When your donation is worthless, or even an imposition

Yesterday I paid a visit to a local church who wanted to clear their old jumble and start fresh for the new year. I knew what most likely awaited me, but I paid them a visit anyway. For those unfamiliar with my blog, I own a second hand shop in South Africa and buy and sell second hand goods.

Church bazaars are sometimes a good place to pick up a bargain, or even a collectible I can sell online. I have always tried to develop relationships with churches and charity shops, in the hopes of finding the one (the elusive collectible that makes a TV show kind of profit! I've had limited success in this area, but I am persistent! This wasn't a bazaar, but rather a stock clearance. The church was just up the road from me, so it wasn't too much out of my way to pay them a visit.

I was greeted by a really lovely lady, so that made me more chatty than usual. I immediately surveyed the disaster that was their left over clothing stock. and it was exactly what I was expecting. There were rails and rails, as well as shelves of absolute rubbish. We are a poor country, with a large swathe of the population living in abject poverty, but even so, they wouldn't ever wear what was on offer.People may be poor, really poor, but they still have the desire to look at least reasonably good.

I took a walk through the rails of clothing, despite the fact I knew I wasn't going to take anything. There were also about eight unprocessed bags of donations on the floor. I asked if those bags were also for sale, or did they want to replace the cleared stock with those items? The lady said I could take a look. I have been in this business for over twenty years, so I'm pretty good at profiling. (I can immediately tell by a couple of items how much to pay for a bag of clothes. This is a valuable skill to have at auctions!) I opened two of the bags and immediately saw they contained the type of used clothing I like to sell in my shop, brand names and in good condition. The other six bags contained much of the same stuff that was already hanging on the rails.

The lady I was dealing with was so sweet, I decided to give her advice about what to do with the clothes. I told her I wouldn't be taking them and suggested she bag them in bin bags and take them to the local auction sale. I even told her how to pack them to optimize money received for them. She could expect roughly R5 - R10 ($0,40 - $0,80) per bag. She asked if she should try selling the clothes for R1 ($0,08) each. I told her people wouldn't pay any money for something they weren't going to wear. At least at an auction, with an entire bin bag on offer, there is a certain amount of FOMO among buyers. She wondered if she should drop the clothes at a local squatter camp, where the most destitute of our society live. I told her even those people would not wear them.

I think it is shameful of people to donate anything that is damaged and it is especially shameful to donate dirty, unwashed items. What does this say about the donaters? People do not want 30 year old socks with holes in them, or faded underpants with stretched elastic waistbands. Your imagination is the limit when it comes to the disgusting array of garments that are often donated. A new charity shop opened up just down the road from me about a year ago. It started off doing pretty well. I didn't get a chance to visit for quite a while, and when I did again, they had become overwhelmed by crates of used 30 year old socks...which they were attempting to sell!. (Albeit for a token amount.) In my experience, most people who run charity shops, or deal with church donations, are not equipped to know what is sellable. The good items are quickly snapped up, and the leftover rubbish just keeps on growing, until it is out of control, like it was at the church. The charity shop I mentioned also closed down shortly after my last visit.

I can only conclude that some people use donation as an alternative to making a trip out to the dump. But where is the respect for the intended recipients of the donations, as well as for those kind souls who donate their time and energy, who have to process the donations? Having to use their time to dispose of the junk is an abuse of their kindness. Some people are probably truly well meaning, but have an inability to imagine those who are receiving the aid. I know people sometimes bring the most horrendous items to sell, so it is not a stretch to imagine them giving away old, filthy items, and then feeling good about themselves.

Back to the bags I spied on the floor. I told the lady I would probably be able to pay around R400-R500 ($33-$42) for only them. I suspect they would have given me the entire room for less, but then it would me my job to dispose of the junk! She was very shocked and exclaimed "we'll take it!" I said I would go through the bags properly at the shop to make sure the quote was fair, and I ended up giving them R600 ($50). I also got some great stock for my shop for my trouble. This is donation done the correct way!

I would like to implore people to think before using churches, charity shops, and even (ahem) second hand shops as dustbins. People like the owner of the two bags, are the ones who do it right. The excuse I often hear is "maybe there is something you can use" doesn't fly. Common sense needs to be more liberally applied!

@onetree

images, thanks pixabay