Thrift Store FAQs

Do you accept / Can you repair broken appliances?                                         Sorry, we don't have repair facilities, but usable items are always in high demand.

What happens to items that are too worn or soiled to be sold?
Any clothes or appliances that cannot be sold are recycled. We contract with a recycling service that turns used clothes into things like cleaning rags and recycles metal from appliances that cannot be sold

How do I donate to the thrift store?
Please deliver items to one of our thrift store locations during business hours. Your donation can be used as a tax write off. Ask one of the employees or volunteers for a donation receipt.

What happens to my donation?

Donated items are used in three ways:

• They are sold to the public and all proceeds are used to support Families First's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault program
• They are used in our shelter or to help clients and their children that have been displaced due to domestic violence.
• We receive referrals from Department of Social Services and American Red Cross for house burn-out victims and families that need help getting clothes for their children.

I saw a lot of merchandise in the back. Why isn't it on the floor?
Thanks to the generosity of our community, we always have more donations than will fit on our store floor. These items are kept in our sorting and storage rooms to be put on the floor later. We also keep seasonal clothes in the back (i.e. summer clothes are kept in the back during winter).

What is your return policy?
All sales are final.
If there is a serious problem with the item bought, or we are somehow at fault we can negotiate for store credit

Why do you charge sales tax if you're a charity?
Thrift stores are under the same tax law as any other retail store.

Why do prices change? Why is this item so expensive?
Our prices on almost all items are set, however we reserve the right to raise or lower prices as needed. If we have too many of one particular item we may put them on temporary sale (example: Plate sets are usually priced $10-20 per set depending on the size of the set. If we have several plate sets we may temporarily price them all at $5 per set). If an expensive item is donated we may set the price of that item higher than similar items
(example: Dresses are $6. If someone donates a Vera Wang dress we may make the price higher than our usual thrift store prices because we believe it will sell at that price and that would bring more money to fund our DV/SA program).

I saw an employee/volunteer walk out with an item and I think they did not pay for it.
Employees and volunteers are required to purchase all items and are not allowed to take an item for free, even if that item is going to be thrown away, nor as compensation for volunteer work. Employees and volunteers are only allowed to buy items on the store floor when they are on break or off the clock.

Our policy is employees/volunteers cannot purchase items while on the clock or before they go on the floor.

What might be happening is:

• A volunteer/employee has purchased something while on break or off the clock and then kept the item in the employee area in the back.
• A volunteer/employee is taking an item to the recycle truck