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.

It really depends on how much money the shop makes as to how successful it is. I also said little professional oversight. Not none at all. That’s pretty evident in lots of charity shops where volunteers set it up as an extension of their (lack of) taste. Some are very unappealing, If one person knows fashion there can be a huge improvement in footfall. Attractive window displays that follow seasons or themes works well. However once inside, rows of cheap clothes with the better labels not sorted out is a turn off. Ditto with books.

Years ago, even our local jumble sale had a “quality” rail. Charity shops have replaced jumble sales. I used to love a good jumble sale!

Perhaps because we all know of charity shops that never or rarely have decent stock in?

As I said earlier, I think charity bookshops are a slightly different kettle of fish because there isn't really an equivalent of 'designer labels' or 'high end' goods. There are popular authors, of course, but it tends to be the popular authors whose books are most abundant in charity shops, because many people will read a book once and donate it (I always know whether I will want to re-read a book and if I don't, it goes to charity). There are rare books but you have to know what you're looking for and most people don't have a general list in their head of books they know are valuable - I only know about specific authors and subjects I'm interested in.

I'm not so worried about volunteers buying things at the full rate, although I understand there are still issues with them having first pick, which takes away the opportunity from others.
I enjoy looking at vintage china and have never dealt in it. I've just remembered that the manageress of a third china shop also told me casually that she deals in a particular make of china.
So, that's three local charity shops where I explicitly know the manager/volunteers are dealers and that's just from them telling me!
Therefore there's no point whatsoever in me donating collectable china, which I may have bought for a good price from a dealer, 'cos it will most likely be 'bought' for next to nothing by one of the 'volunteers'.

Exactly. This is what some people are not taking into consideration: staff members are not buying items just because they're "nice" or supposedly nice, they are buying an item because it personally interests them and they can get some pleasure and use from it.

Not only are there loads of very nice donations that I don't buy because I'm not interested in them - some of the items that I have bought have not been all that nice! There have been a couple of times when I've bought a really tatty book that was going to be thrown away, because it didn't meet the condition standards of being on sale for the general public.

OP still trying to justify her behaviour I see, whilst weakening her case with each new post. 🤣

I simply don't see what's so un-justifiable about buying for stuff that I want.

If I was stealing it, I'd understand people objecting.

I know you don't see the issue.

Well, part of what some people claim is an issue is that there's never anything nice for members of the public to buy, as the staff have already bought it all.

I have been clear that in the specific shop I'm at, staff are not buying all the nice items, so there is plenty for others to purchase. So this point is simply not a problem where I work. And as I say, in my case, sometimes the books that I've bought have been decidedly not nice.

The other point people make is that I have an advantage over other paying people because as a staff member, I often get to see what's in the shop before they can. This is true, this is an advantage. But I don't agree that it's unfair. When people are buying an item at full sale value, I do not believe that members of the public should be prioritised over a staff member who wishes to buy it.

Well I don't see the issue either. As someone said earlier in the thread, it's always a relief when I can unload a couple of bags of unwanted things at a charity shop and it saves me the bother of selling them in Vinted or filling up my bin. I choose which charities I donate to, and so long as my items raise some money for that charity I don't give a toss who buys them, provided they pay a fair price for them. I found it the most soul destroying job when I worked briefly in a boutique a few years ago, having to deal with entitled and ignorant customers, and I can't imagine how much worse it must be to have to put up with rude customers when you're working as an unpaid volunteer. I really would like to think that the lovely staff in my local charity shop get the opportunity to buy items I donate before they go onto the shelves, once they've been priced up.

I can’t see why people are getting so get up about this. It’s really no one’s business except the charity itself; if the shop allows volunteers to purchase items, that’s literally all there is to it. The charity shop is there, ultimately, to provide for the charity; if the charity decides that volunteers can do as OP does, that’s where the issue ends.

Someone gave the example of how Asda wouldn’t let employees have first dibs on stock. I’m sure that’s true - but, again, that’s Asda’s decision, and it’s based on what works for their profits. If giving volunteers a bit of a perk works for OP’s shop’s profits, then that’s their decision. Equally, if Asda did allow its staff first dibs - what business is it of anyone else?

