Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have dropped off that Buttmaster 4000.
used to work in a charity shop yeaaars ago. people outright, unashamedly just used it as a dumping ground (presumably got too tired of waiting for their local binmen to come). the amount of blatantly unsellable shit i’d have to sift through was nuts… broken items (we’re talking into *pieces*), opened and partially used makeup and lotions, used sex toys and homemade porn burned onto dvds, a white dressing gown absolutely caked in poo.
as much as it would make for a good laugh and a story sometimes, it was hard not to question the audacity of the general public.
edit: forgot to mention, we weren’t allowed to decline donations either. management’d bollock us for the mere thought so every bag of shit we’d get handed, we had to act like was god’s gift unto us so not to deter customers.
No what’s costing charity shops is them selling things at a higher price than regular shops. They’ll sell old video games for ridiculous prices and wonder why no one buys them when you can go to cex and get it for half the price.
If they want people to buy stuff from the charity shop, they have to make it worthwhile otherwise people will just go elsewhere
All the good stuff gets put on eBay or bought by staff anyway.
My mum works at the local Sue Ryder and despite it being one of three charity shops in the same stretch of road they’re completely inundated with donations.
Not heard many crazy stories but she has voiced disdain for some people treating the shop as a public library, tip or playschool.
Is actual trash being donated or are the stores overrun with what those in the charity shop business refer to as ‘doorstops’ ?
One of the issues I’m seeing especially with cups, plates, etc is that it’s all old and a lot is badly designed or very outdated, plus you break a cup, you can get a new one for a couple quid, unless there’s a 40s or 50s comeback, it would be better to crush it all and make something else
One time we had something that stank of weed and it took an hour to find it
I used to work for a charity. People were fucking horrible if you didn’t collect their absolutely ruined furniture. Almost every time I refused something they’d be a formal complaint raised against me. Someone falsely accused me of stealing as well.
Sometimes you were just taking stuff for the scrap metal value
I feel like we’ve reached the end of the period where even cheaper products were still made to a quality where they would last a decade. Now stuff doesn’t last long enough for it to have a second lease of life in a charity shop.
This is why whenever I do a sort out now I make a usual ‘Charity’ pile, then after I’m done I go back through the pile and think ‘Is anyone likely to ever buy this?’ and if the answer is no it either goes in the bin or on ebay.
Do you think the Internet and/or more awareness of the staff means that all the good stuff never makes it onto the shelf?
I read stories of people finding absolute bargains in charity shops from house clearances, etc. But I never seem to have much look anymore.
I’d always assumed that either the people sending the stuff were more aware, so would sell online or that charity workers were also more aware, and would keep/ sell these goods elsewhere rather than putting on tbe shelf for 50p, although, saying that, pricing seemes to have rocketed too for absolute tat. I saw something the other day that was still in the original B&M box with pre-printed price on it – for very close to what it retailed for brand new… and it was battered.
Maybe if they stopped over pricing stuff they may sell a bit more…
Charity shops Google the item, see what the RRP is and mark it just under.
Just stick a sticker on it for a quid and watch it fly out the store.
I get they are trying to make money for charity but if I wanted to pay near RRP for a second hand item I’d rather just pay RRP for a new one
To counter this though, i once handed in a bag of my unwanted designer clothes from when i was in my early 20s. Some stuff i’d only worn once, some stuff still with the tags on. They looked at me like i’d handed them a bag of dog shit
Crap donations aside, the stuff they do put on the shelves is bad enough. There should be a £1 rail for all the Primark shit. Get it gone and make room for better stuff you can still sell at a reasonable price. I guess this is more work for volunteers than just having a shop full stock that doesn’t move, though.
It’s not even viable to buy tatty stuff that you’re going to destroy wearing around the house or for physical work.
Makes me laugh the shops who promote the environmental benefits of recycling clothes in this way when they’re charging more than retail.
Used to work at a place that took electronics recycling. We had an agreement with British Heart Foundation to take in their recycling because of the sheer volume of broken electronics they had donated. We got a weekly pallet load from them, that’s a fair amount of faulty items.
