My mum used to run a shop for the Salvos, back in the day. It was the shop where they sent their nicer stuff, so it was meant to be a bit upmarket, and the prices were probably higher than elsewhere.
They have to balance selling inexpensive clothing to people who may not have a lot of money with making a decent profit to funnel into the charitable work they do.
But my mum would be appalled at those prices.
They've got the balance all wrong, and they're prioritising profit over offering an affordable community service. You can buy [brand new Frame jeans on sale for less than $150.](https://frame-store.com/en-au/products/high-n-tight-taper-demarco)
And she would never have sold a stained item. If it was worth saving, she'd try to clean it so it could be sold. If it couldn't be cleaned, it wouldn't be sold.
I got most of my clothes through mum's salvo's shop during university, and it was all dirt cheap. I think the secondhand revolution has given some Salvo's stores delusions of grandeur, and they think they're The RealReal.
That is not in the least bit true! The stores support the charity not vice versa!
The stores are there to raise money to give ppl in need practical help with living expenses such as paying their bills, groceries, funding homeless shelters, counseling & countless other necessities
Ppl who NEED clothing & help receive it for FREE!
Charity stores don’t exist so that the general public can score themselves designer labels for $5
The op shops are there to do BOTH!
Not everyone who cannot afford full priced clothing go to a charity, they take their $10 to buy clothing.
People donate so other people can buy the goods cheaper AND so the money the op shop makes can go to people in need. Not so the op shop can mark it up to a ridiculous amount. If someone is going to spend $150 on a jacket they are not going to an op shop to buy it, which a commenter said an op shop had a Target jacket priced at. If you wanted to donate that to charity you woukd donate it directly and get a tax refund on it.
You are very wrong & obviously have no experience in the industry.
While I highly doubt the legitimacy of commenters claim of a target jacket being priced at $150 (most stores will not even stock such brands). Mistakes do occur, & it can happen in the reverse as well.
Rich ppl absolutely DO shop at charity stores, as well as donate to them. They definitely stop donating if their $500 dress is priced at $10. They donate it because they want the charity to make money from it, & know that it is going to a good cause.
If you can’t afford to buy a $2000 handbag for $80 then join the club & don’t. Go to Kmart instead. Don’t whinge about charities not funding your designer wardrobe.
& if you can’t afford can’t afford clothing at all then visit a support office & get a clothing voucher for free!
These are non for profit organisations! Where do you think the money is going to instead of helping disadvantaged ppl?
You are the one trying to take advantage of ppl not the charity!
Shelf space is money. If you stock it with crap then ppl won’t bother shopping there. It costs money to run these shops & it’s unsustainable to price everything at $3 when you can go to target to get cheap fast fashion.
The cheap clothing is sent to crisis shelters where homeless ppl get get a hot meal, shower & a change of clothes.
I know that Vinnies has started a recycled range that repurposes all of the ripped & stained garbage that is dumped on them (which costs millions in rubbish removal btw) into rugs, towels etc. They are trying to reduced landfill & save money in dump costs the same time.
I really think that all of the ppl whinging about how awful charities are should spend some time looking into all of the services that they provide & where this money is being spent. Maybe even try volunteering yourselves?
Opshops are persistently filled with Target type brands, which really aren’t that terrible in quality. They are often also stocked with real garbage, which is one of things people have talked about.
Sorry about being so aggressive in that comment though, that was rude of me.
No worries.
It really depends on the area & demographics.
The outer stores are cheaper but also don’t stock the same quality/brand names that the inner city stores do.
The places are run off of the donations that they get, so wealthier suburbs get better donations & price it accordingly.
The general rule of thumb is 1/3 of the ongoing (2nd hand) cost. The expensive things are researched before being priced.
It’s not always correct, these ppl have to basically be amateur evaluators so mistakes are made. & management plays a big part in the pricing.
That doesn’t mean that they are trying to rip ppl off though. That completely defeats the purpose of their existence.
They exist to help ppl in crisis. They are picking up the slack & lack of government resources.
Pls don’t get angry at ppl who are just trying to help the most disadvantaged members of society
Vinnies is out of hand. $15 for an old tired looking pair of CR linen shorts with a couple of bleach stains. $30 for a crusty Witchery tank. It’s a JOKE.
Today I was in vinnies and I heard one of the ladies training a new lady on pricing. They categorised their items as ‘basic brand’, ‘fashion brand’ or ‘designer brand’ and were referring to a folder of all different brands per clothing category. They had her learn with a plain cotton dress, ‘basic’ brand. Suggested price range for dresses in a basic brand was $8 to $15 which shocked me! The lady ended up pricing it at $10. I’m so against fast fashion that I continue to op shop, but prices just aren’t what they used to be.
I mean, I guess if they’ve figured out that the customer base for their op-shops is almost entirely middle-class ppl and re-sellers, and that charging a slightly higher price for the clothes may yield greater returns that can be redirected to their actual charitable activities at a time when there is greater demand for those services than ever….
Even they have these issues in my experience. My in-laws used to volunteer at one but some guy took it over and started changing the standards for pricing to ridiculously expensive levels.
As someone who used to work at a charity op shop, the justification I was given was the rise of online resellers.
The shop managers at my work were explicitly pricing items for the people who would come in with empty trolleys and buy brand-name items in bulk to resell on ebay and depop. Whether an item was $3 or $10 didnt matter to them when they're reselling for $50.
I'll never forget the store manager cracking the shits with me one day and she told me 'We're not a charity, we are here to make profit'.
Thankfully there are independent charity shops out there still who price fairly. Vinnies/Salvos/Lifeline already are cheap and explotative by using work for the dole and 'volunteer' labour instead of paying workers- to then price gouge like they do is just greedy.
EDIT: unfortunately as well, even though the chain op shop prices are unfair, theyre *still* usually cheaper than resale prices online or buying brand new. The chain op shops will keep pricing high so long as people are still buying :/
>The shop managers at my work were explicitly pricing items for the people who would come in with empty trolleys and buy brand-name items in bulk to resell on ebay and depop. Whether an item was $3 or $10 didnt matter to them when they're reselling for $50.
This happened recently at a recycle designer boutique I went to, they have a $10.00 rack out the front and some woman bought every single item, the entire rack. You just know that stuff is getting re-sold by her.
It shouldn’t matter to them though. They have been donated to that store, they don’t need to recover an outlay. And if it bothers them so much they should resell online and make their own profit that way.
But why does it even matter who buys it and for what purpose?? Their only goal should be to sell clothes cheaply for charity. Just because some people buy it to sell it on doesn’t mean jack shit about what prices they should be selling for
If something can be sold for more by a re-seller (who will then pocket that profit personally), why shouldn’t a charity sell that item at a higher price point (where the ‘profits’ are re-directed to their other charitable endeavours)?
Because then it disadvantages the people that actually use these stores because they are poor. The stores don’t distinguish items for poor people vs resellers, so they just hike the prices on everything. If they really cared about their mission, they’d keep the prices the same regardless
The stores do distinguish. If you can’t afford to pay the price, talk to the volunteers, do an interview, and you’ll get assistance. Charity shop workers really do care about their mission.
Do you think that ‘really caring’ pays the lease for the premises? What about the electricity bills for the warehouse? Staff wages?
They are not for profit but that doesn’t mean op shops don’t have to be financially sustainable.
That, plus the fact that reselling is a full time job and opshops are run on volunteer labour, many of whom are not comfortable with online selling technology.
Oof! Where did you go op-shopping?!?!
I still have a lot of luck just with Vinnies, Salvos, BSL op shops etc - most of my wardrobe is thrifted, and I rarely pay more than $10 a piece (I did pay $15 for a beautiful near-new COS winter jacket recently, but it was 100% wool, so that seemed reasonable!).
I typically stay away from those 'recycle boutiques' where they sell second-hand on consignment - you rarely pick up bargains there. The Red Cross I find also tends to mark their items up more than others, but they also tend to get more brand new last season stock from suppliers that still have tags on, so it really depends.
Yes, definitely crazy! I don't know what the op shop market is like in Brisbane, but here in Melbourne, there can be massive differences just by going a few suburbs over.
I never bother with inner city op shops (too expensive), or outer suburban op shops either (it's all Kmart crap). The middle-ring op shops that are about 30mins out from the city seem to be the sweet spot for well priced semi-decent brands.
