Unwanted Gifts

So, I got a few too many smelly sets this year (maybe I should take the hint :pac:) and I think rather than keep them until they inevitably get muddled up with all the other lavender scented body washes etc that I still have from last year, I'll give them to a charity shop or something to sell.

Did you get any presents that you don't want or think you'd be better off giving to charity?

Also, if you know where is best to give this sort of stuff, then please pass on the info!!!

sam34

i gave some stuff last year to the local irish cancer society shop.

this year, i dropped gentle hints about what i wanted and therefore have nothing to get rid of!

tudlytops

Deleted User wrote: »

So, I got a few too many smelly sets this year (maybe I should take the hint :pac:) and I think rather than keep them until they inevitably get muddled up with all the other lavender scented body washes etc that I still have from last year, I'll give them to a charity shop or something to sell.

Did you get any presents that you don't want or think you'd be better off giving to charity?

Also, if you know where is best to give this sort of stuff, then please pass on the info!!!

Jumbletown.ie

I am very mean so i tag any presents I didn't want with the name of the person who gave it to me and i give them to someone else next year or on a birthday. I know kinda mean but i don't see the point of just getting rid of them.

tudlytops

tudlytops wrote: »

Jumbletown.ie

I am very mean so i tag any presents I didn't want with the name of the person who gave it to me and i give them to someone else next year or on a birthday. I know kinda mean but i don't see the point of just getting rid of them.

Nah, I'd rather give it to someone who can use it to make money for charity.

chocgirl

I brought a few bits I didn't want into a local charity shop last year (nice stuff, not junk). The woman who took it, just kinda glanced at it and sighed like they didn't want anything else, apparently this is commonplace so I don't know what I'll do this year!

Larianne

What about local community centres that have fund raisers/raffles??

I doubt many Charity shops would be ungrateful for gift sets and the like. Maybe the lady was having a bad day?

taram

My birthday is in a few days and I guarantee I'll get people's unwanted christmas stuff :P Twice I've gotten gifts with other peoples names on them still!

I keep things like makeup and body sets that wouldn't be easily sold on in charity shops and give them away again, but would bring things like clothes/bags/books there that I didn't want.

chocgirl

Larianne wrote: »

What about local community centres that have fund raisers/raffles??

I doubt many Charity shops would be ungrateful for gift sets and the like. Maybe the lady was having a bad day?

Maybe, but I said it to a few people at the time as they had similar experiences in different charity shops. Having said that I'd say they get a lot of crap but the things I brought in were nice, tags on, could have sold them on Ebay and made myself a few bob if I had wanted.

But yeah must have a look around and see if there is anywhere worthwhile locally!

stripysocks85

* Give it to womens refuge centres, SVDP, any charity shop would love to get them

* There used to be a place in Dublin that was advertised last year or so, where you could drop unwanted presents into

* You could always recycle and give them to someone else :P I generally find they come in handy for putting a little extra in to someone else's present. I don't feel guilty about it either - it's not that it's not nice, or I don't want to use it, but sometimes I get so many I can't possibly use them all & it'd be a shame to let them go to waste.

Ebbs

My suggestion, wrap it up for next year and give it as a present.

To get an extra feel good factor, for every present you re-use donate 10e to charity. In alot of cases this would be higher than what the product would go for in the charity shop and without any adminstrating charges.

So you earn more money for charity than just handing it in, and more than likely save youself 5e too.

stovelid

Would a women's refuge centre take children's toys?

Greenmachine

Hope it is okay to post here being a guy. My unwanted gift is a Jack and Jones voucher for €40. Will post swop for h&m voucher or post on adverts.ie. Mods please advise me on my best course of action.

Blush_01

stovelid wrote: »

Would a women's refuge centre take children's toys?

They will probably only take them from you at the door, so don't be put off by that. A colleague's mother donates lots of stuff to the women's refuge at Christmas and they literally unload everything at the door, say thanks and that's it. She said it's dreadful, very depressing.

stovelid

stovelid wrote: »

Would a women's refuge centre take children's toys?

We tried to get rid of toys a few years back and the local women's refuge wouldn't take them They said they didn't have the space. Very sad really. We tried tons of other places too and nowhere would accept them.

star-pants

stovelid wrote: »

Would a women's refuge centre take children's toys?

Well I know a friend of mine used to take part in a toy run every year, loads of guys on motorbikes, and they all bring toys and then the roadtrip ends at a hospital or a womens refuge centre so I would assume they would take them.

No harm in ringing to find out, the one they did a trip to two years ago was the one in Rathmines.

Regarding charity shops - some of them do refuse to take stuff in, I know we had stuff before and the woman said 'we don't take bags in anymore'. But some do - my sister dropped stuff down to Oxfam before Christmas there.

So I would try ringing local charity shops/refuges and seeing if they'd like any of the stuff you have, always good to give it to someone/people who need it.

Maple

Greenmachine wrote: »

Hope it is okay to post here being a guy. My unwanted gift is a Jack and Jones voucher for €40. Will post swop for h&m voucher or post on adverts.ie. Mods please advise me on my best course of action.

Hi, you should post this up on adverts.ie.

Thanks,

Maple.

Greenmachine

maple wrote: »

Hi, you should post this up on adverts.ie.

Thanks,

Maple.

