Published on 12, July, 2020
I went to take some clothes to a charity shop yesterday, the first one I tried don't take donations on a tuesday, the other one asked me if I had an appointment, I was confused and asked why I needed an appointment to drop a few clothes off? The woman went round the back and asked another woman if they could "fit me in to take the clothes", the second woman came out and told me she'd have to see if they had an appointment space available, I told her I'd never had so many problems giving stuff away before and that I had other things I needed to do that day, she went off on one told me I was rude and that they have to have appointments for donations as all the other charity shops are full and they're the ones who get dumped on. I walked out, I don't want to give them stuff if thats their attitude, which is a shame because they're the local hospice.
All these charities go on about wanting donations and yet they seem to be getting ever fussier about what they'll take and when. It all seems to be the givers fault too, for not knowing thier rules, I was chased after by one charity shop worker because I'd donated some cutlery and they no longer take knives, I thought you could of done more damage with a teaspoon than the knives as they were just normal eating stuff. I've seen clothes sold more expensively in charity shops than they are new and many of them are no longer taking books, even though they sell well.
It's really peeing me off that it's easier to throw good stuff away than take it to a charity shop and they seem so ungrateful and rude, I don't expect a medal, just a thank you.
What's your experience of charity shops?
Okay, just to speak in defence of the charity shops.
A lot of people donate products that are not resalable, often leaving them at the door where they get damaged. And a lot of charity shops can't sell all the products they receive.
They then have to dispose of these products, which they have to PAY FOR. This is a huge thing for them to consider and as a result they are trying to reduce the amount of unsellable or surplus products they receive by controlling the intake. These are all volunteers, they don't have infinite time to sort through donations. And yes, it does take time. That's why they have to have appointments.
If you find this unreasonable, there are fabric and clothing donation bins in many other places such as council refuse yards which don't pick through it and are less picky. Or you could use something such as facebook market place of vinted at extremely low prices or free, and see directly how easy it is to find people to take your stuff.
I agree about people dumping stuff out side of the doors, I thought charity shops used fabric recycling places that pay for rags?
I don't want to throw away good clothes, 3 items were suits, all in good condition and all the charity shops keep on asking for mens clothes. We can put ragd and old fabric stuff out in our weekly curbside recycling bins as well as the tip and a couple of other places, I do use them. But I'm extrememly reluctant to throw away clothes that have hardly been worn, like suits, I wonder how many men desperately need a suit for an interview or other formal occaision and can't afford one? Not being an FB user that's an avenue not open to me, our local freecycle site seems to make it difficult to use, I think thats FB only now too.
I see using charity shops as having a lot of benefits, we get rid of clothes we no longer need, they get money for reselling them, people in need of clothes who are skint can get cheap clothes and the environment benefits from less waste and landfill. I should be a win for everyone, but only if they all play fairly which it seems they don't.