Gifts donated by Bristolians have been sold online to bidders in Europe, the US, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. Successes so far include a Justin Alexander princess wedding dress and a set of Freddie Mercury collector’s plates recently selling for more than £900.
St Peter’s Hospice eBay manager Ben Clarke said: “A lot of goods donated at our shops are perfect for eBay and give 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 US 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.
The charity has converted its old Gloucester Road shop into a designated online sales branch. Ben said: “Improved packing and listing equipment allows us to make our packing process more professional and efficient, process more orders and save money, while photography 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.”
The hospice has cared for 2,200 patients and supported more than 6,000 family members, including children in the last year. All care is provided free with the NHS contributing just 23% of the £6.5m needed to run the hospice annually.
Visit www.stpetershospice.org.uk for more information and go to http://stores.ebay.co.uk/St-Peters-Hospice-Shop to see what's on the auction site.