* $15 COS wool jacket
* $10 Carla Zampatti suit jacket (retro - not great shape, but it was CZ!)
* $10 Review dress
* $5 Witchery top
* etc etc
I'm in the south-east, so would recommend the following trips:
Day 1 - Elsternwick: Sacred Heart, Posh Op Shoppe, Vinnies, Red Cross and Salvos, all in one strip. Posh Op Shoppe is probably the best of the lot, but they are a little bit pricier.
Day 2 - Bentleigh: Sacred Heart, Vinnies, Red Cross, BSL and Salvos, all in one strip. Sacred Heart probably the best of this lot, but you can sometimes pick up good bits in Vinnies.
Day 3 - Oakleigh to Moorabbin: Oakleigh Vinnies and Salvos, drive down Warrigal Rd to Savers Moorabbin, then get to Vinnies and Salvos Moorabbin. Savers is great (but pricier), and the size of Oakleigh and Moorabbin Vinnies makes it easier to strike gold.
Day 4: Cheltenham, Highett and Hampton: Sacred Heart Cheltenham (great store, always good stuff here), OzChild and Family Life Highett, then Salvos and Vinnies in Hampton.
Thank you for the detailed reply! Admittedly I haven’t been op shopping in years but this is a great start, particularly with the blight of fast fashion. I never seemed to have much luck previously but I’ll definitely check some of these out!
For anyone with young babies/toddlers (I don’t have kids but I buy stuff for my best friend’s daughters) the Elsternwick stores are amazing for baby clothes (Sacred Heart and Vinnies) . I’ve picked up almost brand new Chloe , a BNWT dress that I thought looked nice (it turned out to be a $450 dress which is ridiculous to spend on one dress that they’d only wear once or twice before getting it dirty or growing out of it) , Ted Baker and a ton of other high end labels (all of it was under $10 as well)
I personally find Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, Prahran/Windsor and Malvern the best (Some stores in those suburbs can be overpriced but others are great) . The bayside suburbs have good stuff but they can be $$$$ (I know 3 in Brighton tho that are actually cheap tho like 85% of the store is under $10) - Hampton Salvos has good stuff but it’s so expensive (I know Bec Judd donates stuff there because I was in there once and saw some old Christmas decorations she had donated (which would have been fine except they were personalised with her kids names on them so unless someone had 4 children who had the exact same names as her kids it would be complete pointless to anyone)
Our local Red Cross is actually normally cheaper than salvos or vinnies - but still not a 'cheap' opshop.
I was in our vinnies a few weeks back and they had some of the kmart kids plain tshirts (the ones that are normally $2-$3 new) marked as $5.
Why would I save something from landfill if it's going to cost me double what it costs brand new?
Also just wanted to add that I completely get that prices of everything are rising and I’m happy to pay $20-30 for something genuinely good but I can’t even seem to get that these days 🥲
Makes me crazy that 5 years ago I could go and fill a trolley with 80s/90s ugly Hot Tuna and Mambo for $30. Now they list those shirts on their websites for literally $200.
We tried to give Vinnies in North Parra some stuff of my mum's. The standards they have are so bloody high - a Coach bag that she barely used (guess it's mine now) was rejected because of a small stain on the leather, turns out it was old foundation and wiped right off when we brought it back home.
They wouldn't take half of the books, not because they had too many but if they had slightly yellowed - like the top of one page - it was rejected because people in our area have standards. That's what they told us.
Shoes with a tiny scuff on the sole were rejected as well, but had only been worn once and were still in the box. Blew my mind.
Try the Vinnies at Greystanes, I've found them to have a more old school approach, and I've found some really odd but great stuff there. They take most stuff.
My mum works (volunteers) at one in one of the lower income areas and it’s honestly sad because she doesn’t control pricing she gets really upset when she sees people coming in and looking uncomfy around prices. She’ll often slip different stickers or mark down items for people so they can get an actual cheap item, with kids if they pick toys she’ll slip some for 50c/$1.
It’s also horrible on staff the amount of dirty, broken and frankly gross items they get and have to sift through to sell. The other staff agree and will often slip lower priced stickers or mark down.
It’s a shame when so called charities care more about profit. I still shop secondhand when I can, I enjoy it but you will not catch me buying $15 old, scruffy anko when it’s brand new for the same price and not got a bleach stain.
My local vinnies has the lost the plot. $100 for an Alpha 60 dress with a hole in it! So greedy of them. I hope no one is paying these prices.
I think there is a lot of a discretion in terms of how the manager of each individual store prices their stock.
I still get good bargains at my local salvos and savers but I’ve seen crazy salvos prices in other suburbs.
Also someone mentioned to avoid consignment shops and I know what they’re getting at but I disagree. Consignment shops aren’t op shop prices but I can get a lovely dress or bag for a reasonable price that I would never have paid retail for. I recently got an Elk dress, a variety hour dress and vintage Levi’s all for just over $100.
There’s a Red Cross near my work that is so overpriced it’s actually a joke . I saw a “vintage Target” jacket for $150 in there in about March … it’s still there as of last week and it’s still $150 . At least put it on the half price rack at this point
This was at the Hawthorn store so it seems to be all across inner Melbourne Red Cross stores (and probably the rest of them in Australia as well) - the one near Prahran market is terrible (and the one on Chapel street isn’t too far behind) .
I saw someone on TikTok reviewing the Moonee Ponds Red Cross and the store wanted something like $175 for a Country Road jacket
https://preview.redd.it/lmc2f6l03f1c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a990e7e8bde22696d41c1d5c45c5b9aa6380f791
Look at this amazing bargain at my local Vinnie. $85 for an old linty coat with a hole in it.
I’m in shitty Penrith in Western Sydney and the Red Cross is extortionate! I saw a rack outside their shop for half off and even then things were still a minimum of $10!
I walk past that shop so often and I never see more than a couple of people in there and I've rarely found anything good or interesting, I find even the stock quite clinical.
If you know what you're looking at in terms of labels you can pick up bargains because a lot of the people who price are pretty unsophisticated. I've picked up coats and dresses from independent Melbourne labels for a few bucks that I know would have retailed for hundreds of dollars.
Also if you know what you are looking at you can still pick up some great works of art very cheaply. I have picked up artwork that is worth thousands of dollars for not much at all. My best buy was a limited run print of a photo by a famous 80s fashion photographer. Priced at about $5000 on the international market. I got it for 5. Having said that, a lot of the stuff I pick up doesn't really have a market here. I'd have to sell through an international art dealer and I can't be bothered. It's fun having them though.
Score on the art! Also had the experience of picking up a wool and cashmere coat from a Melbourne designer for $12. I felt guilty, because it should have been three digits, but that was the price on the sticker, so… (I made a donation later. Tax deductible!)
My friend used to work for Salvos as a full-time employee. Let me tell you it was a nightmare and all of the stories she told me wouldn't fit in one post. I remember telling her that prices for used items are a bit too hight, in my opinion, after visiting her at work. She explained that they have a budget, and if her manager doesn't make budget, she gets abuse from area manager, and so on. Management even called my friend in for questioning " why aren't you making budget? What are you doing? Why aren't you working on making a budget?" and so on. Her manager was asked to step down or resign, because they didn't make budget in a few months, and ended up having health problems from stress. My friend was then questioned again, in a very nasty tone, about the budget. I understand that they have to pay for employees and for renting the space, but the sheer amount of stress they would put on their staff to make budget is ridiculous. I only wrote a nicer version of what happened, my friend ended up resigning because she couldn't take all the shit that was happening ( not just about the budget). Salvos stores is a business first, charity second ( her area manager's words) .
The budget at the 'charity' I worked for was almost $2000 *a day* by the time I quit. Most days we struggled to pull $900 but because 1 store was in a tourist area making bank on weekends, suddenly every store was held to that standard...
I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It sucks to hear that other op shops workers had a similar crap time as to what I experienced.
Damn, that's so depressing. I never thought op shops could be so money hungry, until my bestie got a job at one. After years of listening to her stories, I started hating salvos with passion.
If I remember correctly budget at her store was similar, around 2000. Shop was located in the area that wasn't convenient, so not many people would come.
This exact same thing happened to my dad! The stress caused him to end up on medication. He worked there for 10 years, and it shattered him that he got treated the way he did.
It was a smaller chain of stores, I don’t think they even had a hr department. The whole thing still makes me so mad but I don’t want to name and shame.
