Resale sites hit charity shop donations
Howard Lake | 9 September 2026 | News
Charity shops are losing their best donated stock to online resale platforms, according to new research from Rathbones, one of the UK’s leading charity wealth managers.
Executives report a fall in the quality of donations
Nearly two in five (38%) senior executives at charities that run shops say the quality of donations has fallen since the rise of Vinted, eBay and Depop. Around one in ten describe the drop as significant.
In contrast 42% report no change, while nearly one in five (18%) say the items they receive have actually improved.
Advertisement
Half of donors say online selling has changed what they give
Rathbones also surveyed people who give items to charity shops. Around half (49%) said their use of online sellers had affected what they donate.
Roughly a fifth (21%) reported a slight drop, keeping their best items back to sell online themselves. A further 19% said the quality of the clothes they donate is significantly lower, because they now give charity shops only what will not sell elsewhere. Around 9% said they had stopped donating to charity shops altogether and now sell online instead.
David Cox, Director of Charities at Rathbones, said:
“Charity shops are an important source of income for many charities, so any shift in the quality or volume of donated goods matters for the sector. It is understandable that people may want to sell higher-value items online, particularly while household finances remain under pressure, but this research shows there can be a knock-on effect for charity retailers.
“The good news is that selling online and supporting charities do not have to be mutually exclusive. Donors can still give a portion of what they earn, use platform donation options where available, or continue donating items that charities can resell. Small choices can make a meaningful difference to charities that rely on retail income.”
What is at stake
Charity retail contributes around £300 million a year in profit to the sector, across more than 9,900 shops. Those shops employ around 24,900 staff and are supported by more than 223,500 volunteers.
The findings put a number on something charity retailers have described anecdotally for several years. The problem is not a fall in the volume of donations so much as a fall in their value, as donors sort their wardrobes with a resale app open. For shops that rely on a small number of higher-value items to carry the margin on everything else, that shift matters rather more than the number of bags coming through the door.
Research was commissioned by Rathbones Group, via independent research agency PureProfile, to interview 100 senior charity executives, including board directors, finance directors, investment managers and investment directors during July 2026.
Additional research on donors’ attitudes was commissioned by Rathbones Group via independent research agency PureProfile of 1,000 UK adults during July 2026.
- Oxfam announces retail strategy overhaul to boost online focus (11 March 2022)
- Online shoppers provide bost as charity shop sales grow (3 April 2024)
Related posts
British Heart Foundation shops achieve a record £1 million in sales as high streets reopen
Coffin tops list of 10 most unusual items donated to PDSA charity shops
British Red Cross’ ‘Shop for Grenfell’ to benefit victims of the fire
Project seeks donations of unused computer power for Covid-19 research
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.