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.

Well the shop I work in doesn't sell clothes, so while your points might apply to certain stores, they don't when it comes to my specific store.

Yes, the only reason I do this voluntary work is because I find the work to be fun. If I didn't find it fun, I wouldn't do it.

I spoke about this with a fellow volunteer in the same shop. She prices the children's books. Her reason for volunteering is the fact that she has an interest in books and so finds the work enjoyable. She doesn't care about the fact that it's a charity she's working for, she just wants to do something fun with her time.

I'm not sayin that the charity and customers don't matter at all, but they do not factor into my reasons for doing voluntary work, just as they don't factor into the reason that my co-worker does voluntary work.

Well in the end we all have to do what we think is right. The supermarket we shop in do not allow staff to purchase on date discounted produce (sea food for example) until the last 'walk in' customer has left the shop. No matter what justifications are put forward, for me that is the correct way, the only way to conduct oneself when selling.

How pompous! And, if you’re a customer rather than an employee, why do you think you know the ins and outs of store policy? The store can have any policy it wants (law allowing) and they don’t need to run it by the customer.

It's always nice to be able to express ones opinion without aggression but, as I said, each to his own. (-:

Jeez! So it isn’t enough to do the charity work, following all protocol; you have to do it out of the right mindset? And would you apply this rule to people in paid employment as well? So it’s not enough to do the work on the agreed terms, you have to do it out of love for the organisation too?!

This thread is bonkers. All organisations employ people on terms that work for them. In most employment, the terms are that you get paid. You might get other perks too. The arrangement has to ensure that the work gets done and no one working there feels exploited.

In OP’s case, the terms are that she doesn’t get paid but she gets certain perks agreed by the organisation. The terms, presumably, don’t also include having to prove her motivation in front of a purity of heart panel.

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!

I'd just add - for those who seem to be applying statements to generalise about volunteers - that this isn't simply something that volunteers do. The Oxfam shop I work in has two managers and they are not volunteering their time, they are both paid employees. Both of them sometimes buy items from the shop.

I’m not sure if you’re being deliberately obtuse?

People have their own motivation for volunteering. It’s obviously not money, but it’s got to be something. Could be because the work is fun - that’s what OP said. For others it’s a deep love for a particular charity. Maybe for others it’s a feeling of superiority they can wield in discussions- who knows?

The point is, your motivation shouldn’t matter if you are doing the work correctly. Which OP is.

And we're back to "everyone employed in the charity sector couldn't get a proper job elsewhere" which at best is condescending and at worst downright rude.

It’s been my experience. What can I say?

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?

So nasty and sneery.

I have worked with two really good managers in separate shops. Neither were doing it because they were too stupid to work elsewhere. Neither drove, and in a semi-rural location they were constrained by bus routes. One liked being able to manage everything concerned with the shop from H&S to recruitment and social media rather than being in a large shop where everything is decided centrally. One was ultra competitive and her aim was always to do better than everyone else in the region. One very much did support the charity and gave up her spare time to fundraise for them in other ways.

From what I have seen, the expectations that Oxfam has of a charity shop manager are very much on a par with managers of retail outlets in the non-charity sector. If people think it's always an "easy" job, then they would be mistaken.

While I am not in agreement that allowing staff to make purchases harms the charities in any way, I appreciate that you at least seem to accept that, strictly speaking, I and others are not doing anything wrong, as we are operating within the rules of the charity.

I’d stop now @TizerorFizz . You’re not doing yourself any favours.

What does this even mean? Neither are some greatest seizing opportunities to make money.

It’s really irrelevant whether you think charity shop workers are beneath you. The point is, charities can implement their own policies as they see fit without your approval.

@BernardBlacksBreakfastWine

How pompous! And, if you’re a customer rather than an employee, why do you think you know the ins and outs of store policy? The store can have any policy it wants (law allowing) and they don’t need to run it by the customer.
What a weird response. Why does it matter that the poster knows the store policy? Perhaps they know someone who works there. Perhaps they were chatting to the staff member putting out the discount prices. Who knows. Who cares. And no one even mentioned the staff running the policy by customers other than you.

Not a weird response at all when put in context. I’m really addressing the way in which so many posters seem to think they are somehow the arbiter of store policies that are nothing to do with them.

Charity shops are in the business of making money for their charity. It’s incredibly patronising for some armchair economist to decide they know how to do this better than the people who are actually doing it. Same applies to any job really. But strangely people seem to think they have more right to do it to charity shops.

Yes - what matters to the charity is that workers are getting the job done according to the charity's standards. If that's happening, the charity doesn't give a gig about the reasons why people choose to work there.

I wonder if some people are unable to envision that charity shop work can possibly be seen as enjoyable,
so they assume that everyone who volunteers must, or should, have the prime motivation of the charity itself being close to their heart. The fact that some volunteers do so simply to have fun appears to take some people by surprise.

I thibk this is a really interesting side-point: general attitudes to work and how it qualifies. An acquaintance of mine once told me that society conditions most people to believe that work isn't (or shouldn't be) fun, so when people actually work at a job that everyone realises is an enjoyable activity (such as a career in the arts) a lot of people refuse to recognise it as real work. This is why professional artists so often get asked "When are you going to get a proper job?" The fact that art is a proper job is completely dismissed.

There have been suggestions of volunteers unloading donations straight into their car boots, or saying they fancied an item donated.

@SorcererGaheris
YOU are not doing anything wrong. And your colleagues are not doing anything wrong. Some of it will be down to the particular type of shop you're volunteering at (books).

However, your OP contains a generalised question that tries to apply to all... But I can guarantee that in a charity shop that gets quality clothing items regularly, that gets vintage and antiques, that gets furniture - there would be plenty of volunteers there for their own gain. Because I would be.

For example, I collect art and old frames. There's no way that art of quality and value would reach the customers if I was there with my first dibs. Everyone else would have to do with sun-faded prints and embroidery scenes (if the frame's crap, otherwise those ain't safe from me either).
Almost everything in my house is vintage and antique furniture, with some second-hand contemporary designers. I'd pick off the best of those items too.
I've sold charity shop finds for profit a plenty, so I definitely wouldn't stop it if I was volunteering.

There will be plenty of volunteers who will be seeing their access to the donations as a perk and plenty of those will be straddling the line of right/wrong. I can't get het up about it, as I'd be riding that line all day long!

The best shop I ever knew was an independent one, ran down and tatty, most items for a £1. They were also absolutely clueless to the value of their stock when it came to larger and vintage or antique items. So one could get a Mid century sideboard for £15 or a chippendale antique chair for £5 or an antique wall lamp with an oak picture frame thrown in, both for a fiver.

Strange how the BHS nearby never had anything at all of the sort. I bet it just never reached the shop floor.

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.

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.

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

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.