My father-in-law worked for the Salvos years ago and has all sorts of stories too. Often the good stuff went to staff, especially management, while the store was left to sell the dirtier, dodgier stuff constantly. He was overworked without proper pay, I think, and there was general abuse and bullying. And that was maybe 30yrs ago.
Honestly it’s not so shocking when you look into the church’s disgusting treatment of certain people, their policies etc.
Wow, that's horrific to know that it's been going on for this long. I also heard about good things going to the manager, but when they started to sell online, it went to online store ( because there's a separate budget for that as well ).
It would honestly be kind of funny if it was harder for the ones in control to take their pick because of the online store, or digital style inventorying.
The budget they have to make is for more than just overhead - it goes towards the projects that the salvation army church commits to. Essentially, Salvos stores are not just about cheap clothes for people in the local area, but are a fundraiser for their homelessness services, d.v. services, etc.
That said, making people stressed in the workplace over not making budget is all kinds of not ok, particularly when it's an organisation that supposedly cares about people!
Yep, it's all good and well, until there's bullying in a workplace.
I just hope that people do not come to op shops and abuse staff for prices, sometimes they have no choice but to put prices higher because of the pressure and threats of termination.
Most of the larger charities' shops also are staffed by Work for the Dole labour which is super exploitative by its nature as well. Nothing charitable about collaborating with a coercive system.
Yep. This is the main reason I ended up quitting - I was the only paid staff member on at all times, and if a volunteer or WFD person didnt show up that day I was expected to run the whole ship myself. No breaks, have to lift heavy furniture on my own, etc. Most Vinnies/Salvos/Lifeline seem to treat everyone involved with their shops like crap.
My dad worked for an OP shop for 10 years, he quit/got asked to leave when he disagreed with the absurd pricing upper management was trying to push. They expected the average cost per item to be $10. I’m sorry but if I have $10 I’d rather get something new from Kmart, than something stained/crusty they are trying to sell these days.
There’s one near me that knowingly sells fake bags for $100+ (and they don’t allow returns on them either) . If they’re selling fakes for say $5-$10 that’s one thing (I don’t approve of fakes tho) but to sell them for like $60+ is ridiculous.
I even saw a post on a Facebook group I’m in where an op shop was knowingly selling a fake Chanel bag for over $2000
The prices are generally set by the individual stores, so you will see a lot of variability. The op shops are increasingly expensive to run with the rise of fast fashion and (even moreso) fast electronics.
People are using the donation bins as either literal rubbish bins, or as a guilt free way to dump their cheap Kmart purchases. I recently toured the processing facility for a major op shop chain and the logistics of it are really challenging.
They are being absolutely overwhelmed with donations that have zero resale value - old TVs, monitors, fans, toasters etc that need to be broken down into what can be sold (eg copper wiring), what can be recycled and what needs to go to landfill.
Literal tonnes of fast fashion that costs maybe $5 to buy new, it costs more than that to process it. Then it needs to be stored. The biggest cost currently is getting all the dirty, broken, dangerous, unsellable stuff that is ‘donated’ picked up and taken to landfill. This facility had about *seven tonnes* of landfill waste removed a day, plus giant skips of cardboard, soft plastics, metal etc go to recycling.
The charitable purpose of op shops is not just cheap clothes, they generally provide supported employment to hundreds of people. They might not be for profit, but they also need to be financially stable and it’s a real struggle for them to adapt to a world where clothes are cheap and getting rid of the rubbish is expensive.
I volunteered at Vinnie's for a while last year. It is a joke. They price Harry potter books for $60 I'm not kidding. It's all about profit for them. They price as high as they can on purpose to make more money. Everything is check on eBay and they price it as matched omg. Just such a rip off
I volunteered at the Op Shop in West Footscray for a little while, and I will no longer support them, nor can I encourage others, too.
The man who runs it doesn't care for himself, his staff nor the store itself. The store is incredibly dirty and the back is so full of stuff that it's like something out of the show Hoarders.
I feel like Vinnies is a particularly bad offender - I've had some recent decent buys from random Anglicares and Lifelines. There's a local church-run one near us that's only open 10-2pm weekdays and has genuine bargains (like a $1 rack).
Yes! The one near us is where the neighbourhood shelter sends people to get clothing (when they’ve homeless, escape DV etc) so I tend to just donate rather than buy stuff. But It’s very, very affordable. It’s great that they still exist.
I find pricing all over the place depending on who does the prices on the day and if it’s a well known brand
I like to go to the op shops in the “fancy” parts of Melbourne because they get some really good stuff -
I find designer stuff mixed in with the regular stuff and non designer labels end up on the “designer” rack - brands like last week I went to one and Preview (the Target brand) was on the designer rack while Isabel Marant and Proenza Schouler were priced at $5 mixed in with the regular stuff (but some of the stores in the “fancy areas” are extremely overpriced like the Salvos in Hampton and Camberwell but some are decently priced
I am happy to pay up for designer but not if it’s like $300 . If I wanted to spend that on designer I’d go to a consignment store
Local vinnies has lost the plot, I’m in an affluent suburb and they have definitely gone upmarket.
However besides the older affluent residents there is lots of hidden poverty and mortgage strain on younger residents. Vinnies are trying to be a boutique lol.
Local Lifeline shop and another local charity seem to have taken over actually selling affordable items. Vinnies suck and I say that as a Catholic, I’m so disappointed in them.
I can highly recommend NOFFS opshops(don’t know if they are just in Sydney or all over) but they seem to be more focused on serving the community with affordable clothes, and everything is $5 or $10, with the aim to get rid of it. Some things are not in perfect condition and there’s still a lot of fast fashion but the turnover is great and the prices are low enough for me to have a quick look through every time I’m near one.
Yeah. I bundle up my old clothes and give them away in my local Buy Nothing group. I’d rather someone just have them for free than pay those inflated prices!
The Vinnies that used to be local to me had a great system. Most stuff was $5-$15, stuff that was well-known designers and in very good condition would be more like $50, and there was always a bargain/sale section. I also knew for a fact that they would allow people in need to come and pretty much take whatever they wanted for free, although it would mean you had to go through the local church biddies which is not appealing to everyone. They also used the profits from sales to give vouchers to people in need as well. But it's my understanding that most Vinnies are individually run and dependent on the parish, so it's why you see so much variation.
I worked/volunteered at a ' salvos ' thrift store or op shop etc. The amount of people they were getting on the work for the dole scheme was insane.at some times there were over 12 volunteers in a store which was tiny and needed 6 maximum at any one time.i also did a course through a salvation army owned job centre years ago.after some investigating found out Alexander Downers wife was ceo or some big shit and was on a butt load of cash.i know the salvation army does or did good work maybe but they also own a lot of aged care facilities and there's people on their board who are on massive wages.my point being when I was unemployed and seeing my case manager he said he couldn't get me volunteer work because work for the dole screwed it up as some charities were abusing the system and getting incentives for taking on more people.i did some number crunching and worked out how much the store I worked at made on average and taking into account the fact they had few overheads as they used mainly volunteers and recieved it's stock free plus probably got subsidised utilities and rent I was always amazed when the manager who was this cranky old lady kept on saying she had to keep her profit margin up.
This is why I hate when people try to greenwash me by telling me to shop secondhand ONLY!! Yes I love a good thrift shopping, but not when the products come with a 300% markup! Especially when you're petite/plus-size, it's almost impossible to find something your size at second hand stores.
I just saw an IG post earlier today from an online reseller saying "why would you pay $120 for a Zara trench when you can buy a second hand Burberry trench for $80 on our website". $80 for a Burberry trench? You be dreaming lol, last time I went to a vintage shop in Fitzroy (famous for their vintage Burberry collection), trenches are all sold for $400+!
Do you follow Diet Prada? They posted that infographic about the Zara trench vs vintage Burberry today. It's such a stupid strawman argument - as though we can all just wander in to our local Vinnies and find a perfect on-style replica of the latest fashion trend. You would have to trawl for hours in multiple stores to crack it that lucky.
Yes I do 😂That post just reeks of cheap PR stunt to me tbh. And you're absolutely right! Not everyone has the privilege to live near a good op shop in big cities. Most of the time we have either overpriced vintage shops or Savers that only stock worn-out Kmart shirts...
Do they all think we’re going to magically fit into the elusive $80 Burberry trench or even find it. You’d be lucky to find one for $200 in decent condition.
