Frequently Asked Questions

Value Clothing, Inc. is a textile exporter and logistics partner, not a thrift store. We do not collect public donations or operate public donation boxes. Instead, we purchase surplus goods directly from thrift stores, ensuring local communities get the first opportunity to buy and use donated items. We step in to buy the excess inventory that thrift stores cannot sell, giving those textiles a second life.

Our Step-by-Step Process

We handle all inventory with high accountability through a transparent, efficient system.

1. Unloading & Initial Sorting

      Our team unloads bulk inventory from our thrift store partners and separates clothing and household textiles from other goods.

2. Baling & Transport

      We bale the sorted textiles and ship them directly to our customers' specialized warehouses.

3. Detailed Categorization

      Warehouse teams sort the textiles into precise categories to maximize their practical reuse.

4. Packaging & Final Distribution

      Categorized items are securely packaged and shipped worldwide to destinations where they are needed most.

Managing Unsellable Items

When items cannot be reused or sold as clothing, we find alternative, eco-friendly pathways to minimize waste:

• Wiping Cloths: Converting worn-out textiles into absorbent industrial cleaning rags.

• Insulation Material: Shredding and recycling fibers into high-grade building insulation.

• Responsible Disposal: Discarding remaining, non-recyclable materials in a landfill as a strict last resort.

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Our Perspective on Textile Pollution

A Shared Responsibility - We believe textile pollution stems from a few bad actors cutting corners, rather than the recycling industry as a whole. While affordable fast fashion exists, the real challenge lies in how society manages items at the end of their life cycle. True sustainability requires shared responsibility from everyone in the supply chain.

Minimizing the Downstream Waste Burden - Every product eventually reaches the end of its usefulness. When individuals donate completely unusable items to thrift stores, it simply shifts the waste burden downstream to organizations with limited disposal resources. We support mindful donating so that local thrift stores can focus their resources on sellable goods.

Vetting Our Partners

We are committed to handling all materials with strict diligence and care. We communicate continuously with our buyers to ensure they share our dedication to sustainable practices. While we cannot control every action after inventory leaves our facility, we actively watch for red flags. We do our absolute best to partner only with customers who mirror our ethical standards.

Usable wearable clothing, household textiles (linens, etc.), paired shoes, purses, belts, and small hard or soft non-broken toys. All of the products we sell to our customers must be usable or wearable. We are not a recycler but an exporter who sells the product to a consumer who reuses it.

The items we DO accept are...

Clothes, linens, towels - Please remove hangers from clothing.

Paired shoes

Small handheld toys (soft and hard)

Purses & Belts

Small bookbags/backpacks

Dishes, cups, saucers, salt and pepper shakers, mixing bowls (metal or glass, No plastics)

The items Value Clothing does NOT accept are...

No Heavy Draperies

No single shoes

No suitcases

No picture frames or mirrors

No electric or electronic items

No computers or computer components

No books

No media items (LPs, cassettes, CDs, or VHS)

No hangers

No baskets or bins (wicker or plastic)

No pillows or cushions of any size

No fabric samples or quilting pieces

No rugs or carpets

No large items

No furniture

No broken items

No cut or torn items

No badly stained items

The clothes & household textiles (linens and towels) should be bagged or baled. These items can be bagged or baled together.

Shoes, purses, belts, & small soft or hard toys can be bagged together, but separate from the clothes.   

Dishes, cups, saucers, salt & pepper shakers, mixing bowls (metal or glass, no plastics). These items can be boxed.

When bagging the product, we prefer that the thrift store use 25- to 35-gallon trash bags.

We need the trailers to be packed as tightly as possible due to fuel costs and in a safe, efficient manner for the safety of our crews. Also, it is necessary to have the bags all the way to the ceiling to help maximize the amount of weight that is put on the trailer. It is important that the items be bagged to help prevent any water damage from a possible trailer leak.

The trailer provided to you by our company is intended for DRY, USABLE, bagged clothing, shoes, purses, belts, and toys (hard and soft). We are NOT a recycler. The products we collect will be shipped overseas to be REUSED by the less fortunate. Please remember, they may not have much, but no one wants to wear worn-out clothing or shoes.

Absolutely NO items should be put in the trailer if the items are not listed above.

Please do NOT load any items on the trailer that will not fit into a 33-gallon trash bag.

We may have to charge your account a disposal fee if any items, other than those listed above, are on the trailer.

No. Due to the massive drop in the paper market, we are unable to take any books or paper products. It has become too expensive for our company to transport, handle, and pay to dispose of the books. 

The prices paid are based on several different criteria. These include market price, transportation cost, unloading cost, sorting cost, item quality, and disposal volume.

The Market price fluctuates based on supply and demand. Value Clothing tries to establish a base price and keep it as close to that as possible, so that thrift stores are not bothered by the volatility of the market.

