The Selling Online survey 2011, conducted by the Charity Retail Association, shows that over half of charity shops are now selling items online (56%).

The website most commonly used is eBay, used by 94% of charities selling on the internet. 31% of charities sell items on their own websites. 76% of the charities’ online sales come from eBay, compared with 60% in 2010.

Charities reported higher proportions of sales coming from online trading.

A quarter of charities which were trading online said that it made up between 3% and 5% of their sales. Only 9% of charities reported this in the 2010 survey.

Charities believe online trading will grow in importance. 87% of charities expected sales to increase, and more than half of these expected them to increase a lot.

Wendy Mitchell, head of policy & public affairs at the Charity Retail Association, said: “Most charity shops are still not at the level of commercial retailers in selling goods on the internet, but the growth in sales this year shows that they are increasingly adapting to new online markets.

"The optimism shown by charities about future growth in internet retailing suggests that more and more sales will be moving online in the years to come.”

CLIC Sargent, the cancer charity for children and young people, has 29 high street shops across the South West of England, and launched its online shop in 2006.

Jeremy Lune, head of trading at the charity, said: “CLIC Sargent has enjoyed fantastic success with its own online shop and we have noticed, year by year, an increase in overall online sales.

"Over £32,000 was taken from our online shop in 2010, a 10% increase from 2009. We’re also proud of achievements made through our eBay shop, with 2010 sales accounting for £220,000, or 9% of the charity’s total retail income.”

Lorin May, head of EU charity and sustainability at eBay, said: “There are great opportunities for charities online, whether that’s to raise new funds through an online store or rapidly mobilise supporters to support a cause.

"Charities have already raised over £17m by trading on eBay, and we expect the number to increase as more charities take their first steps into e-commerce.”

Factors that prevented charities from selling more online were not having appropriately trained staff and not having the necessary ICT equipment.

Two-thirds of the charities find it difficult to fulfil of online orders efficiently.

MissionFish UK, eBay’s partner charity, recently launched a small grants scheme to help charities tackle these barriers to online trading.

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