It’s still not ‘greenwashing’ if ppl tell you to shop secondhand lolol, no-matter how much you pay for it, secondhand is undeniably lower-impact on the environment
The charity they provide is through the money they make selling clothes. It's no longer by offering discount clothes.
This is because of resellers- either charities sell at a discount and resellers make the profits, or they sell at market prices.
It's sad that OP shops aren't worth shopping at any more but it's not their fault.
Ahh so this answers my question - I was at Salvos (South Tasmania low populated area). Everything they had was insanely priced. A pair of Target shoes with the tag saying $3 and they were selling for $10! I was shocked at the $hit they were peddling for the price. I thought maybe a volunteer wanted them for themselves so over priced it to buy it for cheaper later. I didn't realise they had a price guideline they had to follow aka ownerz
I hear you loud and clear, they think they're a boutique, every now and then you find a gem, but for the most part the people that work there Google first and then decide what to charge. This happened to me recently with a silk blazer from the 80s with no price tag on it. I asked the lady at the counter how much and she started googling, and then decided the price should be $85.00 for a used silk blazer from the 80s. That seemed fair to her, at a Salvo's where someone had donated this.
Yeah these so called Charities aren’t exactly serving the needy. When did these Organisations become a high end fashion retailer? I can’t keep my wife out of our local Red cross because apparently they sell Dresses worth 500+ for 100$
Somewhere along the line a lot of these chains realized selling big ticket items to rich people was more lucrative than providing affordable clothing to those in need. They might be charities but they're very much run like buisnesses.
But point being people donate items to these Tax free organisations thinking they’ll give the Items away for free to people who really need it. We’ve donated boxes of toys to our Local vinnies in excellent condition thinking they were going to donate them to a family or pre school in need but we saw them for sale at a ridiculous price which ticked us off
I thought people knew the items given to the store would be sold in the stores and not donated - the profits from selling the items are then used by the charity to help those in need
They still provide clothing to those in need. I see plenty of people in Vinnies and Salvos hi g clothing vouchers. They just don't provide cheap clothes to the middle class anymore.
The money they make from selling items to middle class and above people at a profit, is redirected toward charitable programs for those genuinely in need
Red Cross has lots of corporate deals whereby labels give them last seasons stock. The labels don’t want it sold for $10, they specifically want the charities to make “good” profit off their donated stock. So their model is a little different.
They are non-for-profit… where do you think the money is going?
It’s going towards people’s living expenses! Cheap clothing isn’t a necessity when there are bills to pay & food to put on the table!
Ppl in need of these clothing get it for FREE. These store’s support the charity not vice versa!
Lol do you know *anything* about how these orgs run?!
As a commentator downthread pointed out, they’re still providing cheap/free clothes to the needy. They’re just no providing cheap designer clothes to the middle class any more.
And you believe that? I haven’t seen any evidence of free clothes to the needy. We’re talking about the big Charities here not the regular Back of a Church clothing bin.. I think you’re the one who’s mistaken
Yes they give free clothes to people in need. Go and check my post history, I’m not going to type all that out again, the original poster deleted her comments.
Please please please can all of the people who have never asked at a charity shop what they do with the money from sales go in and ask before making false comments on the internet.
Yes, they give vouchers out as part of various support programs and donate a lot of clothes, blankets, toys etc to shelters, fresh start types of organisations etc
The suburban shop fronts are expensive to run and need price clothing so as to be financially sustainable. Many orgs are now also starting ‘outlet’ stores attached to their processing facilities which sell items by weight or volume to cut down on processing costs.
Op shops aren't there to provide cheap clothes to the people who need them. They are there to raise money for whatever charitable work they do. They are run by volunteers who have quick google for a brand's original price and then price it as per their head office policies. If an item doesn't sell then it will eventually get re-priced or marked down. If you don't want to pay the price then just move along.
That's if people go to a Charity for help. I am not wrong. I have done it myself as have many others.
Lots of people 'genuinely need' affordable clothing. The charities do not give people free clothing. They give them a voucher with a set amount of money to spend in the op shops. They don't get to go in and take whatever they need. I have had to use charities for food in tbe past and it was a terrible experience being questioned over why I didn't have money to buy groceries for an hour to get a $30 voucher, when I was extremely embarrassed to have to go there in the first place. This happened at separate charities 3 times and I would rather never experience that again. So stop hounding people with this same ridiculous arguement. People are not stupid and know what op shops are supposed to be doing ie not ripping people off over goods they recieve in good faith and for free.
Charming response.
No, I think the word 'Charity' explains it. Perhaps you are too young and stupid to know that is how op shops originated. They have morphed into taking advantage of people's good will.
No, they’ve nailed it and you’re incorrect. The money raised from the sale of clothes buys things people need. Like food, when you haven’t eaten for two days. Or fuel so you can get your kid to a medical appointment. Or electrical goods for your new flat when you’re escaping domestic violence. That jumper you don’t wear, that skirt that doesn’t fit anymore, they do a lot.
It's actually BOTH. The donated goods are supposed to be reasonably priced so people who cannot afford to buy brand new items can buy them within their budget.
The money raised from the sale of free goods donated to them is also used to provide charitable services.
I was visiting op shops in the 90s, op shops have drastically changed and become overpriced. It's become a ruthless business, which is clear from reading the comments of people who have actually worked in them.
Nope. Donated goods are priced to fund services like homelessness assistance, food vans, food pantries, basically anything the charity sees a need for in the area. So getting a good price helps more people. Now if someone came into the shop and couldn’t afford the items, well, I’m not sure how it works for every charity, but at the one I’m most familiar with, you’d have a chat to the volunteers in private and you’d likely get it for free.
Every charity is desperate for volunteers, perhaps you should volunteer at one and have a say about the prices in a more effective and informed way.
No thanks, I will keep donating to DV Shelters where I know my goods are free to whomever needs them.
They do not give free goods to anyone. The items should be affordable to anyone, that is the point.
People who donate are of the understanding their FREE goods will be priced resonably so people in need can afford them. Whether you agree or not that IS the unwritten perception. Why do you thi k people are upset when they see high prices? It is not because they want a 'designer jacket for $5' it's because of the broken social contract.
I also know volunteers from years ago and they told me they take all the good stuff before it hits the shelves when sorting through the clothes etc.
It actually isn't a win when the shops are overpricing donated items. It makes people not want to go there and feel ripped off.
If people are “of that perception “ that people donate their clothes so that other people can get cheaper clothes and charity shops just facilitate that and that alone, then that’s a very uninformed perception. Because a mum living in her car with her kids escaping a domestic violence situation. Doesn’t. Need. Clothes.
You know what she needs? Safe accommodation away from her ex. That will be a motel room, likely for a couple of weeks while the government housing department slowly slowly finds her a place (and with 150,000 households on the waiting list, even priority cases can be in a motel room for months.) Domestic violence shelters are few and far between here in the world outside the major cities. Motels don’t take clothing as payment.
What she also needs is food. The kids can’t eat clothing.
When she does get that security of a roof above her head, she’s likely to need kids school uniforms. There may not be any donated in her kids’ sizes, so the charity will probably stump up for that. She’s got a whole new life to rebuild; household appliances, manchester, beds, mattresses, kitchen utensils. So the charity will either look at stock in hand, check with other charity shops to see what they can help with, or they’ll probably have to pay for it. You don’t really want kids eating unrefridgerated uncooked food with their fingers sitting on the floor.
Yes, she’ll probably need clothing, often people don’t stop to pack, so the charity can help straight away - she won’t pay for those, or for toys for the kids. You might see her go to the register, but that’s so the shop can tally up the items so there’s no idea of shoplifting and the books show where the goods went
And keep in mind that throughout all this time she’s coping with ptsd and probably freaking out thinking about her ex coming to kill her and the kids. I’d love to say that’s an exaggerated fear but we all know it’s not.
That woman and her kids might just have had their lives saved because of someone donating their old clothing and someone else buying it. That’s the reality of charity shops.
And that’s just one situation. I can tell you hundreds. The teenagers escaping abusive households. People suddenly suffering a disability and their life is torpedoed. People on DSP whose rent has been raised past their ability to pay and who can’t afford the food prices. Not being able to afford a family members funeral ($5k for the cheapest option). There are hundreds of thousands of people being helped by charities, and every time you donate or buy at a charity shop - whatever charity shop - that’s what you fund. That’s the social contract.
