Charity Shop Ignorance

Savvy_Sue

BTW, if anyone doubts what I put in my most recent post here, there's a charity shop near me which has been closed for the past two days. There are a couple of bags sat outside. In the window is an advert for an assistant manager, but no indication of when the shop will re-open. It's a great shame, because also in the window is a gorgeous pink jacket in my size which I WANT! :rotfl: And now I shall have to get back there every day next week until I find them open again, which isn't going to be easy!

queenlizard45uk

OrkneyStar wrote: »

I agree selling things for 10p is silly mostly (although our one sells, for example, a smallish matchbox slightly scratched car for 10p). And also agree that they should definitely be a step up from a jumble sale price-wise (and they do take more organising/time too). They should not have prices equal to standard shops though, in the whole.
The thing that annoys me more than anything really is people who use charity shops/bags as a dumping ground for things that really ARE past their best....of course some clothes can be sold for rags, but really I am talking broken things, stained things, dirty things. For example me and DS have come across 1. a sticker/colouring book that was already scribbled/coloured and all stickers used, 2. cars with 1 wheel and dangerous bit sticking out, 3. clothes with holes in. And of course this is AFTER they have been sorted, heaven knows what the staff do actually come across in the bags pre-sorting. They don't have an easy job imho!

Most people who volunteer are older people . This is because they can spare the time and dont mind not being paid. The lady in my work who spends most of the time upstairs sorting has bad eyesight, which sometimes means afew clothes which are not amazing standard may slip through. As we dont have many vounteers its hard to closely examine EVERY item to make sure its in perfect condition.

I can only do as much as I can. I cant be examining every peice of clothing, every item of bric a brac and every book for tony flaws. I have enough to do.
Running a charity is hard work. I think its alot harder then a normal shop. The amount of work that has to go into it.
Every bag is checked through, every peice of clothing is steamed flat, sized, labeled and hangered. Most shops get a delivery and just put it on the rails, and these people get paid minimum wage. Volunteers dont get paid and do alot more work.

Charity shops also sell NEW STOCK which is as expensive as normal shops, because its all NEW.
Charity shops rarely sell clothes for the normal retail price. Like I said, that dress I had for £10 (which sold withen a few days may I add) would have been £60 in the shops. £10 is a bargain for what it was. The lady who bought the dress was outstanded by how much it was and couldnt believe it. Even though some people think somethings expensive, if you actually know what it is, then youl know how much its worth.
Thats another thing that us managers of charities have to do too.
Know our stuff. Know the difference between PRADA and ATMOSPHERE. I an not going to sell a atmosphere top for £5 nor a prada top for £5. Every item is different.

cit_k

I find charity shops that have high prices are very offputting, they also tend to be rather deserted most of the time.. One springs to mind in particular... Prime location, but usually empty, the prices are beyond belief...

Others, are often packed, but have more reasonable prices...

Part of the attraction is finding a bargain, something that wont happen in a high price charity shop, so I avoid those shops.

There is also not much electrical stuff in most shops, but I guess thats health and safety, as shops cant afford to pat test/electrical safety test items...

queenlizard45uk

Most charity shops cant sell electrical items because we cant test them, so we dont want to sell items that arent safe

u1bd2005

Our manager is trained to pat test electrical items, but unfortunately we still rarely sell any electricals as she doesn't usually have the time to test or doesn't have the testing kit in the shop at the time.

If only someone else was trained instead of her it might be worthwhile lol.

oldtoolie

regarding salaries for chief executives of large charities. Scope has an annual budget of over £100 million, 10,000 volunteers and 3000 staff.

What do you think an appropriate salary would be for someone with that kind of responsibility?

cit_k

oldtoolie wrote: »

regarding salaries for chief executives of large charities. Scope has an annual budget of over £100 million, 10,000 volunteers and 3000 staff.

What do you think an appropriate salary would be for someone with that kind of responsibility?

Scope also has people to do the jobs required, they have accountants, district managers etc etc. Many of which are also on reasonable salaries, but not as much as the CEO...

Just some of the current vacancies...

Senior Finance Analyst – Retail, Market Road London
Senior Finance Analyst – Voluntary Fundraising and External Affairs, Market Road
Senior New Business/Development Analyst, Market Road London
Senior Finance Analyst - Operational Services, Market Road London
Team Co-ordinator, Mulberry Court Dorset
Night Support Worker, Wakes Hall Colchester
Support Workers, Sully SDC
Governing Body Members & Trustees, Beech Tree, Preston area
Support Workers x 2 Jack Howarth House Oxford
Volunteer Mentor Co-ordinator, Wakefield
Education Support Workers/Teaching Assistants, Beech Tree School, Preston
Support Worker (Nights) Rosewarne Cornwall
Team Co-ordinator, Wakes Hall Colchester
Support Workers/Bank Staff, Godfrey Olsen Southampton
Support Workers, Suffolk
Bank Support Workers, Essex Region
General Vacancies with Children's Services
General Opportunities within Adult Services
Assistant Shop Manager (various locations)
Shop Manager (various locations)

Why pay a CEO, who does not actually have to deal with the nitty gritty, as other paid staff are responsible for that, so much?

Why not have a board of directors, voluntary, or low paid, to decide the strategy, all the financial, planning,.marketing etc is done by paid professionals, why pay 160K to one man or woman?

paulofessex

I sent a letter of complaint to the British Heart Foundation following a visit to my local shop. It was my first time in a charity shop, l was sort of inspired by the programe 'Mary Queen of shops'. I took an item l wanted to the till and mentioned to the lady that it wasnt priced and pointed out to the shelf from where l got it as it was the only item on the shelf not priced. Anyway her response was so blunt and rude i.e. "yes l know WHERE it was" "thats £3" no thank you or nothing. I did'nt respond as l was angry and l couldn't trust myself not to get very loud and rude back. When l got home l rang the shop and spoke with the manager and she was just as rude and it left me thinking that she and the lady on the till was one of the same person.

Alas the response from the letter advised me that they were not able to identify the person on the till via the user number on the receipt, however l was happy that they had spoken to the shop and reminded them about customer relations.

That is one shop l will certainly not visit again

Haarlem

My job involves me doing the book-keeping and accounts for many small, and a few medium sized charities.

Comming from the commercial world where the majority of organisations have moved to a "Quality Environment", which have in the main has benefited the customer, I am surprised this has not spread to the charity and voluntary sector.

I have raised this on many occasions, and a frequent answer is "Well they are ONLY volunteers". I do get the impression that many paid, "professional staff" of these organisations do hide behind this excuse for not improving their organisations.

u1bd2005

If our volunteers aren't friendly and dont work hard they get told to leave, simple.

I'm only voluntary, but i've been at scope since around june/july last year, and the amount of volunteers I've seen who haven't even lasted a week because of their attitude is astounding.

But I think it's nice that we get a broad range of volunteers, from year 10 work placements, to probationists etc...

I heard someone say earlier that most volunteers are older people, but from my experience most of the ones i've seen are usually younger in their 20-30s.

Though I am the youngest at the moment in our shop (recently turned 20) but I'm a designated volunteer, which is amazing experience for someone my age.

(I actually start paid work on monday at the passport office, but im still going to continue my voluntary work.)