I think the reason people have a problem with OP’s stance is that deep down some people believe charity shops are here to serve them. We wouldn’t be having this debate if it were indeed about Asda’s policy because everyone would implicitly understand that Asda can do as it pleases. By contrast, people somehow think charity shops owe them something. They don’t.

You say "Tat from volunteers".

Why do you assume that the volunteers are donating tat? Some volunteers donate rather good-quality items.

As for allegiance to the cause, I'm sure that's an important motivation for some volunteers, but not for all of us. I had a conversation about this with a fellow volunteer who prices the children's books. Like me, she does not work there because she cares all that much about the charity and its cause in itself. She works there because she likes books and finds the work enjoyable. If the ship switched to selling something other than books, she'd likely stop volunteering because she would no longer find the work fun.

Some people primarily volunteer because they are passionate about the charity itself. Others primarily volunteer in order to have a pleasant, enjoyable experience.

Our volunteers donate really good stuff - it's all sellable. Because we are all well aware of what will sell and what we can't see so do the pre-sort at home. I personally can't be arsed with the hassle of Vinted or Ebay so all my clothes worth wearing get donated.

I trawl the charity shops regularly and often find good quality stuff to buy. Plenty.

I also know several volunteers who also buy from their shops and we often chat about our finds of glory so obviously the volunteers are leaving loads for the general public.

No problem with volunteers getting first dibs. They don't do 10.00 till 5.00 every day. Usually a morning or afternoon one day a week. All different with different tastes so not all looking for the same things.

It's possible they could have a side hustle and be selling on ... personally doubt it as it would become obvious to the shop's manager if they were buying up loads of stock and that wouldn't go down well.

If they get first dibs on something they really like or need, so what? They have to deal with some (sometimes literally) shitty donations. And, just like we hear about retail generally, the public can be very difficult. If getting first dibs is a little perk, they still have to pay for it so good for them.

@toddlepod are you in the "charity shop not so shit finds" group on facebook? It's packed with people sharing what they've found. A lot of what people post is not my thing at all - latest post is a pair of very high heeled crystal encrusted shoes. But a whole group of 42.1k members posting their wee gems.

Must all be deluded though, or lying, as everyone KNOWS that there is nothing good in charity shops as all the volunteers are stealing everything.

I don't think a single person on the thread has talked about volunteers stealing. The thread is about volunteers getting first pick of donated items. Stop making nonsense up in order to sound like a martyr.

There have been a few people who have suggested that some volunteers significantly under-price the stock when they themselves are buying it, though. Which could be seen as a form of stealing.

And who knows, I'm sure there are certain people who actually do that. All I can say is that I personally do pay the proper price for the books.

There's lots of things being said on this thread that I want to address.

As a charity shop manager it's in my contract that I can not also run my own business selling second hand items. Fine if I occasionally want to sell something I no longer need on eBay or similar but it would be gross misconduct if I was buying lots of stuff cheaply and selling it on for a profit.

It's stated in the terms of volunteers' discounts that they can only use the discount to buy things for their personal use, or their immediate family. If I were to suspect someone is abusing their discount (ie by constantly buying all the high value items to sell on) then, as it's never happened before, I would probably discuss it with my area manager and most likely they would be asked to leave.

Selling something like OP's Icelandic spell book to a volunteer without it ever going on the shop floor isn't going to have a negative effect on the shop at all. It's an expensive book in a very niche subject and it could take up space on the shop floor for weeks before being rotated off unsold. That space is much better filled with something like the latest Richard Osman or Robert Galbraith, something that lots of customers come in looking for and would likely be sold within an hour of going out. In that case it's much better to sell immediately to the OP, get the money and shelf space and have a happy volunteer.

Never heard of this group so will maybe take a goosey! Thank you

Perhaps because we all know of charity shops that never or rarely have decent stock in?

Fair enough that's that's a number of people's experience and I'm not going to deny that that is what they have personally seen.

