Hospice goes global with eBay

Online auction sites are proving increasingly important for one local charity as goods donated by kind Bristolians generates cash from across the globe.

 

With purchases being made from Europe, the United States, Russia, Australia and New Zealand the online sales team at St Peter's Hospice is urging local people to keep donating items so they can be placed on sites such as eBay.

 

With a Justin Alexander princess wedding dress and a set of Freddie Mercury collector's plates recently selling for over £900 highlights how lucrative eBay has become for the charity.

 

And as more people are on the look out for potential bargains and valuable items online presents the hospice with an excellent means to raise more money.

 

St Peter's Hospice eBay manager Ben Clarke said: "We have had some great sales in the last couple of weeks which proves how important sites like eBay have become. A lot of goods donated at our shops are perfect for eBay and gives us an additional revenue stream.

 

"The Justin Alexander wedding dress is our highest selling wedding dress of all time and the Freddie Mercury plates went to bidders in the USA and Russia. It goes to show that people from right across the world are helping the hospice."

 

Other items that have gone global include a Frister Rossman sewing machine selling to someone in France, a pair of Vintage German Binoculars to a bidder in Austria and a Sony Mini Disc Recorder and Hi-Fi system to someone in Australia.

 

With the charity having invested in better equipment and converting its old Gloucester Road shop into a designated online sales branch is certainly paying dividends for the Brentry-based hospice.

 

Ben added: "It's amazing that all these items have been donated by someone in Bristol but have ended up on the other side of the world.

 

"Improved packing and listing equipment allows us to make our packing process more professional and efficient, process more orders and save money, while photography equipment helps increase our final selling price, by improving the visual appearance of the products.

 

"But we always want more and need the people of Bristol to drop off any unwanted items at any of our 46 local shops."

 

Caring for 2,200 patients and supporting more than 6,000 family members, including children in the last year alone shows how important the hospice has become to the people of the city.

 

However with all care provided free of charge, support from the public is essential as the NHS contributes just 23 per cent of the £6.5 million needed to run the hospice a year.

 

To find out more about how to help St Peter's Hospice visit www.stpetershospice.org.uk

 

To see what's on offer at the St Peter's Hospice eBay shop please visit http://stores.ebay.co.uk/St-Peters-Hospice-Shop