I recently stopped my twice weekly stint as a Charity shop cashier.
The staff were the most friendly, laid back folk I've ever come across - in employment - but even so I wasn't getting paid for it so I don't suppose a bollocking would have come near if I was worse than I already was.

In my defence stock changed regularly, as it would given it came from almost daily donations, so therefore I had a perfectly adequate reason for why I had no idea what prices things were or even where they were (except for the usual - books, videos and DVDs and the like were either priced or had a standard one and were stocked in easy to reach places). Being at the helm though offered further dilemmas such as dealing with customers. There were a couple I really liked talking to, an elderly gent who would constantly deny that what he was buying was worth the price and so would drag his heels no matter how cheap.

Me(after totting it up): That's altogether £4 then.

Him: Are you sure?

Me: Yes, it's just over half your pension.

However this would be in good fun and he would rib me back about the youth of today having no knowledge whilst insisting it would have to be at least two pounds less. I would say inquire if he meant in old money.

There were rumours of more stressful types, though I never met any. Having said that there were plenty of particularly eyebrow raising customers.

One that comes to mind was a slightly short bald and skinny gentleman wearing a tattered camouflage jacket who once asked me to save a book for him whilst he scanned around the shop some more. The book he chose was on plants, so immediately my mind spun that he was probably an inhaler of some kind of weed. But then I shunned that idea as judgemental and to be honest rather unkind. Yet I couldn't shake off the idea he did seem a bit strange. Nevertheless after casually sauntering up to the counter he paid for his purchases in full so no harm was done. Then he asked me a question.

Him: You don't do DVDs by any chance do you?

Me: Yeah we do, 50p each.

Him: Yeah, do you have any adult DVDs?*

I couldn't look him in the eyes and as I stifled a laugh I quietly said no.
I never saw the man again.

In hindsight I suppose in a strange way I admire his confidence. Having said that I'm not a eunuch myself but given the stock options already visible I wouldn't have tried to get my fill from a place that was liable to have donations already left sticky and did.

Good job though. Well volunteer job.

*For those in expectation of such goods in charity shops, in the one I worked in those round the back receiving donations would either throw either raunchy, or stuff visually depicting rather ultra violent stuff away or hide it. A book on the Kama Sutra lay with dust gathering on the cover.
( Christian's Bolt and Ski, Thu 9 Sep 2010, 17:24, 2 replies)

It amazes me how
tight people can be re. Charity Shops. I once saw a guy having a go at the cashier in Oxfam about their prices, culminating in 'You're too pricey, mate - that's why people like me come in here and shoplift'.

Gobsmacking.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Thu 9 Sep 2010, 17:30, closed)

Yeah there were rumours of people basically putting £1 books into the 25p pile and claiming that's how much they should pay as it was clearly marked on the pile's container.
What they failed to notice was that all books - even the 25p ones were marked on the inside with the price. I feared that would happen to me for a while and what someone might do to my delicate frame if I said no.

On the other hand seen a very strange charity shop open in Headingley, basically tarted up to the nines and co-run by I think Leeds Met's Business Students. Suffice it to say nothing there is under £2 from what I saw. It seems to follow the letter of the charity shop philosophy but certainly hasn't got the spirit. The cheap spirit. Or something.
( Christian's Bolt and Ski, Thu 9 Sep 2010, 17:41, closed)