Shopping online for most of us is a pleasure. For me, it’s about buying music, movies, and books. I have to admit though, I’ve taken for granted where my money is going to ultimately go when I buy things online. Well, wouldn’t it be great if you could buy something online and at the same time support a wonderful charity?
Thanks to Recoup, shopping for a cause just got a whole lot easier. Recoup is an online destination that donates 10% of the sale of any item to a charity of the users’ choice. Signing up for an account is simple with Recoup and only takes a few seconds. If you use Google+ or Facebook, then users can login that way. Great!
The site is setup in a straightforward manner with large images and a simple design which is great for visually-oriented users. In addition, the categories available for shoppers include, “Gift Ideas, Travel, Specialty Foods, Home & Lifestyle, Health & Beauty, Kids & Family.” It’s a wide variety of high quality products that include anything from sunglasses to an excursion to the Cusco, Peru. Sign me up.
Non-Profits are invited to join to be a part of Recoup on a regular basis and the site is in the process of diligently building their list in order to offer users more options. Current non-profits include, “Africa Schoolhouse, National Foundation for Cancer Research, endPoverty.org, Doctors Without Borders / MSF, Ayuda, and Dallas Life.”
The list of causes is already quite deep and it appears to be growing almost daily. Don’t see a cause you like affiliated with Recoup? No problem. Send Recoup an email and the Recoup Causes team will get in touch with the charity and invite them to be affiliated.
In reading the Recoup blog this morning I came across two items that I immediately wanted. One was for a hot sauce and the other was for a new single speed bike from Venice, California. If I had the money, I’d get both right now.
Navigating the Recoup site is easy. Clicking on images of items reveal robust detailed pages describing the item at length and videos are available with select items. Travel packages even have links discussing the trip itself through TripAdvisor. Yes, I’ll take 1 of the Taj Mahal excursions and one of the Chica surf trips. No, I don’t need a bag.
Another nice element is that any business can sign up to sell items on the site with the agreement that they will donate a percentage of each sale to an affiliated cause. This link between customers, businesses, and causes is a real win for all three involved. This is social entreprenurship in one of its best forms if you ask me. For me, it’s the first of its kind and I would image that it’s going to grow quite quickly.
Take a few minutes, browse the items on Recoup, and see if you just might walk away with something. You’d be supporting a good website and wonderful causes at the same time.
Rather than braving the crowds this Black Friday, give shopping for a cause a try at Recoup.com. You don’t even need to change out of your pajamas!
