Lifecycle of a clothing donation

You donate clean pre-loved clothing to Vinnies

We love receiving quality clothing that is clean and in a good condition. The general rule is that “if you’d give it to a mate, it’s good to donate”.

Give your pre-loved clothes a wash and dry, then drop off your donations to our staff at Vinnies shops during opening hours or at a Vinnies donation bin in your area.

Find out more about what you can donate.

Staff sort through your donations

Volunteers and staff in our stores have the opportunity to sort through each donation.

Items are placed for sale or are sent away for further processing

Some garments go straight onto the shelves, if staff think the items will sell in their store.

Any surplus is transported to a Vinnies distribution centre (there are six in NSW) by courier

A distribution centre receives and sorts items.

On arrival, the garments are placed into bins ready for sorting.

Stock fit for resale is categorised and stored

Garments are placed into boxes of similar items (such as ladies dresses, mens shirts, swimwear, jackets, etc.) which get stored in the warehouse.

Unsellable stock is sent off to textile recycling programs or repurposed as rags. We try our best to ensure that as little as possible ends up in landfill.

Shops order additional stock from the distribution centre

When a shop is running low on a particular type of garment, they can order boxes of these from a distribution centre warehouse. Couriers will collect the boxes and transport them to the shops where they are needed.

Once stock arrives in shops, it goes onto the shelves for sale

Each item is valued according to the brand with adjustments made for the condition of the product. Garments are placed onto the shelves for sale where they will hopefully make it into someone else’s shopping bag for a new lease on life. If an item doesn't sell within a few months, it gets sent back to the warehouse to be re-sorted and passed on to another store.

Money raised in shops funds our services and programs in the community

Funds raised at Vinnies shops are reinvested into the community through a range of programs and services run by St Vincent de Paul Society NSW.

Every time you make a purchase at a Vinnies store, you can feel good knowing that the money goes towards helping people in need.