charity shop staff selling personal goods for themselves...?

[joko]

i went into a charity shop recently and looked at a camera
- i asked the lady if it had been checked and if it definitely worked...she said "yes, its practically new - my daughter bought it for herself as a birthday treat- then discovered her boyfriend had bought her one too - a better one, so she decided to sell it in here"

i asked why she didnt just return it to the shop then... but she just shrugged ... the camera had been used just not much...

don't think she realised what she had actually just told and was just trying to convince me it was a in good condition etc, so id buy it

but to me that sounded like the womans daughter was using the shop front to sell her own stuff - rather than donating it...

is this a common thing in charity shops then? that staff use it as a kind of personal 'car boot sale' to get rid of their own stuff and make a few quid, to save them having to get a stall or list on ebay...

i am not going to report them as maybe it was a one off...but seems pretty wrong to me.

perhaps the odd one or two things once in a while does no real harm, but if the shops are full of the staffs personal stuff - at the expense and space of donated goods then surely this is out of order...?

anyone else heard of this?

[boxtops]

I have never heard of this, but I am sure it contravenes the charity shop laws - everything sold in a charity shop must go to benefit the charity.

[factor-fiction]

If the shop gets a cut it's worthwhile

[ummmm]

How much was she selling it for?

[pdust]

i work in a charity shop and it definitely wouldnt be allowed..... the manager would probably be sacked if they allowed staff to do that.

[mike11111]

You do not know that she had not donated it to the shop.

[ummmm]

Maybe you misunderstood her.

[joko]

yes factor - i think if the item is of high value and there is no way they would just donate it...but sell it through them and get a commission sort of arangement, it would be beneficial - basically the costs itd take the person to sell elsewhere...

i dont know if that was their arrangement

[percypineapple]

I shouldn't worry about it, it appears most charity shops are a con, almost nothing goes to charity, its all expenses for the directors etc. who prey on good hearted christians who think they are doing the world a good turn by donating or working for nowt in the local charity shop.. i always supported the Salvation army, then it turns out that their boss was taking all the designer clothes that had been donated and was raking off £1000's for his own account. I also have a friend who is a driver for a charity concern, and they somehow managed to give him a £1000 bonus for his 65 th birthday. so. let the staff have their little perks, they deserve it..
Percy.

[joko]

it was £30... she said the daughter had paid £65 new

no, i dont know for sure - i only know what she said -
i could certainly have misunderstood - but thats why i have repeated some of her words - she sounded like she was saying the daughter decided to sell it through the shop because she couldnt return it and wanted to recoup some of the costs - that was the 'impression' i got from her words anyway
could have been just a story to convince me it was a decent camera

[The-HouseHusband]

It could well be that she just donated it to the shop because she is a kind and charitable person, it could have just been a misunderstanding as to why it was being sold in that shop.

[joko]

im not worried about it at all... as i say the odd thing does no harm...

i suppose it is just a perk of working for free

[boxtops]

Percy,. that might be the case in your experience but it's certainly not the case for the hospice movement. Apart from a few overheads (e.g. they pay the shop manager who is a professional shop manager, heat and light etc) everything goes back into the the hospice funds. Hospices couldn't function without public donations and a huge amount of funding comes in via the shops.

[wolf63]

I volunteer for a charity and work in a shop. The only person in the shop who is paid is the manager and he only works part-time. I know that there have been horror stories about dishonest shops but I can assure you this is not the case. I realise that there dishonest people everywhere but people put a lot of work into these shops and they try their best to raise as much money for their charity.

[weecalf]

65 quid camera for 30 Id a snapped it up ,,get it snapped it up ..Im to good for this place

[EDDIE51]

percypineapple I have to disagree with you as well . In all the charity shops I know of only the manager is paid the rest are volunteers . Also Charity shops only pay 20% of the normal business rates to the council , without these 2 factors they could not exist. For the charities that run them they are the main source of funds , One of the charity shops I go in is for the charity 'Mind' that helps people with learning disorders, they have some of the disabled people working on the till under supervision, this gives them a chance to gain work experience and is very helpful in overcoming their disability.