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

[SorcererGaheris]

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.

Also, all of the other customers are buying whatever they want, whenever they want to. So why should a customer such as myself do any different simply because I'm also a member of staff?

If you're totally fine with all the other people buying whatever they want, when they want, then I don't see why you don't apply that same acceptance to me.

That awful. It comes across that they didn’t think the residents were worthy of the nice stuff.

Yes this happens. I went in to a charity shop in Derby and got chatting to the staff member She told me that the manager creamed off all beautiful wedding dresses that were donated and sold them in his own online shop

I understand you objecting if staff are UNDER-pricing an item so that they can buy it for less than its value.

But what about when the staff get it priced correctly and pay what the item is actually worth? I spent £40 on my last purchase in the shop I volunteer at, and th at was for a single book. There was another occasion on which I bought two books for a total of £50.

I was not under-paying for any of these items. They were researched online and sold to me for their full value.

Because you are a member of staff and get to see the stuff first, possibly before the shop opens?

The fact that you buy items doesn't make you a customer.

The dictionary defines the word "customer" as "a person who buys goods or services".

I am a person who is buying goods, so I meet the definition of customer given by the dictionary.

I find it bewildering that you think that because I'm a member of staff that means I'm not a proper or legitimate customer. "Member of staff" and "customer" aren't mutually exclusive.

Yes, I have an advantage over other customers in that I can potentially see an item I want to buy before anyone else does. But why does that matter? The other people do not have a greater right to buy that item than me.

The fact of the matter is, that when any person sees an item they wish to buy, they are entitled to buy it there and then.

I think YABU. Staff who do the sorting and stocking have an unfair advantage. The goods should have to spend at least a week on the shelves before a staff member can purchase them.

What "other customers"?

You are not a customer.
You're not a volunteer-customer either.
You are a volunteer tasked with sorting. The sorting task consists of identifying items suitable for presentation on the sales floor, not sorting items for your own purchases with the remainder going to the sales floor.

You're a customer in John Lewis or M&S or Tesco on an equal footing with the rest of the shoppers who can shop during opening hours and don't have access to the storage areas, all of you with equal access to the merchandise.

What you're describing is not fair to the actual customers. This is especially true if you know the person doing the pricing.

Nor is it fair to the charity if you cream off the nicest stuff you come across in the stock room.

How is the shop to create attractive windows or displays if the volunteers nab the good stuff? The key to running a profitable charity shop is to regularly present attractive merchandise at very competitive prices. The opposite is presenting shite that has been picked over. If people come in two or three times to walk around and all they see is rubbish, the same rubbish they saw the previous time, they're not going to come back.

You're splitting hairs with your explanation of lack of gleeful anticipation and your objection to the phrase "picked over."

It's very obvious you consider yourself a customer first and a servant of the charity second. Caring about the charity means focusing on the window displays and the quality of merchandise that gets displayed on the racks.

You're splitting hairs there again.

This.

I worked for a supermarket. We were only allowed to shop at the end of the shift (so there never was a chance to let's say get the last or the best of something whilst at work). The yellow ticket items were off the limits completely until gone 10pm. All to make sure the customers get their choice.

OP and her colleagues might be a different breed though. Myself? Sure as hell, if given the freedom of first dibs, I would make the most of it. That shop wouldn't see any decent stock out on the shelves whilst I'm there. I'd buy for myself (anything from shoes, clothes, art to furniture) and some things I'd buy to sell on.

Some charity shop workers might be like OP. I suspect that many more are of my ilk, particularly in those shops with lax rules around staff purchases.

Who on earth gets wound up over this? Seriously.
I could not give a damn if staff/volunteers or whoever are buying anything.
If the staff in Aldi want to buy up all the mince pies and cheese then go right ahead. If a volunteer in a charity shop wants to buy 40 China vases and all the fur coats then go right ahead.
I could understand it if we were in a pandemic and they bought the entire supply of toilet rolls, hand sanitiser and cat food, yes then you have a valid point, but otherwise just get a grip.

