Charity collection bags

Swampmonster

I've been reading the Great De-Clutter thread and want to get rid of loads of stuff to charity as it may mean we won't have to move to a bigger house and will therefore save me a lot of expense.

Just as I'm reading a charity clothes bag comes through the letter box but i'm sure I read somewhere about some of these collections being a bit dodgy.

How do I tell if they are genuine or not?

Please help.

thanks swampmonster

CCP

Is it a charity you've heard of? If so, I would generally assume it's OK (and if you're not sure, you can always phone the charity and check if they're collecting in your area).

If it's not one you've heard of then have a look on the bag for a charity number - if there isn't one and there's just a registered company number then there's probably a good chance it's one of these companies that collects clothes to sell for profit. (My apologies if there are any respectable charities that I've slandered here, but that's the check I always use.)

HTH.

Butterfly_Brain

I only ever use the help the aged bag there are too many scammers about these days or why not just take the clothes down to your local charity shop of choice? A lot of them will collect if you have a lot of stuff to get rid of

ubamother

The dodgy ones tend to have very careful wordingon the bags along the lines of being a company dedicated to supporting xxx via a proportion of its profits - I agree with CCP regarding the charity reg - or if I recognise the charity name/logo. A quick google would probably confirm

kalaika

I agree the dodgy ones tend to be very carefully worded as a company performing a 'charity collection' or similar (although often I find that the dodgy ones don't provide a bag, just a leaflet offering to collect). I'm always a little wary of these bags through the door anyway, even the legit ones - maybe I'm just a cynic but who's to say that the person collecting the bag from your front door is actually working on behalf of the charity in question?

I find it easier just to fill up carrier bags and drop them into my charity shop of choice. They are always very grateful and it removes the question over whether or not the goods will actually end up in the hands of the charity I want to support.

Icey77

I always use a local charity shop to give my stuff to, they have a basket of thes charity bags by the till so when I drop off a bag I pick up another one.

Also, when dropping off your donations see if they run a Gift Aid scheme you can register for - this means that will get an additional 20% from the government on everything they sell that you donated! It won't cost you a penny and you'll know you're doing that extra little bit!

Swampmonster

Thanks, didn't know about gift aid.

Sounds a good idea.

Bitsy_Beans

Even some of the larger charity's we've had bags from seem to use a private company that promises to donate £75 per tonne of clothing I'd rather stuff went direct to the shop for selling purposes than keep giving decent stuff away to the middle man.

Icey77

Swampmonster wrote: »

Thanks, didn't know about gift aid.

Sounds a good idea.

Meant to add that if you register for gift aid the charity should send you a letter or an email telling you how much gift aid they claimed on your donations.

I think you can claim this if you 'really' wanted but I'm happy for the charity to have it - a little bit more for them and a feel good moment for me

babyshoes

I mentioned this to a friend we were visting when a collection bag came through his door. It is easy to check for the charity number on the bottom of the leaflet.

I also prefer to give direct to the charity though, but if you don't have a car to take the stuff there then by all means use the bags for convenience, just check for the charity number first!

lovintheblues

Swampmonster wrote: »

I've been reading the Great De-Clutter thread and want to get rid of loads of stuff to charity as it may mean we won't have to move to a bigger house and will therefore save me a lot of expense.

Just as I'm reading a charity clothes bag comes through the letter box but i'm sure I read somewhere about some of these collections being a bit dodgy.

How do I tell if they are genuine or not?

Please help.

thanks swampmonster

Don't know if this applies in your area or not, but in my local Salvation Army shop if you buy a resuable bag for 99p and refill it with things that the shop can sell, they will not only give you your bag back, but you will also get a £2 voucher which you can use in the shop!!!
Seems like a win-win situation to me. Got my girls to have a big clear out and I get something to spend in the shop in return :j