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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be bloody annoyed by the 'helpers' at the NCT sale.

154 replies

littleoldme · 18/10/2008 20:18

There must have been about 20 odd helpers there. It opened at 10 I queued from about 9.30 as I'd been advised to get in early and get the good stuff. Then I find out that the people helping get first pick before it opens and all the decent clothes - what I went for - had gone before it even started. I did find one nice thing and the woman at the pay desk said " Oooo that's nice, I wonder how I missed it " . No more NCT for me.Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

OP posts:
CaptainUnderpants · 19/10/2008 20:08

Orgainisng an NCT sale and being there from 9am to start setting up and going throigh sellers items util clear up has finished at 6pm is not an easy way to spend a Saturday !

So if you have a few perks in getting the some good stuff or making sure that the items your're selleing are on top of the pile then so be it . Life's a bitch eh ?

FattipuffsandThinnifers · 19/10/2008 20:23

'By Aitch on Sat 18-Oct-08 23:11:40
you are being dense on two counts, fattipuffs.

  1. every sale, jumble, nct, white elephant, whatever, will be looked through first by volunteers who ALWAYS get first pick. it's the way things work. of course you could make the case that you won't know that unless you do volunteer to help out, so if you're more of a moaner than a doer you'll never know.'

How charming, and so politely put

What has this to do with moaning?? I made the point that a public sale should be just that - public. Who said I wasn't a 'doer'?

I also don't get the attitude that people who volunteer need bribing. Seems disingenuous to me. I've done loads of volunteering for various charities, the only reward I needed was knowing I was helping a cause.

Aitch · 19/10/2008 20:28

"By FattipuffsandThinnifers on Sat 18-Oct-08 23:05:06
Am I missing something here? What is the point of having a public sale (ie one that any old person can go to, not just members) if it is an unwritten rule that joe public just has crappy stuff to choose from?

If this was brought to a logical conclusion it would end up being just the members who do go, therefore they'd all have equal chance of getting any of the stuff on sale. So... if these NCT sales are open to non-members, surely it isn't unreasonable of them to expect to have something halfway decent to choose from?

Or am I being dense??"

don't ask the question if you don't want an answer.

AbbeyA · 19/10/2008 20:31

If you want to help a cause purely because you are public spirited then good for you! I am not willing to put myself and my family out and work really hard for 10 hours or so to watch someone else buy the things that I wanted because I'm not free to buy them!! I would rather do nothing and join the queue!
The helpers are the public-they just happen to be the public who are doing the work!

Aitch · 19/10/2008 20:33

and their money's as good as anyone else's. they arren't dealers, they're mums as well...

AbbeyA · 19/10/2008 20:35

I think the answer Aitch is not to go to a NCT sale if you don't like the way it is run! The ones that I helped at had masses of stuff and none of it was crappy! I never heard anyone complain. They were all really pleased that members were willing to give up their free time to run it.

Aitch · 19/10/2008 20:37

amen. in fact at our one if there's a quality issue the stuff doesn't get pput out.

AbbeyA · 19/10/2008 20:37

Sorry Aitch- I am getting confused here-the wrong person-meant fattipuffsandthinnipuffs.

FattipuffsandThinnifers · 19/10/2008 20:39

My point was that if a NNS sale ends up having so little on offer to those not helping, the non-helpers (ie rest of public) will end up not going as there's so little for them to choose from. So, it would just end up being the helpers who go... resulting in a general free-for-all.

Nothing to do with not being able to take an answer. Just didn't see that my point warranted a rude one.

CaptainUnderpants · 19/10/2008 20:41

As far as I remeber from my NCT 2 year volunteering as Chair of the local branch , having first 'dibs' at a sale was the only perk in a thankless ( to some people) time consuming volunteer post .

A perk at any charitable evnt could be not paying 50p for a cup of tea at a jumble sale cause you've worked your arse off humping boxes , not paying for the last slice of chocolate cake etc .

next thing you will be saying that helpers should pay their entrance fee !

I tell you this I didn;t sopend two years being Chair just to get a perk of buying stuff first at the NCT sale - I think knowing I was helping a cause was somewhere there, but getting first dibs at a sale didnot cuase me to have sleepness nights . It was all paid for so the chairty didn't lose out !

