Do they keep donated stuff?

It is actually theft.
I used to hand over donations to "someone collecting for a charity only to find it never got anywhere near the shop! I made a bit of fuss and was told it was "stuff you didn't want anyway". Wrong. It was stuff I donated to a particular charity to help their funds. Stealing donations is like stealing money.
There is a clamp down on this practice in our locality as a great deal was being stolen by people who could well afford new items and they justified taking it by saying they "put 5p in the box"!.
I now only donate to one particular charity who have a high turnover in the city because they always have quality stuff. Please report anyone you find stealing from a charity to the police and the charity. You were donating the dishwasher tablets, not throwing them away. She could have offered to put a pound or two in the box if she could buy it straight off you.

Unfortunately this is also my experience. Don't even bother to look up to say thank you

It was St Luke’s that refused the bags of clothes that my SiL took down! Disappointing since our local St Luke’s hospice is the one charity we all go out of our way to support.

Before Christmas I contacted several homeless charities as I had a lot of jumpers, jackets, socks, boots and trousers which I wanted to donate. Only one bothered to reply saying they were not taking donations.

I then found a charity which helps homeless ex-service personnel. They not only took all the clothing but also all crockery, cutlery and kitchen equipment which I no longer needed - and they collected it.

thanks for suggestions. I will maybe try Ebay I'm just being lazy! Bluebelle no one is saying all charity workers are doing this at all. And its fine for them to buy although if they always get first choice its a bit unfair on customers don't you think? I'm sorry if its put you off. All shops are different and volunteers are really appreciated. When I am able (recovering from M.E.) I intend to volunter in our AgeUK shop.

I wouldn't have worried if it was a small item, but the box of dishwasher tablets was worth £10! I could have given them to any number of food banks etc but chose this shop as DS died in their hospice last year and thought it could bring in a few pounds. I doubt anything else in the shop was that valuable!

My husband volunteers in a charity shop and the rule there is that if they want something for themselves it must go out on the shelves first, and they can only buy it if a day goes by without it being sold. They must pay the price that the item was out for sale at. So if they put a high price on the item to try and stop it being sold to a customer, then they have to actually pay that price to have it themselves, which stops any monkey business. However, if it's something they know they couldn't put on the shelves like an untested electrical item or something not in good enough condition, and they would have been throwing it straight into their skip, then the workers may have it. It sounds like that dishwasher stuff wasn't something they were going to sell. Some shops will refuse an item they can't sell while other shops will realise the donor really doesn't want to be walking around carrying their rejected gifts so take it anyway.

Why on earth wouldn't you just give dishwasher tablets to a friend or relative if you don't have a dishwasher yourself! Have you ever seen items like that for sale in a charity shop? Charity is very over rated in my opinion. There's too much corruption at all levels.
However, there's one charity shop locally which collects to fund finding work for vulnerable people and they actually wrote and told me how much they had raised from selling stuff I donated but I can't remember the name, sorry.

How do you know they didn't pay for the dishwasher tablets? I don't see why the volunteers can't buy stuff like anyone else.

A few years ago as part of an extensive managerial role I oversaw a village based charity shop and the commitment of the volunteers was utterly fantastic. As many others have posted, the only privilege they had was to have an early opportunity to buy the items before they went on the shop floor, but that was only possible if they happened to be volunteering that one day a fortnight the donation was received and only if the sale price had been agreed with another volunteer by using the standard pricing guidelines.
As with any organisation there are those that break the rules, but on the whole, based on my experience, the majority of donated goods, providing they are fit for re-sale, will be placed on sale as the donor intended. If a volunteer buys them first, the money is still going to the charity. The volunteer asking if anyone had a dishwasher might want to know how much to set at a reasonable sale price being an unusual donation if she had no idea of its value.
A lot of donation boxes were left on the doorstep overnight, especially on Sundays after weekend clear outs and recycling depots closed, and most of those would contain absolute rubbish with nothing fit for resale which the volunteers would have to sort and bag up for disposal. Also, the donations would often be ransacked and the doorstep blocked with the contents strewn across the pavement, etc. so before opening the shop the volunteers would have to clear and clean up outside the shop. In my experience the volunteers don’t have it easy helping in a charity shop as donations aren’t always clean and sometimes contain unsavoury items.
It would be a shame for a post like this and some of the subsequent comments to put people off donating to support charities which rely on the funds raised in this way. It’s also not fair to jump to conclusions about volunteers on whom these charities depend.

Agree with greenfinch and polyperkins. Those lovely shop workers deserve some perks. (I would be hopeless sorting through second hand clothes, they do a marvelaous unpaidt job).

Lol I worked for a very famous charity shop who support children.I left because of bullying but also because of the greed and self-interest of the volunteers, I was rather naive when I joined thinking I was making a difference. I even witnessed what could only be called theft many times.
I wrongly assumed all volunteers were out to help, some of course are, but most in my experience are not. I was also alarmed to find out that quite a few volunteers were not actually there voluntary but actually on community service many for shoplifting and theft but some for drug offences and violent acts.
I finally wrote to head office about the goings on , as I was unable to speak to the manger as she was big offender. The charity really wasn't interested and said that that was to be expected. I left as I was unable to go with the bullying mostly aimed at people with learning difficulties. I do work voluntary now but I would never go back into a shop, even though I know some lovely people who do. I tend not to give my things to charity shops now.

