UK charity shops sell 151% more online

Charity shops in the United Kingdom are looking more and more at ecommerce after losing thousands of euros of income during the lockdowns. The number of items sold online by British charity shops has increased by 151 percent between February and July of this year.

There’s an increasing number of companies in the United Kingdom that sell second-hand goods online. These sellers are usually found on the high street but are now taking their business online. They need to do something to make money ever since the Covid-19 restrictions left stores shuttered.

Charity shops need to do something to make money.

The British Red Cross, Sue Ryder, Barnardo’s and the British Heart Foundation were some of the organizations that put the donations they received in their physical stores up for sale online.

Many charity sales happened on eBay

According to Retail Gazette, the number of items sold online by these companies has increased by 151 percent in the six months between February and July. Most of these ecommerce sales took place on eBay. Not only because of its major reach, but also because charities usually don’t pay fees. eBay waives 100 percent of the basic selling fees so sales proceeds directly benefit the organization in the form of unrestricted funds.

During the aforementioned months, popular product categories sold by charity shops in the UK are pet supplies, baby products, and sports memorabilia.

Average charity shop lost 39,000 euros of income

The Charity Retail Association, which represents about 400 charities running thousands of shops, has calculated that the average charity shop lost about 39,000 euros of income during the lockdown between December last year and April of this year.