Where does ReStore get its merchandise?

Habitat for Humanity ReStores get virtually all of their merchandise through donations, not purchases: homeowners, contractors, retailers, and manufacturers give new and gently used building materials, furniture, appliances, and home goods that ReStore then resells to fund Habitat's housing programs.

On the building materials side specifically, inventory typically comes from three streams:

• Homeowners renovating or remodeling, who donate leftover or removed cabinets, doors, windows, flooring, lumber, and fixtures instead of hauling them to a landfill.
• Construction, deconstruction, and trade businesses, which donate surplus lumber, drywall, roofing, insulation, hardware, and reclaimed materials pulled from job sites and teardown projects.
• Retailers, manufacturers, and distributors, who contribute unsold or overstock building products, from unopened shingles to fencing and trim.

Because ReStore's stock is entirely donation-driven, what's on the shelves shifts week to week depending on what local deconstruction and renovation projects have recently come through the door.

This is exactly why documentation matters when you donate salvaged doors, flooring, cabinetry, or architectural elements to ReStore or a similar nonprofit reuse center: the IRS requires a qualified, independent valuation to support a charitable deduction on Form 8283 once your donated materials exceed the filing threshold. A deconstruction donation appraisal establishes the fair market value of what you've donated, based on the condition and quantity of the materials and current pricing at local reuse markets, so your deduction holds up to IRS scrutiny. If you're planning a renovation or teardown and donating the salvaged materials, it's worth having that valuation prepared before or shortly after the donation is made.