50 Items That You Should Not Donate to Thrift Stores

Donating your things to thrift stores is a great choice, if you're looking to declutter your home, move, or give back to the community. It not only extends the life of your belongings but also benefits the thrift store you choose to donate to. Actually, many thrift stores will be glad to work with you, they even offer a receipt that you can use to deduct your donation on your next tax return. However, not everything you have may be suitable for donation.

Some thrift stores may decline oversized items such as furniture and large appliances. Additionally, heavily damaged, stained, or worn-out items may not be accepted. In general, thrift stores are run by charitable organizations that mostly rely on volunteers. Unloading and sorting your excess items can be a burden on their already overworked staff. If you want to know what items can or can not be donated, read on!

50. Obsolete Items

Think twice that if the item will be useful to others before donating it to the thrift store. Although thrift stores offer great deals on items, their customers will not be interested in outdated technology, such as bulky TVs or cassette players. Instead, people are more interested in modern electronics like flat-screen TVs. So, when you're considering donating your old VHS tape collection and VCR, keep in mind that there is a small chance of selling these outdated items. Therefore, most thrift stores won't accept these types of donations.

Besides old-school televisions, outdated books and electronics are also not popular for donating. Will anyone go to a thrift store looking for a book or CD player from the 1980s? Probably not. Because these items are unlikely to sell quickly but take up valuable space in the store, many thrift stores will reject them. Properly dispose of your old electronics by taking them to an electronics recycler, or you could try listing them on a marketplace app to see if anyone is interested. You might even consider donating your old books to your local library, which is a great way to give them a second life.