Thank You for Your Interest in Volunteering for Us As a Test Purchaser to Help Reduce The

Information for test purchase volunteers

Thank you for your interest in volunteering for us as a test purchaser to help reduce the sale of age restricted items, such as alcohol or tobacco.

You will play an important part in testing that retailers follow the correct procedure when a young person approaches the till with alcohol or tobacco when they are clearly not old enough to buy it.

So, what does this involve?

The volunteer is always accompanied by two officers from the Trading Standards Service at the County Council, one of whom acts as a welfare officer, but both have been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) as able to work with children. In the case of testing a retailer for the sale of alcohol there is also a police officer, who has the power to issue an on the spot fine if necessary. The volunteer is always collected from their home address by our officers and returned home afterwards, and is never left alone.

Before the actual test purchase takes place the volunteer is briefed on what they are required to do, i.e. attempt to buy a particular product of alcohol or tobacco, and asked if they are happy to go ahead with the test purchase.

If so, the operation can continue. A Trading Standards Officer enters the designated premises first. The volunteer is then accompanied to the designated shop by the welfare officer, who remains outside whilst the volunteer enters. The volunteer then has to browse and select some miscellaneous items such as confectionary and magazines, as well as the target product. The volunteer must then approach the till with the required items and attempt to buy them. The Trading Standard Officer will follow the volunteer to the till so they are within earshot of what is said between the volunteer and the cashier. The cashier should ask the volunteer for their age, or proof of age, and if asked for their age the volunteer must say their actual age, at which point the cashier should decline the sale. If asked for proof of age the volunteer should say they do not have any. The cashier may or may not make the sale, but the volunteer should act as normal as possible and not reveal that they are a test purchaser. Once they are finished at the till the volunteer then leaves the shop. The Trading Standards Officer will also make a purchase like a regular customer and then leave the shop, having heard the dialogue between the cashier and the volunteer.

Afterwards, depending on what happened in the shop, the appropriate action, if any, will be taken.

When and where do the test purchases take place?

Obviously we do not want to disrupt the volunteer’s time at school, so test purchases are only done after school is finished and during term time, only on a Friday or Saturday. When it is half term we sometimes carry out test purchases during the week in the late afternoon, but generally they are in the evening. It is difficult to predict how long the evening will be as this depends on the outcome of the test purchases, but we will always try and return the volunteer home at a time agreed with their parents.

We always try to take volunteers to an area that is not local or familiar to them, so the chances of them being recognised by a retailer are minimal.

What’s in it for me?

In addition to this being an interesting hobby for the volunteer, it is also a very important role that they play in making local communities a safer place to live. Once the volunteer has completed some test purchases the officer from the Trading Standards Department is more than happy to provide them with a reference, which they may find useful when applying for work experience/jobs/college etc in the future. A volunteer’s involvement in this demonstrates that they are, for example, committed to improvement, trustworthy, and willing to give up their free time to help, all of which are qualities prospective employers are looking for. The time that a volunteer works for us may also count towards a Duke of Edinburgh or any other type of award they may be seeking. After completing a test purchase operation for us a volunteer is always sent a ‘thank you’ letter confirming the help they have given.

Also, as a test purchase volunteer you need to act like a regular customer and so when you go to buy the age restricted target product as requested, you are also allowed to buy some other items to avoid any suspicion. This means that you can choose perhaps a magazine, some sweets, chocolates etc for yourself and these items you can keep. After we have completed some test purchases we then have dinner, which is the volunteer’s choice (perhaps fish & chips, pizza, MacDonald’s etc!) before taking the volunteer home.

Other important information

You can only be a test purchase volunteer with the agreement of your parent(s).

The volunteer must be dressed in casual clothes (no school uniform!) and these must not have any logos or slogans associated with drink, drugs or any other adult theme.

We also ask that no make up is worn please.

The volunteer does not need any money as all costs are covered by Trading Standards.

What happens next?

If you are still interested in being a test purchase volunteer please call Theresa Williams on 01954 284635 or email with details of your address, telephone number and age.

Once you have expressed an interest, an arrangement will be made for a Trading Standards Officer to meet the volunteer in the company of one or both of their parents, at the volunteer’s home. If both the parents and volunteer are happy to go ahead after this meeting the volunteer’s name is added to our pool of volunteers. Volunteers are then contacted before a test operation is to take place to ask if they can help.

I look forward to hearing from you!