What’s the oddest thing you’ve bought online? When the lockdown restrictions were put in place in March, we sadly had to temporarily shut our charity shops, but the Katharine House Ebay shop lives on - and it’s selling some very unusual items. 

A local vicar bought a vintage street organ. He’s using it to help raise money for his church and he’s delighted that the money he paid for it is going to Katharine House. A win win!

Joe Gates, the hospice’s online sales manager says, ‘Just before lockdown we were very lucky to receive a substantial donation of designer and vintage clothing, which has seen the eBay shop sales increase week on week.’

He adds: ‘Orders flood into the online store from all over the world. We sent a Gucci blouse to Thailand, a sewing machine to Canada, and a collectable toy doll to Amsterdam. The most random sale is a small selection of spoons that sold for only £5 in an auction to someone in Russia - the postage they paid was even more than the order!

‘People are very happy to buy from us and support the hospice. We sold a couple of pairs of children’s shoes to a lady in Austria. She got in touch to ask about buying more as her friends wanted some for their own families. We ended up sending thirty pairs of shoes to Austria!’

The Katharine House Hospice eBay shop isn’t only about unusual sales. There are more than 400 items available, including a fine choice of women’s and men’s clothing as well as books, DVDs and many collectable items, such as vinyl LPs and vintage toys. 

Explore what the Katharine House Hospice eBay shop has to offer knowing that your purchases will contribute to the care of people living with life-limiting conditions.

At the moment the online shop and charity shops can’t take donations of new stock, but would like to as soon as they open. So if you’re making the most of the lockdown restrictions and clearing out your homes, please don’t throw away your items. Instead, we hope that you can find somewhere safe to store them before we take them off your hands in future. You can find out more about the sort of clothing and items we accept on this page.