Tmall.com and some other business websites on a billboard outside a shopping center in Beijing. Unlike traditional online retailers, the website www.buy42.com is a charity shop. It came into operation at the beginning of the year and its staff say it has so far made donations to the value of 139,293 yuan ($21,813). [Photo/China Daily]

BEIJING - For those of a philanthropic bent, a new way of giving has sprung up.

Now nestling on the information superhighway alongside more traditional retailers is the online charity shop.

The website www.buy42.com was the first of its kind based in China. It came into operation at the beginning of the year and its staff say it has so far made donations to the value of 139,293 yuan ($21,813).

Xu Xuan, one of the six co-founders, said there are three ways of participating in charity activities on the website, of which the charity bazaar is the most popular.

People can donate all manner of goods, so long as they are in good condition, which are then sold online. All the income thus generated goes to those who need help.

"Because the products sold on our website are very cheap, the number of buyers is growing quickly as well as the number of donors," Xu said.

She added that although they are inexpensive, the quality is good. Staff apply strict rules in selecting what is offered from what is donated to ensure that buyers return.

Some online shops on Taobao.com, a domestic online shopping giant, also provide charity goods. Most of them were opened by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) because the operational cost of running a bricks-and-mortar shop is too expensive.

Transparency is regarded as an essential part of charity these days, following a recent scandal that caused donations to the Red Cross Society of China to plummet. In June, a young lady named Guo Meimei claimed an association with the society and one of its employees and boasted about the sports cars she owned, prompting speculation donated funds had been misappropriated.

Buy42.com posted its half-yearly report of 2011 on its website, welcoming public supervision.

Other online charity shops also post their income and expenditure details on their websites or micro blogs regularly, according to the Information Times.

The newspaper said one popular way of performing charitable works through online shops involved groups of volunteers paying their own way to visit disadvantaged groups in remote areas, bearing gifts. Another involved specifying who should benefit from the sale of an item.

Online charity shops are developing rapidly because they offer a convenient way of giving to philanthropically minded people who don't have much spare time. However, they also have their drawbacks.

"At present, there is still some risk in donating through these online charity shops because of the lack of complete regulation and supervision in our country," said Shen Shen, from the research center for philanthropy and social enterprise at Beijing Normal University.

"In terms of travel charity, it is a good thing in itself, but the results depend on how it is performed. If people do it incorrectly, it will produce a negative effect on the destinations and people there."