PDSA Charity

Rupert_Bear

We had another good clear out about a month ago and gave to the above organization about 15 very large bags of clothing and some was never worn etc. Also we gave a one piece leather motorcycle suit. Today we received a letter thanking us for our support and because of this they raised £21.00.

I just cannot understand this and have phoned the organization and await their call. It makes me think some of the clothing disappeared before it ever got to the charity shop. However was collected by one of their vans.

gnimia

Did you sign up for gift aid reclaim? Or might you have been?
It could be that this is the c20% that they have claimed back on your behalf from HMRC - on top of what they sold it for.
Otherwise i cant see how they would have your address details linked to the items sold, and also it does seem rather low.
The one piece youd have thought would sell for a good price - but you'd have to have an appropriately sized and interested person in the shop which might prove tricky

edenbank6

It also might be the case that they've only sold a few of the items but write out every month-end.

heretolearn_2

I've not heard of any charity shops collecting clothing for them to sell in the shop.

The only collections of clothing I know of are from the companies that then sell on by weight on the charities behalf - so whether clothing is old, new, good, bad, whatever, it makes no difference, they are basically either sold for rags or for 'recycling' (selling cheap) overseas. The charity receives £Xamount per kilo.

If you have good items it's best to take them into a shop so they can put them directly on sale.

oldtoolie

People don't shop for leather motorcycle racing suits in charity shops. If you have an item like that, you will make far more for your charity if you sell it on eBay using the eBay for Charity setup. True, this takes much more time on your part to do this. Some charities might have volunteers with the knowledge to do this but most do not.

cattie

Close to me is a Cats Protection charity shop & they sell all their items very cheaply as their ethos is that every penny raised is a penny more towards feeding & helping cats in their care. They believe it's better to charge more realistic prices than the main charity shops do as then they get a much better turn over & off course raise more money because stuff is being sold & not sitting in the shop unsold.

It's quite possible the PDSA operate their shop on similar thoughts.

The other thing to remember is that volunteers usually get first pick of items that come in for sale. It's one of their perks as they give their time for free, so possible some of the stuff was taken this way.

Torry_Quine

I think that it's the tax claimed from your donations so far and there could be more. I'm presuming you signed up for gift aid as otherwise I can't see why they would have your details.

heretolearn - yes some charities do collect, our local PDSA shop definitely does.