Do people who work in charity shops get first dibs on new stock?

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I'm wondering if all the good stuff gets filched before it ever hits the shelves?

Depends on the shop some yes some no

I worked in them years ago, and yes, we did.

However- 1) they were paid for, not free 2) there’s only so much you can collect. Granted, these were the days before Vinted etc. 3) The people who worked full time were dependent on a very low salary. No one begrudged them having the odd nice jumper.
Do you?

My mum works in one and they’re allowed to buy things before it goes on sale. Someone I know from the school run works in a different one and they have to put everything out on the shop floor and if something they want is still there at the end of their shift/day they can then buy it so they all operate differently I think.

Not when I worked in one. And I'm pretty sure there was a policy about it.

Some probably do, some it won't be allowed.
But remember what's considered "good stuff" to one person might be of zero interest to another so it will vary massively.

not first dibs no but I was a volunteer. I could buy anything I wanted whenever I wanted even if it had just been put out

I hope so, it’s volunteer work so there has to be a perk to the role.

My mum does at hers, they get 50% off.
She gets me lots of things like toys for DD but we then gift them back when she is finished with them so they sell them twice.

I’ve seen staff in charity shops through the back holding clothes up against themselves and if they like it say they re having it. It doesn’t bother me. I feel a bit better too knowing they pay for it so the money does still go to charity.

I used to manage a charity shop. We had a policy that you could only buy something once it had been priced by someone else, so no reserving things you liked when they had just come in.

Yes. But a local charity and yes I pay going price. I can also buy things from rags as a donation. So North face coat that's dirty I could have for 5p because anything dirty gets ragged. Do please wash your donations. I can wipe things with a baby wipe but beyound that it's sold on as rags ( cleaned then sold abroad so it's not wasted)

Was wondering this myself. I moved recently and donated loads of brand new home ware that I couldn't sell to a local charity shop. It was very distinctive Cath Kidston stuff, but despite going in several times a week I've never seen it. They've displayed my random, fairly ordinary mugs and glasses though!

It could be they sell online or have multiple shops so share stock. I work for a charity and based in the shop office, what you've described as your donated items would go on our eBay shop

Oh god, my mother in law works in one and definitely! We end up with so much crap that she's got hold of before it hits the shop floor! It then goes straight back to our local charity shop 🙄

Yes. But you pay for it. The really good stuff might go on eBay or to auction: eg a painting came into my local charity shop and ended up selling for almost £10k at auction. At least 50% gets recycled or chucked either because it hasn’t sold after x weeks or because the quality isn’t good enough. Also yes to sharing stock between stores. I do find myself rescuing stuff destined for the bin because no one else wants it (cups and saucers are a common one).

My husbands auntie is the manager of one and if she gets something good in she will put it on the family chat to say what's there but it's on the shelves the whole time so anyone else could buy it.

When I worked as a volunteer, we had to let items for sale for 24 or 48 hours in the shop before being allowed to buy them ourselves. No discount, of course. Even then, I'd feel guilty so I'd give items I liked a good week before buying them.
Stock was also sent around our several branches.
A lot of valuables would go to our eBay store too.

I work in one, we can buy stock once it has been out for sale on the shop floor for 24 hours, but similar, can buy things going into rags for a donation, we cannot sell dirty clothes, but if it's an item one of my kids would like or something in my style and I can take it home and wash it then I will.

We get a huge amount of donations so we do send a lot to the central warehouse to be distributed to shops that do not get the volume we do, so people may not see their donations in our shop but they do go for sale elsewhere if in good condition, a lot of people who donate "perfectly good" items don't realise we don't have the facilities or time to launder, deep clean or fix things so they may not be as useful as they think.

We try and keep the best and nice things to sell in our shop so they go back to the community they are donated from, as do the proceeds, but sometimes sorting involves a quick scan of the bags and a decision to keep/send to the warehouse because of the volume so some items may be missed, but are sorted and distributed at the warehouse.

The one I volunteered in did, Yes.
Got a short fun fur jacket and a pair of trousers that way

The more expensive labels (I wouldn't particularly know the difference though) went onto Vinted or Ebay. Some years ago now though so things may have changed.

like others above the charity shop i work in stock has to be out for 24 hours before staff or volunteers can buy it,

we have four shops so stock does rotate between them and my job is ebay assistant so i put items on ebay that get better money than they would in the shop,

we also have a clearance shop that when stock has been to all four shops and not sold it goes there at under a fiver prices whatever label is on it

My neighbour is a volunteer. He sorts items and gets a 10% discount when he buys them. He is getting very upset that he keeps seeing other volunteers just taking things. His manager is the worst for this. Lots of items never end up in the shop and just go straight out to her car.

In his shop they also throw a lot of things away just because they don't personally like them. I know this because he takes them out of the bin and gives them to me. The last thing he gave me was a brand new bead necklace with a price ticket still on it. Not my style but someone may have brought it. He actually handed it over to me whilst saying "the woman in the shop thought it was to ugly to sell so threw it in the bin." - so he thought of me.

We could put things aside, but they had to be priced by the manager who was very diligent at pricing things the same as she would for the shop floor. So yes, we got “dibs”, but it didn’t detriment the takings.

There are three charity shops in my town and I have friends or their parents who volunteer in all three. One is very strict and items have to be on the floor 48 hrs before they can be purchased by members of staff. Another the volunteers can put aside items for themselves but in general they don't but do contact some customers if an item they think they would like comes in (mainly antique books and furniture). The other does allow staff to buy before things go on the floor but on the understanding it is for themselves or their family and not to be resold online.

I used to volunteer somewhere which held large car boot style sales and volunteers had first dibs. There were of shady volunteers but far more honest ones.

I bought things quite often but used to pay more than we would have sold them for so I have a clear conscience. It was a brilliant charity so I felt like it was a win win situation.

Depends on the charity and the policy, might even vary between shops.

I am a volunteer in one of the big household name chains, have been for about 8 years. We get first dibs - but there are rules. You don't price things you are thinking of buying - someone else does that, preferably the manager. Everything you buy gets written down in a wee book so something like "Kate, 2 x balls wool, DVD, 1 x ladies top, £9.98". When the auditor from head office comes in, they check that the book doesn't show a pattern of excess purchases at cheap prices.

I have no issue with volunteers getting first dibs. It's the only perk of having to sift through endless bags of stuff. What I do not see happening is what volunteers are often accused of on here - taking ALL the "good stuff" for nothing or 5p, and then either hoarding it at home or distributing it around friends. And of course everyone's "good stuff" is different - my "good stuff" is sock yarn preferably 100% wool, or maybe a nice linen top. I have zero interest in stilleto shoes, fancy handbags, clothing in a size 6 or size 26, sports biographies etc etc.