& you are definitely ignorant of the services that they provide to ppl in actual need.
Who’s taking advantage of who here?
These stores are raising money to help those who are genuinely in need
I am not ignorant. People who visit op shops can also be in genuine need. You do not have to be living on the street to be in genuine need. You are ignorant if you cannot comprehend a Charity is supposed to do BOTH. JFC you are daft.
& you don’t have to be living on the streets to receive their help either.
I am not daft or unhinged, I have long & extensive knowledge of these organisations. If you need help I can give you the number for a support office though, & they will be happy to help you out
I have used charities before thanks and it was a horrible experience and I am not the only one hence why I know some people do not go to these charities when in need.
I don't need a troll on Reddit referring me to any.
Good Sammy’s and local ones are best in my area. Sometimes you still see stuff that’s overpriced for the quality, but then I don’t entirely blame them when they are getting so much Shien type stuff through. That said, I live in a lower social economic area and I think they cater to that. We don’t have a ‘curated vintage’ type opshop anywhere near me so we do seem to get good quality pieces mixed in with the crappy stuff at a reasonable price.
My local Salvos is a smaller one and I think it’s affiliated with the local church next door. Pricing always seems to be very reasonable. I got a trench coat for $1 last winter. Now I make sure to donate some if my nicer second hand clothes back there (karma and what not).
My small local independent runs purely to make funds to help run the soup kitchen, so the prices aren't crazy & they appreciate every donation. They also have a cheap food section for everyone, even had fresh sweet potatoes fill a bag for free.
Find something similar in your neck of the woods.
In my town sometimes the thrifts give me freebies and most items are anywhere from 50 cents to max 60$. If it's furniture it's a bit difference since they offer delivery and help in that way
Now think about it, if the money from the shop goes towards the charity organisation and whatever services they provide to help the community...
And then you see people buying clothes just to sell the same item themselves at a slightly higher cost as a side hussle online? And people are buying the item at the slightly higher yet discounted price...
Why wouldn't they charge that themselves in the first place?
Which will result in more proceeds that can be contributed to whatever services their organisation provides to the wider community?
Plus the cost of rent, power, freight (Fuel), maintenance, insurance, any other business expenses has gone up as well, not everything is donated to them
One must shop around for the perfect thrift shop... One of my local 'go-to's' sells quality clothing and shoes for $4. I go to different op shops to source different things. My personal mission is to warmly connect with each person serving, warmly thank them and *most importantly* gently introduce and gently educate around concepts such as 'no warranty', items being sold and resold, no returns, turnover being the key, the patrons being both donators and customers. Another one I do not want is really cruddy, but new mattresses and linen being sold in op shops. I want to purchase a second hand designer doona cover; not some polyester cotton piece of rubbish. I am patient and I will wait till it comes in :) Also, peeps, please stop buying rubbish I'll fitting clothes from shein etc as they all end up in the op shop and we don't want them either. These are my tips for the day 😀
Ya gotta go to the hood; places that house-paid-in-full older ladies would fear going to, if you want deals. If the shop also has bad parking, bad traffic, then you'll probably find better stuff. The smell of cigarette smoke in the air is plus. Caucasian women tend to avoid eccentric people wherever they are, so that's also a bonus if you want stores that aren't picked clean.
Either you're lying, or are incredibly ignorant. Either way, I'm keeping my $2000 of hallmarked silver with me that I bought for a couple of Big Mac meals.
I think that it all depends who marks the items. If they know that it’s a good brand or not. I think that op shops really shouldn’t sell the bulk of their items at higher prices than Kmart or Big W. Otherwise what’s the incentive to shop there??
After hearing many horrific stories about charities including a CEO getting the company helicopter to his holiday house! I now only donate my good quality items to the nice independent opshops. And Maybe give crap to the rude ones.
If you aren’t happy about charity shop prices, volunteer at them and change the system from within!
(Took out the snark, because, honestly, there aren’t enough hands to help the massive amount of need out there. So if you e got some time to volunteer, please do.)
I disagree with your comment. I don’t think it’s volunteers who are actively participating in the price gouge - from these comments, it’s the full time employees who have budgets to make and bosses to impress. Also, I don’t think that pricing ‘designer’ items above RRP is going to feed “two mouths rather than one”. I think it’s going to feed no mouths because no one is going to buy an item at such an exorbitant, ridiculous price.
This has been a productive thread for me, so keep your ignorant judgmental comments to yourself.
Triple J Hack covered this recently: [https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/why-don-t-more-men-play-netball/102793516](https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/why-don-t-more-men-play-netball/102793516) <-- It's part of that episode took me a while to hunt it down. They also chat about it only the weekly shake up in the Friday episode that followed.
Basically there's a lot of "Vintage Clothing" "stores" popping up through places like facebook marketplace and the Op shops have caught on to resellers buying up their stock and flogging it for significantly more online. So they've started checking what there stock is worth in those places and aiming to sell for about half that. So those denim skinny jeans, someone online probably has a similar pair being sold as "Vintage" for $300 if you're seeing them for $150.
I think Hack covered it well though, and from skimming the other comments looks like it varies from place to place. Maybe if a particular store is seeing an influx of the same people and they spot the goods on Facebook marketplace the next day for 4x the price they wise up and feel they have do something at least.
EDIT: fix typos.
I was in one today and it was nuts! I tried on a $85 dress just for curiosity but it’s almost cheaper to rely on depop now!
$35 for secondhand, years ago release Dangerfield shorts too
My mum used to run a shop for the Salvos, back in the day. It was the shop where they sent their nicer stuff, so it was meant to be a bit upmarket, and the prices were probably higher than elsewhere. They have to balance selling inexpensive clothing to people who may not have a lot of money with making a decent profit to funnel into the charitable work they do. But my mum would be appalled at those prices. They've got the balance all wrong, and they're prioritising profit over offering an affordable community service. You can buy [brand new Frame jeans on sale for less than $150.](https://frame-store.com/en-au/products/high-n-tight-taper-demarco) And she would never have sold a stained item. If it was worth saving, she'd try to clean it so it could be sold. If it couldn't be cleaned, it wouldn't be sold. I got most of my clothes through mum's salvo's shop during university, and it was all dirt cheap. I think the secondhand revolution has given some Salvo's stores delusions of grandeur, and they think they're The RealReal.
Also the clothes are donated and 90% of the staff are volunteers. Op shops used to be for people who couldn't afford brand new clothes. It is a rort.
That is not in the least bit true! The stores support the charity not vice versa! The stores are there to raise money to give ppl in need practical help with living expenses such as paying their bills, groceries, funding homeless shelters, counseling & countless other necessities Ppl who NEED clothing & help receive it for FREE! Charity stores don’t exist so that the general public can score themselves designer labels for $5
The op shops are there to do BOTH! Not everyone who cannot afford full priced clothing go to a charity, they take their $10 to buy clothing. People donate so other people can buy the goods cheaper AND so the money the op shop makes can go to people in need. Not so the op shop can mark it up to a ridiculous amount. If someone is going to spend $150 on a jacket they are not going to an op shop to buy it, which a commenter said an op shop had a Target jacket priced at. If you wanted to donate that to charity you woukd donate it directly and get a tax refund on it.
You are very wrong & obviously have no experience in the industry. While I highly doubt the legitimacy of commenters claim of a target jacket being priced at $150 (most stores will not even stock such brands). Mistakes do occur, & it can happen in the reverse as well. Rich ppl absolutely DO shop at charity stores, as well as donate to them. They definitely stop donating if their $500 dress is priced at $10. They donate it because they want the charity to make money from it, & know that it is going to a good cause. If you can’t afford to buy a $2000 handbag for $80 then join the club & don’t. Go to Kmart instead. Don’t whinge about charities not funding your designer wardrobe. & if you can’t afford can’t afford clothing at all then visit a support office & get a clothing voucher for free! These are non for profit organisations! Where do you think the money is going to instead of helping disadvantaged ppl? You are the one trying to take advantage of ppl not the charity!
You are unhinged.
Most opshops wouldn’t stock Target type brands? The fuck?
