The Donated Crib Problem: Why Thrift Stores Carry Product Liability for Goods They Never Made
Under federal law, thrift stores and charities can't sell recalled products — and when a donated crib or space heater injures a customer, there's no manufacturer to point to. Here's how secondhand product liability actually works, and the intake screening that keeps the claim from ever being filed.
What Is Your Donated Inventory Worth? The Valuation Question Most Thrift Store Policies Get Wrong
Property policies value stock at replacement cost. Donated inventory has no cost — so after a fire, many thrift stores recover the building and nothing for $400,000 of merchandise. Here's how selling-price and agreed-value clauses fix it, and what documentation the carrier needs before the loss.
Volunteers Aren't Employees — Until One Gets Hurt
Most thrift operations run on volunteers, community-service workers, and job-training participants — none of whom are covered by workers' comp in most states. When one is injured, the organization isn't off the hook; it's just uninsured. Volunteer accident coverage is the inexpensive fix almost nobody has.
The Donation Truck Is Your Riskiest Asset
A 20-foot box truck loaded with furniture, backing down a residential driveway, driven by whoever was available Thursday — that's the donation fleet, and it's the single largest liability most thrift operations own. Here's how to insure it, who else is driving for you, and what underwriters reward.
Slip, Fall, Settle: Why High-Traffic Resale Floors Need a Premises Strategy, Not Just a GL Limit
Crowded aisles, furniture on open display, shopping carts in a shared parking lot, and a donation door where the public unloads pickup trucks. Thrift premises claims are frequent, predictable, and mostly preventable — and the stores that prevent them pay less for the same limit.