What are your experiences of working in a charity shop?

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I had a pretty terrible experience volunteering in one a couple years back, the managers treated the lower volunteers like dirt and abused their positions constantly, the customers could be a mix of thieving ass holes who think they can take advantage of the fact that the shop is being run by two inexperienced 16 year olds or there are snobby people who complain at the price of a £3 cardigan just because it's missing a button and taking it out on the young volunteers who don't make the rules... Also, even though you're a volunteer, you're completely swept off your feet doing all the dirty work and constricted by strict rules and scolded if you're late or if your didn't do what they asked to the standards they were hoping for despite your inexperience, as if the managers had forgotten that us volunteers have given up our weekends for free to help them out...
The shops themselves can range from a ghost town for hours on end to Piccadilly Circus, so be prepared for that.

I don't mean to put you off... It may only be a handful of places that are like this, just be wary of them.

If you really want to volunteer somewhere, I'd whole heartedly recommend an animal shelter if you're an animal lover, it's extremely rewarding, great fun and a door opener into charity events like sponsored walks, and charity dog shows etc. :biggrin:

I agree with this, they also all assume youre forced to work there from the job centre, customers will assume youre a waster on jobseekers in my experience and take pleasure in treating you like crap

Reply 21

GCSEstudentt

I really enjoyed volunteering in a charity shop tbh, it was nice getting to know everyone and I loved organising the old books :P

Reply 22

gemmam

I volunteered in a British Red Cross shop one summer. The people I worked with were nice however quite a few of the customers were rude. Working on the shop floor could be boring as it was often quiet but I was often busy in the stockroom.

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Reply 23

NigelMansell27

Volunteering in a charity shop is the worst move to make. The manager's treat volunteers like ****. Personally, I wouldn't touch charity shops with a barge pole ever again in my life. If you want to be a volunteer in a charity shop, here's a lowdown on the one's to avoid, Cancer Research UK, Oxfam, British Red Cross, Mencap, the British Heart Foundation and a few other's. Cancer Research UK and Oxfam are the one's to avoid like the bubonic plague. I'd personally avoid charity shop work if I were you, the manager's suck the life out of you as a volunteering dogsbody and moan like hell if you don't glue yourself permanently to their respective shop. Steaming clothes in a charity shop is awful as you're expected to get every crease out of the clothes you steam. Sorry to be negative, I hope you find a good charity shop to be in. I wish you luck.

Reply 24

nadinelia11

I can't believe I'm reading so many horror stories on this thread!! I volunteered at a charity shop for a year and I absolutely loved (until the shop shut and I had to leave!! *sad face*). But I'm hopefully starting a new one next week which I'm both excited and terrified about! I did everything from the low life boring steaming clothes for hours on end to working on shop floor which I felt had much more variety that stockroom work but I got a chance to do both!

Even though I'm really late posting this if you're still thinking about charity shop volunteering I'd definitely say go for it!!! :biggrin:

Reply 25

Trapz99

Original post by BurstingBubbles

I'm thinking of volunteering, probably in a charity shop, in my summer holiday. Has anyone volunteered in a charity shop? What's it like? Busy, boring? Thanks :smile:

I've been volunteering at an Oxfam shop for nearly two years now(one day a week, not full time) and I can tell you that the work you do will be very repetitive and just like working in any other shop. It's a good place to work and develops employability skills but you might get bored at times.

You'll be involved in cleaning, pricing newly donated goods, reordering shelves, removing products that haven't sold for a while, serving customers at the till (I was only given the chance to work at the till after around two months) and informing customers about gift aid and how Oxfam does business. There are opportunities to do fundraising if that interests you.

One negative thing I notice is that the manger and the paid staff really don't care about the volunteers. They don't even remember my name at times even though I've volunteered for a long time. They just give you work to do and more work once you're done.

Another thing is that you're not really making a difference and helping the charity. You're essentially free labour working alongside paid staff who could probably get the work done without your help- you're just making their day slightly easier. Fundraising is much more helpful and is more satisfying.

Overall, the experience of working is good and will develop communication skills, teamwork and the ability to work under pressure but the culture isn't great from what I've seen so far.

EDIT: just realised this was an old thread lol

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 26

Mahree_Ah

Lots of negativity in this thread smh smh.
I've volunteered at Branardos for nearly 2 months now. There are about 3 to 5 branches in and around town. I do Saturday mornings (3hrs) in the Barnardos inside the town centre and it's usually quite busy, which definitely makes a difference in how much there is to do.

At first, I found it a bit boring and I wondered why my manager and co-workers seemed quite unfriendly. Turns out, they get a lots of people applying to volunteer and the first load don't write references on their forms, or fill in their contact details. The second load then get bad comments from their references. The third load get a phone call and an invite to an induction. They never show up and don't even call to say so. The fourth load does come to an induction and never come back, and then the fifth load do two shifts and ghost, without a goodbye or a call. And then my manager has to deal with a phone call from a Primark manager saying if she knew Random Person who worked under her for 7 months. And the sixth load steal money out the till. So yeah, its easier for me to understand why they are prejudiced against new volunteers.

All charity shops are different so I can only talk for my (organsied) place when I gives you these tips.
1) Commit to a time and a day.
As people have already mentioned, there is so much flexibility when you can volunteer. So long so you tell your manager: 'I can only do 3hrs a fortnight.' and you actually commit to it, then you are in the good books. If exams are coming up, just tell your manager.
2) If you cant show up, call.
Honest to God, this is just courtesy.
3) If you are volunteering for experience, say you are volunteering for experience.
Then the manager (if they're actually nice) can let you experience the shop floor and the backroom and so you're not stuck doing one repetitive job all day.
4) Keep yourself entertained
Yeah, no phones :frown:

But you can always play with the clothes rack without any trouble and ask everyone if they need a cuppa.

As for me, I think my commitment has softened my manager because I can now operate the till solo, tag clothes (still can't price them), play around with all the cool items and avoid steaming clothes like the plague (though its probably gonna happen eventually). Its quite entertaining, especially with Christmas coming up, but some of the tasks can be quite repetitive (I sent today tagging a full box of jewellery). It makes a good story for the weekend (What did you do this weekend? Oh, I had a lady come out the changing room with a bra over her shirt to ask my for my opinion on it.) and guess who's got a new reference for a future job?

Reply 27

Rum Ham

I used to volunteer with my mum at our local PDSA shop when I was younger. She mainly worked at the till and I would sort out clothes in the back and help set up the shelves in the front. I actually really enjoyed and met some really nice people during my time there. Although I'm more rooting for doing animal related volunteer work when my health improves to help with my degree, I wouldn't rule out going back to PDSA :smile:

Reply 28

Smartzie

You should be paid. The manager gets paid £300 per week! Pay him £200 and you £100. The job agency gets paid too! Time to change.