I’ve often wanted to buy something from an “enticing window display” but have been told that staff cannot remove these items! So reserving items for this purpose makes them equally unavailable to customers who might end up walking out of the shop feeling very negative about their experience.

I have had this experience too. Bonkers!
it must be fairly common as customers often ask me if it’s okay to have something from the window display. If I put something I the window and it sells immediately that’s a win as far as I’m concerned and exactly the point of the window display!

I don't think I'm splitting hairs in this specific case. You, and several others, keep suggesting that there is nothing nice or interesting for other people to buy because staff members buy it all first. I am simply saying that in the shop I'm at, there are plenty of nice books, CDs and DVDs for others to buy, because staff members are not buying ALL the nice things.

How nasty is it to make sure three people are fed from three tins of tomato soup (that most people will eat) as opposed to one tin of lobster bisque which no-one may? Food banks are about actually feeding people! People get very aerated about what our local food bank asks for, ie 'who can live on long life milk and instant noodles?'. The answer of course is someone with no cooker or fridge. It may not be a posh treat, but it keeps people alive.

Again all this nonsense about the nebulous "good stuff" which is all "creamed off" by the volunteers, who are all grabby cheeky fuckers with a side line in selling on Ebay.

@SorcererGaheris is being honest about her reasons for volunteering and questioning her motives is a bit odd. I personally know lots of people who volunteer in charity shops (seeing as I actually do it myself rather than pontificate about it on mumsnet) and everyone has different reasons. Some want to get out of the house, have some routine in their lives, some volunteer along with a friend, because the shop is close to their home, because they enjoy creating window displays or chatting to the customers.

The actual charity and its work is secondary to all of the above. If our shop shut down to be replaced by any other charity many would continue to volunteer in the same location because it's more about staying in the local community and dealing with local people than it is about supporting that particular charity.

Volunteers are among the best customers of charity shops, they are not the "eww germs, second hand is manky" people or they wouldn't be volunteering in the first place. They also donate huge amounts too - there's a rare week I don't arrive with a few things to donate, tomorrow I have a bag of unwanted decorations to hand in. I get first dibs on jigsaws for my mum, she does them, I donate them back. Same with books.

Like I wrote before, the word "customer" is defined in the dictionary as "a person that pays for goods and services". So going by the dictionary definition, that qualifies me as a customer. The dictionary does not state that only non-staff of a particular shop or business are customers.

The way you describe the way you think sort makes it sound like you think I'm a actively expecting to find things I'd like to buy every time. It's actually not that frequent that something is donated to the shop that I'm actually interested in purchasing for myself. I have very specific interests and tastes. There are loads of nice books in great condition that I don't buy because I have no interest in reading them. That newly released hardback crime novel that got donated and is in like-new condition that I priced at £6.99? No one can deny that that's a nice item, but I don't buy it because I'm not interested in it.

You say that buying books for myself is not part of my job at the shop. Well no, I'm not performing a job when I buy something for myself; I'm taking a break from working to purchase something. Afterwards, I go back to work. I don't know whether you personally work at the moment, but you are surely aware that people aren't literally working every single minute of their workday. Workers have breaks and this is the same in charity shops.

Drinking coffee isn't a part of my job in the shop, but I often have at least three mugs when I'm there and I'll usually have some biscuits too.

The fact of the matter is, the charity itself (Oxfam) has no problem with members of staff buying items on the spot, so while it's not part of our work, it's something that is fully permitted by the charity.

I also don't consider it my task to make the shop look attractive; I've never been asked to do that by a manager. They simply ask me to price and sort things (and are totally happy for me to buy something I like if I spot something) and do the till. The managers themselves will sometimes buy books or DVDs from the shop that they'd like to enjoy; I sometimes see their names on our record of Staff purchases.

Why are you assuming that our shop is presenting "shite" on our shelves? You ask how the shop has attractive window displays - the answer is simple. Because there is an enormous amount of attractive, nice stock that staff do not buy because we have no interest in it.

