We hope to move in to our new storefront in the late winter/early spring. Until then, we will not be accepting any donations.
If you'd like to get on the list to receive updates, including when we will resume accepting donations, email us!
What items can I donate?
The Baltimore Free Store accepts all usable items that are in good working condition.
Clothing - We accept clothing of all kinds so long as it is not stained, ripped, extremely dirty, or possessing an odor.
Toys - WE ARE IN NEED OF LOTS OF TOYS!! We take any and all toys including stuffed animals. It is helpful if toys with lots of parts are in ziplock bags and puzzles are taped shut. Please wipe clean any sort of plastic or hard toy before you donate it.
Books - We take all books and magazines. Please note that we do sell a small portion of the textbooks, old antique books, and collectible books in order to help with the costs of operation.
Baby Items - We take all baby items and accessories such as strollers, high chairs, play pens, cribs, car seats, bouncers, etc. Please wipe clean all plastic or vinyl items before you donate them. Please only donate items that have all of their parts. It is helpful if you attach all parts with tape to make sure they do not get lost in our warehouse.
Household Items - We accept all items so long as they are not broken or missing parts. This includes decorative items, bath items, kitchen items, outdoor items, etc. Please clean off any outdoor items before donating them.
Electronics, Media, Computers, Etc. - We accept all electronics so long as they are in working order. We do not have the ability to repair broken electronics. This includes stereos, VCRs, DVD players, TVs, etc. We accept computers that are year 2000 and newer. We also accept working computer monitors and printers, parts, accessories, etc. We accept all working media and other electronics including tapes, cds, vhs, dvds, and so on. If you have older electronics that you would like to recycle, we suggest you visit this website
Appliances - We accept all working small appliances such as a toaster oven, microwave, air conditioner, heaters, blender, etc.
Everything Else - We accept pretty much anything except for items that are broken, missing parts, stained, full of odor, contaminated, etc. Use your best judgment.
Does the Baltimore Free Store Pick Up Items?
**We will not be picking up donations for the rest of 2009*
YES, OCCASIONALLY. We are an all volunteer organization and are very limited in our availability at this time, but email us if you would like to try and schedule a pickup. We do require a minimum $30-$50 donation for all pickups. Otherwise, bring donations to our donations warehouse on one of our donation days or to one of our Free Market events.
Why the Baltimore Free Store and not Goodwill, etc?
Goodwill and the Salvation Army are businesses. They have to turn a profit in order to survive. They make this profit by selling items they get for free at prices that are at the upper limits of what low-income individuals can afford. Much like any retail store based upon profit principles they have to ensure that the stock on hand flows regularly. If an item doesn’t sell within a certain time period it gets thrown away. Many times these places receive so many donations that they do not have the space or the people to sort through them all and the items get thrown away without ever being looked at. One local Salvation Army location fills up a tractor-trailer size dumpster every week with perfectly good items.
The Baltimore Free Store's bottom line is providing free goods to people who need them. It is not to turn a profit. We have a goal of reducing waste, consumption, and encouraging reuse. To obtain these goals we put everything we receive to use leaving next to nothing to go to the landfill. If it can’t be given away, we find creative ways to recycle and reuse.
Why should I never donate to Planet Aid?
You may have noticed yellow metal boxes sitting at areas around Baltimore that say Planet Aid on them. Planet Aid claims to help out developing nations and low-income individuals in this country by providing recycled clothes through second hand stores. As was revealed in the October 10 issue of the Baltimore City Paper article entitled “Adventures in The Rag Trade”, Planet Aid is nothing more than a multi-million dollar a year business profiting off of the poor.
Planet Aid is in the business of selling your donated items in third world countries at prices that only middle class and higher individuals can afford. As described in the article, Planet Aid generated $5.4 million in 2004 in the United States alone. Of that only $661,514 was spent on direct aid to individuals. The rest of the money went towards running the used clothes business. Planet Aid makes a killer profit off of the stuff you give them for free by taking advantage of poor people and their very real needs.
If you want to directly help communities in Baltimore give your items to the Baltimore Free Store. We provide everything for FREE and make no profit off of this what so ever. We only sell luxury items that are not necessities in order to support our expenses. About .5% of items donated get sold.
“We are so entirely thrilled with ya'll at BFS! We've been telling everyone we can about what a marvelously no-stress, happy for all parties experience donating to the Free Store has been. If we'd had to take care of getting it out of our house ourselves, we would have spent a whole bunch of cash we don't have and would have pulled every muscle in the meanwhile...we just could not have done it.”