Ebay the new charity shop

Charity begins at home, as they say, and nowadays is only a click away. Hundreds of charity shops are turning to internet auctuion sites, such as Ebay, to offset the reduction in sales and donations casued by people buying and selling online. Many good causes have experienced a drop in the quality and quantity of clothing and goods donated to their high street stroes as people switch to the web to dispose of unwated goods. Now to fight back the charities are launching "online shops" to win a slice of the booming internet market.

Lekha Klouda, the director of the Association of Charity shops, which represents more than 6,000 countrywide, recently stated: "There is no doubt that Ebay entering the mainstream is having an effect on charity shops but it is both a threat and an opportunity.The treat is obviously that people think they can sell things online and get the money fairly easily. The opportunity is that we can maximise our earnings by getting a worldwide market for our more valuable and unusual items." Klouda further stated that this by no means meant the end of the charity shop as we know it, rather that is must adapt and become more specialised in niche markets and selling general items online.