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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think people are quite petty to object to charity shop staff getting "first dibs" when they are BUYING the items?

471 replies

SorcererGaheris · 06/12/2024 20:03

For context, I am a volunteer in a charity shop myself, and if I see something that I want, I will purchase it. The shop doesn't give staff discounts, either; staff pay full price - the last item I bought, a book, cost me £40.

Anyway, I COMPLETELY understand people objecting if volunteers were to just take donated items for themselves, but I've seen some online discussions in which people complain about the staff getting first pick of donations when they are paying for them. I really don't see the problem in this case, and think people who object are rather out of line. Other retail workers surely sometime purchase items from the shops they work in, so I don't see why volunteers should be begrudged that. A volunteer is a customer as much as any other.

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 09/12/2024 22:30

SorcererGaheris · 09/12/2024 12:33

I would imagine there are both volunteers who make sure the charity gets the money for a valuable item, or they pocket it themselves by selling on vinted/ebay etc.

I realise you are making a sympathetic point overall, but I want to specify again that the thread is more about volunteers getting the first chance to PAY for the items (and in the shop I volunteer at, there is no staff discount, so we pay the same price that anyone else would pay.)

When volunteers pay for the products, the charity still gets the money for the item.

Show quote history

It's not just about money going to the charity on a transaction by transaction basis.

Part of the job is to make the shop look attractive, and what makes it attractive is a selection of attractive items for sale. Along with that is a customer's perception that they ha e access to quality second hand merchandise.

This can't happen if the volunteers are all doing what you're doing.

Original poster
SorcererGaheris · 09/12/2024 16:30

ShanghaiDiva · 09/12/2024 11:46

@SorcererGaheris exactly. If my sole motivation were to benefit the charity I would send them a cheque.

Also, there have been some people making this subject strictly about volunteers. It's not only the volunteers who sometimes buy items, the salaried charity shop employees also sometimes buy things that interest them.

The two managers of my shop are both paid for their time and occasionally buy a book or a DVD.

That's one of the reasons I used the phrase "charity shop staff" in the thread title, as not all charity shop staff are volunteers.

This time last year, the managers of our shop were actually on strike for a couple of days. The shop was closed because of it.

OP posts:
Original poster
SorcererGaheris · 09/12/2024 12:33

Alltheunreadbooks · 09/12/2024 12:29

It's the deal isn't it? you volunteer in a charity shop , giving your time, keeping it tidy and sorting through the donations and in return you get ' first dibs'.

This might mean seeing a book you've been after but haven't got from anywhere else, or finding a first edition that you can sell on for a few quid profit. I would imagine there are both volunteers who make sure the charity gets the money for a valuable item, or they pocket it themselves by selling on vinted/ebay etc.

Is this a problem? well you could always volunteer yourself if you are jealous , or don't go in chazzers if you think the model is all a con.

I'm firmly of the belief that now there are younger people volunteering - University students etc - who are doing it to spot vintage clothes and high value brands which they can then sell for a profit. we have ' vintage fairs' at my workplace and the stock is quite clearly all stuff that has been found in charity shops and marked up by a huge amount.

All this isn't particularly immoral or illegal, despite how distasteful some people find it.

I would imagine there are both volunteers who make sure the charity gets the money for a valuable item, or they pocket it themselves by selling on vinted/ebay etc.

I realise you are making a sympathetic point overall, but I want to specify again that the thread is more about volunteers getting the first chance to PAY for the items (and in the shop I volunteer at, there is no staff discount, so we pay the same price that anyone else would pay.)

When volunteers pay for the products, the charity still gets the money for the item.

OP posts:
Alltheunreadbooks · 09/12/2024 12:29

It's the deal isn't it? you volunteer in a charity shop , giving your time, keeping it tidy and sorting through the donations and in return you get ' first dibs'.

This might mean seeing a book you've been after but haven't got from anywhere else, or finding a first edition that you can sell on for a few quid profit. I would imagine there are both volunteers who make sure the charity gets the money for a valuable item, or they pocket it themselves by selling on vinted/ebay etc.

Is this a problem? well you could always volunteer yourself if you are jealous , or don't go in chazzers if you think the model is all a con.

I'm firmly of the belief that now there are younger people volunteering - University students etc - who are doing it to spot vintage clothes and high value brands which they can then sell for a profit. we have ' vintage fairs' at my workplace and the stock is quite clearly all stuff that has been found in charity shops and marked up by a huge amount.

All this isn't particularly immoral or illegal, despite how distasteful some people find it.

ShanghaiDiva · 09/12/2024 11:46

@SorcererGaheris exactly. If my sole motivation were to benefit the charity I would send them a cheque.

Original poster
SorcererGaheris · 09/12/2024 11:28

saraclara · 08/12/2024 18:27

If every person who volunteered for mainly selfish reasons, stopped volunteering, pretty much every charity would collapse.