Done and dusted signed up last night.

iguana

star-pants wrote: »

Regarding charity shops - some of them do refuse to take stuff in, I know we had stuff before and the woman said 'we don't take bags in anymore'. But some do - my sister dropped stuff down to Oxfam before Christmas there.

At this time of year charity shops get an awful lot of donations. Which is usually good, as long as the donations are saleable. (Charities have to pay commercial rates for rubbish collection and this costs them a fortune as a lot of people donate absolute useless rubbish. You would be completely shocked if you knew how much rubbish they get, often bags of actual household rubbish.)

Unfortunately a lot of charity shops have tiny, tiny backrooms and if they get full they legally have to stop taking in donations. The health and safety of staff and volunteers has to come first, legally and morally. So it is worth calling the shop and checking that they can accept the donations before calling around. Some shops do have big storage areas or have a system in place where donations can be brought to a central storeroom or another branch.

Another thing worth remembering is that 9 times out of 10 the person you speak to is a volunteer. While they technically represent the charity in reality they are just a donor like you, but someone who is donating their time instead of goods. There is actually also a decent likelihood that the volunteer has some mental problems or poor English. A lot of people suffering from depression, breakdowns etc do charity shop work due to the recommendation of their counsellor, and a lot of newcomers to the country work in the shops to improve their English and cultural understanding. This is especially likely at this time of year as a lot of the core elderly volunteers are with family or have family staying and aren't available in the shops so people who may not be used to dealing with customers are on the shop floor.

If someone isn't sufficiently grateful for the donation don't take it personally. The person running the shop will be delighted with any good donation, they are just understaffed and very busy in the back sorting through bags filled with used teabags and old unwashed underpants.;)

star-pants

Oh I know they can't take stuff in if their full - I worked for Oxfam years ago (no mental illness then/I'm Irish/have fluent english!) so I know how small an area they have and the crap you have to sort though. And usually I would check with the person in charge before taking in lots of bags.
Just there was a place down the road that turned their noise up at us giving them stuff a few times before (the lady who ran it, not just a regular volunteer).

I was just saying that some places will take stuff, some won't, they prefer to do a large collection and the redistribute it throughout their branches instead of each store taking in their own. But that people should always ring and ask because you never know.

cailinoBAC

See if there are any fundraisers/table quizzes taking place and offer unwanted gifts as prizes. Of course it may end up that the prizes are unwanted too, but it still always looks good to have a large number of prizes.

2crazy

If anyone is looking to donate unwanted gifts, a friend of mine is holding a raffle in February and is looking for raffle prizes. All money raised will be going to Dogs Trust

2crazy

2crazy wrote: »

If anyone is looking to donate unwanted gifts, a friend of mine is holding a raffle in February and is looking for raffle prizes. All money raised will be going to Dogs Trust

Where is it based? I love doggies!

iguana

star-pants wrote: »

Oh I know they can't take stuff in if their full - I worked for Oxfam years ago (no mental illness then/I'm Irish/have fluent english!) so I know how small an area they have and the crap you have to sort though.

It wasn't aimed at you it's just that I wanted to explain to some people why shops might not be able to take stuff in and why donors might not always get an appropriate response when they bring stuff in. (That said you can get a shop who's run by an old harridan sometimes, or which has an old guard of volunteers who only like things a certain way.) But for the most part I do think a brusque response can often be a result of someone who isn't used to dealing with customers and donors, I guess it depends on the shop.

Where and when did you work in Oxfam? We might know each other? Though if we did I guess you'd have recognised me in the picture I posted with my little tripawed the other night.

2crazy

Deleted User wrote: »

Where is it based? I love doggies!

I think she is having it in SIN, its a singles evening but is having the raffle alongside it

star-pants

iguana wrote: »

It wasn't aimed at you ...

Where and when did you work in Oxfam? We might know each other? Though if we did I guess you'd have recognised me in the picture I posted with my little tripawed the other night.

Ah I know, I was only jesting
Dundrum main street, gosh... circa 1998-1999, I was only in school

Good call on the Dogs Trust collection too 2crazy

Toots

If you have kids in primary school, might be worthwhile seeing would they take any of it off your hands for raffle prizes. I remember when I was in school they'd always have a raffle around pancake tuesday, and I reckon a lot of the prizes were unwanted Christmas gifts, lots of bath sets etc, but it was good cos there were always lots of prizes, not just 1st 2nd and 3rd, so a lot of tickets used to sell.

Greenmachine

2crazy wrote: »

I think she is having it in SIN, its a singles evening but is having the raffle alongside it

I love doggies too. :)What animal charitiy is it. We want a new kitty.:D I have some unwanted gift and I am lonly this time of year with a GF.

Nervous Wreck

My mom was chuffed with herself in HMV buying me Michael Bublé's new album for Christmas. I already had it... We gave it to my sister's fiancé.

Greenmachine

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

My mom was chuffed with herself in HMV buying me Michael Bublé's new album for Christmas. I already had it... We gave it to my sister's fiancé.

Who is it?

2crazy

star-pants wrote: »

Good call on the Dogs Trust collection too 2crazy

I'll be helping her out on the night selling the raffle tickets.She is either having it on the 5th or 11th of Feb, waiting to confirm with SIN. Dogs Trust do amazing work,we're adopting from them next year so our dog can have a friend.

I got loads of unwanted smellies this year