My reporting of the theft of my battle rod had very little to do with 'donations' as you put it and more about showing the folly of such a theft. Granted, it will take time and a small amount of coin to replace it (Unless I want to use a larger amount of coin and purchase another's), but I would not have left that in a place where I informed many people it could be found and used at their discretion if I had expected to turn a profit on those items. Those, and quite a few other things I make, I call alms. In many businesses they are also called 'breakage' or even 'thefts' - the part of your inventory of what you make that you expect zero return on investment (or ROI). I personally lost nothing as I expected nothing in return from them. The community may have lost out some on what aid those items could have given though and that's why I pointed it out and hopefully the thief will realize the folly of his ways.
You see, in tumultuous areas, I offer such items for free to help with the healing and guarding of those that fight for my protection. I would never think of charging them for it as I would hate it if they began charging me for defending me against every kobold to creature from the abyss that came near me.
So let me pass on three words of advice that I have gleaned from another - feel free to heed or ignore them as you see fit:
1) Never charge for healing unless you plan on being charged for people to come to your aid
2) Never announce that you deal in necromantic items - even potions. You will find yourself awakening in an earth circle (if there is any semblance of law in the area as necromancy is illegal in all of Fortannis)
3) A merchant who doesn't haggle isn't a merchant, they're a parrot piping prices
Kon
Proprietor of the Crooked Cup Tavern