Charity shops refusing new stock but having nothing on shelves

[MonicaGellerCleans]

Has anyone else's local charity shops gone like this?

I live in a large town with 10 or so charity shops. For about the past 2 months most have had signs up outside saying they are not currently taking donations, yet their shelves are all getting emptier and emptier with nothing new.

I've been to charity shops in other places during that time and they've had no signs up and been very well stocked.

Is this happening in anyone else's area? I don't think it's a staff thing as they all seem to have hoards of staff standing in their stores chatting

Perhaps they are waiting for deliveries? I've experienced this too. I assumed that the backrooms were full and items would be brought forward soon.

@ragwort do you have any insight on this? I remember you giving some great advice on previous threads about Charity shops ❣

There's on near me saying no donations please.
I enquired, apparently their store room is full and the local big store room is full and they're struggling for volunteers to sort it all.
That's what I was told, I have no reason to doubt it. Was BHF.

They're probably hugely understaffed and preparing goods for sale in a charity shop is a whole lot harder than you realise. It maybe that the person on the till is the only person there

Our local PDSA shop was the only one that would take a large bag of donations last week. They had the most stock in their shop too!

The other charity shops in our small town were really bare but they had signs up saying no donations. Hopefully it's because they have a lot of stock to put out as it's a shame if they are missing out on post Christmas donations. I always love going in this time of year to check out the unwanted toiletries gifts!!

Some are like that round here. I think a lot of charity shops rely on volunteers who are retired and who maybe also aren't in the best of health and so they're being careful and weighing it up before rushing back.

One of our local charity shops is actively advertising for donations of men's and women's clothing. Don't know of any that are not accepting any donations.

My local AGE UK one doesn't like accepting books as we're near a council house estate and I was told 'people here don't read' so all books go to the BHF shop in town. They've always accepted other items but did request no more donations of clothes after lockdown last year when they were full to the brim and people kept dumping stuff outside (despite the large signs telling them not to).

Someone on here recommended the below company who collect from home. I've used them during lockdowns so they might be worth trying if you have stuff you're desperate to get out of your homes or would have to make several trips for.

www.icollectclothes.co.uk

I've found them great and they also list all of the different items that they collect (not just clothes).

OP does your town begin with H?

Hi all, thank you for the replies!

Its not so much that I have things to donate currently, more that I love a browse and love buying in charity shops. Its a bit annoying to go in a shop after, say, 4 weeks, and it's the same stock in there as before with absolutely nothing new

I do 2 afternoons in a local charity shop - usually a volunteer and a manager on duty. We're quite well stocked and the store room is full so we only want men's and women's clothes and interesting 'bric-a-brac' at the moment. The no-donations sign is up though otherwise people drop bags of unwanted dvds, baby clothes and hard-back books inside the front door and leg it. The sign does seem to deter this and they come in and ask instead so we can filter out stuff we've got no room for. As for being older and not so fit, we work our bloody socks off! I don't know why some shops have empty shelves though, very weird.

As for being older and not so fit, we work our bloody socks off!
Sorry no slight intended, I was reporting what I've been told by a local charity shop worker, i.e that a number of their volunteers hadn't returned after lockdown because they still felt vulnerable because of their age and health. Which I totally understand as I'm older myself than many volunteers plus I'm well acquainted with Covid vulnerability.

Apologies, really wasn't having a pop! I understand totally x

No worries, I posted in a hurry and was probably a bit clumsy!

Maybe they're closing down soon

@myrtleberry

Maybe they're closing down soon

I did wonder this but there seem to be quite a few of them doing it, and they're from big charities not small, more local ones. I'd be surprised if they were all closing

No, ours are great the moment. I bought a Pretty Little things coat last week from one fir £5 and a 3/4 fake fur coat from Next for 10 quid from another.

Charity shop manager here - We are getting ready for the spring/ summer changeover so only putting out decent winter donations for the next few weeks so possibly the reason for the shops looking emptier than normal. Having said that we have been flooded with rubbish donations so having to turn donations away for that reason.
Definitely not standing chatting!!

The things that I'd love to see more of @SoLongFurlough if you were to ask me are:

Cutlery
Bedding (pillow cases & throws etc are very versatile for pets and kids and home alike)
Rugs (same as above)
Belts
Books in foreign languages
Cards (really lovely to buy charity supported cards or locally made cards)
Baskets

Just because there has been a run of rubbish donations doesn't mean they'll continue to be so. The only way to ensure there are no rubbish donations is to continue not to accept them, forever I sympathise with sorting out donations from people getting rid of their old tat, which the charity then has to dispose of, but it isn't a long term strategy, surely.

@TeaAddict235 very often donations of rugs and bedding are unseeable sadly
Belts & books in foreign languages we do sell as well as our own Christmas cards which I think would be the same for most charities

I used to volunteer in a charity shop, sorting the donations is very labour intensive and when the shop was open with 1 person on the till, there would be 3 or 4 people sorting stock. Most were retired.

If you have some spare time, you could volunteer to help. (Most let volunteers have first dibs on buying things, but do expect them to pay the same price as if it was going on the shop floor.)

@MaryAndHerNet

There's on near me saying no donations please. I enquired, apparently their store room is full and the local big store room is full and they're struggling for volunteers to sort it all. That's what I was told, I have no reason to doubt it. Was BHF.

I'm a charity shop volunteer for another large chain and we have the same sign.

January is always peak donation time. Loads of our volunteers quit during the pandemic, we are really struggling for people. Our backshop is small, we just can't cope with the amount coming through the door.

When is your quietest time in the year @RavenclawDiadem ? It would be good to know, in order to save bits for then.

December. People busy doing other things.

Summer holidays too. Busy times are when the schools go back in August, and January.

I work in a charity shop and we just don't have enough time to sort stuff. Often we have so much stuff we can't see the wood for the trees. Instead of a shop well stocked with the best stuff, we can have a bottleneck in the sorting room, and good, seasonal stuff languishing under a pile of.....