What my organisation does is important to me. But I'd say that 75% of my reason for joining, was to get out of the house, meet people, and generally feel useful.

When charities are trying to gain more volunteers, they often publicly talk about the benefits to the potential volunteers of doing the work. They'll say something like, "Gain new skills, gain work experience/something to put on your CV, make friends, do work you enjoy."

They realise that rather a lot of people will volunteer mainly (or perhaps only) because they like the idea of getting something positive out of the experience. Voluntary work isn't necessarily done with the motivation of helping others. The fact that that's often an outcome of voluntary work doesn't mean it's always the reason that people do the work.

As long as the jobs are getting done to the charity's satisfaction, they really don't mind if people are primarily volunteering with their own pleasure in mind.

OP posts:
DrZaraCarmichael · 09/12/2024 08:05

A manager told me that every hour donated in a charirty shop of time is worth £15-20 to the charity. That was several years ago, it's probably more now.

DogCoat · 09/12/2024 05:45

As Charity shop volunteers, our free labour means we are in fact donating a massive weekly amount to the charity as in the monetary value of our labour. So yes, we do get to buy stuff that we see before the customers. I consider that as fair reward for the fact that I can be bothered to get off my fat arse to spend hours volunteering.

BernardBlacksBreakfastWine · 08/12/2024 20:33

coldcallerbaiter · 08/12/2024 19:38

They can buy the odd thing. I can see a vinted or ebayer getting a job for the perks

Really? You can see someone who wants the fairly meagre extra that vinted might provide having hours to spend doing unpaid work? Seems fairly unlikely.

Original poster
SorcererGaheris · 08/12/2024 19:44

SnappyGreyLemur · 08/12/2024 19:33

I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to manage a charity shop. Organising the rota would have me tearing my hair out

Show quote history

Yep - if you're lucky enough to have a lot of volunteers who reliably come in often, then it's not so bad. But obviously, as volunteers, nobody is obliged to show up all the time. There are no limits to the number of days off/holidays people can take.

I normally try to give several days' advance notice that I'm not coming in, if that's possible. Sometimes something unexpected crops up that means I can't get in, so I don't always manage it.

OP posts:
coldcallerbaiter · 08/12/2024 19:38

They can buy the odd thing. I can see a vinted or ebayer getting a job for the perks

SnappyGreyLemur · 08/12/2024 19:33

DrZaraCarmichael · 08/12/2024 16:39

Someone should write a PhD on why people think it's OK to be quite so unpleasant about volunteers. Or paid staff in a charity shop.

Personally, I think running a charity shop must be so much harder than a "proper" shop. You have no control over what stock you get in. Volunteers may just decide they're having a day off and not coming on. Volunteers pick and choose what they will and will not do, refuse to go on the till or only ever want to work a Monday morning. Plus you're solely in charge of the health and safety, training, banking and everything else.

I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to manage a charity shop. Organising the rota would have me tearing my hair out

saraclara · 08/12/2024 18:27

If every person who volunteered for mainly selfish reasons, stopped volunteering, pretty much every charity would collapse.

What my organisation does is important to me. But I'd say that 75% of my reason for joining, was to get out of the house, meet people, and generally feel useful.

Original poster
SorcererGaheris · 08/12/2024 17:48

DrZaraCarmichael · 08/12/2024 17:39

Contempt is the exact vibe you get off so many of the posts on here. Either that or pitying us as the poor unfortunates who are too stupid and backward to get a "proper job".

I find the term "proper job" to be quite confusing, personally. Surely ALL forms of work qualify as a proper job? Yet many people appear to refuse to accept that certain kinds of work are valid. That's why artists and writers say it's common for them to be told that they don't have "proper jobs".

OP posts:
DrZaraCarmichael · 08/12/2024 17:39

Contempt is the exact vibe you get off so many of the posts on here. Either that or pitying us as the poor unfortunates who are too stupid and backward to get a "proper job".

ShanghaiDiva · 08/12/2024 17:28

@BernardBlacksBreakfastWine - that is exactly what it feels like.

BernardBlacksBreakfastWine · 08/12/2024 17:25

DrZaraCarmichael · 08/12/2024 16:39

Someone should write a PhD on why people think it's OK to be quite so unpleasant about volunteers. Or paid staff in a charity shop.

Personally, I think running a charity shop must be so much harder than a "proper" shop. You have no control over what stock you get in. Volunteers may just decide they're having a day off and not coming on. Volunteers pick and choose what they will and will not do, refuse to go on the till or only ever want to work a Monday morning. Plus you're solely in charge of the health and safety, training, banking and everything else.

Exactly. It sounds quite thankless in many ways. It seems as if many customers hold charity shop workers in special contempt and think they know best about how to run the operation.