I don’t know if people just don’t check before donating, or if they know full well their items don’t work and use the charity shops as dumps. I’d hope they don’t realise, but it wouldn’t suprise me if it was intentional.
Rampant cheap goods and consumerism. My partner buys so much stuff she doesn’t need in those God awful home bargains / B & M style shops because it’s £1 down from £1.20. It sits in our home for months until it eventually gets dumped into the charity shop because, ironically, it’s been drilled in her since she was young to not dump things at the tip because they go into landfill and it’s bad for the environment.
Until plastic tat and 30p clothes from Shein are banned we’re all going to drown in stuff.
The thing that right pissed me off working at the charity is the people giving you mountains of unwanted stuff and making out like you’re being a dick by not taking it aren’t your customers. They’ll never put their hand in their pocket to help you. They just want you to take their short life cycle products so they can replace it with more short life cycle products. They don’t care about your cause.
I’ve previously tried donating some old video games that would be a godsend for someone on the lookout. Good condition, top quality games, and rare. You could get a good chunk of money for them. Not interested. Yet the clothing rail for mens clothes for example looks like a retirement home with every brown and beige pair of trousers or suit jacket you can imagine. Same week in week out. No variety. I do wonder where and how the decisions about what to take are made.
I mean, charity rage rooms?
i do wonder if having better access to things like dumps and recycling places would help with this. like our local one is only open a few days a week and you need a pass, so i can imagine a lot of stuff that would end up there ends up in our local charity shops instead.
My brief experience from a charity shop was that if you got a bag of donations and half of it was something that could be sold, that was considered a good day.
It’s not like most donations are full of broken items, dirty clothes or outright rubbish either – although there is plenty of that too – it’s just people’s expectations of what could be sold on are rather optimistic. No one buys bric-a-brac, no one wants old CDs or DVDs (strangely blu-rays even of shite films no one watched sold), most clothing ends up in the rag pile as it’s just too obviously worn, and don’t even think your handmade jewellery is going to be touched by another hand again.
The only bright spot is the supply of Dan Brown books finally seems to be drying up. Book pulping is an industry that needs more respect…
This post is funny after that post the other day of the charity shop selling a £1 Poundland mug for more than £1
The charity shop my partner used to manage had to up its bin collection from once to twice per week because of the sheer amount of unsellable/broken/filthy things being brought in. The shop was at the end of a pedestrianised high street and was the closest charity shop along there to the parking bays so it was the prime spot for getting inundated with stuff. Plenty of nice things apparently but plenty of absolute garbage too.
I still have clothing from 2008 that is perfect but everything after then just falls apart. I then go to buy my replacement jeans or something from the charity shop but they are now £20!
I worked in a charity shop 10 years ago, we had the same issues. People would clear out their homes and we’d get everything, imagine tipping out your crap drawer into a bag and instead of separating rubbish from stuff you just donate it to the charity shop, we got that 20 times a week.
It’s not even just a case of oh who wants a low quality Primark top. The amount of clothes with holes or frayed edges, things absolutely covered In stains.
For so long, people have justified over-consumption and buying more than they need by donating clothing to second hand shops and washing their hands of it. It’s the same phenomena as ‘wishcycling’ – when people chuck stuff in the recycling which clearly can’t be recycled, but it makes them feel better. It gives people an excuse not to address their overconsumption.
Most people in the UK buy too many things/clothes, full stop. Yes, at the same time the quality of clothing and items has gone down, but the sheer amount of stuff being bought is the bigger problem. We can’t pretend otherwise anymore!
Maybe charity shops would sell more if they started reducing their prices. I’ve seen second hand items for sale that are dearer than buying new!
Since Temu and Shein have become the main source for everything, this is only the start of it. When I still worked in Charity shops it was starting with the deluge of Primark donations, most of which went in the rag bag as they weren’t saleable.
It is getting harder and harder to find things in charity shops that are good quality or useful. I try to use them more than buying new.
I went shopping yesterday, looked through the local charity shops. Sadly I found new clothes in primani cheaper than the cost second hand in charity shops.
My 2 cents is that it’s been so hard to throw some stuff out that I just bag it all up and send it to the charity shops to dela with.
