Knock off purses. Why?

[Purseval]

There must be different policies. When I donate, I always get receive a blank form with the date and the person's initials on it. Always. It doesn't matter what I donate, from furniture to clothes. Always the same. They don't assign each piece a value and I don't either when I drop them off. I make notations for myself on a scrap piece of paper and keep the two together for record keeping.

Have you ever tried to justify those scraps in an audit?

 

[Purseval]

Not jibberish (how rude) at all. I have donated everything from a pair of socks to a computer to Goodwill and they have never, ever written the value on the receipt. They may tell me to itemize the receipt, but I can write whatever I want. It's up to me to keep track of the value in case I am audited.

As I stated to another poster, try justifying it with no corroboration in case you're audited.

You must have missed the part where she said GUCCI PURSE.

You read as well as you keep tax records Since politeness is my forte' just as sarcasm is yours, let me restate if again, just for you:

There is always the possibility that someone is going to make a mistake, an employee is going to put a valuable item in the bargain bin. It happens, that's why professional bottom feeders visit thrift stores all day long just in case. It just doesn't happen very often and if you come across a deal like that you lucked out.

 

[nunzia]

There must be different policies. When I donate, I always get receive a blank form with the date and the person's initials on it. Always. It doesn't matter what I donate, from furniture to clothes. Always the same. They don't assign each piece a value and I don't either when I drop them off. I make notations for myself on a scrap piece of paper and keep the two together for record keeping.

I work at a church on the financial end and I absolutely will not assign a value. That is up to the person who donates the item. I just type up something that states the items donated and, if pushed, state that the donator has assigned a value of such and such..but we don't determine value. That is between the donator and the IRS.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

We just recently donated a large bag of clothing to Purple Heart. I was surprised when the "receipt" they left had the date they picked it up, and the initials of the person picking it up. The rest of the form was blank, along with a note to fill in the values of the items for itemizing.

Same thing at my local thrift store. Just a blank form.

 

[marie1203]

I think we are missing the main point here fakes are illegal for a reason just like you wouldn't like anyone stealing your ideas/ designs it is just wrong. I love my purses and I buy them because I like them not for the brand but I would never get a fake one. I just find it surprising that people think is right to buy fakes.

 

[Purseval]

I am not saying all thrift stores are this way but the D&B's, Coach's etc... found in the thrift stores here are fake, the ones I have seen anyway, and these stores try to pass them off as real. They also get pissed if you tell them that it's a fake!

Thrift stores have to abide by the law, they can get sued for selling counterfeits, even donated ones. On the other hand, Coach and D&B are extremely common, that is an item you will see being donated. You can find them but the ones I've seen at thrift stores have been in pretty rough shape.
You'd probably have better luck at a yard sale.

But there are some really good finds at thrift stores :0) Last year a found my oldest a very nice Liz claiborne dress still had the Belk tags for $6.00
I also love the thrift stores and would like to find some real purses there but so far no luck...

Last year we had our own yard sale. We tried selling Hugo Boss sweaters, RL and Brooks Brothers shirts and a nice RL dress that didn't fit my wife, for $1 each. Didn't sell anything Clothes are donated to thrift shops and sold at yard sales in such tremendous quantities it's tough to sell them. But that makes it easier to find nice stuff in good shape.

We have a system. When we go to the store my wife takes an aisle and I take an aisle. She shops like any normal shopper but I just look at the label, bang bang bang, until I either go through the rack or spot something I'm looking for. Then I check the size and if it's something we're looking for I put it in my cart. I keep doing this until I've gone through every clothing rack then I meet up with my wife, we head to the back of the store and she goes through my finds. She takes what she likes, I put everything else back and we're gone. I can go through hundreds of items in just a few minutes.

 

[Purseval]

I work at a church on the financial end and I absolutely will not assign a value. That is up to the person who donates the item. I just type up something that states the items donated and, if pushed, state that the donator has assigned a value of such and such..but we don't determine value. That is between the donator and the IRS.

I'm not saying that I would ask you to put in writing that I donated something worth $1000, for instance. I'm saying that if I donated a high value item I would get it in writing -- Joe blow donated a car on 1/8/2010.
That way the IRS couldn't say "How do we know you didn't donate a book on cars?" And up above you state that you do just that. I've been to Goodwill and the United Way store and they just give you a piece of paper saying you donated then leave it to you to fill in whatever you want. See post 284 for another example. That's fine for a $20 bag of clothing, it's not acceptable for a valuable item you plan on itemizing.

 

[Disney-Kim]

I don't buy fake anything but I would especially not buy fake purses and designer items. It is the biggest reason I hesitate to purchase items on Ebay...its just to hard to know if they are fakes.

I do know about mypoupette and the purse blog for buying designer purses but I am talking shoes, clothes....etc.

besides...the whole reason to buy an LV bag is to know that I bought a real LV bag

 

[TamaraQT]

Wow.....Just.....Wow!!