Original poster
SorcererGaheris · 08/12/2024 17:22

TizerorFizz · 08/12/2024 13:41

I have done voluntary work for decades. What perks? I don’t do it for perks. I do it because I care about who I volunteer for. It’s not employment but you volunteer with your eyes open - not how it works for you with perks. Cannot say I got those when working either!

And I truly think it's great that your main motivation for doing voluntary work is because the cause itself is very close to your heart.

However, that doesn't mean that all other volunteers are required to have the same reasons for volunteering as yourself, and you have been rather critical of the fact that my motivation for volunteering is simply that I find it fun to do.

Giving one's time for free because the cause or charity itself is important to you is a commendable thing to do. But that doesn't make volunteering for the purpose of pure pleasure a non-commendable thing.

IMO, you have been unjustly judgemental of people who do not volunteer for the same reasons that you do.

OP posts:
Original poster
SorcererGaheris · 08/12/2024 16:48

DrZaraCarmichael · 08/12/2024 16:39

Someone should write a PhD on why people think it's OK to be quite so unpleasant about volunteers. Or paid staff in a charity shop.

Personally, I think running a charity shop must be so much harder than a "proper" shop. You have no control over what stock you get in. Volunteers may just decide they're having a day off and not coming on. Volunteers pick and choose what they will and will not do, refuse to go on the till or only ever want to work a Monday morning. Plus you're solely in charge of the health and safety, training, banking and everything else.

I tend to agree. I don't run the shop myself, but from what I see of some of the duties, I wouldn't exactly describe managing a charity shop as a laid-back role. It comes with its own challenges and can often be very low-paid.

At around this time last year, Oxfam employees actually went on strike over the low wages and the shop I volunteer in was closed for a couple of days because of this. (The volunteers obviously weren't on strike as we're not employees, but some of us chose not to go into the shop in solidarity with the strikers, and some of us were not confident enough to be working in the shop by ourselves without the managers there.)

OP posts:
DrZaraCarmichael · 08/12/2024 16:39

Someone should write a PhD on why people think it's OK to be quite so unpleasant about volunteers. Or paid staff in a charity shop.

Personally, I think running a charity shop must be so much harder than a "proper" shop. You have no control over what stock you get in. Volunteers may just decide they're having a day off and not coming on. Volunteers pick and choose what they will and will not do, refuse to go on the till or only ever want to work a Monday morning. Plus you're solely in charge of the health and safety, training, banking and everything else.

ShanghaiDiva · 08/12/2024 16:05

TizerorFizz · 08/12/2024 14:02

Also the pay is at the lower end and it suits people who enjoy loose management. As we can see from many posts. It’s not exactly cutting edge of retail is it?

Any need to be quite so unpleasant?

ShanghaiDiva · 08/12/2024 16:03

enough with the sneery, superior comments. Who cares why someone volunteers. They give their time for a variety of reasons: make friends, a cause they want to support, moved to a new area, learn new skills…why does it matter?
Tat from volunteers? We are well aware what sells and ime volunteers tend to donate good quality items which go straight into the shop floor.
Perhaps more people would volunteer if we were not characterised as dim old biddies who don’t know Prada from Primark or abusing the position and eBay all the ‘best stuff’.
I am fortunate to feel valued as a volunteer in the shop I work in, because clearly the general public sees little value in what I do. fucking depressing.

FancyAReallyLongUsernameJustForAChange · 08/12/2024 15:43

TizerorFizz · 08/12/2024 12:24

You reheat lobster bisque. It’s a soup - generally. Like tomato soup.

So a charity shop professional who is flitting around from shop to shop really thinks they know what every volunteer is doing? They simply don’t. I would say my charity shop had no professional oversight at all. I have also been very aware charity shop managers haven’t made it in JL. So they aren’t the cream of the crop. Neither are some greatest seizing opportunities to make money.

Lobster bisque is on Clubcard price at Tesco at the moment if anyone fancies trying it for not as hefty a price as usual!

SnappyGreyLemur · 08/12/2024 15:22

As a volunteer I’m now trying to work out if I’m a stupid old biddy who wouldn’t know a designer label if it bit me on the bum, am totally devoid of taste or lacking morals.

I honestly think none of them. I volunteer because overall I enjoy it and I agree with the aims of the charity. I don’t generally price but will ask the managers advice if I feel something has been wrongly priced.

A far bigger problem in our store are shoplifters and people who change price stickers around. Let’s not forget that charity shop customers are not all blameless.

PondWarrior · 08/12/2024 15:01

StrawberryWater · 06/12/2024 20:10

As long as you’re paying the same price as a regular customer there’s no issue.

However, having worked in several charity shops I know some do heavily discount to staff and I can see why some people get annoyed.

Yeah I knew someone who worked in a charity shop and she priced items up herself. So just priced things lower if she wanted them herself. And bragged about it. Very annoying.