Charities?

[Arch]

Oxfam certainly have a bookshop in Bristol - I assume they would take them.

They have two in York, plus a furniture shop, and a basic old clothes and knick-knacks shop... In fact I'm off there in a minute to find a headscarf for my landgirl outfit for Thursday...

 

[domtyler]

My mother has what seems like hundreds of books in her house, and she is now only partially sighted. It is likely that I may in future have to find a good home for all these books. I thought of Amnesty International, as they have second hand book shops. From what you say, I will have to amend that plan. Does anyone know of a large organisation that would take a very large quantity of books? and sort them, and value them etc, or would Oxfam be able to cope with a large quantity (several hundred at least). There is only so many that we can give away to friends and relatives etc, as not many people have large empty bookcases waiting to be filled. Any suggestions?

Have you thought of selling them individually on eBay? You would most likely get far more than if you sold them as a job lot which would mean far more money to your fave charity.

 

[magnatom]

As you probably all know mine is the Scottish Motor Neuron Disease Association (http://www.scotmnd.org.uk/)

They work to help those affected with the condition in a practical way and they also fund some research. They do a good job.

 

[Speicher]

Thank you to those with suggestions about the books. I think the sensible way forward is to ask my mother to gradually sort out the ones she does not think she will give to friends, or relatives and take them to Charity shops set up to cope with valuing books etc, eg Oxfam and Acorns (a local Children's Hospice).

I have already had the challenge of sorting my father's possessions, which seemed to take a very long time, and a lot energy, not to mention the emotions involved. More recently, I had to assist with the clearance of another relative's house. I absolutely will not throw away anything that can be of good use to others, whether or not it has value. The e-bay idea is a good one, but I have only recently got round to buying things on e-bay, so would not know how to begin, nor would I know the value of what I was selling, so in my case, this may not be practical. Presumably the Charities would value the books correctly and get a fair price for them.

 

[LordoftheTeapot]

E Bay chat forums can offer new sellers lots of advice, Speicher. Or you could ask me? E Bay feedback = 930+ all posative And mostly selling

 

[SamNichols]

Speaking from experience, books don't sell all that well on ebay. Most people looking for specific titles will more likely be in either abebooks or in amazon marketplace. Quite often you make absolutely no profit on them when compared to the selling fees themselves. CDs and stuff it is great for, but books it just isn't great for.

 

[Speicher]

Thank you LOTP, at some point I might feel like trying to sell a few to see how it goes. As it happens, I have an enormous pile of cardboard,small boxes, big boxes, polysterene chips,bubblewrap, binding, etc etc, that people collect from me in large quantities so that they can pack up items to sell on e-bay.

I seem to come across people wanting to get rid of packing materials, and I am the "middle" person passing it on to people who require it. Padded envelopes and bubble wrap go to Oxfam for them to sell items on e-bay. They say things go round in circles, I am beginning to get dizzy.

 

[piedwagtail91]

i support the local hospice, by subscribing to a lottery it runs, it's only a quid a week with a £1000 first prize.quite why a hospice should need a begging bowl i don't know, it should be funded as part of the nhs.

 

[Cathryn]

I've got a couple I support. I really want to support charities working with women in particular, as I feel that we as a gender waste so many of the opportunties open to us, so I volunteer with a local charity which works with girls involved in prostitution and following our trip, I've started sponsoring a little Indian girl with Compassion UK with the hope that at least one girl gets an education and the chance to be more than a labourer. I also support a charity called Plan and their campaign 'Because I'm a girl' which aims to do a similar things in patriarchal societies round the world.