Quality Over Quantity: Understanding Roundabout’s Newish Donation Policies

Anna Pellegrin Hartley | Jan 11, 2021 2:17 pm | Add a comment | 310 reads

Imagine this: you have been living in Beijing happily with your family for a few years. Now, it’s time to head home, but it doesn’t make sense to ship all of your furniture and belongings. After offloading big stuff in the usual buy and sell groups, you are still left with a lot of things to clear out. Who can save you? Roundabout of course!

A quick phone call later, and a Roundabout truck arrives at your doorstep, loads all your unwanted items into the back, and rides into the sunset, no questions asked and totally for free.

Dreamy right? But as many locals have noticed recently, this highly permissive “don’t ask don’t tell” attitude has changed, and those requesting a pickup now need to give Roundabout pretty detailed information about what exactly they want to donate before the pickup is arranged.

I spoke to Lily, who manages the donations system for the not-for-profit about the change. She explained that the policy of what Roundabout does and does not accept has not actually changed at all, but that they have been gradually enforcing it more strictly. This is mainly because instead of having a 3000-meters-squared warehouse at their disposal, Roundabout now only has a 300-meters-squared space to process donated stock.

Lily says that they’ve been applying the policy more strictly since summer 2019, and is overall happy with the result. “This saves our staff time, and also reduces [the problem of having]a lot of garbage in the store. The donors also know what kind of items can be donated again in the future”

Deputy Managing Editor of beijingkids (sister magazine to the Beijinger), Cindy Marie Jenkins recently made a pickup appointment with Roundabout, and says that the process was pretty painless: once she made contact via WeChat she was asked to describe the number and type of items she wanted to donate. One of the items was a tricycle, and Roundabout asked her to send through a picture so they could verify its condition before accepting.

To ensure a smooth donation, Jenkins advises families to get the donation organized the day before pickup “because often they come earlier than your arranged time. You always get a message asking if that is okay, but it’s good to prepare for an earlier pickup.”

For most of us, this new system shouldn’t pose any problems. After all, it’s only common courtesy to ensure that the items you wish to donate are in working condition and clean, but it’s always worth double-checking the list of items that Roundabout accept before calling for an appointment (see below), and do be ready to send photos of your items.

To arrange for a donation pick up anywhere in the city, call 137 1805 3814, and check out their website or follow their WeChat (ID: Roundabout众爱) to learn more about their social impact and history.