FAQ

Our Product Sourcing Quality

What sort of products do you sell?

All the products on our website are being sold directly from charity shops. All of the items we sell arrive in charity shops as donations from the general public.

Thriftify is creating a movement of positive purchasing by connecting charity shops with consumers who care.

A movement which creates a true circular economy, benefiting charities, the environment, and of course all the passionate thrift lovers out there!

Where are the products?

The products we sell are stored in charity shops, charity chain warehouses. We provide them with the technology to get their best gems to you.

What condition will my products be in?

The vast majority of our products come in used-excellent condition, meaning the item is almost as good as new. Any product not in this condition will be marked one of three other conditions – Very Good, Good and Used.

The detailed description of these conditions can be found in our products conditions guide.

If an item that a charity shop receives doesn’t fall into any of these conditions it’s sent for recycling or bulk sale. No product is wasted. If you’re not happy with the quality of your pre-loved product please let us know and we’ll do our best to keep you happy.

Delivery & Shipping

Will I have to pay customs duties and taxes?
Due to the current Brexit situation when you purchase from a UK charity on our Irish site additional taxes and duties of 23% VAT will apply. You will receive an email from a tax collection agency requesting this payment and you will be required to pay this within 5 days, please keep a close eye on your spam folder as well. To avoid additional charges you can purchase from a charity within the country you are located in. We are working on integrating the tax and customs charges into our checkout so you can view the fees and pay directly through us. Please bear with us while we work on that integration.

What are your delivery costs?

Standard delivery is €4.79 to Irish Customers with varying charges to ship everywhere else in the world.

How long will it take for my Gem to arrive?
We aim to process and ship your order within 2 working days. Standard shipping should take an additional 5-8 working days.
Do you offer faster shipping rates?
We currently offer just one standard shipping rate for all customers - we’re working hard on improving our shipment solutions and hope to offer more options soon. All of our postage solutions are set up with speed of delivery in mind. Please check our delivery information. page for more details.
Can I change my delivery address?
You can change your address at any time during the Checkout Process. However, because we process requests very quickly, once your order’s been placed it’s no longer possible to change the delivery address. If you have made a mistake with your order, please contact us as soon as possible and we will try and resolve any issues.
Do you provide an order tracking facility?
Tracking comes as standard for orders within the Republic of Ireland via Fastway Couriers and you will get an email with your tracking link as soon as the charity shop ships your order. For all UK and international customers we use Hermes tracking. Please allow a couple of hours for your tracking info to show up, as it has to be scanned by the courier before appearing.
Where is my order?

Account Customers

If you have set up an Account the current status of your order is displayed in your Account Dashboard.

You can find this by logging in here. .

We will keep you up-to-date by email at every stage of the dispatch process.

Guest Customers

If you have placed an order as a Guest the Account Dashboard facility is not available.

We will also keep you up-to-date by email at every stage of the dispatch process.

For more details about our delivery process and timings please visit the delivery information.

If you have any concerns about your order please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Payment & Refunds

What payment methods are available?
We accept payments by PayPal, Stripe and by all major credit and debit cards excluding American Express.
If I buy more than one item, will they be shipped at the same time?
When you are adding items to your cart you will see which charity shops they are coming from. For every charity shop you purchase items from you will receive a unique shipment. Therefore, they may not arrive at the same time.
What’s your refund and return policy?
We’re happy to discuss any concerns you may have - If you wish to initiate a query regarding a refund/return please check our terms and contact us here.

How does Thriftify work?

How do you decide what to sell?
Our technology is pretty clever, it gets all kinds of information just from the barcode of a product and works it all out using a bunch of algorithms we've developed. For items without a barcode, such as clothing, we rely on the expertise and knowledge of the charity shop manager who uploads the item. We're working on adding more fashion categories and are investing in our technology all the time.
Where does my money go?
When you buy an item on thriftify you pay a fee directly to us which is included in the cost. You also pay for postage and packaging. Our fee varies depending on the category of your item. The remaining balance goes directly to the charity shop you've purchased from. If you've added a donation into your cart the charity shops you've purchased from get 100% of the donation split equally between them. To date thriftify has been built and developed primarily by volunteers and every euro we've charged has been reinvested in the platform. As a socially-driven business it's our mission to build the best possible solution to connect great charities with consumers who care, so you can rest assured your money is going to good use.
What kind of impact does thriftify-ing have?
On average, buying used instead of new lowers your C02 impact by a multiple of 5. So if you buy a new book that emits 100grams of C02, the same book from us will only emit 20grams! As well as that your money is going to organisations that are typically a lot more impactful than other organisations. They will use your money to achieve their social mission and we'll use our fee to make thriftify even better. Not to mention the fact that all of our packaging is 100% sustainable and compostable.
Where thriftify came from?
In 2018 thriftify was established by Rónán Ó Dálaigh, Timur Negru & Rahil Nazir. The trio share a passion for using business to create positive social impact and also love thrifty finds. By combining their passion for business with their love of charity shops, thriftify was born.
How do you decide what charity shops are on thriftify?
All charities are welcome to sell on thriftify and if you think you're local charity shop should get on the thriftify buzz why not let them know about us? All a charity shop needs to sell with us is access to wifi or mobile data. You can book a demo or sign up by clicking below contact us.

Sustainable fashion

What is sustainable fashion?

Did you know that after the oil industry, fashion causes the most pollution and damage to our environment? Fast fashion is the idea of wearing a new outfit as frequently as possible and throwing away clothes you no longer need. This suits the fashion industry because they make a massive amount of poor quality garments with 60% of all new clothes being thrown to landfill within one year of being purchased. Sadly, this drive for profit leads to poor working conditions, large-scale pollution and massive C02 emissions.

Sustainable Fashion is about changing this destructive industry into a sustainable one. We can all do more to help force the fashion industry to change. Buying used clothes as a preference is one of the best things you can do as you're skipping the production cycle and most importantly, by buying from charity shops your money is going to good causes. It's important to state that the best thing you can do however, is reduce your consumption!

Are used clothes clean and in good condition?
We guarantee that the clothes you receive on thriftify will be in excellent condition. A lot of them have never been worn or have only frequently been worn and everything has been steam cleaned and closely checked over by caring charity shop managers to make sure you'll be happy.
What can I do with clothes I no longer want?
The best thing to do with clothes you no longer need is to re-purpose them, is there a family member who would wear them, could you turn them into something new? If not then donating them to a charity shop is a great way of keeping the circular economy going.

Customer Service

How can I contact thriftify

We're here 9am-5pm, and maybe a bit later if somebody is browsing our social media, so in case of any questions or concerns just drop us a line on any digital platform or mobile communication device.

You will find all the details on the contact us. page.

When will you respond?
We're pretty addicted to our emails and mobile's, we do try to switch off now again, but you can expect a response the same day that you reach out. Although we do have a weekend switch-off rule so if you're contacting us on a weekend you might not hear back until Monday.
I have a question that isn't listed here.?
If you’d like to ask us anything else, when we’ll have your book in stock, how to overthrow capitalism, that kind of thing. Why not submit it here?
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