Giving your charity shop staff & volunteers the skills and equipment to sell donated electrical appliances Issue date: 01/07/2015
Introduction First Stop Safety work in partnership with the Charity Retail Association to help hundreds of charity shops like yours sell donated electrical appliances every day. How? By doing your own electrical safety checks. With the right training & equipment it is easy. This is commonly known as PAT Testing (or Portable Appliance Testing) We use our range of PAT Testers and Training to help hundreds of Charity Shops everyday, Charity Shops that typically fall in to 3 groups GROUP 1 CHARITY: A charity shop that currently does not sell donated electrical appliances GROUP 2 CHARITY: A charity shop that does sell electrical appliances but outsources the PAT testing e.g an electrician GROUP 3 CHARITY: A charity shop that does sell electrical appliances and already has their own in-house PAT Testing regime implemented Whichever group you are in, we can help.
This presentation has been designed to show our group 1 & 2 Charities how they can easily:- Generate more income by selling higher value electrical goods Generate more stock to fill your shelves quickly Attract more customers with more attractive goods Save money and time by not paying or waiting for electrical contractors Save time by immediately putting your donated electrical items up for sale safely If you are a Group 3 Charity who is already aware of the benefits of PAT testing your electrical donations please click here to see our range of charity shop specific products, including easy to use PAT testers, refresher PAT training, calibrations and charity shop PAT testing consumables e.g. labels. For our Group 1 and 2 charities read on to find out more about how to start.
Selling Donated Electrical Appliances The Benefits 1. Making more money for your charity - Electrical goods attract a higher price. Items such as TV s, games consoles and white goods are much sought after and will generate a higher income 2. More stock Never turn an electrical donation away 3. More Custom - Electrical goods are attractive goods and will draw increased custom to your shop 4. More Choice Offer a larger product range from that of your competing shops
PAT Testing Donated Electrical Appliances Yourself The Benefits 1. Save Money Never have to pay an electrician to PAT Test your donated appliances again, this means the Charity shop gets to keep every pound that appliance sells for 2. Save Time You can PAT Test an appliance and have it on the shelf ready to sell within MINUTES! 3. Save Room No more stockpiling donated electrical appliances in store rooms waiting for the monthly visit from the electrician
I could not make the revenue I make in my shops without selling electrical appliances, I make 200 a week from selling electrical goods, thanks to the training and equipment I have purchased from First Stop Safety. Alex Wood, Regional Manager for the Northern Region MIND
1. PAT Training Getting Started! First Stop Safety has a range of PAT training to suit all budgets. Our PAT training courses require no previous experience or knowledge. Our training options include.. Face to face training public PAT training courses delivered by our PAT testing experts at various locations across the country. Face to face Private PAT training course ideal for charities that would like to train a larger group, and delivered at the venue of your choice. On-line training Learn all about PAT testing and take our assessment fully on-line. After receiving training all trainees have ongoing access to our experienced team of advisors and can call us with any questions or for advice. Refresher training is available as and when required.
2. PAT Testers Getting Started! Once trained First Stop Safety can provide you with a range of simple to use PAT testers and accessories ideal for PAT testing donated electrical appliances. Most charities choose our BattPAT tester because of its low cost and ease of use. The BattPAT Portable Appliance Tester is a very easy to use battery powered PASS/FAIL PAT tester. No need to interpret complicated readings, Green is PASS, Red is FAIL! The BattPAT tester is available from as little as 199 plus vat, and comes with everything you need to begin PAT testing donated electrical appliances.
A more comprehensive PAT Tester Package designed specifically for Charity Shops is also available in the form of our Reseller Package. This package includes the BattPAT tester and a larger range of PAT testing accessories and consumables designed to be used in Charity Shops. The Reseller Package contains:- BattPAT tester First Stop Safety s very popular simple to use PAT tester and basic accessories. Hard carry case - A luxury carry case for keeping the BattPAT and all the accessories together. 500 Reseller tested labels Green PASSED labels that can be applied to appliances to show they passed a PAT Test, without an expiry date for the test. 500 Fuse Labels The labels show an appliance has had the fuse checked and is safe and correct. 1 Roll of 440 electrical wiring tape A strip of this tape around the power cord of appliance will give your customers the wiring instructions for the plug of the appliance, a Trading Standards requirement when the user manual is no longer with appliance. 2 Before Selling On safety posters These posters will help keep all staff and volunteers aware how to visually pick up potential faults on appliances before they even reach a PAT tester. 2 "Customer Advice" posters These posters inform your customers that all of your electrical appliances are PAT tested and are safe prior to sale, and that you also accept electrical appliances as donations. This package is available for just 299 + vat and is an ideal solution for a shop looking at starting to sell donated electrical appliances from scratch.
This has been just a small selection of what we have to help Charity Shops Our website.. www.firststopsafety.co.uk has a Charity Zone link here dedicated to charity shops, which includes all our range including more advanced PAT testers, alternative Packages and Special offers and promotions exclusive to our Charity Shop Customers! Please note all prices quoted on the previous pages were correct at the time of publishing, please see our website to check current pricing.
