Salvation Army eBay shop celebrates selling over 1,500 items in first year
Melanie May | 10 May 2024 | News
In its first year of trading, The Salvation Army’s eBay shop has sold over 1,500 items, gained more than 1,000 followers, and raised thousands of pounds, the charity has announced.
Launched by its trading arm, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL), The Collectables and Curiosity Shop features collectable, niche, vintage and quirky items.
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Melanie Eastwood, eCommerce Manager for SATCoL, said:
“We receive so many wonderful donations, from vintage cameras and toys to rare books and antiques. Donors will often express the desire for us to maximise the value of their donation to raise funds for our charity. The eBay shop was an ideal way for us to do this and, by its nature, offers a really unique online shop for everyone.
“We are all about affordability, so we are careful to ensure we set a fair starting price for our donations. We have been gifted such unique items that many of our listings will generate lots of interest and bids, which means we are able to raise more for the charity.”
Some of the items sold include an original Broons Family Album Annual which received 31 bids and sold for £686. Another item, a vintage Tudor Rose Watch, achieved £362.
Eastwood said:
“We are often surprised by how much some of the listings make. We recently sold ‘A Compendium of British Cups book’ for £60. My personal favourite was an Alan Fletcher Melamine Clam Dish that sold for £77.”
The eBay shop is managed by several dedicated eBay Salvation Army stores located around the country, and helped by eBay volunteers, including Mat Hunter who has been volunteering at The Salvation Army’s Edinburgh Piershill donation centre for over five years, sorting through the games and toys donated.
He commented:
“When the opportunity arose to assist with the identifying and listing products for online selling on eBay, I jumped at the chance to list items from my little department at Piershill. It was here that the real fun began. I discovered that the toys which I’d previously known and loved had now become vintage, collectable, rare and popular.”
The eBay shop is celebrating its first birthday with a new look and campaign: ‘For the love of…’, which invites people to visit it if they love vintage or quirky items, or to volunteer if they love giving back.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.