Turn Unwanted Items into Cash Contributions for MVES

Do you have an attic filled with clutter? Items you no longer want may be treasures to someone else. Now you can convert those unwanted items into cash contributions for MVES by visiting missionfish.org.

MissionFish and eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, recently combined forces to make this form of charitable giving possible. Here’s how it works. You browse to missionfish.org, register to sell an item, select MVES as the nonprofit you want to support, and select a percentage of the final value of the sale to donate to MVES (ten percent to one hundred percent). As a registered charity, MVES can welcome your potential donation or suggest that you give your generosity to another charity.

If MVES accepts the listing, the item goes up for sale on eBay with a special “Giving Works” icon. This alerts potential buyers that a portion of their purchase goes to a charitable cause. “MVES” and the percentage of the sale that will be donated to MVES will appear in the listing of the item to be sold. As the seller, you determine how long your item will appear as a listing on eBay. MissionFish is finding that people will pay a little more and select one item over a similar item if they know their money supports a good cause.

Once the item sells, the transaction works like a normal eBay purchase. The buyer pays you directly and you are responsible for shipping the item to the buyer. You then have the option to either pay MissionFish the portion of the sale that you donated to MVES or have MissionFish automatically charge the donated amount to your credit card account (which you must give to MissionFish as part of the registration process). MissionFish distributes the funds to MVES and provides you with a receipt for the donation. MVES is one of over 1,500 nonprofits listed in the MissionFish database.

So next time you think about throwing your junk away, remember it may be of value to someone else. With only a little extra effort, it can be converted into cash to support MVES and our many services for local elders.