When most people donate to an organization like the Goodwill or the Salvation Army, they assume the items will be sold to local people in need.

While this is usually true, some of those items simply don't sell.

In these instances, the nonprofit organizations recycle the donated goods by selling them to salvage brokers.

Sometimes, thrift stores have a designated shelf life for their donations, said Linda Fair, manager of the Goodwill store in Butler Township, which keeps items for a month.

Donations are then shipped to the Goodwill outlet store in West Virginia, where they are put up for sale a final time before going to salvage brokers.

The Salvation Army allows for a shelf life of four to six weeks, said Martina O'Leary, regional director of the organization's thrift stores. The prices of those items are lowered in the final week before going to the brokers, who in turn sell the clothing to developing nations.

"This is why you see children in Africa, for example, running around in Nike T-shirts," said Al Wilson of Wilson Marketing, a salvage company based in Atlanta, Ga.

Wilson said the textiles are purchased per round and packaged into 1,000-pound bales, then shipped to wherever they need to go.

"About 70 percent of it, we can do something with it," Wilson said. "About 30 percent goes to a landfill."

Wilson said contrary to what many believe, the clothes are never recycled into other goods.

"Absorbent material is made into wiping cloths," he said. Otherwise, the clothes are sold or thrown out.

"We try to get the most mileage out of donations," said Sheila Holt, director of public relations and marketing for Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh.

Holt said that like any other recycling system, the price they receive per pound depends on market demand.

"The price varies with the market," Holt said. "We've gotten anywhere from 1 to 3 cents to 25 cents a pound."

But the benefits don't stop there. Salvage dealers also help nonprofits save time and money in labor and other fees.

"Customers tend to think this is a garbage drop-off," Fair said, citing items like ripped and stained furniture that gets donated.

O'Leary said people need to understand that quality donations are a must. "If it's not good enough for them to use, then don't donate it," she said.

"People are surprised that we say no (to some donations)," Fair added. "Iwant to say to them, 'Would you want to buy this?'"

Unuseable donations can add up quickly, wasting resources that charity organizations could put to better use.

"If items are in very poor condition, we have to pay to dispose of them," O'Leary said.

The salvage brokers help ease the cost of disposing of unuseable items.

"We already spend $50,000 annually in garbage fees," Holt said.

O'Leary said the Salvation Army spends more than $100,000 a year in trash disposal.

These figures would be much higher if the charity couldn't recycle its unsold donations, which create income instead of expense.

Wilson said the salvaging business started with Americans scrounging through city dumpsters, trying to find used textiles they could re-sell to needy people.

Now, citizens of the developing nations who buy the clothes are getting involved.

"These guys who were buying off of us are now doing the selling," Wilson said.

He said many of them do well because they have better connections in their home countries.

"They are selling to family and friends who won't take advantage of them," Wilson said.

Still, Wilson said the American dealers do pretty well, although it takes a lot of hard work to be successful.

"It's not something that you just walk into," he said.

Wilson has been in the business for about 30 years, and 10 years ago, he got his son involved.

While Wilson said his business isn't exactly making millions, there is still plenty of demand for used clothing.

"The unfortunate thing is, there are more and more poor people in the world," Wilson said.