Valuations you can defend in 2029
The question isn't what your donation is worth today. It's whether you can show how you got that number three years from now.
Why we don't guess from photos
Some trackers point an AI at a photo of your donation pile and invent a number. It feels magical — right up until someone asks where the number came from. An unexplainable valuation is exactly what IRS Publication 561 warns against: fair market value has to rest on evidence — what comparable items actually sell for — not on a model's best guess.
So we took the other road: a human-curated valuation guide, built from published thrift-store pricing and comparable-sales data, with condition-based ranges instead of false-precision single numbers.
Versioned and source-stamped
Every valuation in WriteOff Wallet records which version of the guide produced it. When you value a winter coat in 2026, your donation stores the 2026 guide version alongside the number.
Why does that matter? Because tax questions arrive years late. If your 2026 return is questioned in 2029, "the guide said $12 that year, here's the version and the range it gave" is an answer. "An app said so" is not.
Your judgment, on the record
Guides are starting points. That designer coat really is worth more than the generic range; that worn-out bookshelf is worth less. WriteOff Wallet lets you override any valuation and record your reasoning — the note travels with the donation, so future-you (or your accountant) knows exactly why the number is what it is.
Want to see the guide in action? Try the free donation value calculator — no signup needed.
Condition matters too: the guide gives ranges by condition, and the IRS only allows deductions for goods in good used condition or better.