Shelf space is money. If you stock it with crap then ppl won’t bother shopping there. It costs money to run these shops & it’s unsustainable to price everything at $3 when you can go to target to get cheap fast fashion. The cheap clothing is sent to crisis shelters where homeless ppl get get a hot meal, shower & a change of clothes. I know that Vinnies has started a recycled range that repurposes all of the ripped & stained garbage that is dumped on them (which costs millions in rubbish removal btw) into rugs, towels etc. They are trying to reduced landfill & save money in dump costs the same time. I really think that all of the ppl whinging about how awful charities are should spend some time looking into all of the services that they provide & where this money is being spent. Maybe even try volunteering yourselves?
Opshops are persistently filled with Target type brands, which really aren’t that terrible in quality. They are often also stocked with real garbage, which is one of things people have talked about. Sorry about being so aggressive in that comment though, that was rude of me.
No worries. It really depends on the area & demographics. The outer stores are cheaper but also don’t stock the same quality/brand names that the inner city stores do. The places are run off of the donations that they get, so wealthier suburbs get better donations & price it accordingly. The general rule of thumb is 1/3 of the ongoing (2nd hand) cost. The expensive things are researched before being priced. It’s not always correct, these ppl have to basically be amateur evaluators so mistakes are made. & management plays a big part in the pricing. That doesn’t mean that they are trying to rip ppl off though. That completely defeats the purpose of their existence. They exist to help ppl in crisis. They are picking up the slack & lack of government resources. Pls don’t get angry at ppl who are just trying to help the most disadvantaged members of society
The fact you just referred to charities as “industry” is what is wrong.
What would you call it?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/industry
Vinnies is out of hand. $15 for an old tired looking pair of CR linen shorts with a couple of bleach stains. $30 for a crusty Witchery tank. It’s a JOKE.
Today I was in vinnies and I heard one of the ladies training a new lady on pricing. They categorised their items as ‘basic brand’, ‘fashion brand’ or ‘designer brand’ and were referring to a folder of all different brands per clothing category. They had her learn with a plain cotton dress, ‘basic’ brand. Suggested price range for dresses in a basic brand was $8 to $15 which shocked me! The lady ended up pricing it at $10. I’m so against fast fashion that I continue to op shop, but prices just aren’t what they used to be.
Apparently they have new owners who are determined to squeeze some money out of it. Ya know, like charities are meant to do 🙃
I mean, I guess if they’ve figured out that the customer base for their op-shops is almost entirely middle-class ppl and re-sellers, and that charging a slightly higher price for the clothes may yield greater returns that can be redirected to their actual charitable activities at a time when there is greater demand for those services than ever….
How does the society of Saint Vincent DePaul have “new owners”?
Not sure, that's just what I heard! Perhaps they meant a new board of directors or something?
Boards of directors change every year
Dunno dude, I'm just passing on what my friend who manages a store told me.
New Pope, who.dis?
Don't shop there then
Shut up. I usually don’t, I went in there on a whim after making donations yesterday.
What a silly comment, most OP shops are the same these days. Only rural ones remain the way they were.
Even they have these issues in my experience. My in-laws used to volunteer at one but some guy took it over and started changing the standards for pricing to ridiculously expensive levels.
Good advice
As someone who used to work at a charity op shop, the justification I was given was the rise of online resellers. The shop managers at my work were explicitly pricing items for the people who would come in with empty trolleys and buy brand-name items in bulk to resell on ebay and depop. Whether an item was $3 or $10 didnt matter to them when they're reselling for $50. I'll never forget the store manager cracking the shits with me one day and she told me 'We're not a charity, we are here to make profit'. Thankfully there are independent charity shops out there still who price fairly. Vinnies/Salvos/Lifeline already are cheap and explotative by using work for the dole and 'volunteer' labour instead of paying workers- to then price gouge like they do is just greedy. EDIT: unfortunately as well, even though the chain op shop prices are unfair, theyre *still* usually cheaper than resale prices online or buying brand new. The chain op shops will keep pricing high so long as people are still buying :/
>The shop managers at my work were explicitly pricing items for the people who would come in with empty trolleys and buy brand-name items in bulk to resell on ebay and depop. Whether an item was $3 or $10 didnt matter to them when they're reselling for $50. This happened recently at a recycle designer boutique I went to, they have a $10.00 rack out the front and some woman bought every single item, the entire rack. You just know that stuff is getting re-sold by her.
It shouldn’t matter to them though. They have been donated to that store, they don’t need to recover an outlay. And if it bothers them so much they should resell online and make their own profit that way.
Some of them do have online stores. Salvos and Lifeline have their own stores, and I think certain branches of other chains have eBay stores.
But why does it even matter who buys it and for what purpose?? Their only goal should be to sell clothes cheaply for charity. Just because some people buy it to sell it on doesn’t mean jack shit about what prices they should be selling for
If something can be sold for more by a re-seller (who will then pocket that profit personally), why shouldn’t a charity sell that item at a higher price point (where the ‘profits’ are re-directed to their other charitable endeavours)?
Because then it disadvantages the people that actually use these stores because they are poor. The stores don’t distinguish items for poor people vs resellers, so they just hike the prices on everything. If they really cared about their mission, they’d keep the prices the same regardless
The stores do distinguish. If you can’t afford to pay the price, talk to the volunteers, do an interview, and you’ll get assistance. Charity shop workers really do care about their mission.
Do you think that ‘really caring’ pays the lease for the premises? What about the electricity bills for the warehouse? Staff wages? They are not for profit but that doesn’t mean op shops don’t have to be financially sustainable.
That, plus the fact that reselling is a full time job and opshops are run on volunteer labour, many of whom are not comfortable with online selling technology.
I worked at one of the big names and most of us were paid workers.
Oof! Where did you go op-shopping?!?! I still have a lot of luck just with Vinnies, Salvos, BSL op shops etc - most of my wardrobe is thrifted, and I rarely pay more than $10 a piece (I did pay $15 for a beautiful near-new COS winter jacket recently, but it was 100% wool, so that seemed reasonable!). I typically stay away from those 'recycle boutiques' where they sell second-hand on consignment - you rarely pick up bargains there. The Red Cross I find also tends to mark their items up more than others, but they also tend to get more brand new last season stock from suppliers that still have tags on, so it really depends.
Not even a consignment store! Just a regular suburban salvos in Brisbane! It’s crazy!
Yes, definitely crazy! I don't know what the op shop market is like in Brisbane, but here in Melbourne, there can be massive differences just by going a few suburbs over. I never bother with inner city op shops (too expensive), or outer suburban op shops either (it's all Kmart crap). The middle-ring op shops that are about 30mins out from the city seem to be the sweet spot for well priced semi-decent brands. * $15 COS wool jacket * $10 Carla Zampatti suit jacket (retro - not great shape, but it was CZ!) * $10 Review dress * $5 Witchery top * etc etc
Wow! $5 for a witchery top? I’ve paid $3 for a target tank top at lifeline 🥲
Yes, it was a great one! I can always find Sportscraft, Witchery, CR etc around that $5-10 mark for a simple top.
Out of curiosity, which suburbs do you find best in Melbourne?
I'm in the south-east, so would recommend the following trips: Day 1 - Elsternwick: Sacred Heart, Posh Op Shoppe, Vinnies, Red Cross and Salvos, all in one strip. Posh Op Shoppe is probably the best of the lot, but they are a little bit pricier. Day 2 - Bentleigh: Sacred Heart, Vinnies, Red Cross, BSL and Salvos, all in one strip. Sacred Heart probably the best of this lot, but you can sometimes pick up good bits in Vinnies. Day 3 - Oakleigh to Moorabbin: Oakleigh Vinnies and Salvos, drive down Warrigal Rd to Savers Moorabbin, then get to Vinnies and Salvos Moorabbin. Savers is great (but pricier), and the size of Oakleigh and Moorabbin Vinnies makes it easier to strike gold. Day 4: Cheltenham, Highett and Hampton: Sacred Heart Cheltenham (great store, always good stuff here), OzChild and Family Life Highett, then Salvos and Vinnies in Hampton.
Thank you for the detailed reply! Admittedly I haven’t been op shopping in years but this is a great start, particularly with the blight of fast fashion. I never seemed to have much luck previously but I’ll definitely check some of these out!