32 comments
Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have dropped off that Buttmaster 4000.
used to work in a charity shop yeaaars ago. people outright, unashamedly just used it as a dumping ground (presumably got too tired of waiting for their local binmen to come). the amount of blatantly unsellable shit i’d have to sift through was nuts… broken items (we’re talking into *pieces*), opened and partially used makeup and lotions, used sex toys and homemade porn burned onto dvds, a white dressing gown absolutely caked in poo.
as much as it would make for a good laugh and a story sometimes, it was hard not to question the audacity of the general public.
edit: forgot to mention, we weren’t allowed to decline donations either. management’d bollock us for the mere thought so every bag of shit we’d get handed, we had to act like was god’s gift unto us so not to deter customers.
No what’s costing charity shops is them selling things at a higher price than regular shops. They’ll sell old video games for ridiculous prices and wonder why no one buys them when you can go to cex and get it for half the price.
If they want people to buy stuff from the charity shop, they have to make it worthwhile otherwise people will just go elsewhere
All the good stuff gets put on eBay or bought by staff anyway.
My mum works at the local Sue Ryder and despite it being one of three charity shops in the same stretch of road they’re completely inundated with donations.
Not heard many crazy stories but she has voiced disdain for some people treating the shop as a public library, tip or playschool.
Is actual trash being donated or are the stores overrun with what those in the charity shop business refer to as ‘doorstops’ ?
One of the issues I’m seeing especially with cups, plates, etc is that it’s all old and a lot is badly designed or very outdated, plus you break a cup, you can get a new one for a couple quid, unless there’s a 40s or 50s comeback, it would be better to crush it all and make something else
One time we had something that stank of weed and it took an hour to find it
I used to work for a charity. People were fucking horrible if you didn’t collect their absolutely ruined furniture. Almost every time I refused something they’d be a formal complaint raised against me. Someone falsely accused me of stealing as well.
Sometimes you were just taking stuff for the scrap metal value
I feel like we’ve reached the end of the period where even cheaper products were still made to a quality where they would last a decade. Now stuff doesn’t last long enough for it to have a second lease of life in a charity shop.
This is why whenever I do a sort out now I make a usual ‘Charity’ pile, then after I’m done I go back through the pile and think ‘Is anyone likely to ever buy this?’ and if the answer is no it either goes in the bin or on ebay.
Do you think the Internet and/or more awareness of the staff means that all the good stuff never makes it onto the shelf?
I read stories of people finding absolute bargains in charity shops from house clearances, etc. But I never seem to have much look anymore.
I’d always assumed that either the people sending the stuff were more aware, so would sell online or that charity workers were also more aware, and would keep/ sell these goods elsewhere rather than putting on tbe shelf for 50p, although, saying that, pricing seemes to have rocketed too for absolute tat. I saw something the other day that was still in the original B&M box with pre-printed price on it – for very close to what it retailed for brand new… and it was battered.
Maybe if they stopped over pricing stuff they may sell a bit more…
Charity shops Google the item, see what the RRP is and mark it just under.
Just stick a sticker on it for a quid and watch it fly out the store.
I get they are trying to make money for charity but if I wanted to pay near RRP for a second hand item I’d rather just pay RRP for a new one
To counter this though, i once handed in a bag of my unwanted designer clothes from when i was in my early 20s. Some stuff i’d only worn once, some stuff still with the tags on. They looked at me like i’d handed them a bag of dog shit
Crap donations aside, the stuff they do put on the shelves is bad enough. There should be a £1 rail for all the Primark shit. Get it gone and make room for better stuff you can still sell at a reasonable price. I guess this is more work for volunteers than just having a shop full stock that doesn’t move, though.
It’s not even viable to buy tatty stuff that you’re going to destroy wearing around the house or for physical work.
Makes me laugh the shops who promote the environmental benefits of recycling clothes in this way when they’re charging more than retail.
Used to work at a place that took electronics recycling. We had an agreement with British Heart Foundation to take in their recycling because of the sheer volume of broken electronics they had donated. We got a weekly pallet load from them, that’s a fair amount of faulty items.
