Volunteer and/or Lead Person, Waltham Clothing Exhange Thrift Shop

Pricing, tag writing and taging, sorting, hanging, greeting, ALL POSITIONS

General: No experience necessary! Should be fine with and interested in relating to people of all sorts. And ok with handling all sorts of goods avoiding the landfill. Minimum commitment of two hours or more on open days. Volunteer hours are from 9:15 (if opening) to 5 pm (if closing). We like volunteers to be reliable. If you can’t make a particular day, let us know ahead of time and we will mark the calendar (there is no time clock!).

InTake and Pricing: Works with consignors to set prices for their items. Examines items for defects (missing buttons, batteries, stains, rips etc) and compliance with consigning rules. Fills out a consignment intake sheet for each day a consignor comes in. The sheet is for customer ID number and item numbers, item description and price. Consignors are limited to 6 items per day, 48 per season. Dates of submission are recorded.

Items are placed in boxes that the consignor places on the tagging table, after placing a label on the box with the consignor’s ID number. The consignor puts the intake sheet in a RED tray by the tag writers.

Consignors come in between 10 am and 2 pm.

Tag writers: Writes dated tags for items listed on intake sheets based on a standard template. Requires good penmanship as the tags are small. If there is a problem interpreting the intake sheet, the tag writer asks the take-in writer for help. When an intake sheet’s tags are finished, the tag writer puts it where someone picks it up and puts the sheet and tags in the corresponding intake box.

Tag writing peak hours are 10 am to 3.

Item taggers: Retrieves completed tags from tag writers and puts them in the corresponding consignor box. Uses the consignment sheet and tags to label items. Labels have strings for attaching to items when possible, but tags can also be attached using tape or pins. Items not apparently meeting consignment rules are to be discussed with the take-in writer or available lead person. Such items confirmed as not conforming are returned to the consignor as “RTO’s”(Return To Owner).

Item taggers put clothing and similar items on hangers. Household items generally are tagged and placed directly in a shopping cart for shelving. Some items will require special handling to properly tag and display.

Item tagging happens throughout the day, peak hours are 10 am to 3.

Display assistants: Takes tagged items and places them in appropriate display areas. Watches for orphan tags (on floor) and items mis-displayed (on floor, in wrong area). Makes an effort to find missing items to match to orphan tags.

Assists customers as needed and where necessary (high or awkwardly placed item, heavy item,etc). Does not try to sell items but will help customers evaluate items honestly if asked.

Alerts a lead person if there are social problems (suspected shoplifting, arguing, overcrowding) to be addressed.

Cashier: Processes customer purchases in a timely and efficient manner. Enters each consignment tag number and amount on receipt pad, can consolidate donation items (2350) for entry to save on receipt space. Consignor tags (non 2350) are kept for matching with consignors intake sheets. When time permits, the cashier will organize sold item tags for processing. 2350 tags are discarded.

We provide no sale receipts. Customers can use their phones to take a picture of the transaction totals.

At the end of the day the cashier notes the total amount of money received in a blue notebook. The number of consignors is also noted there.

Occasionally shoppers will be short of cash, so items will be held until the end of the day in order to give them time to get to a bank.

Lead persons: Knowledgeable about all the workings of the Waltham Clothing Exchange thrift shop. Opens and/or closes the WCE. (Mostly Tuesdays 9-5). Usually splits the day with another lead person. Works with staff to resolve disputes with consignors but has the final word. Discussions with staff on policy disputes that can become heated should not happen around customers. Maintains a good relationship with First Parish.