I do not understand why you think that just because staff sometimes come across items that they'd like to purchase themselves, that that then means that there is only "shite" left to sell. You imply that the shop I'm in is only putting rubbish on the shelves and that is not true. We are putting loads of books of all kinds (in good condition) on the shelves. One such, an item I priced, is currently on the shelf for £8.99 (unless someone has bought it between last Thursday and now.)

When I am buying a book for myself, then yes, I do see myself as a customer first. And even though plenty of the books that I put out for sale are indeed very high quality (great condition, etc) I'm not going to deny myself a purchase if I see a book I want to read. The charity still benefits from the money I pay for it. In fact, some of the books I've bought have been in rather a tatty condition and were certainly not among our nicest items. I've occasionally bought books that were going to be thrown away (because they were too tatty to go on the shop floor) but I liked the subject, so bought it.

While I think that overall, the quality and amount of work I do in the shop is of benefit to the charity, I am not working there because I particularly care about the charity in itself. I am working there merely because I find the work fun. It's a good time for me.

and yet here you are - pontificating - @DrZaraCarmichael .

I guess that’s one of the problems still faced by charity shops. Tat from volunteers. Shops decced out in the image of themselves. Little professional oversight and understanding of how to make the best items attract people into the shop. It’s like a cottage industry. Great for the few who participate but no alliegence to the cause - which I always thought was important. It is important to me when I volunteer.

Why are you assuming that our shop is presenting "shite" on our shelves? You ask how the shop has attractive window displays - the answer is simple. Because there is an enormous amount of attractive, nice stock that staff do not buy because we have no interest in

Exactly that.

Little professional oversight and understanding of how to make the best items attract people into the shop. It’s like a cottage industry.

And here we have it again. Charity shop volunteers are either grabby thieving fuckers, utterly thick, or both.

I don't have an issue with SorcererGaheris's motives for volunteering - that's fair enough and good for her that she's honest about it.

My issue isn't with what you might call the individual morality of volunteers who buy things before they go out on display - and it makes no difference in practical terms whether they are reselling the things or not - it's with the policymakers in the charity who allow this. They are shooting themselves in the foot.

Charity shops tread a fine line between looking like an Aladdin's Cave of treasures, and a church jumble sale. Some of this is about merchandising, but not all of it. Our Oxfam general shop (now closed) was always well-merchandised, colour-blocked etc. but there was hardly ever any decent stock - the clothes always looked tatty, never any labels to get excited about. Our local independent cat rescue shop isn't half as well merchandised but it has the Aladdin's Cave feel because the stock is good - I've found labels such as Joe Browns and Monsoon, and I got a beautiful lesac bag from there. Consequently I go in there about once a week on average and usually buy something, even if only a paperback that I will donate back once I've read it.

It's footfall that keeps these shops going, and that footfall is generated by the expectation of finding 'treasure'; once people are in there they might spend £2 on a paperback or £4 on a random black t-shirt because they see it and remember they were thinking they could do with a simple black t-shirt, but they have to be in there for that to happen, and they won't be lured in by paperback books and random black t-shirts, they'll be lured in because they found an All Saints shirt in there two months go.

I just can't get my head around why some people think that there is literally nothing nice on the shelves because staff are buying it all. I've always been very clear that in the shop I work at, there's a huge volume of good-quality donations, so the fact that staff sometimes find items to buy makes no difference to the quality of the stock on the shelves.

I've said several times that staff are not buying all the nice stock and that our shelves are full of good items, yet people seem to disregard this and insist that the shop must be full of rubbish. If they really think that, then they must be under the impression that we only get five or six nice items donated per week!

I just can't get my head around why some people think that there is literally nothing nice on the shelves because staff are buying it all.

Me either. But there are some people who seem to think that all of us who volunteer are filling our cars with the "good stuff" after each shift to flog it on Ebay.

We do get a lot of stuff which is only fit for the bin but so many quality donations too. Quality donations which I mostly have no interest in buying!