Short answer: I buy good, sellable stock directly from shops that have more than they can move or store — for more than rag pays, and collected reliably — then find it a home with local market traders, schools, organisations and community groups, instead of it disappearing into the rag trade and, more often than not, getting sold abroad.
I've written before about the collapse of the rag market — the trade that used to pay shops for stock they couldn't sell. What I've heard directly from managers, more than once, is that it's not just that rag pays badly these days, or that some of it never even makes it to rag and goes straight in the bin. Collection itself has become unreliable, which leaves good, genuinely sellable stock sitting in backrooms with nowhere to go, alongside the stuff that's actually unsellable.
That backlog isn't just an inconvenience. A backroom stacked to the ceiling is a fire and trip hazard, and I've seen shops have to put up "not accepting donations" signs simply because there's nowhere left to put anything — turning away people who came in specifically to give something useful. Meanwhile, the stock stuck behind that backlog never reaches the people locally who'd have bought it cheaply and actually used it.
For stock a shop has too much of, or can't store or move fast enough — not stock still on their own rail, but genuine overflow — I buy it directly, for more than rag typically pays, with pickup you can rely on. It's a straightforward sale: the shop gets real money for its own cause, same as selling to any merchant, just a better deal.
What happens to it afterwards is the part I care about most: rather than it disappearing into the rag trade — where a lot of what's exported ends up sold abroad rather than staying useful here — I sell it on at low cost to local market traders, schools, organisations and community groups. Schools in particular can be a good home for it: costumes and props for a school play, materials for an art or DT department, stock for a uniform bank. Market traders matter here too — they're under a very similar squeeze to charity shops, and good stock at a fair price genuinely helps.
I'm actively taking this on with shops now. As it grows, I'm working toward formalising it properly as a Community Interest Company, so the community purpose behind it is locked in for the long term, not just a promise.
If you manage a shop and rag collection has been letting you down — or you're simply sitting on more good stock than you can shift — get in touch. I'd like to talk to you about it.