Skip to main content

Dropping off stuff to your second hand shop!

I'm a big fan of the Second Hand or Op shop!

A huge amount of what I wear, have in my kitchen, use in my house is from a second hand shop. I think they are great on so many levels.I like the fact that I am saving money. I like that my money is going to a charity and not adding to the profits of some already very rich people. I thinks its great that I can save a few things from landfill and meet some wonderful people all at the same time.

As well as being a regular shopper at our five local second hand shops, I drop off all the de-cluttering that I do. Having a clean out of the cupboards in the kitchen - off to the op shop. Wardrobe a bit full? Off to the op shop. A book cull? Off to the Op shop!

I had a chat to the drop off guy the other day and he gave a me few tip to make everyone's life easier...

Here's what he said to do...

First, he said - ask your self... Is this sellable or is it rubbish?
If its clothing with a stain, tear or mark on it then rip it up and pop it in your rag bag at home. They get enough rags with out getting excited about one or two extras.


Secondly - choose your time to drop off. I was going in on Mondays after I had had a clean out in the weekend and was being turned away. I tried popping in on Saturday morning as soon as I had had my wee clean out and again was being sent away as they were "full". It took a conversation to find out that they get soooooo much garage sale leftovers that they start turning stuff away on a Friday and Saturday to make room for the weekend influx. Their donation bins will be overflowing on Monday and they aren't able to sort and process any more.

The best day to deliver? Wednesday! Most of the weekends stuff is sorted and they are ready for more!



My man at the back door also asks that we sort the bits and pieces before we get there. Books in one bag. Kitchen stuff in another. Clothes sorted into Men's, Woman's and Children also help them to sort. If you use the supermarket bags and DON'T tie them in a knot then its the right size and weight for most people at the shop to handle and they can reuse the bags.

A bag of bags always goes down well as well!

And what to do with the bits that are a bit dodgy? Try the tip shop. Our council runs a shop from the dump that take the potentially re-sellable bits and pieces from your load before you dump it and sells it at incredibly cheap prices to the public Wed-Sun. If your council does this then let the charities pick through your load and then wander up to the dump later with the rest. Our isn't fussy and takes it all.

So to make your op shop donations easier for every one. Lots of small bags of sorted, sellable gear delivered on a Wednesday is the way to go!

Happy donating!

Score card: 
Green-ness: 5/5 for doing the right thing in so many ways!
Frugal-ness: 5/5 for supporting enterprises that keep perfectly good stuff from going to landfill.
Time cost: No extra time - just organisation
Skill level: Arrive with a load rather than leave with a load...
Fun -ness: Great fun to declutter, donate and save the planet - all in one hit!

Comments

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular posts from this blog

What to do when your cat attacks a bird... and doesn't kill it.

We have an eight year old cat who we got as a stray about six years ago. The vet reckoned she was about two when we got her and we did all the right things and got her spayed and vaccinated and all that stuff. She loves people and no matter where you are in the house or garden, she will not be far away. She really good with kids and will put up with the squishiest cuddles and a far bit of toddler tail fascination before bolting out the door to escape. She is well fed (despite the look she is giving me and the empty bowl below...) but not fat - but still the  urge to hunt and subsequently kill still seems to be quite strong. Last weekend, she pounced out of nowhere on a rainbow lorrikeet - thankfully my husband and a band of teenage boys were also there and managed to grab the bird before the cat had done more than pounce. Now we have a slightly mangled still alive but obviously unwell bird on our hands - what do you do? Here's what we did... We found a box - popped an old

Easy to make fabric covers for milk crates!

Like most households, milk crates appear in and about our house as they are the right size to sit on, strong enough to stand on and the right shape to store things in. They are usually free or picked up for a dollar or two at garage sales or at dump/tip shops. They come in red and blue in our area (depending on weather they are originally from Paul's or Dairy Farmers!) and that simply doesn't go with my outdoor decor - neither does the plastic look but that's another issue. Something had to be done. I decided to cover them with material that fitted in with the rest of our current outdoor setting - A quick look on the Internet for inspiration and confidence and... The finished product being modelled by the cat! Here's what I did... I started with the standard Brissy Blue and Red Milk Crates... Then I bought a sheet and a couple of pillow cases from the local Footprints Op Shop This is less a pattern and more a method to follow - Cut the sheet i

Killing cockroaches with boric acid v borax!

We live in Queensland. We have cockroaches. Lots of cockroaches! Why the NSW rugby team is called the Cockroaches is a mystery to me - surely ours are not only bigger but more plentiful??? At any rate, I don't like living with them (and I'm quite sure they  are not so fond of me at the moment!!) and I have been going through the usual gauntlet of sprays, solutions and bombs to get rid of them... But I'm not so keen on the chemical aspect of all this spraying and bombing. I hate the smell and can almost feel disease and cancer growing in me every time I spray. I'm OK with the resident cockies getting a lungful of chemicals and then keeling over but I feel its impolite (and probably illegal) if my guests and family members do the same thing!!! We went through a faze of killing them by hand (and flyswatter and rolled up newspaper and underfoot) but its hard and frustrating work and it probably was only culling the dumb and slow ones - leaving the smart fast ones to bre