Anybody know of this store in Dallas, TX? Worth looking into?

[TheBaronSays]

Charity Link Foundation Consignment Boutique is the name of it. It hasn't opened yet but it sounds pretty cool.

I live in Plano and a friend of a friend told me to check them out on Facebook.

From what I see they are consigning extremely high end merchandise for charities.

I called and spoke with the founder and he assured me the store isn't going to be a thrift store, but rather an upscale resale shop. I'm donating a few items to see what happens. The founder explained to me the donations would benefit whatever charity I designated and an itemization of my donations would be given to me. Here's what sold me and I want to see if anybody else knows about this concept (if it's been done or if anybody else has heard of the store)... Charity Link is claiming that after my merchandise sells, my charity will get my contribution and I will receive a substantial tax credit in exchange.

I know from my CPA there are limits annually on how much I can claim on donations to thrift stores. In the past I've donated for example a Brioni suit but only get like $40 credit for it. I questioned my CPA about resetting the value at $500 which is about what I thought it should be worth based on what good used Brioni suits typically sell for. He said it didn't matter because the cap is like $1,000 a year is all I could claim. I had donated what I thought would be a $10,000 write off and got NOTHING FOR IT!!!

Charity Link Foundation documents and converts my donation into a cash contribution once it sells and my charity benefits as much as I do. I'm hoping this works for me and them.

Anyhow, I'm extremely curious to know your thoughts. The place seemed to have a lot of high end items so I'm confident they will have the following. I just hope the place is as credible as they appear.

HQ

 

[TheBaronSays]

Here I thought I'd make it easier to have a look see so I'm adding a direct link. I hope that's okay to do...

http://www.facebook.com/CharityLinkFoundationConsignmentBoutique


I'm thinking everybody else here who is into philanthropy and/or in need of a write off will like what you see here. Again, very curious to know other's thoughts.

HQ

 

[jammyo40]

I'm typically wary of any place that flaunts prices upfront.

 

[TheBaronSays]

Hi Jammy,

Thanks for chiming in. I've been hoping to hear some responses, so I'm glad to see you and particularly glad your from Dallas!

To clarify, the founder did not quote me any prices. He took the items in and said in a few days I would get an email/inventory of the items I'm donating and along with that will be the asking price of the item. This he said would not necessarily reflect the final sales price because after a period of time if the items haven't sold they would have to be marked down. At the end of each month a status report is supposed to be emailed along with the final amount donated to my designated charity.

I'm also a bit of a skeptic when it comes to just blind trust, but this guy really seems to have some credibility going in his favor. The location where the store is was really a nice spot in a good neighborhood. Looked like security was good. The guy I met Tony I believe was his name was very polite and showed me around. He was in my opinion, extremely enthusiastic about the opening and genuinely seamed to be doing this honorable intentions.

Like anything I guess there's a risk involved, but I have an addiction to shopping so I go thru a lot of clothing (as does my wife). I agreed with the guy that it makes no sense to donate a $5,000 suit to a thrift store because we all know the store is going to sell it for $20 to somebody who's going to put it on eBay for $500. The charity don't get hardly anything and I don't get any kind of real tax credit for it, so what's the point?

I've consigned with some of the local consignment shops. I won't mention their names because I think that would be unfair. My luck with all of them was pretty much a downer. Seems to me they all list things way too expensive and it just sits there and collects dust until they mark it down or claim I forfeited it because the consignment period had lapsed.

When I heard about this, it captured my interest. I could use the deductions, but even more importantly is the charities that I support. I sometimes don't think I do enough, but cash always seems to be difficult to part with except for my annual giving. This on it's face appears to be a way I can do more throughout the year.

I believe in the concept and the store. If I'm wrong, I lose a suit or two I would've gotten rid of anyway. I'm confident I'll be donating more and I'll gladly follow up with what all I learn.

HQ

 

[CLFConsignment]

Hello HQ,

Thank you for asking about us. We are proud to now be a part of the community here on SF. I've PM'd one of the owners to find out about possible sponsorship. Charity Link Foundation Consignment Boutique is looking to contribute anything we can to the site and it's members.

We hope that you will stop by and visit with us in person and have a look at our new store.

We aren't open for business just yet, but we are inviting anybody that's interested in finding out more about us, to call us up or stop by anytime your in the area.

Our information is as follows:

Charity Link Foundation Consignment Boutique
3737 Atwell St. STE #205
Dallas, TX 75209
(214) 654-0911
FACEBOOK: Charity Link Foundation Consignment Boutique

We look forward to seeing you and everybody both here and in person!

-Tony

 

[pigs]

CROOK....that's all I can say!

 

[Oldguy]

Why did you write "Crook!" ?