Charity shop purchase query.

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
I've read a few threads on this erstwhile forum about charity shop purchases of radios, record players and the like and, since I've not lived in the UK for ten years and am out of touch with elf 'n' safety stuff, was under the impression that charity shops were banned from selling anything electrical except if it was battery powered. This is obviously not the case, so I'm now wondering what the position is? Could some kind soul give a rough guide please, just to satisfy my curiosity.
Thanks.
Cheers, Pete.

[ukcol]

I think anything designed to be plugged into the domestic mains supply simply has to be labelled as having passed a PAT test.

[Radio Wrangler]

I don't think they have been banned, I think they've banned themselves.

Pete, Like any retailer, they are held liable for the safety of anything they sell and the percieved risk to them was simply too high, so the mostly do not deal in 'electricals' and this business decision has flowed through into their input side... they mostly do not accept such goods.

David (Have PAT tester, will travel...)

[Nuvistor]

I don't know the rules for Radio and TV etc but this is a list they won't accept which includes some electrical items. This BHF but I would think they all have similar rules.
https://www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating...e-can-not-sell

Frank

[paulsherwin]

David is right. They all became worried about consequential liability (particularly the big charities) and stopped selling all electricals. Some small charity shops (things like animal rescue charities) carried on selling regardless and didn't seem to get sued.

There is a move back to selling electricals again, with volunteers PAT testing items before sale, but many big charities still have a 'no electricals' rule.

[dseymo1]

The smaller organisations occasionally have recent electrical donations 'in the back' awaiting disposal, and will sometimes consider selling them if they are assured that they will not be held liable for their safety.
It's also the case that the larger charities are now more aware of the value of 'collectable' items, so bargains are less likely to be found (not a bad thing IMO, just pointing out the development).
Of course, if one should discover a significantly underpriced item offered for charity, individual conscience should dictate how to proceed.

[Mike Phelan]

A few charity shops here are in cahoots with people who grab any electrical stuff before it appears for sale.

I'm not one of them!

[David G4EBT]

British Heart Foundation will accept a wide range of electrical goods, and then have them PAT tested before re-selling them. A glance at the list on their website shows the list of items that they exclude. We've taken radios, TVs, vacuum cleaners, table lamps, and various other electrical items. Only last week I took two Ikea ceiling light fitments which they happily accepted. Note that they only exclude power tools which don't have the user instructions with them, which makes good sense.

The very large BHF shop (more accurately a 'department store') in Hull has a wide range of electrical goods on display for sale. The main charity in this area is a hospice which has many well run shops including one in our village. They too accept electrical goods and PAT test them and ensure that they're serviceable before re-selling them. The centre-piece last week was an all singing all dancing modern electric sewing machine, which looked like new.

However, I've never seen anything such as old woodie or Bakelite radios in any charity shops - even some auction houses won't accept them, though most seem to.

[Nickthedentist]

As people say, they vary tremendously.

There's a "vintage" one near here that used to sell all manner of dangerous but interesting stuff with no caveats at all. I picked up a lovely 1930s Belling fire for a tenner for example, but the lead was crumbly and it was a death trap until a new one was fitted. Unsurprisingly, they seem to have stopped selling such things, and I dread to think what happens to what's donated.

Another local shop will only accept electricals if they're CE marked(!), and then they PAT test them and sell them as safe but otherwise untested. If the item doesn't work, they offer a full refund.

Nick.

[paulsherwin]

I bought a Denon TU-260L tuner from the Sobell House Hospice charity shop in Oxford. They certainly sell electricals, though in small quantities and dominated by junk. I think people are put off donating redundant hifi stuff because they assume the shops won't take it, so they just go to the 'recycling centre' instead.

[mark pirate]

I notice some charity shops sell vintage electronics on ebay on a sold 'as is' basis. My local hospice shop has sold me electrical items 'as is' and not tested.
I notice the plugs are always cut off.

Mark