Do you collect office supplies from work?

Discussion in Office Supplies started by Lostvalleyguy • Apr 26, 2014.

  1. Lostvalleyguy

    LostvalleyguyActive Member

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    If I need a pen while at work, I will grab one or two from a box. Sometimes those Pens make their way home with me but it is usually not intentional. Nonetheless, I do end up supplementing my pencil and pen collection at home albeit inadvertently, from work. Some people grab boxes of pens and reams of paper from their workplace to take home. I often need to print work documents at home so I can justify taking some home.

    When one considers that a box of 20 pens often costs less for your workplace than a three pack of the same at the local drugstore, one can see why people take things from work. The cost of office supplies for a home is often inflated as we are not buying in bulk. While it is a way to save money, what do you think about theft of office supplies from work?
     
  2. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    I've never taken office supplies from my past jobs because I don't think it's a great way to save money. Office supplies are not that expensive.
    The only thing I've taken from an office was a couple of sheets of stationery with the logo of the public TV station I worked at for 10 years as a memento that I worked there for so long.
    I think I also kept my ID laminate as a souvenir.
     
  3. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

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    Nope.

    To be honest, there's nothing I needed from the office when I worked in an office anyway. A pen might make it home with me, but they didn't have anything else I needed or wanted.
     
  4. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    I have never intentionally taken any office supplies while working in an office. Sometimes random pens did end up in my purse, but I mostly used them for work. It really never occurred to me to take from the office.
     
  5. plantain

    plantainMember

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    Yes! I've done this at most jobs, haha, I don't feel bad about it. I see it as giving myself a tiny bonus. It's just small things like pens, a couple sheets of nice printer paper, paperclips, staples etc. I'm too stingy to ever buy a whole box of paperclips since I don't use them that often. Nobody's going to miss a few paperclips :p
     
  6. H.C. Heartland

    H.C. HeartlandActive Member

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    I think I used office supplies while in the office. For example, if I needed to write a letter to someone and then went on break, I might take my desk notepad and do it, or use an office envelope and then mail it. I never took office supplies home intentionally though but now that I say it out loud I suppose the office would not have appreciated me using their supplies even 'in office' for something other than work related projects. One time I remember making this little joke book for an office co-worker that had collected all the quotes of funny things she had said throughout the year. I used all supplies from the office to make it!
     
  7. Annabell

    AnnabellActive Member

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    Considering my house is my home, it'd be a bit tricky for me to do this! However, I do buy in extra supplies just so that the few employees who don't live with us in the house can take as much or as little as they want home with them. Helps them out, and keeps them happy. As others have pointed out, it's easier for me to add a few more items to a bulk order than it is for them to buy their own things. For me it might be an additional few pounds for almost double what they'd get in the store for the same price.
     
  8. stacyje

    stacyjeActive Member

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    I would have to say yes to this question, I tend to take alot of my work home from work to catch up on it. I dont have anyone who can fill in for me when Im out. So I have to take my work home and I do take things home like the stapler, pens, paper etc to get the job done.
     
  9. jneanz

    jneanzActive Member

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    Rarely because I'm into colors. Most places are bland so it's more fun to get my own. Only once did an employer surprise me by giving me a ton of supplies that were ordered in error and not returnable.
     
  10. juancarlos

    juancarlosMember

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    I have also bought myself small things to make my work life more comfortable. I normally do not use a mouse when working just from my laptop, but when I am sitting at my desk that has a dock for my laptop with two monitors, keyboard and mouse, I need the mousepad because my desk does not have a good surface for the mouse to operate normally.
     
  11. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    No, for a variety of reasons. For starters, I seldom use office supplies these days since I do just about everything on my computer and online. So I don't really have a need for boxes of pens or papers, or binders, folders and other stuff.

    The other reason is it's theft. If all the employees are stealing a few things here or there, that adds up really quickly. Office supplies aren't that cheap really. I was co owner of a business in the early 2000's with several other partners, and we had to confront some of them because they were stealing office supplies left and right. I'm talking several reams of paper at a time, expensive laser printer cartridges, etc... It's kind of infuriating when it comes time for employee reviews and we have to withhold raises for people who deserve it because we had to eat the costs of tons of stolen office supplies, and people doing other stuff to scam the business.