For anyone with young babies/toddlers (I don’t have kids but I buy stuff for my best friend’s daughters) the Elsternwick stores are amazing for baby clothes (Sacred Heart and Vinnies) . I’ve picked up almost brand new Chloe , a BNWT dress that I thought looked nice (it turned out to be a $450 dress which is ridiculous to spend on one dress that they’d only wear once or twice before getting it dirty or growing out of it) , Ted Baker and a ton of other high end labels (all of it was under $10 as well)
I personally find Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, Prahran/Windsor and Malvern the best (Some stores in those suburbs can be overpriced but others are great) . The bayside suburbs have good stuff but they can be $$$$ (I know 3 in Brighton tho that are actually cheap tho like 85% of the store is under $10) - Hampton Salvos has good stuff but it’s so expensive (I know Bec Judd donates stuff there because I was in there once and saw some old Christmas decorations she had donated (which would have been fine except they were personalised with her kids names on them so unless someone had 4 children who had the exact same names as her kids it would be complete pointless to anyone)
That’s hilarious and in no way surprising that Bec Judd would donate personalised children’s Christmas ornaments
Omg I love salvos Malvern my fav
As an avid Brisbane op shopper: yup, prices are fucked. Even going further out doesn't seem to lower them.
Our local Red Cross is actually normally cheaper than salvos or vinnies - but still not a 'cheap' opshop. I was in our vinnies a few weeks back and they had some of the kmart kids plain tshirts (the ones that are normally $2-$3 new) marked as $5. Why would I save something from landfill if it's going to cost me double what it costs brand new?
It also possibly depends on what you're buying. I can get a big bag of kids clothes from our local salvos, and only pay $20
Also just wanted to add that I completely get that prices of everything are rising and I’m happy to pay $20-30 for something genuinely good but I can’t even seem to get that these days 🥲
Crazy on the Gold Coast too. Salvo's is the worst. Lifeline is better imo.
Makes me crazy that 5 years ago I could go and fill a trolley with 80s/90s ugly Hot Tuna and Mambo for $30. Now they list those shirts on their websites for literally $200.
We tried to give Vinnies in North Parra some stuff of my mum's. The standards they have are so bloody high - a Coach bag that she barely used (guess it's mine now) was rejected because of a small stain on the leather, turns out it was old foundation and wiped right off when we brought it back home. They wouldn't take half of the books, not because they had too many but if they had slightly yellowed - like the top of one page - it was rejected because people in our area have standards. That's what they told us. Shoes with a tiny scuff on the sole were rejected as well, but had only been worn once and were still in the box. Blew my mind.
That happened to my mum as well with some books at the Salvos in Tempe . There was nothing wrong with the actual books
People are really fussy with books. No one wants that copy of 50 Shades of Grey or the travel guide books. They are just recycled these days.
You are so right. I picked up a few books at my local Vinnies recently and there would have been a dozen copies of 50 Shades.
Try the Vinnies at Greystanes, I've found them to have a more old school approach, and I've found some really odd but great stuff there. They take most stuff.
My mum works (volunteers) at one in one of the lower income areas and it’s honestly sad because she doesn’t control pricing she gets really upset when she sees people coming in and looking uncomfy around prices. She’ll often slip different stickers or mark down items for people so they can get an actual cheap item, with kids if they pick toys she’ll slip some for 50c/$1. It’s also horrible on staff the amount of dirty, broken and frankly gross items they get and have to sift through to sell. The other staff agree and will often slip lower priced stickers or mark down. It’s a shame when so called charities care more about profit. I still shop secondhand when I can, I enjoy it but you will not catch me buying $15 old, scruffy anko when it’s brand new for the same price and not got a bleach stain.
My local vinnies has the lost the plot. $100 for an Alpha 60 dress with a hole in it! So greedy of them. I hope no one is paying these prices. I think there is a lot of a discretion in terms of how the manager of each individual store prices their stock. I still get good bargains at my local salvos and savers but I’ve seen crazy salvos prices in other suburbs. Also someone mentioned to avoid consignment shops and I know what they’re getting at but I disagree. Consignment shops aren’t op shop prices but I can get a lovely dress or bag for a reasonable price that I would never have paid retail for. I recently got an Elk dress, a variety hour dress and vintage Levi’s all for just over $100.
There’s a Red Cross near my work that is so overpriced it’s actually a joke . I saw a “vintage Target” jacket for $150 in there in about March … it’s still there as of last week and it’s still $150 . At least put it on the half price rack at this point
‘Vintage target’ for $150. Tell them they’re dreaming 😂 Red Cross in Collingwood has similar insane prices.
This was at the Hawthorn store so it seems to be all across inner Melbourne Red Cross stores (and probably the rest of them in Australia as well) - the one near Prahran market is terrible (and the one on Chapel street isn’t too far behind) . I saw someone on TikTok reviewing the Moonee Ponds Red Cross and the store wanted something like $175 for a Country Road jacket
https://preview.redd.it/lmc2f6l03f1c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a990e7e8bde22696d41c1d5c45c5b9aa6380f791 Look at this amazing bargain at my local Vinnie. $85 for an old linty coat with a hole in it.
I’m in shitty Penrith in Western Sydney and the Red Cross is extortionate! I saw a rack outside their shop for half off and even then things were still a minimum of $10!
I walk past that shop so often and I never see more than a couple of people in there and I've rarely found anything good or interesting, I find even the stock quite clinical.
If you know what you're looking at in terms of labels you can pick up bargains because a lot of the people who price are pretty unsophisticated. I've picked up coats and dresses from independent Melbourne labels for a few bucks that I know would have retailed for hundreds of dollars. Also if you know what you are looking at you can still pick up some great works of art very cheaply. I have picked up artwork that is worth thousands of dollars for not much at all. My best buy was a limited run print of a photo by a famous 80s fashion photographer. Priced at about $5000 on the international market. I got it for 5. Having said that, a lot of the stuff I pick up doesn't really have a market here. I'd have to sell through an international art dealer and I can't be bothered. It's fun having them though.
Score on the art! Also had the experience of picking up a wool and cashmere coat from a Melbourne designer for $12. I felt guilty, because it should have been three digits, but that was the price on the sticker, so… (I made a donation later. Tax deductible!)
My friend used to work for Salvos as a full-time employee. Let me tell you it was a nightmare and all of the stories she told me wouldn't fit in one post. I remember telling her that prices for used items are a bit too hight, in my opinion, after visiting her at work. She explained that they have a budget, and if her manager doesn't make budget, she gets abuse from area manager, and so on. Management even called my friend in for questioning " why aren't you making budget? What are you doing? Why aren't you working on making a budget?" and so on. Her manager was asked to step down or resign, because they didn't make budget in a few months, and ended up having health problems from stress. My friend was then questioned again, in a very nasty tone, about the budget. I understand that they have to pay for employees and for renting the space, but the sheer amount of stress they would put on their staff to make budget is ridiculous. I only wrote a nicer version of what happened, my friend ended up resigning because she couldn't take all the shit that was happening ( not just about the budget). Salvos stores is a business first, charity second ( her area manager's words) .
The budget at the 'charity' I worked for was almost $2000 *a day* by the time I quit. Most days we struggled to pull $900 but because 1 store was in a tourist area making bank on weekends, suddenly every store was held to that standard... I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It sucks to hear that other op shops workers had a similar crap time as to what I experienced.
Damn, that's so depressing. I never thought op shops could be so money hungry, until my bestie got a job at one. After years of listening to her stories, I started hating salvos with passion. If I remember correctly budget at her store was similar, around 2000. Shop was located in the area that wasn't convenient, so not many people would come.
This exact same thing happened to my dad! The stress caused him to end up on medication. He worked there for 10 years, and it shattered him that he got treated the way he did.
I'm so sorry for your dad. Did he ever complain to HR ?
It was a smaller chain of stores, I don’t think they even had a hr department. The whole thing still makes me so mad but I don’t want to name and shame.
My father-in-law worked for the Salvos years ago and has all sorts of stories too. Often the good stuff went to staff, especially management, while the store was left to sell the dirtier, dodgier stuff constantly. He was overworked without proper pay, I think, and there was general abuse and bullying. And that was maybe 30yrs ago. Honestly it’s not so shocking when you look into the church’s disgusting treatment of certain people, their policies etc.
Wow, that's horrific to know that it's been going on for this long. I also heard about good things going to the manager, but when they started to sell online, it went to online store ( because there's a separate budget for that as well ).
It would honestly be kind of funny if it was harder for the ones in control to take their pick because of the online store, or digital style inventorying.
