goatalope

randyjawa 

At Bicycles for Humanity - Thunder Bay, we send stuff like shoes, gloves, helmets and the like to Africa with shipments of bicycles that we also send. Turns out the folks there are also interested in bicycle transportation and performance.

downtube42

Give it to Goodwill? Only because they have a broader distribution network, and a clientelle that wants used stuff. Eventually stuff that doesn't sell goes to bulk sales, where it's sold by pound, usually to resellers. From there, I'm not sure if it goes to the landfill, or other agancies.

canklecat

Ditto, @randyjawa's suggestion. Donate to a country with a budding cycling program to cultivate amateur and pro racing.

rccardr 

3speedslow

CliffordK

E-Bay? Especially for quality stuff.

nomadmax 

That ^ is a stellar idea.

speedevil 

I'd personally choose Salvation Army over Goodwill for donations, if that's the route you choose.

oddjob2

• How about a table at the T-Town annual bike swap? Then your nfp gets the proceeds.
• Otherwise Salvation Army resale shop. They are more efficient than Goodwill and don't pay their executives so lucratively.

CliffordK

Make sure you set the prices to move the overstock items.

Will your shorts sell at $1 each? Jerseys?

If not, perhaps a "Free Box".

I get annoyed at thrift stores that would rather throw stuff away than to drop prices to where people will buy them... or down to FREE.

The other thing about clothing... presentation and organization is helpful. Tag them with sizes. Make sure prices are known. Sort? CLEAN?

Personally I dislike Jerseys with bright advertising.

Darth Lefty 

goatalope

A lot of good suggestions here. Thanks. Interesting idea getting them to cyclists in Africa or developing countries, not something I thought of. Either way I'll need to organize and sort them better for sure. We'll be at the Westminster Swap in a couple weeks so might bring some (and we always price things to move!). Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg, by the way. If anything classic shows up, sounds like I might have some interest here!

smoothness 

at Bikes Not Bombs (Boston, MA) we send them to our overseas (Africa, Central America) partners. when we get a bunch of unworn jerseys from a local race, we sometimes sell locally at a nominal price. we generally ship all the clipless shoes and cleats that we find.

wrk101

90/10 rule: 10% of the pile will have 90% of the value. Figure out the portion that has value, sell on eBay, and then give away the rest. At the co-op I volunteer at, we really can't sell bike shoes. No one wants them. We sell jerseys cheap, and often do a bag sale, fill a bag with jerseys and shoes for $10.

exmechanic89

I've always wondered, how is this viable? Wouldn't the tremendous cost of shipping items like bikes and clothing overseas make sending what is essentially low value items not worth it?

USAZorro

I used to live the next town over from the O.P. , and I knew people who worked at local Salvation Army stores. The stores there aren't heavily patronized by thrifty cyclists looking for kit and gear, and after a few weeks, the items that do make it to the floor for sale, but don't get sold, are baled and sold in bulk for rag. Not everything brought in even gets put up for sale. Plenty just goes straight to the bales. It's a well-intentioned suggestion, but only a fraction of what goes there will get second life.

Donating to an emerging cycling program (here or abroad), or the sales ideas will result in a much higher rate of re-use.

crank_addict

Post in lots of 'x' amount of jerseys on ebay, declare all proceeds go to charity.

Working Bikes in Chicago has the donation program down to an art. Since 1999, they've packed containers of bikes (50,000) and related for overseas.

Much as I feel taking the occasional advantage of using a Goodwill, one needs to closely look into each respective and independent territory. Tax and regional laws can make for some sketchy business model, but it beats tossing to a landfill.