Do they keep donated stuff?

My DM worked in her local Oxfam shop for over a decade when DC were small and she said that staff were not allowed to express any interest in donated goods until they had been priced. They then paid full price for any item they wanted.

Nellie, most people have said that staff do pay for goods they would like to have. I can see no problem with that.

I think we are straying into that area where because there is poor practice in a handful of shops the whole sector is being damned.

I've taken a vast amount of clothes and bric a brac etc to our local charity shop over thy years and also our vet runs one for the Blue Cross which I regularly contribute to - its easier to park there. My aunt used to work for one charity shop where she lived and often wore some lovely clothes she'd bought from there - I'm pretty sure she used to buy them too.

When my GC were here at Christmas we were given quite a lot of toys, car seats, pushchair and other stuff family/friends GC had grown out of. As they obviously couldn't take it back to NZ with them I asked a local children's nursery if they wanted the toys and they were very gratefully received.

Nelliemoster that’s vastly unfair as I ve said from first hand knowledge which you haven’t got (it seems) the staff DO pay for their items I doubt if there’s ANY charity shop that allows staff to just take goods and why does it matter if the staff buy it or customers buy it I can also assure you Neeliemoster it is NOT the poor and needy who shop in charity shops once we had a LADY ( titled) sign a cheque for her goods People nearly all drive to our shop they are just looking for a bargain The poor and needy are at the Sally Army or the food banks We are not pilfering from the poor and I really resent that you think that
There will always be some bad apples just like some supermarket till workers who ping up wrong prices on purpose or workmen who rip others off but do not tar us all with the same brush please

My friend is a charity shop volunteer. During the year she takes home all the dolls and small baby clothing thatcoems into the shop. She washes and dresses the dolls and during December they go on display for sale (150 last year). Another volunteer takes home any toys that are broken or dirty and her hubby repairs, repaints and scrubs rocking horses, baby walkers and dolls houses. These are also sold during December. Many children recieve beautiful Christmas presents because of their hard work. Sometimes there is a good reason why volunteers take goods home with them. I know that if any paint or washing powder was given to this charity shop it would have been given to the volunteers to use on the goods they take home and I certainly wouldn't begrudge it them as they spend a lot of time, effort and money on making a child's Christmas a happy one.

I regularly shop in charity shops, and always have done, and I am neither poor nor needy. My earliest memory of shopping in a charity shop is around 1974, when I bought DD a beautiful Harrods classic toddlers winter coat for 50p

The purpose of charity shops has never been specifically to serve the poor and needy, Their purpose has been to resell secondhand items donated to them in order to raise money to spend on the charity's purpose.

I am going to a family wedding at the end of the month and will be wearing a vintage 1960's Jaeger dress I bought in Oxfam.

I have volunteered in one of our local charity shops for over 23 years & have seen some very disgusting items to unpack & dispose of. Everything is always accepted with thanks then sorted. Never have taken exception to a donation because of someone's appearance.
We have always paid willingly for anything we have wanted. Most of us work there because we support the charity & are there to make money to support the charity. So anyone who thinks we just help ourselves to anything is insulting us. Please stop!

I feel there are some people posting here (I'm glad to see it is a minority) that seem to forget that these people are volunteers. They are donating their time for nothing, in addition to having to sort some disgusting items, and I'm frankly amazed that anyone can think it is unreasonable for these community-minded people to buy items prior to them going on display (whether at full price or with a small discount).

Yes, I think this goes on as I took some items into our local charity shop and the lady as wearing a quite distinctive top I had donated a few weeks before! My feeling is that if people are serving in a charity shop maybe it is therapeutic therapy for them, or they may be short of money so hey ho. i don't need these items anymore, so would rather someone did.

I work for a discount charity shop where we receive previously unsold stock from our other shops. We also accept donations through the door.
(Nothing is more than £2)
Any donations that the manager feels could fetch a higher price, is sent to another shop or sent to HO to be sold on ebay.
We regularly exceed all targets and items rarely stay on the shelves or racks for more the a day or two.
As to staff sales, we cannot price anything we want to buy, we pay full price, rung up by another staff member and the receipt is kept and filed.
I've also worked as a manager in another charity shop and this policy was also strictly adhered to.
Yes we do suffer from theft, but we've also had people returning with a large donation because they've discovered that the item they've bought for £2 was worth far more.
There are always those who take advantage and like one of the comments state, we have certain items we cannot accept. If it's unopened packets or tins, in date, that are donated, we give to the local food bank. Out of date or opened food, incomplete games, puzzles etc, broken china etc are dumped. Unsold or rags, shoes, bags and books are recycled. DVDS and CDs are sold via Magpie.
While the aim is to make money for the charity, we try to maintain a certain standard but Asia, Primark etc are sold if in good condition.