Is it right for you? We have explained how selling donated electrical appliances can be amazingly beneficial to any charity shop, even more so when PAT Testing these appliances yourself but is it right for you? Cost versus Reward From our experience every charity shop can benefit from selling donated electrical appliances because they attract a higher price and more custom. These benefits increase ten-fold when PAT testing them yourself. How soon are costs recouped? Frequent feedback from our charity shop customers tells us that both the costs of the PAT testing equipment and training can be recouped very quickly. Here is a quotation from one of our customers at a recent CRA Conference:- We got back the cost of our PAT Tester Package and PAT Training course within 2 months of selling donated electrical appliances Shop volunteer from Save the Children (York)
Why not see how much income your charity could generate by accepting donations of and re-selling used electrical items in your charity shop(s) via our Charity Shop Income Calculator?
Here are some of the Charities we already work with
Here is a selection of comments from a Hospice we recently trained:- What was the best feature of the course and why? It is very useful and practical The trainer was brilliant and was very approachable and felt you could ask questions which you are unable to do on DVD Friendly, everything explained clearly making the information easy to understand and digest Visual and hands on teaching What was least helpful and why? All useful, nothing felt superfluous What key learning point(s) from today are you taking away with you? How PAT testing fits in with the legal responsibilities of a retail outlet Always check every item, plug and record everything Feel able to carry out PAT testing with some practice Knowledge on using a PAT tester correctly
Questions? We at First Stop Safety like to think we are experts when it comes to PAT Testing and thanks to years of experience working with Charity shops we have good knowledge of PAT testing donated electrical appliances for resale. We welcome our customers to call us at any time with questions they may have when it comes to selling donated appliances and/or PAT Testing them. This is just a small part of our ongoing customer service. The following slide is a selection of questions we have received from charities like yours, that are considering implementing their own PAT Testing regime for their donated electrical appliances.
I have heard I need some electrical experience to PAT Test and it s quite complicated, is that true? No, you do not need any electrical experience at all. PAT Testing is not complicated as the majority of PAT Testing is common sense and very straight forward. Do I have to stick the green PASSED labels to an appliance before I sell it? It is a good idea to label appliances, as it helps with differentiating between tested appliances from non tested. However this is not a legal requirement and we can show you other methods including how to keep a detailed log of your PAT testing. What should we do with appliances that fail a PAT Test? If an appliance fails a PAT test we recommend you apply a red FAILED DO NOT USE label and dispose of the appliance for recycling. Alternatively if the appliance is of high value it can be passed to an electrician for repair. If I purchase a PAT Tester and/or training from First Stop Safety do I have any support or anyone I can speak to if I need help PAT testing? Yes. First Stop Safety offers a free and friendly technical support helpline open 9-5 Monday to Friday. Apart from PAT testing is there anything else I need to make sure an appliance has before I can sell it safely and legally? Yes there is, an appliance must have wiring instructions with it to be sold, we can help you with this.
How we continue to help our charity shop customers and group 3 Charites! Once you have implemented your own PAT testing and started to sell donated electrical appliances First Stop Safety can continue to help in many ways:- The next few slides cover how we continue to help Charity shops, via. Ongoing PAT Training PAT Testing Consumables PAT Tester Calibration Technical support and PAT Testing advice
Ongoing PAT Training As you progress with selling donated electrical goods and your PAT testing you may find that you will need to train new members of staff or refresh the training of your experienced colleagues. You may even wish to train short term volunteers. What ever your ongoing training requirements are we can help Refresher PAT Training New exam submissions for your PAT Training DVD PAT Testing handbooks
Charity Shop Consumables PAT Testing Labels - Large selection made specifically for charity shops. Posters Keep your customers informed about accepting electrical appliances for donation and that they are fully tested before resale. Electrical Wiring Tape A roll of electrical wiring tape essential for charity shops reselling second hand electrical appliances; printed with correct plug wiring instructions as required by Trading Standards.
Annual PAT Tester Recalibration Calibration is necessary for any test instrumentation in order to ensure it continues to measure accurately. We offer a fast and efficient calibration service for ALL makes and models of PAT Testers. We do not want charity shops to be without their PAT tester for long periods so offer a fast 5 working day turnaround, with an optional collection & delivery service. We have a dedicated Calibration Helpline. Helpline number: 01904 529054 Helpline e-mail: calibrations@firststopsafety.co.uk
Support technical and practical First Stop Safety offers a technical helpline to all its charity shop customers. One of our friendly and knowledgeable staff members is available from 9-5 Monday to Friday. Whether it be questions about particular appliances, PAT testing questions or any aspect of selling a donated electrical appliance, we will help you.
Ready to begin? Simply call First Stop Safety on 01904 791050 for a friendly informal chat. or click the link below to email us SHARE sales@firststopsafety.co.uk