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Monday, 4 April 2011

Scam bags: legitimate or not?



Today we had yet another plastic bag delivery. As previously reported we regularly receive two or three requests a week to donate unwanted clothes; sometimes bric-a-brac. Most of these requests are scams which trade on people's charity for profit. 

My general guideline is to look at the detail to see if all proceeds are given to charity not, eg, just £50 per tonne. An excellent web site is available to check further details if in doubt. Some charities use collectors. The National Blind Children's Society is one of these and is listed as legitimate but it is understandable that people are confused when one of the guidelines to watch for is: 

'"We give £50 per tonne to the charity" - This sounds good, but beware, this is only 5 pence per kilogram!  By contrast, if you take your clothes to a charity shop, they'll raise 5 to 100 times as much for charity.'


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