Charity Shop Surplus

remembered_nights

GiveItBack wrote: »

having said that, a lot of shops get 'donated' so much stuff that is really only good for the rubbish, that some of it may be that.....

Used underwear... tapes recorded from the TV... jigsaws with 3 pieces missing...

elaina79

My husband used to buy the unsellable goods (mostly electrical) from a charity shop. It might be worth visiting them and asking if they currently have anyone as I'm sure they will gladly take the money as apposed to just throwing the stuff away.
Some of the stuff we have had has been brand new and never opened.

mightymole

action for children(was nch) and british heart foundation sell their unsold r unsaleable stock as rags to be recycled

rarrarrar

This article gives a general view on textile recycling :

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Textiles.htm

Regards the "large amount binned", if its saleable it wont get binned but- chipped china, well used kitchen items, battered videos, old cassettes do get binned !
Many people don't sort the items they donate , they just pile everything into bags or boxes and let the shop decide what they want and allow the shop to pay for disposing of the rest.

We test and sell electricals but get a lot of items which the donor must have known were broken donated which is annoying.

Old_Git

remembered_nights wrote: »

Oxfam have two contracts going - one place takes unsaleable clothes, these are then sold in the UK and in third-world countries. Just recently we've got a book contract that's similar.

We can't sell electrical items, so they either go in the bin or staff take them.

Bric-a-brac and toys if unsaleable go into the bin (or again, staff take).

I know some of the smaller ones near me sell unsaleable clothes to the ragman so they do at least get a small amount for them.

I know one oxfam shop that does sell TVs' & fridges .

reniannen

bit late to this, but if it helps Barnardos are signed up with precycle who take basically everything unwanted for free - plastics, paper, electricals etc. It's a condition that they take the unwanted books as this is where they make their money apparently. Prior to this our shop did have a semi arrangement with a car booter who would pay a small sum for the bags of unsold books. It was better than them going in the bin and getting nothing for them.
I think many charities would be quite willing to make arrangements like this.

And a side note from the perspective of a volunteer. You wouldn't believe what people will give to charity. For example we've had bags of unwashed underwear, a used breast pump (clean, but still), sex toys (not in packaging) as well as the usual broken tat. Last week someone cleaned out their entire loft and dumped the contents on us. Everything was ancient, covered in a few inches of black filth and cobwebs and some things had interesting species of mould growing on them. I think some people believe we're equipped with a full laundry and cleaning facilities, which sadly we're not.
You also need to remember that most charities only have small spaces to work in. We're lucky to have quite a big shop and it's still packed to the rafters.