Subject: Help me to help.....
Hello everyone, I have a general question which I would like to ask and really need some advice. This is concerning stock items in charity shops in general. I understand that, generally speaking, the sortation and pricing of stock is the responsibility of the shop manager, ie is done locally at each individual charity outlet. I ask this because I have accumulated and developed a good understanding of the identification and valuation of pottery and porcelain items over the last 20 years, in different professional roles worldwide, I no longer earn my living by this means, in fact I am struggling to stay in employment, but I would really like to use my skills and knowledge of identification of items to help charities sell their items accurately and for realistic prices. I wonder if anyone here has any suggestions about how I might go about this?
It seems kind of impractical to visit each local charity shop in person to offer this, and I wonder if there is a way to centralise such a service somehow. I have a full and comprehensive cv detailing all of my experience in this field so have a proven track record, I feel strongly that I need to use this experience for the benefit of others, I have a leaning towards charities helping those who are/were homeless and vulnerable, as I am also a recovering alcoholic. I guess I need some advice as to how best to make use of the resources I have and how to go about it, any advice would be most gratefully received....many thanks in advance
I have no connection or affiliation with any charities at present.
Best wishes
Paul
Hi there Paul.
Brilliant idea and a great way to possibly help some charities. If I were you, I would contact the Retail Director, Retail Manager or Retail Operations Manager (depending on the size of charity) via Head Office in a few charities that you personally would like to support and that you know have shops (be they a large chain or small).
You are right that charity shop staff have the responsibility of pricing stock at source generally, but they tend to have useful guides produced periodically internally (for larger chains especially) which helps them identify valuable products.
If you sent in a letter/email together with your background/CV and what you feel you can offer them, it may well feel that it be worth them contacting you to put together a (new) guide using your expertise.
Considering your leanings, I would suggest perhaps contacting Shelter first as they have around 100 shops across the country, and should certainly have staff that could work with you on production of such a guide.
Good luck! i hope that someone takes you up on your offer.
Back in my student days, I used to volunteer at a local Red Cross shop. The Manager would always send me round the corner to the antique dealer with any items she wasn't sure about. They had an understanding, and would value our items free of charge.
I imagine quite a few shops do the same.
I know it might be a pain, but really the best way to be remembered would be to print out a little flyer, or a business card, then pop round and introduce yourself to their managers. Really, face-to-face tends to get you a lot further than an e-mail.
However, if it's something you'd like to do on a national scale, you could always set up a website. Or even a blog, if you'd like to share your information. Then promote that to major charities who run shops, like Cancer Research or The British Heart Foundation. One e-mail to HQ should filter down to local branches if it's something they are interested in.
I'm sure they'd be happy to keep you in mind. However, the nature of charities is to get by on volunteer assistance. If they've got local businesses helping them for free, they're unlikely to pay someone. Just something to be aware of.
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