CaptainUnderpants · 19/10/2008 20:43

There is another Good as Newsale near me run by Cancer reasearch - you telling me that their helpers dont have first dibs . I think you will find that any kind of sale will have it. Get off the NCT's back.

FattipuffsandThinnifers · 19/10/2008 20:43

I see your point, but the OP was complaining!

Aitch · 19/10/2008 20:43

am i being dense? yes, you are. how's that rude, exactly?

and your fantasy scenario, while unlikely, would still earn money for sellers, for the charity, and provide helpers (NCT members and otherwise) with a bargain soooooooooo... what would be the problem?

Flum · 19/10/2008 20:48

Yes you are being totally unreasonable.

I am a Nearly New Sale Committeee Member and over the last 4 years I have given up many many many free hours to organise these sales.

On the day we have 40 helpers who give up 6 hours for free on a Sunday and their only reward is the 'preview' shopping.

I am the helpers Co-ordinator and spend many, many, many hours calling, emailing and approaching local Mums to help out. It is difficult to get helpers because people really value their weekend time and people now do not seem to want to help out on things just to be a good community member so the pre-view sale shopping really helps get people there on the day at 7.45am!!!

FattipuffsandThinnifers · 19/10/2008 20:54

I don't think you've got my point, perhaps I haven't expressed it well enough.

It's not that I resent anyone who volunteers getting some perks (fair enough and I'd be chuffed at that). It's that the OP was put out that there was nothing decent on offer at the sale she went to. Cue a flood of posts saying that this is a perk of volunteering. So I made the point that if this results in there being little to interest a non-helper, non-helpers would end up not bothering to go, resulting in a level playing field for all buyers.

If this happened, no problem for all concerned - except all those helpers who were primarily there in the first place to get 'first dibs' on the good stuff, but who would end up in a scrum anyhow. Good old democracy.

CaptainUnderpants · 19/10/2008 21:05

there might not have been any 'good decent' stuff to start off with . How does the Op now that the helpers got decent stuff - did she have a ruffle through their bags ?

Some sales have good stuff ., some have not so good stuff, some pople volunteer their precious time and get bargains , others dont .

FourArms · 19/10/2008 21:07

If there was so little stuff left, that there was nothing for anybody (i.e. the general paying public didn't spend much at the actual sale), then something has gone wrong somewhere. There aren't enough sellers selling enough quality items. Ours had heaps of perfectly lovely stuff left over. Mainly clothes, and books. Most equipment sold. I know that at the end of the helpers preview lots of my equipment was still there, yet it all sold during the sale, so you wouldn't have had a problem at ours. We still had a 10ft long table piled a foot high with 9-12m stuff at the end of the sale!

Aitch · 19/10/2008 21:07

but the OP claims that there was nothing decent, a completely subjective opinion. what she means is 'nothing that she liked in the relevant age range'.

a quick trip into next (brrrrr) will confirm that tastes vary enormously. the woman who liked the garment the OP bought may very well have shared taste and age range, in which case, tough tits.

but your scenario with the helpers is unlikely to happen un;ess they are chosen for thei ability to graft as well as their representing the complete demographic range in orde to clear the sale out.

not to mention the fact that despite making it clear about preview perks, most sales have diffiulty recruiting helpers...

HelloMama · 19/10/2008 21:14

misshardbroom, you weren't at the recent Exeter sale were you... that Brio tale sounds familiar!

FattipuffsandThinnifers · 19/10/2008 21:30

Aitch, if I see you at the next NNS there'll be fisticuffs at the mini-Boden table

You never know, I might even be manning the stall...

Aitch · 19/10/2008 21:34

oh you won't see me at the actual sale... that's for mugs. i just turn up for the unpacking so i can get the best stuff.

tigermoth · 19/10/2008 21:44

Just out of interest, do the NCT mention this volunteering arrangment on the publicity they have for their sales? Would Joe Public know there is the option to volunteer and get entrance into a preview sale? I get the impression that you sort of have to be in the know to realise that you can volunteer to help at a sale, even if you are not an NCT member.

CaptainUnderpants · 19/10/2008 21:51

My branch did.

Flum · 19/10/2008 21:55

Different branches have different policies for helpers. Some insist that all sellers help so that ishow they get their volunteers.

We don't put it on the poster as posters only have the basic info on.

The number is on there for volunteering to help though.

Aitch · 19/10/2008 21:55

it definitely mentions it on the website for our local one

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