Charity uses eBay to raise cash

Monday, February 25, 2013 - 10:10 by Simon Crisp

Charity shops remain a popular staple of UK high streets, allowing worthy organisations to raise money by selling donated items and also letting consumers nab various products at bargain prices.

While most charities would find it difficult to provide the infrastructure that would allow customers to buy items via safe shopping online, auction site eBay helps various organisations alleviate this issue and connect with a wide audience, through its e-commerce platform.

Now the St Luke's Hospice in Sheffield has taken advantage of eBay, to start selling certain items through a dedicated online channel, according to The Star.

St Luke's keeps several product listings operating simultaneously and most are not your average charity store fare, but instead some rare and exotic items that are worthy of receiving lots of attention and ideally lots of bids.

The charity has already managed to sell rare and collectable items via safe shopping online, including some Royal Crown Derby crockery and a selection of sought-after Trollbeads.

Charity spokesperson, Tim Wilson, said that using eBay had made it possible for the hospice to sell items at much higher prices than would have been achieved if they had been passed on via a high street outlet.

This is particularly relevant when an unusual and desirable item has been donated, because of course it would be difficult to achieve the same level of exposure in a real world outlet, when compared to the global audience that uses eBay.

St Luke's has instructed its various volunteers and staff members to keep an eye out for donations that would be particularly suitable for its eBay channel.

Mr Wilson confirms that the charity has already made thousands of pounds thanks to online sales and is seeing buyers from as far afield as Germany taking an interest.