BuyCharity.com brings charity shop vibe to the web
The charity-only shopping platform that benefits only charity!
A new online shopping platform has been launched where every penny spent helps support a charity to support a cause you care about.
BuyCharity.com exclusively sells items from charities and community interest companies (CICs), bringing the much-loved charity shopping experience to the web.
“People love browsing for bargains in charity shops and there’s a ‘feel good factor’ when you’re buying from and giving to a charity,” says Hugh Tomlinson, CEO of Age UK South Lakeland and Managing Director of Charitek CIC, its administration partner, that have worked to make the website a reality.
They’ve built an e-commerce platform that brings the nation’s charity shops together all in one convenient home, online – recreating a positive charity shopping experience on the web.
Hugh says: “The site gives hundreds of products a second life and is a far more sustainable way to shop – not to mention being home to a range of incredible new and used bargains that can save people money.
“Now shoppers can browse an eclectic range of products with the added advantage that they are doing good by supporting charities in the UK. Every item listed on the site is offered by an accredited UK charity or CIC, and is properly categorised and described to give people confidence when they add items to their shopping basket
BuyCharity.com couldn’t come at a better time for charities, many of which have suffered from the dramatic effects the pandemic and lockdown has had on the high street. With the UK’s 11,000 charity shops seeing reduced footfall over the past 18 months, their sales and donations have been hit hard.
Phil Whiteley, Partnership Development Manager at Age UK South Lakeland, says that several charities have already signed up to sell products on BuyCharity.com, and dozens more are going through verification and are set to join soon.
“We love browsing at charity shops, and BuyCharity.com is not designed to replace them but to complement them. And where charities have no physical shops but still gather physical donations, BuyCharity.com can become their shopfront to the public.
“We’ve already got hundreds of items for sale, from top-end fashion, electronics to unique antiques and collectibles,” says Phil. “Shoppers can browse in much the same way they would on other e-commerce sites, or they can choose to buy solely from the charities they support. They can create alerts for particular items, and even make item requests so that charities can check their inventories for a much wanted item.
“Many items include delivery or we make delivery prices really clear, and customers can click and collect bulky items if they wish to. We’ve even made it easy to make donations and ensure the charity benefits from initiatives such as Gift Aid.”
Notes to editors:
BuyCharity.com along with CompasseHub is operated by Charitek CIC, which is the administration department for Age UK South Lakeland, registered charity number 1141415, providing digital solutions for Charities and Community Interest Companies.
BuyCharity.com is a unique online charity shopping platform where every selling organisation is pre-checked to ensure they are a fully bona fide charity or Community Interest Company. Every charity or Community Interest Company is committed to use all the revenue generated by using the BuyCharity online platform in pursuance of their charitable objectives.
Published by PRFire