Transportation cost is based on the pounds recovered and mileage from the thrift store's location to Salisbury, NC. There is not much control over the mileage. However, it may be possible to increase the thrift store's revenue by saving on freight. That depends mostly on the store's ability to fill the trailer with good, usable items and pack the trailer to its maximum capacity. Keep in mind that the size of the trailer and frequency can affect this cost.

Unloading cost is related to the way the store packs and packages the trailer. Packing a trailer correctly enables the unloader to handle the items safely, quickly, and efficiently. If all the items are separated correctly and in the proper packaging, the thrift store will receive the most revenue. If it takes Value Clothing's crew too long to unload the trailer, the cost is passed on to the thrift store.

Sorting cost is a big part of pricing due to the labor it consumes. As the trailer is being unloaded in the dock area, a pre-sort is done. This is when the clothing goes one way, and all the other items go another way. Anything that is not bagged as clothing is sent to a sorting conveyor, where it is categorized and packaged for shipping. A lot of items that are sorted on this line are of little to no value. With these items possibly being trash, it costs us a great deal to get rid of them. Imagine paying 5 employees to sort through 2,000 pounds of items and only recovering 1,200 pounds of sellable/usable material.

The Quality of the products that we receive is very important to maintain a good level of return. When we put in all the above expenses into producing a product, and the product does not bring market value, it is a strain on the overall business. Please keep in mind that we are exporting these items overseas to countries less fortunate, and that these items are to be reused, not recycled.

The Amount of disposal is anything that has to go to the landfill. The landfill cost is substantial enough, but when you add in the cost to transport it in, unload it, sort it, transport it out, and pay to dump it, trash becomes a huge burden.

All of these costs must be considered when quoting prices to any thrift store. Keeping in mind that if a thrift store is quoted a price in January and it is April before they have the trailer ready to be switched out, the market price may have changed.

Yes. Value Clothing requires the following minimum weight to be loaded on the corresponding trailer size.

• 28' trailer requires a minimum weight of 9,000 lbs.
• 45' trailer requires a minimum weight of 14,445 lbs.
• 48' trailer requires a minimum weight of 15,408 lbs.
• 53' trailer requires a minimum weight of 17,013 lbs.

There will be a fuel fee assessed for trailers that are switched out and returned to our warehouse with less than the required weight on them.

There is a fuel fee for all trailers that are switched out and returned to our warehouse with less than the required weight on them. Any trailer that is loaded with less than the required weight will be charged a $0.05 per pound fuel fee. Subject to change without notice.

Example: If a 28’ trailer is switched with only 8,000 lbs., there will be a fuel fee of $50.00 (9,000 - 8,000 = 1,000 x $0.05 = $50.00) taken from the proceeds of the trailer.

Each trailer size has a minimum weight required.

28’ = 9,000 lbs. 45’ = 14,445 lbs. 48’ = 15,408 lbs. 53’ = 17,013 lbs.

Being charged a drop fee is very rare, but it may happen if the same trailer located at your facility stays there for more than eight months (or 248 days).

After eight months, the facility will incur charges that will be deducted from the proceeds of the contents on the trailer as it is brought back to our warehouse.

The fees are as follows... Subject to change without notice.

     Time frame Fee

• 1 – 8 months FREE
• 9 months $5.00
• 10 months $10.00
• 11 months $20.00
• 12 months $30.00
• 13 months $60.00
• 14 months $120.00
• 15 months $160.00 + the trailer will be pulled out

It is better to incur a Drop Fee than have a Fuel Fee. There is a possibility of having the drop fee waived, but if you do not utilize all the space provided by the trailer, there is a possibility of the trailer being removed. Transportation is a huge expense vs. an extra month or two in storage. 

No. Neither Value Clothing nor R J Transports charges for the freight pickup or delivery. There is the possibility of a Fuel Fee or Drop Fee, but those would only occur if the trailer is not loaded to its full capacity or if the trailer sits longer than eight months.

 No. Value Clothing does not have or operate a thrift store, but we have served and helped hundreds of thrift stores with our decades of experience. We do not intend to compete with our thrift store partners in that market. We do not collect public donations or operate public donation boxes. Instead, we purchase surplus goods directly from thrift stores, ensuring local communities get the first opportunity to buy and use donated items. We step in to buy the excess inventory that thrift stores cannot sell, giving those textiles a second life. 

 We hope that the information on our website has helped answer any questions that you have. If for any reason you have a question, please feel free to contact us at (800) 633-8391 or (704) 638-6111

You can also contact us by email if you need the trailer switched out or if you have any questions… (Email is preferred.) switchtrailer@valueclothing.us or customerservice@valueclothing.us

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By Mail at: Value Clothing, Inc., 1310 Richard Street, Salisbury, NC 28144