I don’t need the stuff I donate (which I promise is always clean, good quality, often nearly new!) so as long as someone can use it, I’m happy. At least it’s not going to waste!

I donated a number of Jaeger, Windsmoor and Viyella suits to a charity shop and saw them in an upmarket second hand shop a few days later!!!!

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to all charity volunteers. There have been times when I have really struggled financially and these lovely people giving up their time and energy to enable folks in the same situation as me to have a treat(aka essential new-to-me clothes) AND helping out their chosen charity is well and truly appreciated.

Well, providing they paid the price the charity asked, why not? The upmarket secondhand shop, would have a kudos that a charity shop does not, so could charge more.

I occasionally buy items in charity shops and make a profit on them on our antiques stall.

We donate our unwanted stuff to a local charity who are well organised and actually email us to say that they have raised x amount and do we want it back or can they keep it? I was stunned to hear that some people hand stuff in and claim the money back! They are obliged by law it seems to notify donors of what has been raised, although I have never had any contact from other charities after donating.
My friend donated about six bags of her well paid daughter's designer clothing, some of it still with labels on, to her local shop. She had notification some months later that they had raised a laughable sum - it was something like four pounds - and she immediately suspected that most of it hadn't reached the shop. She did write to the head office but got nowhere; it's a pity when this happens as it puts people off but the majority, I do agree, do a great job and help both those in need of cheaper items and the cause itself. Our local shop is so well arranged and the window so beautifully dressed that you would never think it was a charity shop.

It is still important to try to take things to a shop rather than put it in bags which may not be a charity and even if it is may well sell the goods overseas so it undermines their textiles and retail jobs.
I have seen this in some shops and I don't like it but it wouldn't stop me donating although being grumpy when I donate stuff did stop me giving to one particular shop.
I give to St. Luke's Hospice shops now and I have always seen my things in the shop so I trust them.

When DD was about 12, she came home with a navy jacket which she had picked up for me in a Sue Ryder shop.
It was gorgeous, just my size and I was thrilled, as I had an important job interview coming up, and I was frankly threadbare, being very hard up after DH had died.
The jacket bore a Chanel label!
I felt guilty as DD had paid only £1.59 for the item, but I needed it so badly.
Anyway, I wore it, got the job, paid off my substantial debts, and finally managed to give a reasonable donation to the shop.
I think I must have had a little guardian angel looking after me at that time!

Volunteers should not have first pick. There is no justification for this. And of course they do a good job and handle items many would not want to handle. However people donate items in good faith to help a cause they care about.. I noticed things I donated like lovely winter coats( still fashionable but i just fancied a change) never appeared on the rails and it was winter season. I know for a fact sone employees/volunteers take their pick and cream off things that would bring in a lot of money. Sometimes they pay but not necessarily what the public would pay. I have a few lovely summer trousers here as I've lost a stone in weight since last year -some never worn modern from M&S. Any good ideas of what to do. I'm not giving them to the charity shop.

I'm sorry to hear that Rosina - I took a lot of my friend's lovely clothes to the Red Cross shop in another town after she died and got two or three letters telling me how much they had raised - it was getting on for £200.

DH had one the other day from our local RC shop saying they had raised nearly £90 from what we took in this year so they must be very honest in these shops.

You could ebay them annep - I have never sold anything on ebay but some other Gransnetters may have done and may have some advice.
Then you could buy new clothes or give the money to charity, treat the family, whatever you want to do.

Well done.

I volunteered for a number of years in our charity shop (in aid of the local childrens hospice). The rule was that volunteers could buy items once they had been on the shelf for more than 24 hours. 20% discount was applied and the transaction written in a book and signed by the manageress.

BlueBelle
I agree with your posts on this thread. I am due to start as a volunteer tomorrow, however, after reading some of these posts now having second thoughts, as some comments are quite honestly insulting.

I donated a number of Jaeger, Windsmoor and Viyella suits to a charity shop and saw them in an upmarket second hand shop a few days later!!!!
Well, presumably the charity shop sold them, the shop owner bought them thinking he/she would be able to make a bit more profit on them.
Both benefited.

I give to St. Luke's Hospice shops now and I have always seen my things in the shop so I trust them.
I took loads of stuff from MIL's house to the St Luke's Hospice shop - they asked if I was clearing a relative's house and were very sympathetic and nice; didn't refuse anything.

Oh yes. Just as countries who receive aid from the wealthier areas, so do charity volunteers cream off the best stuff. Cynical? Yes. Realistic? Yes.

annep
Ebay. They'll take a small percentage but you will make money. You then have the choice of using the money yourself, or donating some/all to a charity of your choice.