But why determine that the sole reason for that is because the staff are buying all the better-quality items? It's also possible that a very high percentage of the donations are just not what you would consider to be of high quality.

And while perhaps some of you visit charity shops quite frequently, you're surely not there all the time, every day. Is it not possible that the shops do get some decent stock which is swiftly bought by other members of the public, in addition to some possible purchases from staff members?

It's a fact that in some shops, volunteers are permitted to buy items they'd like to have without putting them on the shop floor for a period of time first. But I think it's quite a big stretch to go from there to saying that members of staff are buying ALL the good-quality items themselves.

Oh no, never any comments about stealing...

"I know someone whose relative volunteers at a food bank and takes the quality items and gives them to her well to do niece "

"volunteers used to take their pick of the nicer donations such as chocolate and biscuits"

"A big pile of designer children's clothes - £1 for the lot! I could not believe my eyes"

And that's just the ones I could be arsed to copy and paste. Plus all the stuff about china dealers and side lines on Ebay.

On MN charity shop volunteers are either dim little old ladies who wouldn't know Prada if it slapped them in the face, or thieves and chancers out for all they can get.

I’m with you OP. And I think you have been very gracious about some obtuse replies above.

Fwiw I think the quality of stock, display etc at some charity shops is a much larger issue than you could attribute to staff making purchases themselves. As you said, even if staff were buying a large amount of stock, “best bits” isn’t a uniform category. Some areas/shops receive better donations than others; some areas have wealthier or poorer client bases, and it isn’t always (I’d argue even often) the case that people of limited financial means shop more at charity shops - there’s often more stigma around being perceived as poor, which perversely leads to higher spending. And the aim of the shop is fundraising for whatever charity, rather than the provision of affordable clothing. So walking into a shop and declaring that there’s nothing good to be had, ergo the volunteers are skimming it all off - doesn’t make sense to me.

I also take huge issue with the “well my neighbour’s daughter works in a food bank and…” from a hundred pages ago. I run a food bank. One, you certainly don’t know my clients’ circumstances better than me; two, you certainly don’t know much about our beneficiaries as a whole. I can completely see the lobster bisque example happening in our centre, because no one would know what to do with lobster bisque. We’d try and offer and explain and look up recipes etc but it’d likely sit there week on week, clearly not wanted as a treat or luxury item by anyone using our service. A few weeks ago we had a confit chicken in a large tin, similar sad fate until someone with cooking experience came in. We also sometimes get enormous quantities of perishable foods and if we have offered it to beneficiaries and rung round other charities and soup kitchens and it’s not freezable - yes, it’s offered to volunteers. It’s that or the compost heap. That’s all a lot less attention grabbing than “volunteers steal from food bank” but that’s the reality.

I happen to be in the charity shop I volunteer in right now (am having a coffee break from working), and here's a few of the good-quality items that are out for sale on the shelf (and happen to be books I have personally priced.)

'Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years' by Diarmaid MacCulloch - a VERY large hardback which I priced at £8.99 and put out on the Christianity shelves the other day.

'Evensong' by Richard Morris - another book on Christianity, a hardback in great condition, which I priced at £5.99 and is on the shelf.

'Continental Drift' by Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon - a Cambridge University Press hardback on the subject of politics, which I priced at £7.99 and is on the shelf.

I've also just priced a couple of philosophy books (one about Plato and the other an older edition of Bertrand Russell's 'A History of Western Philosophy' and will put them out on the shelf shortly. They are respectively priced at £7.99 and £9.99.

Good books in good condition at significant prices.

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.

@TizerorFizz not sure if you're referring to me when you say "so a charity shop professional who is flitting around from shop to shop really thinks they know what every volunteer is doing?"

I don't flit from shop to shop I work in one shop only and I'm there five days a week. If I'm not there then my assistant manager or paid assistant, or both, is there.

I don't know what you mean by "I have also been very aware charity shop managers haven’t made it in JL." What is JL?

I'm not thinking of books so much. I'm thinking about clothes.