Charity Shop Worker Reveals The Strangest Donations She Receives Including Used Condoms
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Charity shops are home to all sorts of second-hand treasures – however, sometimes people try to donate some pretty bizarre things.
Over the years, whether it’s clearing out old clothes you never wear, punting DVDs you never watch or getting rid of all the tat lying around your house, we’ve all chucked things into our local charity shops. They’re also a great place to find some genuine bargains, from vintage clothing to cheap retro games.
That said, my closest experience to working in a charity shop was four years at CeX. Mercifully, there was a limited number of strange items people could bring in – in a charity shop, some people think anything goes.
The Sun recently spoke to The Secret Charity Shop Worker about their experiences with all sorts of donations; some icky, others deranged. ‘Having worked in a charity shop in the West Midlands for years, I’ve seen it all. Enough to make your skin crawl,’ she said.
‘Every few months we get given a bin bag full of donations which contains, without fail, a sex toy. The number of used vibrators we’ve been ‘gifted’ is enormous – why? We clearly can’t sell them.’
It gets worse: some people have tried to donate blow-up sex dolls and kinky sex wear, all of which get binned. ‘We also get bags of dirty nappies, condoms and sanitary towels hidden among the donations – that’s a weekly occurrence. It’s one of the reasons why we are always told to wear gloves when we open them – and now a mask too,’ the worker explained.
Of course, some people bring in smelly, damaged clothes, while others have even tried to donate out-of-date food.
‘But, and I am not sure people realise this, it costs the charity to get rid of unsellable items. Perhaps more dangerous than the used vibrators (although less unpleasant) is the knives and broken glassware that can find themselves in the donations,’ she said.
Sometimes, when people donate a rare book that’s clearly worth a bit of money, the shop will put it on eBay and put the profit back into the charity. The worker also said she’s seen people giving away their other half’s possessions. ‘Awkward but you get really good stuff like Ralph Lauren suits, Monsoon dresses and nice jewellery,’ she said.
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