Rags - Charity shops

THIRZAH

Oxfam have their own recycling plant in Huddersfield-it's called Wastesavers or something like that.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Edinburghlass wrote: »

Be aware that some of the recycling bins that are in carparks and recycling centres are emptied by the rag merchants rather than the charities so if you are putting in clothes that have a resale value they won't be going to the charity shops but the rag merchant which is a bit of a shame.

alot of the textiles that are put into charity banks dont even get to the charity shops... the charities... just get the rag merchants to empty them on a regular basis and the charity gets the money....

I am not mentioning which charities, but they are big named ones....

Jemeni

This is why you should donate ALL clothes to your local charity shop (no matter how good/tatty they are) - volunteers will decide what is suitable for sale and what needs to be seperated for the rag man

cinderelly

Well I never knew they took rags. I take loads of stuff to the charity shop but thought I was doing them a favour by putting unsaleables in the dustbin!

lynnemcf

Really shocked to read that stuff I put in clothing banks may never find its way into a charity shop
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-387200/The-great-charity-shop-con.html

This article makes me feel a bit better, cos my clothes go in a Salvation Army collection bin. Says 70% of donations get reused as clothing.

http://dustfactoryvintage.com/2007/06/rag-bone-textile-recycling-101.html

COOLTRIKERCHICK

lynnemcf wrote: »

Really shocked to read that stuff I put in clothing banks may never find its way into a charity shop
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-387200/The-great-charity-shop-con.html

This article makes me feel a bit better, cos my clothes go in a Salvation Army collection bin. Says 70% of donations get reused as clothing.

http://dustfactoryvintage.com/2007/06/rag-bone-textile-recycling-101.html[/QUO

yes maybe 70% of donations do get used as clothing, but they are SELLING your clothes abroad......for maximum profit..... they are not giving them abroad...

a lot of 'rag men' who buy the rags off charity shops etc support local/ national charities ... but dont shout/advertise it...

Jaime-V

We accept all textiles in the Marie Curie shops. It would be much easier if they were marked rags as we have to go through every bag. They are recycled and the money goes to the charity, so it all adds up

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

The shop near me has bins overflowing out back (used to live in street behind their access road).

The rag man used to get bag upon bag of resaleable stuff given to him by the manageress. She never charged more than a couple of pound for anything - jewellery that passed the dealer, handbags, clothes, books. You could always find something worth buying there and everyone donated their goods to her shop in preference to the others, as they knew she would try and get it to someone who needed it, reducing prices if she thought the person was in genuine hardship. She was replaced and the whole shop had a boutique style makeover.

Now they charge more for Primark labelled clothes than they cost originally and the source of cheap handbags/purses has dried up in favour of plastic tat marked up for about a pound less than the original sale price. Books are also now £2.50-£5 rather than 30p-75p. Anything less than perfect is slung out the back in the bins.

One upside though. Now it's been 'edited' and 'presented', you can see that there is beggar all worth buying, so you don't waste more than 30 seconds in the shop before leaving emptyhanded. They are now no longer the top earning store in the charity.

Dustykitten

I tend to take my clothes to Oxfam - they are still (I think) doing the £5 M&S vouchers. Most of the kids clothes I pass onto friends kids as then I know they will be used rather than ragged. I always put my bags of rags in the car park collection bins so I'm not worried that they get ragged.

wsheena

Scope (About Cerebral Palsy) will gladly accept all your unwanted items.
However, if you are donating goods which you know have no resale value, it would be lovely of you to mark the bag as such with a label.
These items will then be 'ragged' which means the charity can still sell them on for their weight.
It doesn't bring in much, but we are still always grateful.
You can find your nearest store by going via the Scope (Shop finder)website.
Sorry, but I'm new on forums so can't put the full link in for you.
Thank you.