I don’t know if people just don’t check before donating, or if they know full well their items don’t work and use the charity shops as dumps. I’d hope they don’t realise, but it wouldn’t suprise me if it was intentional.
Rampant cheap goods and consumerism. My partner buys so much stuff she doesn’t need in those God awful home bargains / B & M style shops because it’s £1 down from £1.20. It sits in our home for months until it eventually gets dumped into the charity shop because, ironically, it’s been drilled in her since she was young to not dump things at the tip because they go into landfill and it’s bad for the environment.
Until plastic tat and 30p clothes from Shein are banned we’re all going to drown in stuff.
The thing that right pissed me off working at the charity is the people giving you mountains of unwanted stuff and making out like you’re being a dick by not taking it aren’t your customers. They’ll never put their hand in their pocket to help you. They just want you to take their short life cycle products so they can replace it with more short life cycle products. They don’t care about your cause.
I’ve previously tried donating some old video games that would be a godsend for someone on the lookout. Good condition, top quality games, and rare. You could get a good chunk of money for them. Not interested. Yet the clothing rail for mens clothes for example looks like a retirement home with every brown and beige pair of trousers or suit jacket you can imagine. Same week in week out. No variety. I do wonder where and how the decisions about what to take are made.
I mean, charity rage rooms?
i do wonder if having better access to things like dumps and recycling places would help with this. like our local one is only open a few days a week and you need a pass, so i can imagine a lot of stuff that would end up there ends up in our local charity shops instead.
My brief experience from a charity shop was that if you got a bag of donations and half of it was something that could be sold, that was considered a good day.
It’s not like most donations are full of broken items, dirty clothes or outright rubbish either – although there is plenty of that too – it’s just people’s expectations of what could be sold on are rather optimistic. No one buys bric-a-brac, no one wants old CDs or DVDs (strangely blu-rays even of shite films no one watched sold), most clothing ends up in the rag pile as it’s just too obviously worn, and don’t even think your handmade jewellery is going to be touched by another hand again.
The only bright spot is the supply of Dan Brown books finally seems to be drying up. Book pulping is an industry that needs more respect…
This post is funny after that post the other day of the charity shop selling a £1 Poundland mug for more than £1
The charity shop my partner used to manage had to up its bin collection from once to twice per week because of the sheer amount of unsellable/broken/filthy things being brought in. The shop was at the end of a pedestrianised high street and was the closest charity shop along there to the parking bays so it was the prime spot for getting inundated with stuff. Plenty of nice things apparently but plenty of absolute garbage too.
I still have clothing from 2008 that is perfect but everything after then just falls apart. I then go to buy my replacement jeans or something from the charity shop but they are now £20!
I worked in a charity shop 10 years ago, we had the same issues. People would clear out their homes and we’d get everything, imagine tipping out your crap drawer into a bag and instead of separating rubbish from stuff you just donate it to the charity shop, we got that 20 times a week.
It’s not even just a case of oh who wants a low quality Primark top. The amount of clothes with holes or frayed edges, things absolutely covered In stains.
For so long, people have justified over-consumption and buying more than they need by donating clothing to second hand shops and washing their hands of it. It’s the same phenomena as ‘wishcycling’ – when people chuck stuff in the recycling which clearly can’t be recycled, but it makes them feel better. It gives people an excuse not to address their overconsumption.
Most people in the UK buy too many things/clothes, full stop. Yes, at the same time the quality of clothing and items has gone down, but the sheer amount of stuff being bought is the bigger problem. We can’t pretend otherwise anymore!
Maybe charity shops would sell more if they started reducing their prices. I’ve seen second hand items for sale that are dearer than buying new!
Since Temu and Shein have become the main source for everything, this is only the start of it. When I still worked in Charity shops it was starting with the deluge of Primark donations, most of which went in the rag bag as they weren’t saleable.
It is getting harder and harder to find things in charity shops that are good quality or useful. I try to use them more than buying new.
I went shopping yesterday, looked through the local charity shops. Sadly I found new clothes in primani cheaper than the cost second hand in charity shops.
My 2 cents is that it’s been so hard to throw some stuff out that I just bag it all up and send it to the charity shops to dela with.
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