Charities overwhelemed with lockdown clear out generosity

As lockdown restrictions lift this week, new research from Charities Aid Foundation has revealed that 77% of people are likely to donate their unwanted goods to a charity shop over the next few weeks, causing apprehension some charity shops could be logistically overwhelmed.

Whether it’s making way for a new office wardrobe, finally giving up on the 1,000 piece puzzle or re-homing the bread maker, the poll, carried out by YouGov, points to a potentially overwhelming influx of donations expected in charity shops next week and many charities are anxious about how they will deal with the sudden volume of stock when they open their doors.

eBay for Charity could help alleviate the pressure on charities as lockdown lifts by providing another way for people to donate their unwanted items to charity. When selling unwanted items through eBay, charity supporters can choose to donate a percentage of their eBay sale (10 – 100%) to the cause of their choice by simply clicking ‘donate to charity’ during the listing process; the equivalent percentage will be credited in selling fees.

Eden Valley Hospice has six charity shops across the North of England which were forced to close during lockdown.

“We made the decision not to open all our six charity shops this week as we were really concerned about the level of donations we’d receive and wanted to avoid becoming totally overwhelmed. We were completely inundated with donations before Christmas and to allow for social distancing between our volunteers in our shops, we unfortunately couldn’t afford to receive any more.
 
We are reopening in a phased approach with reduced days and reduced hours so we can manage the incoming donations and monitor the situation over the next few weeks.
 
There is currently a four week waiting list for donation collection and with reduced open hours, we’d like to encourage our supporters to sell their unwanted items on eBay for Charity and donate a percentage of the sales to Eden Valley Hospice, as an alternative way of donating to us at this time.
 
It’s really easy for our supporters to donate through eBay for Charity, all they need to do is click ‘donate to charity’ when creating their listing, select our charity and the percentage of sales that they’d like to be donated.”
– Stephanie Lacaille-Burton, Head of Marketing, Eden Valley Hospice

Last year, charities received millions of pounds in unrestricted funding through eBay customers selling and donating through eBay for Charity. This was influenced by eBays’ Big Charity Sell, an initiative which encouraged the public to sell their preloved items for charity through eBay.

“We’ve heard first-hand from charities about how important diversifying their income online has been while their shops have been forced to close during the lockdown, and what a lifeline the funding from their eBay shops and customers selling and donating to their causes have been.

As things start to reopen, there is nervousness about the influx of donations they’ll receive from people who’ve spent their lockdowns decluttering. We want to encourage the community to donate to their favourite charity via selling on eBay this Spring, helping charity shops both financially and logistically, as they find their feet again. It’s very simple, just list the items and select between ten and 100 percent of the proceeds of the sale to be donated to your favourite charity.”
– Murray Lambell, UK General Manager, eBay

How to Sell on eBay and Donate to Charities

1. When you create a new listing, look out for the charity box just below where you set your price
2. Click on this box and select a charity to support and the percentage (10%-100%) of your final selling price that you’d like to donate
3. Three weeks after your item sells, the PayPal Giving Fund will automatically collect the donation from you and send it to the charity!