 

[Purseval]

I don't buy fake anything but I would especially not buy fake purses and designer items. It is the biggest reason I hesitate to purchase items on Ebay...its just to hard to know if they are fakes.

Ebay got sued by LV and yanked most of the LV merchandise. It's a lot more reliable than it used to be.

 

[crisi]

We just recently donated a large bag of clothing to Purple Heart. I was surprised when the "receipt" they left had the date they picked it up, and the initials of the person picking it up. The rest of the form was blank, along with a note to fill in the values of the items for itemizing.

Same thing at my local thrift store. Just a blank form.

The IRS will want an itemized list if your non-cash donations exceed some amount (I can't remember what it is - but its pretty small) and you get audited. You can create the list yourself, but its a good idea if the items are of significant value to have the organization sign off on the list. So if you donate a LV purse to charity, and think its still worth $300, plus a few Coach purses - better have Goodwill sign off an an itemized receipt.

There are a number of ways to assign value to non-cash items. The IRS has tables, but a second hand purse is going to be something like $2. You can also document current value through something like eBay for second hand collectibles. YOU should do it (not the donating organization) and YOU should have adequate documentation to support audit (i.e. prints of eBay pages from the date you donated your like item, or the Kelly Blue Book price for a car).

 

[luvmy3]

Thrift stores have to abide by the law, they can get sued for selling counterfeits, even donated ones. On the other hand, Coach and D&B are extremely common, that is an item you will see being donated. You can find them but the ones I've seen at thrift stores have been in pretty rough shape.
You'd probably have better luck at a yard sale.

Our Goodwill always has counterfeit designer purses up front locked in the case, usually with a $30 ticket on it. They do sometimes have authentic mainly vintage Coach bags, but every LV bag I have seen there has been a fake.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Have you ever tried to justify those scraps in an audit?

The scraps are for me only. I transfer the information when I have a chance. Then I toss the scraps.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Wow.....Just.....Wow!!

Agreed!

...it's like reading through an episode of "real housewives"...isn't it?!

 

[mumom95]

The IRS will want an itemized list if your non-cash donations exceed some amount (I can't remember what it is - but its pretty small) .

I think you are allowed to donate up to $250 without showing receipts, but I'm not positive. Anything after that in an audit and you have to itemize and show the receipt. Once again, that's what I think, but I'm not positive.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Thrift stores have to abide by the law, they can get sued for selling counterfeits, even donated ones. On the other hand, Coach and D&B are extremely common, that is an item you will see being donated. You can find them but the ones I've seen at thrift stores have been in pretty rough shape.

The town I live in has a flea market every Saturday and Sunday that is at least 75% knock off purses from China. You can buy purses anywhere from $5 to $25 for the really large ones and as low as $1 for some wallets. Because of this, the thrift stores receive many donations of used knock off purses. They get put on the purse rack to be sold with the rest of the purses. They may be expected to abide by the law, but the law doesn't care that these purses are so easy to buy (if the flea market's open then there are a couple police officers helping to direct traffic in and out so they know it's going on; not saying it's right but nobody's doing anything about it so the thrift stores don't worry about it either).

 

[DisneyMama525]

WOW!

I love designer purses just as much as the next fashionable lady but to call someone a poser just makes you sound rude and childish.

T.

Agreed!

 

[DisneyMama525]

I have ONE knock off LV I got a million years ago in New York City. I used it alot when I first got it, but now it's mostly collecting dust in my closet. I bought it because at the time I didn't have a real designer bag and couldn't afford one. I was 21 at the time. Now I have several real designer bags, but I will always keep my knock off LV. I know I will never have a real LV because they are way out of my budget. I could own 3 or 4 of another designer for the price of ONE LV. NO THANKS.

 

[nunzia]

I'm not saying that I would ask you to put in writing that I donated something worth $1000, for instance. I'm saying that if I donated a high value item I would get it in writing -- Joe blow donated a car on 1/8/2010.
That way the IRS couldn't say "How do we know you didn't donate a book on cars?" And up above you state that you do just that. I've been to Goodwill and the United Way store and they just give you a piece of paper saying you donated then leave it to you to fill in whatever you want. See post 284 for another example. That's fine for a $20 bag of clothing, it's not acceptable for a valuable item you plan on itemizing.

Yes, that's what I meant..we state the item as accurately as possible and that's it. Like "we were donated 34 accordians" (which we were) Or we were donated an oak dining table with six oak and fabric chairs. Sometimes people want specifics on tiny things (like each book) but usually for other things we can just do bag of books, etc. Now, our women's group who has rummage sales has much more of this for specifics listed. I think I've seen an IRS form about what items are worth and they seem high.

PS..I think it's hysterical this thread has gone on so long..really interesting in an odd way