whoops

soolin

Hmm, someone just left me glowing feedback and thanked me for the extras in the envelope - trouble is I didn't intentionally send any extras - best go off and count my stock!

I've also just got my 6 monthly gift aid email from just one of the shops I regularly donate to. This time my total sales in the period amounted to well over £300. I sort my auction buys between ebay/private buyers/car boot and charity shops but for the past few months have been donating the car boot items (mainly large items of china and cut glass vases, that sort of thing) to charity as I got fed up with car booting. I fear I may have got my sorting a bit wrong as my 6 monthy totals are usually a bit less than £100.

Looks like I need to concentrate a bit better!

Crowqueen

I hope it was a worthy cause!

I spend so much in Oxfam bookshops here and there (particularly in Reading, Oxford and Henley, which have a much better quality of book for sale than most) and donate so much to them I really must get out there and become a taxpayer so that they get much more money out of me.

soolin

Crowqueen wrote: »

I hope it was a worthy cause!

I spend so much in Oxfam bookshops here and there (particularly in Reading, Oxford and Henley, which have a much better quality of book for sale than most) and donate so much to them I really must get out there and become a taxpayer so that they get much more money out of me.

All my books go to Oxfam as they have the specialist shops they can send them to. The china and glass gets spread around a bit.

Contains_Mild_Peril

I usually donate stuff to my local Salvation Army shop because they give donors a £2 voucher for every bagful (when using their special bags which are about the siize of a large carrier bag), and they seem to at least try to sell just about anything that's donated, whereas some of the other charity shops are a bit pickier and put a lot of stuff straight in the recycling bins. They often have some really nice stuff, so it never takes me long to find something on which to spend my £2 (sometimes I even spend it on eBay stock).

Crowqueen

As a buyer I have to say I'm in two minds about charity shops - but I appreciate the quality of many good ones. I paid £14 for a really nice coat with an imitation wool collar in one recently and feel it was worth it, compared to some really bad ones for sale in the lower end. Then there are the places in Henley where hats can easily cost £30 - but then I suspect they are only charging what the market can bear in order to get more money for the charity.

Some of the small new gift items can make good cheap presents for people who are into trinkets and ornaments so I have no problem with that kind of stuff. I used to be into New Age stuff and there are a lot of charity shops which sell those crystal bracelets. The junky kind of shops, however, are unappealing - and with Primark and similar shops out there they're no longer necessarily the cheapest place to buy.

It's probably a constant dilemma between getting the people in who have the most money to spend and still trying to provide a cheaper place to buy clothes.

porto_bello

I find it's often worth a rummage in a charity shop, mid you, my 'thing' is art and antiques/collectibles, so occasionally it's possible to find something special for a few quid.