    Not to mention, what happens if some of your coworkers come over to visit you, or worse yet one of your bosses, and they see all sorts of stuff from the office at your place? Talk about awkward.
     
  12. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

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    No, I don't. Mainly because where I work, we don't have easy access to the office materials. We have a specific supplies office that deals with all that, and if you want anything; you have to go via them and sign for everything you take from them. It's too much hassle for me to deal with, I'd rather get my own. Unless it's something that's likely to cost a lot more than I'm prepared to pay, then I get one of the office managers to get it for me.
     
  13. explorerx7

    explorerx7Active Member

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    I sometimes do take supplies from the office. There are some items like printer paper, which I don't use in abundance at home, so when the need arises, I will take home a number of number of sheets to do what do the task. The pen may be another item that may find it's way home is the pen, however there are numerous occasions that my personally acquired pen will end up doing office work.
     
  14. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    When I used to work at a public TV station I did take a couple of pens and notepads because at the time I thought it was cool that the stationery items had the logo of the TV station on them. I was 15 years younger, so it seemed like a cool place to work and I wanted souvenirs. Another staff member kept the flower arrangement from the day Christina Aguilera had a hissy fit and locked herself in the TV station's bathroom. It was more about nostalgia than stealing office supplies.
     
  15. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I admit I used to do this but these days I don't need as much office supplies anymore as I just do most things digitally so I don't bother much with it anymore. I only took home a few items like paper clips and pens anyway just because I knew I would use them for small things but nowadays I don't write as much and I just bought myself boxes of small office supply items like paper clips and clamps and they weren't really that expensive so I'd much rather just do that since I know if I start taking too much from my company I'm only hurting myself anyway, not that paper clips are that essential to their success of course but I think this is better practice nonetheless.
     
  16. thenextGeek

    thenextGeekActive Member

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    Sometimes I do this but not intentionally. Whenever I need to write something, I get maybe around 10-15 pieces of bond paper so that I have extra sheets whenever I need them. After writing what I needed to write, I don't return the extra sheets anymore because I'm too lazy so I bring them home with me. Other than sheets, I don't collect other supplies from my workplace.
     
  17. rz3300

    rz3300Active Member

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    I would have to think that the universal answer here is a resounding yes, but I guess I could be wrong. I try to take every single advantage and personal benefit I can from my workplace, and I do not feel bad about it, and so every time that I need something that I can get at work for free I am taking it home. It doesn't stop at paper clips either, if I can get something more significant I am all for it.
     
  18. BrandonScooterman

    BrandonScootermanActive Member

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    Guilty.
    BUT it's not a matter of being cheap it's a matter of being lazy haha.
    I have swiped a pen or two for home use because I don't use them that often and don't want to make a trip to the store for one pen.
    I don't consider it stealing because I don't hide it, I tell my boss that I like the work pens so I take them home. They have our company logo so it's actually free advertisement.
    ONCE asked if I could take some toilet paper home because I knew we were out.
    He laughed and basically said If I wanted to suffer though the cheap work TP at home take as many as I wanted.
    I only took one, he was right that stuff is like very thin sandpaper!
     
  19. Corzhens

    CorzhensWell-Known Member

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    During our elementary grades, our teacher would always tell us that some government employees have the habit of bringing home office supplies like pen and paper. Our teachers instilled in our minds that doing that is considered theft. When I started working, our office have a surplus of office supplies but I never bring home anything. And I was surprised at the end of the year that our secretary was distributing excess supplies like pens, paper, envelopes, etc. as part of the inventory. She said that the cost was already written off so it is okay to partake.
     
  20. GemmaRowlands

    GemmaRowlandsActive Member

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    I don't find that I spend an awful lot of money on things like pens - because we are sent a lot through the post as free gifts with spam mail, and to be honest, these usually last for long enough to mean that I don't ever need to buy another one, which is great. I might have taken a couple of pens from places in the past, but it's never intentional - I just usually forget that I have them, and then end up walking away with them still in my hand.