I repeat, I find it amazing how many people seem to forget that these shop workers are giving their time for free

and I repeat that quite a few volunteers in the shop I worked were not actually there voluntary but actually on community service many for shoplifting and theft but some for drug offences and violent acts. they had not given up their time feely and received staff discount too!!

If they did not keep to the rules of the Community Service Order, they would be in breach of their Order and could be sent back to Court to be re-sentenced and possibly sent to prison.

I don't see why they should not have the same staff discount as other volunteers if they are willing, able and doing the work required of them.

Pink, many charities help to get people back into work by giving them much needed experience, so that probably explains why there were some volunteers with drug offences. Charity is all about helping others, and helping to get offenders back into work, back into society is part of that. Periodically our Hospice Shop stops taking donations of stuff, simply because they have a backlog of donations to be sorted, laundered, priced and put out for sale, and it is to nobody's benefit if our donations end up mouldering in a heap in a warehouse. I take my hat off to anyone who volunteers in a charity shop, going by the posts on here they must be forever be accused of theft, overpricing and other such crimes, what a sad state of affairs.

As long as the charity shop volunteers/staff pay for the item (be it with a small discount or not) I don’t understand the harm in them getting first pick? The charity is still getting the money, and it’s a little perk of the ‘job’ so to speak. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

With regards to not seeing the items you donate in the store you gave them to, I think this is common practice. My dil works in fashion retail and so accumulates a lot of clothes. She frequently donates them to a local charity shop. The manager in store told her that because the clothes were of a certain quality they would have to be sent to a different branch where they would fetch a higher price.

my first post should say unable to cope with the bullying not go . fat fingers

I was just going to add about the experience - and also the fact that they may be able to buy some decent clothes (at a discount) in case they get interviews afterwards.

I take my hat off to anyone who volunteers in a charity shop,
Me too, my friend has worked in one since she retired - have you noticed that so many volunteers are quite elderly. She is nearly 80 but still turned up for her days in the shop even though she had recently been bereaved.

I do know that there are issues which could be a bone of contention - but that is more to do with the charities themselves rather than the volunteers.

I appreciate these volunteers are giving their time freely but charities have rules even for volunteers. Most of us have given a lot of time freely to charities or organisations and there are always rules.
Charities rely on these donations and there has been a slump in their funding. I always wash and iron before donating to my cancer charity shop as I know that saves them a lot of sorting. It is one of those very busy shops with boutique style window display. Most of the volunteers have had an association with cancer and know how important it is to fill the coffers to help the local cancer support centre.
It's probably just a small percentage who think they should have a "perk of the job".

Remember jumble sales? Now they really were a scrabble for clothes, with people grabbing as much as they can and "offering" a donation for them which was usually pennies. Back then it was the only way some families could afford clothing. But we raised enough for Guides and Brownies costs for one year!

Jalima1108 I totally agree that everyone deserves a 2nd change however I do not agree they should get staff discount as they were not giving up their time freely many refused to do any work and were angry they were there. Not to mention it was meant to be paying back to society they were buying and profiting by selling on ebay. Many broke the terms of their order but no one reported them
( apart from one that I know of) because of a lack of volunteers and sometimes fear.
I can only speak of my experiences which I eventually had a break down over the stress and upset it caused me. In my case I saw people filling up bags with items and not paying a penny and this was common but while there was a lot of taking about it and eye brow raising no one actually did anything and this was just volunteers not community service people.
I raised the alarm but was bullied terribly for it. The manager would allow her family to come in and take first pick too . Many people were selling on ebay

People with special needs were treated appalinging
to one group removing all its special need helpers.
In the shop I worked for all items were sold for a pound anything more expensive and valuable was sent to another shop but they often never got their because they were be brought for a pound ( less after staff discount by a volunteer. )
I had a break down over it all and I would never ever support this charity or cover up what was going on I would come home feeling grubby at what i had seen. All I am saying it goes on maybe not everywhere but it happened I have no reason to lie.

I do not have an issue with volunteers or paid staff buying anything which I have donated as long as the price paid is around the same the charity would have received from a customer. Also, as others have said, sometimes donated items are moved to other branches of the charity, to an area where they may raise more money. Having handled donations to something as small as my children's Christmas Fayre ( a few years ago) I truly admire those who sort through the stuff donated; the number of toys we were given which had to be thrown out because they were stained with body fluids (dribble, vomit and worse), or stinking of cigarette smoke, or dangerously falling apart was incredible and a real eye opener. Who on earth wants a doll with biro scribbles all over the head? A toy truck with no wheels and metal axles sticking out? A well sucked soft toy? If that is what is given when the donor knows the destination I dread to think what shop volunteers unearth when they open the bags.

Oh dear, sorry to hear all that pinkjj - and I think (hope) that your experience is a rare occurrence.
However, I have heard first-hand tales of bullying of volunteers by a paid manager (she has since left) and another instance of months' worth of takings being spent sending a shop manager on an overseas tour 'to see how the charity spends its money'. As a consequence, all the volunteers walked out.

But, on the whole, I think we have to trust that they are doing the right thing and helping worthy causes.

We used to try to avoid the jumble stall at the school fair! My friend who taught there used to 'volunteer' me to help her on the cake staff.
So admiration for all those who do volunteer in charity shops.