Posted By Jim Walker Long time since I saw electricals in charity shops. I had assumed they were more trouble than they are worth. I guess you need to justify this though? How are you going to ensure they meet/conform to the EEC regulations for safe supply of goods There is much more to it that PA Testing (someone will come along soon and tell you this is all you need to do).

Posted By edwin You can get relevant information from your local trading standards department - look on their website. This is a link I found: http://www.nottinghamshi...%20electrical%20goods%22

Posted By J Knight Hi Jennifer, We have 400 Charity Shops, and a few years ago, before I was in post, were formally cautioned by Trading Standards for selling inadequately wired table lamps in one of our shops. We have not given up though. We did suspend the sale of electricals for a couple of years, and during that time we worked closely with Trading Standards, and using the services of a consultant electrical engineer developed a robust testing and qa protocol which we believe will allow us to comply with the law. We collect electricals through our shops, and they are then transported to designated premises where they get a thorough visual inspection and PA test. They are logged, labelled, and subjected to a second inspection immediately prior to being put on the sales floor; this is the missing step ion our original system which led to the caution. The records are subjected to regular inspection and audit. Our problem is the rapidly diminishing profit margin on electrical goods; we can't sell many high-value products, such as laptops, as they are complex and not easily tested, and low value stuff can be picked up for practically nothing from a supermarket near you. However, we do make money on electricals, and it is worth considering, John