What’s it like to work in a charity shop?

[Fortboyard]

I’m thinking about applying for a deputy manager job at a charity shop. I’m just wondering what it might be like and what to expect. Might the donations be a bit grotty sometimes?
I suppose a big difference would be that I’d be managing volunteers rather than employees. Is that easier or harder?
The job would mean I was responsible for covering absences, would this be frequent because they’re mostly older volunteers or are they quite reliable generally? I really don’t want to have to cancel my plans to cover at short notice.

My charity shop is a mixture of volunteers and paid workers so I can't comment on staffing. The donations are a mixture, some are grotty but you also get bags of lovely stuff, it often depends on the shop (area/size/etc.) I work in a massive one and people seem to think it's fine to donate their old junk (nobody wants your old underwear/socks/stained and broken stuff/out of date stuff) but when I've worked in the smaller ones it's been mostly decent as people are only handing in one or two carrier bags instead of practically clearing a house.

I don't think it's for you if you are concerned about grotty donations.

It can be a great experience and the team become a large (crazy) extended family, or it can be really tough. Most shops have one or two paid staff and a team of volunteers. Larger stores (superstores) may have more paid staff.
Volunteers are there for a wide range of reasons and for many reasons can find it difficult to be reliable. Many are there as they have additional needs, are socially isolated, not ready for paid work and can bring a whole range of support issues/needs with them. Others are absolutely amazing, volunteer for decades and are so reliable and capable!
I would not expect you would be called in as paid staff to cover unreliable volunteers, but most charity shops are struggling to recruit paid staff at the moment, so if the charity have more than one shop it would be worth checking if you would be required to travel around to cover other stores.
In terms of donations there will be grotty ones, you have to wear gloves to sort, but there is also a treasure trove of weird and wonderful things too!
It will very much depend upon the sort of shop that it is. Charity shops can range from discount 99p/£1 stores, standard stores, to high end stock dependent on location and customer base. The experience of each (donation/volunteer/environment) will be different.

I volunteer in one - yes you need a strong stomach and a sense of humour to cope with the donations bags, they have literally seen everything .

I love it, have been in charity retail for many years but it is very demanding and physically hard work. Research the charity very carefully as different charities have different operating models. It can be tricky if the volunteers let you down at short notice and yes, to be honest, I have had to change my plans occasionally at the last minute.
But there is a great sense of satisfaction in 'running your own shop', being responsible for what you display, seeing sales rise and making money for a cause you strongly believe in and, of course, finding those rare gems that can be worth £100s.

I don't think it's for you either
If you manage people properly it's irrelevant if they are employed or volunteers

In our shop, the paid team and volunteers are great, everyone gets on well, can't say the same for area management and above unfortunately.

The work is harder than a lot of people would imagine, but can be fun and unpredictable and I do find I end up doing a lot of unpaid overtime, also have had to go in on very short notice ( as in " okay, I'll be with you in about an hour") and you don't get any appreciation for going above and beyond. ( not saying that's the same with every charity though)

Donations can be very grotty......we do wear gloves, but have dealt with every kind of bodily fluid, sharps, mould, rust, etc. Shops are often treated as a free dumping ground. That said, we also get a lot of fabulous donations which are a joy to sort out. From my experience, not a job for the squeamish though!

I used to manage a charity shop so to answer your questions:

• yes the donations can get grotty but there are procedures in place, unfortunately more stuff gets thrown out than is sold (although the charity can get money for unsellable “rags”), I have come across dirty nappies before unfortunately. Side note, if you can’t sell it yourself (eg on marketplace or at a boot sale) a charity shop won’t be able to either


• managing volunteers is very different from employees. Some are reliable but generally they can turn up when they like and do what they like. I was managing a new shop so we hadn’t recruited enough volunteers to begin with and some only wanted to work the till or only wanted to sort clothes/bric a brac/whatever which is tricky when you need something specific doing. Then they won’t turn up if they get a better offer (holidays of course, seeing grandchildren, having tea with Betty). Ability of volunteers vary. I only had elderly people, they couldn’t lift anything so a lot of the graft fell on me. Lot of shop have people with additional needs so they may not all have a range of skills.


• senior management didn’t understand the day to day so it was tricky

Of course it's not irrelevant.

I'd research what kinds of volunteers tend to work at this charity. I used to volunteer somewhere where a lot of the volunteers were people with additional needs, and I know quite a bit of the manager's job involved working out how to support them. Nice work, IMO, but probably quite different from managing a team of people who've all been taken on because they have the same basic skillset.

I agree with SarahandQuack, different charities do tend to attract a different type of demographic. I used to work for a very large childrens charity, our volunteers came from a very wide mix off backgrounds and we also ran schemes such a duke of Edinburgh, care leavers placements, community payback placements. As well as having links with job centres and organisations supporting people with special educational needs. Turnover of volunteers here was a big problem due to all of the short term placements and reason for people volunteering often lead to employment.
In my current charity, it's a hospice, and the vast majority of volunteers are elderly with a link to our cause (although we are diversifying now ). We have less of an issue with turnover here. 33% of our volunteers received long service awards over 5 years of service over the past 2 years! But we lack in fit healthy younger volunteers to move heavy donations, and encourage change and new ideas.
Managing volunteers is absolutely different to managing staff in a wide variety of ways (this is a question I always ask at interview):
-they are older and younger than normal working age (from 14 to 93 in our charity!)

• they often have other commitments that pull them away
• with a largely older demographic ill health, long holidays and grandparent duties often interrupt for longer periods - but they also are often available to step in and help when needed too
• prevalence of mental ill health, disability, social issues and learning difficulties are higher

But:

• they also are often extremely loyal, stay for years and really believe in the cause!
• willing to go the extra mile
• are amazing local advocates for the cause and the shop locally
• bring a really rich mix and diversity to the team with lots of special interests and skills that if you manage well can really add value and enjoyment to your team!

The volunteers in this shop are older ones. I do enjoy the company of older people anyway as I like a quiet life myself. It’s in a smallish town so hopefully it wouldn’t get many big donations to deal with.
The thing about covering is the one that worries me most because although the contract in my last job said I’d need to be able to cover, I always told them I had plans/commitments that I couldn’t change and got away with only doing the odd couple of hours maybe twice a year. That job was only round the corner from my house and this new one is over 15 mins drive so it would be even more difficult to fit any extra shifts around the rest of my life.

My DM was a manager for years. Yes you get grotty donations. People will donate anything. Trousers with skids, yellow shirts, you name it.

Managing volunteers is different as they can walk or not turn up at any time. It’s challenging. Equally you get lovely, loyal volunteers. However my DM did spend so much time also undoing their mistakes on the till etc.

There is a lot of pressure from the area managers to make so much money. There are targets.

New goods day was always fun. Trying to stock take and get the boxes upon boxes of new goods out takes time.

She was often on her own and had to shut to take breaks. Dealing with customers and shoplifters. My DM knew exactly what was in her shop and knew when customers came in asking for refunds on items they hadn’t bought there. She also got really good at knowing if stuff was worth money so used to take it to auction.

I think she annoyed it, but it was stressful. It’s a business at the end of the day.

Enjoyed, not annoyed! Although it probably annoyed her too! 😂

Oh, also. She occasionally had to cover other shops!

This is so interesting! Great post OP!