Goods to Charity - house clearing

pip895

Does anyone have experience of how charities deal with furniture and goods donated.

If we want to give to charity, is it better to auction off/ebay the better quality furniture and china etc and then give cash, or, much easier for us, can we just get a charity to pick up and be assured that will they will realise most of the value. Are some charities better at getting value out of for example furniture.

My parents had good quality furniture but not highly valuable antiques - stuff that might fetch a few hundred at auction and things like a Wedgwood tea service that seems to go for a few hundred on ebay.

Keep_pedalling

I certainly would not sell furniture on eBay, apart from the hassle, you will get peanuts for it.

Who knows which charities will make the most of it, those with high street shops may get a better price but they have bigger overheads. Just give it to a charity that you think your partners would want to support.

theoretica

Some large charities will have far more experience dealing with the right way to sell things than you do. Some advertise house clearance services. Things that are more valuable than you normally see in a charity shop are often sold at auction by the charity.

Linton

Both AgeUK and British Heart Foundation have schemes whereby they will completely clear the house for a fee and will retain anything they can use. In our case the charity did an excellent job and were able to use a surprising amount of what I would have otherwise thrown away. If there is something you think could be of significant value you should get a professional valuation and include the item as part of the estate for IHT and inheritance purposes.

pip895

theoretica wrote: »

Some large charities will have far more experience dealing with the right way to sell things than you do. Some advertise house clearance services. Things that are more valuable than you normally see in a charity shop are often sold at auction by the charity.

That's what I was hoping. I know my Dad supported the Salvation Army and Phyllis Tuckwell but do you think a national charity like Sue Ryder or the red cross would make more from the donation?

Mojisola

pip895 wrote: »

I know my Dad supported the Salvation Army

I would go with the SA - they help people directly by kitting out new places when people are moving on from being homeless or replacing very old furniture as well as sell what's worth selling.

pip895

Linton wrote: »

Both AgeUK and British Heart Foundation have schemes whereby they will completely clear the house for a fee and will retain anything they can use. In our case the charity did an excellent job and were able to use a surprising amount of what I would have otherwise thrown away. If there is something you think could be of significant value you should get a professional valuation and include the item as part of the estate for IHT and inheritance purposes.

That's interesting - Is the fee based on the amount to be cleared or reduced if they think the quality/saleability is high.
Do you know if expenses like house clearance can be included as a qualifying cost to the estate?

pip895

Mojisola wrote: »

I would go with the SA - they help people directly by kitting out new places when people are moving on from being homeless or replacing very old furniture as well as sell what's worth selling.

OK that's interesting - I had a brief look at there website and I wasn't sure that they took furniture - good news if they do.:)

Mojisola

pip895 wrote: »

OK that's interesting - I had a brief look at there website and I wasn't sure that they took furniture - good news if they do.:)

If your local ones don't, see if you have a local furniture scheme - most areas do.

They collect furniture and white goods and sell on to local people who are struggling financially. People have to be referred to them by social services, etc, so you know the goods are going to people with real needs.

Ms_Chocaholic

Donations of any soft furnishings (sofa) must have the fire label attached otherwise they won't take it.

Pollycat

pip895 wrote: »

That's what I was hoping. I know my Dad supported the Salvation Army and Phyllis Tuckwell but do you think a national charity like Sue Ryder or the red cross would make more from the donation?

If I were not personally looking to make any money out of it, I'd donate to a charity that my parent(s) supported rather than one that might make the most money out of it.
Of course that's assuming that those charities collect or you can get the stuff to them without too much hassle.

My Mum's stuff was collected by our local hospice charity when she went into a care home.
They have a big unit that sells furniture and white goods.
I didn't give any thought to how much they might make on the donated items compared to a different charity.
It was a charity that Mum & Dad supported so we agreed they should benefit.