Thrift Store Etiquette

As an organizer, I'm a proponent of getting rid of stuff that no longer serves a meaningful purpose in your life. As someone who cares about the environment and believes firmly in the importance of recycling, I'm all about keeping recyclable and reusable items out of landfills. Thrift stores are a wonderful way of finding a new home for still useful stuff that you no longer love or need. 

Sometimes, however, in an effort to ease our consciences about getting rid of things, or simply out of convenience, we pass things on to thrift stores that they cannot use. Doing so increases their burden while decreasing their bottom line, or profit. Since most thrift stores are run by charities, that means less money is available to go toward the cause and more is being wasted on unnecessary expenses.

Trash or Treasure: Determine Before You Donate

Read/listen to this short blurb from NPR about the problem unusable donations pose for Goodwill Industries. 

Guidelines for Giving

Perhaps the best advice anyone can offer with regard to donating used items is to be considerate. Think of those who will be receiving and ask yourself whether or not you would want whatever it is you are offering. Also keep in mind the following:

Trash is Trash

First and foremost, avoid donating trash. That may sound obvious, but it does happen, on a regular basis. If you think an item is too gross to keep, don't donate it. Throw it away. 

Consumables that have been used should be considered trash. What do I mean by consumables? Anything that is meant to be used up or used and thrown away. Food obviously falls into this category, but I think everyone knows the thrift store is not the place for donating food items. Other examples of consumables thrift stores don't want include:

• beauty products
• partially used coloring/activity/puzzle books or notebooks
• used sponges and other cleaning materials (mops, brooms, etc.)
• used pencils, crayons, colored pencils, and other art supplies - there are other, more appropriate places to donate these items. 

Evaluate an Item's Donatability

Many of us understandably feel a pang of guilt when we throw away "a perfectly good item." I'll be the first to suggest that the landfill is the last place that many of these items belong, but it is inconsiderate of fellow patrons and burdensome to charities to give things no one wants or has a use for. When choosing what to donate and what to throw away, ask yourself if you would want someone to give the item to you. 

Consider the following when contemplating a donation:

• Is this an appropriate item to pass on to others? Examples of inappropriate items include used undergarments and many other lingerie items, socks and certain personal sporting goods items such as mouth guards or jock straps/cups. 
• Is this item serviceable? Items that are broken or damaged, or otherwise in a state of disrepair are generally not donatable. While thrift stores recognize and support the trend of breathing new life into old styles of furniture through refurbishing, they are not in the business of cluttering their sales floors with defective furniture or equipment. 
• Is this item complete? If an item is missing parts or pieces that are essential to its function, it should not be donated. 
• Is this item hazardous? Paint, cleansers, automotive fluids, and other household chemicals should be taken to the hazardous waste dump site for disposal. Many types of electronics (televisions, cell phones, computers) are considered hazardous waste. The demand for these items at thrift stores is insignificant, so most either won't accept them or will only accept very specific items. Check with your local thrift store before attempting to donate such items. 
• Will the thrift store even take this item? There are certain items thrift stores won't take because of safety or storage issues. For example, because the safety standards for children's products like car seats and cribs are always changing, and because these items often have recalls, most thrift stores will not take them. The same may be true of medical equipment such as walkers. Other examples of items thrift stores probably won't take are mattresses (which can harbor bacteria and pests), large kitchen appliances, carpet remnants, pillows, stuffed toys, and weapons. 

What to do with the Un-donatable

Just because your local thrift store can't or won't take a specific item, that does not automatically mean that item has to be sent to the dump. It's truly surprising and somewhat awe inspiring how many things can be recycled these days. Here you can find a list of over 200 items that can be recycled, plus a whole lot more information on disposing of specific items responsibly. In addition to recycling, there are many other options available for passing unneeded items on to others. Click on the topics below for specifics about donating or otherwise disposing of specific items. 

• Car Seats - In addition to car seat trade-in programs, here is a complete list of options for getting rid of ​car seats in all 50 states.
• Medical Equipment - There are a number of organizations in the United States and globally that accept used medical equipment for redistribution. In addition to these larger organizations, look for local organizations or individuals that can benefit from your old equipment. Simply asking around on social media can be a good place to start. ​Worldcrutches.com has an excellent resource page specific to donating crutches in the United States which lists national organizations that accept donations as well as local groups listed by state.
• Everything Else - Some of the most visited pages on my website are my donation pages - a series of resource pages I created with information on donating everything from books and electronics to musical instruments and furniture, all of which have recently been updated. 

I spoke to a worker at my local thrift store last year and was shocked to learn that here in my small town, they turn over about 10,000 items a week. That sounded astronomical to me, but I have since discovered with a little research that this is actually small potatoes for the thrift store industry. Many larger thrift stores deal with 3 to 5 times that volume in the same time frame. 

We all want to feel like the items we're getting rid of are going to a good home, and donating to a thrift store is a good way to offer useful things to people who want and need them. That said, we do the thrift stores, many of which are charities or function in support of a charity, a disservice when we stick them with items they can't use. What you do with the items you declutter is as important as the decluttering process, especially since it is the part of the process that affects others. Please be a thoughtful and intentional giver and make sure the items you are donating are supporting your thrift store's mission and not adding to their burden.