Originally Posted by earthwalker
It's a lovely quilt...maybe you could just raffle it, that should raise a bit. Perhaps the group should separate the obviously more valuable donations and sell them separately, either online or via local trading posts or whatever.
I am a great rummager and charity shop treasure hunter, if I see something marked too low or I know it is collectable I always offer more and if it's not of interest to me...tell the workers so they can decide what to do with it. It is amazing what turns up in charity stores...and purchasers need to realise it's for good works, not a business.
I totally agree with you about separating the valuable donations and selling them elsewhere. They used to have a "boutique" to sell the more valuable items, but the county shut that down, saying they could not have more than one "storefront" so they hired a lady to sell on E-bay, but she took them for thousands. Now my sister helps out when she can, but she has her own business to run. Many in the community see the sign "Caring and Sharing" and think that it means that they should get free or next to free things. Not much in the store has set prices, so the volunteer at the front has to decide if the offer made for items are reasonable. My mom has had to take a lot of verbal abuse from those angry that she is not letting them get something for next to nothing. She is willing to put up with it if it means that they can continue to provide the services they currently do, but she does try to make sure that the really valuable things don't go out the door for a song.