itself.

Yes those companies sell those clothes in bale loads into non European countries. I'm in Africa, some are resold at quite a cheap price, and others (depending on condition and the fabric) are cut up and sold per kg as rags.

So some are reused, but they come at a price as they will have incurred a shipping fee, and then the company importing sells them on.

Those are usually arranged by the local authority or by the supermarket themselves and are typically Wilcox, Salvation Army or the like.

I've been to see the Wilcox site, it's in Bilston, very impressive. Not one of these small scale scam companies dropping off bags to householders. Those are not audited and anybody can say anything they like in response to any questions.

Thanks, both.

I use ICollectClothes. I first heard of them on here. I don't know how much profit they make or percentage they donate to their chosen charities but do know they are small charities without shops. I don't mind of someone profits from my clothes as long as they don't go to landfill. My stuff is generally in very good condtion.
I don't have a car so would struggle to get stuff to a charity shop and can't find any charity willing to collect anything other than furniture.

They give £200 for every tonne of clothing they collect. Total scam.

Oxfam will collect from any Collect+ drop off point: onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/donate-clothes

I use them for things the charity shops won't want

Even if you take your clothes to a charity shop some of them may end up with companies like this. Charity shops just don't have room for everything they are given and they are often quite strict about the quantity and quality of certain types of clothes they will sell in-store. At the back of a local charity shop I've seen vans from World of Books collecting books and vans taking away huge bin bags of clothing etc.
If you're sending quality branded stuff then it will make it into the store, but if it's supermarket and Primark worn T shirts it will probably be sold by weight to charity bag collection companies.

@Clymene The problem with Collect+ is the same as with charity shops - I would have to get the stuff to them. I have charity shops nearer than a Collect+ shop (including an Oxfam shop).