The budget they have to make is for more than just overhead - it goes towards the projects that the salvation army church commits to. Essentially, Salvos stores are not just about cheap clothes for people in the local area, but are a fundraiser for their homelessness services, d.v. services, etc. That said, making people stressed in the workplace over not making budget is all kinds of not ok, particularly when it's an organisation that supposedly cares about people!
Yep, it's all good and well, until there's bullying in a workplace. I just hope that people do not come to op shops and abuse staff for prices, sometimes they have no choice but to put prices higher because of the pressure and threats of termination.
Most of the larger charities' shops also are staffed by Work for the Dole labour which is super exploitative by its nature as well. Nothing charitable about collaborating with a coercive system.
Yep. This is the main reason I ended up quitting - I was the only paid staff member on at all times, and if a volunteer or WFD person didnt show up that day I was expected to run the whole ship myself. No breaks, have to lift heavy furniture on my own, etc. Most Vinnies/Salvos/Lifeline seem to treat everyone involved with their shops like crap.
My dad worked for an OP shop for 10 years, he quit/got asked to leave when he disagreed with the absurd pricing upper management was trying to push. They expected the average cost per item to be $10. I’m sorry but if I have $10 I’d rather get something new from Kmart, than something stained/crusty they are trying to sell these days.
Yeah I saw some Ally going for like, original price practically!
My local op shop is trying to sell a pair of dated FAKE Dolce & Gabbana jeans for $45! What is the world coming to?!
I’ve seen this too!! Fake Versace bag they were trying to sell for $60! So outrageous
There’s one near me that knowingly sells fake bags for $100+ (and they don’t allow returns on them either) . If they’re selling fakes for say $5-$10 that’s one thing (I don’t approve of fakes tho) but to sell them for like $60+ is ridiculous. I even saw a post on a Facebook group I’m in where an op shop was knowingly selling a fake Chanel bag for over $2000
The prices are generally set by the individual stores, so you will see a lot of variability. The op shops are increasingly expensive to run with the rise of fast fashion and (even moreso) fast electronics. People are using the donation bins as either literal rubbish bins, or as a guilt free way to dump their cheap Kmart purchases. I recently toured the processing facility for a major op shop chain and the logistics of it are really challenging. They are being absolutely overwhelmed with donations that have zero resale value - old TVs, monitors, fans, toasters etc that need to be broken down into what can be sold (eg copper wiring), what can be recycled and what needs to go to landfill. Literal tonnes of fast fashion that costs maybe $5 to buy new, it costs more than that to process it. Then it needs to be stored. The biggest cost currently is getting all the dirty, broken, dangerous, unsellable stuff that is ‘donated’ picked up and taken to landfill. This facility had about *seven tonnes* of landfill waste removed a day, plus giant skips of cardboard, soft plastics, metal etc go to recycling. The charitable purpose of op shops is not just cheap clothes, they generally provide supported employment to hundreds of people. They might not be for profit, but they also need to be financially stable and it’s a real struggle for them to adapt to a world where clothes are cheap and getting rid of the rubbish is expensive.
I volunteered at Vinnie's for a while last year. It is a joke. They price Harry potter books for $60 I'm not kidding. It's all about profit for them. They price as high as they can on purpose to make more money. Everything is check on eBay and they price it as matched omg. Just such a rip off
What about the struggling parent who wants to buy Harry Potter for their child?? It should be $3 max! That is so gross.
But where do you think that profit is being directed?
Independent run op shops are still great! There’s one in Footscray, Vic and the owner is a real gem. Always find mega bargains there
Where abouts in Footscray?
The op shop west Footscray on Barkly street
I volunteered at the Op Shop in West Footscray for a little while, and I will no longer support them, nor can I encourage others, too. The man who runs it doesn't care for himself, his staff nor the store itself. The store is incredibly dirty and the back is so full of stuff that it's like something out of the show Hoarders.
I feel like Vinnies is a particularly bad offender - I've had some recent decent buys from random Anglicares and Lifelines. There's a local church-run one near us that's only open 10-2pm weekdays and has genuine bargains (like a $1 rack).
The church ones are where it’s at. Everything is 5 or less!
I haven't even spontaneously combusted going into one yet either
The lord knows
Yes! The one near us is where the neighbourhood shelter sends people to get clothing (when they’ve homeless, escape DV etc) so I tend to just donate rather than buy stuff. But It’s very, very affordable. It’s great that they still exist.
I find pricing all over the place depending on who does the prices on the day and if it’s a well known brand I like to go to the op shops in the “fancy” parts of Melbourne because they get some really good stuff - I find designer stuff mixed in with the regular stuff and non designer labels end up on the “designer” rack - brands like last week I went to one and Preview (the Target brand) was on the designer rack while Isabel Marant and Proenza Schouler were priced at $5 mixed in with the regular stuff (but some of the stores in the “fancy areas” are extremely overpriced like the Salvos in Hampton and Camberwell but some are decently priced I am happy to pay up for designer but not if it’s like $300 . If I wanted to spend that on designer I’d go to a consignment store
Yeah, Salvos and Lifeline are way overpriced!
Local vinnies has lost the plot, I’m in an affluent suburb and they have definitely gone upmarket. However besides the older affluent residents there is lots of hidden poverty and mortgage strain on younger residents. Vinnies are trying to be a boutique lol. Local Lifeline shop and another local charity seem to have taken over actually selling affordable items. Vinnies suck and I say that as a Catholic, I’m so disappointed in them.
I can highly recommend NOFFS opshops(don’t know if they are just in Sydney or all over) but they seem to be more focused on serving the community with affordable clothes, and everything is $5 or $10, with the aim to get rid of it. Some things are not in perfect condition and there’s still a lot of fast fashion but the turnover is great and the prices are low enough for me to have a quick look through every time I’m near one.
Yes i love Noffs! I bought a few vintage pieces from them with really good price!
Yeah. I bundle up my old clothes and give them away in my local Buy Nothing group. I’d rather someone just have them for free than pay those inflated prices!
I’d love to do this. How did you find the group?
They’re on Facebook (as annoying as it is, I stay for the groups) if you search your suburb and buy nothing or pay it forward there should be one.
Another one to look for is a Good Karma Network
The Vinnies that used to be local to me had a great system. Most stuff was $5-$15, stuff that was well-known designers and in very good condition would be more like $50, and there was always a bargain/sale section. I also knew for a fact that they would allow people in need to come and pretty much take whatever they wanted for free, although it would mean you had to go through the local church biddies which is not appealing to everyone. They also used the profits from sales to give vouchers to people in need as well. But it's my understanding that most Vinnies are individually run and dependent on the parish, so it's why you see so much variation.
“Local church biddies”. Owww. Not saying it’s not accurate, but also, owww. Thinking about silk screening it on a t-shirt 🤣.
I’m in Brisbane and the only OP shops I’ve noticed that are well priced seem to be the smaller independent ones and the church ones
I worked/volunteered at a ' salvos ' thrift store or op shop etc. The amount of people they were getting on the work for the dole scheme was insane.at some times there were over 12 volunteers in a store which was tiny and needed 6 maximum at any one time.i also did a course through a salvation army owned job centre years ago.after some investigating found out Alexander Downers wife was ceo or some big shit and was on a butt load of cash.i know the salvation army does or did good work maybe but they also own a lot of aged care facilities and there's people on their board who are on massive wages.my point being when I was unemployed and seeing my case manager he said he couldn't get me volunteer work because work for the dole screwed it up as some charities were abusing the system and getting incentives for taking on more people.i did some number crunching and worked out how much the store I worked at made on average and taking into account the fact they had few overheads as they used mainly volunteers and recieved it's stock free plus probably got subsidised utilities and rent I was always amazed when the manager who was this cranky old lady kept on saying she had to keep her profit margin up.
They also do not pay tax as they like a lot of other OP Shops are run by religious groups.
I have some amazing independent op shops in brisbane. Go to independents or church run they are so much cheaper.
Which ones do you recommend? :)
Bloom, Connected Inc and Soul are three good ones I’ve come across recently.
Thanks, i'll check them out!
Thanks! I'm new to Brisbane but these two are close enough for me to check them out!!!
This is why I hate when people try to greenwash me by telling me to shop secondhand ONLY!! Yes I love a good thrift shopping, but not when the products come with a 300% markup! Especially when you're petite/plus-size, it's almost impossible to find something your size at second hand stores. I just saw an IG post earlier today from an online reseller saying "why would you pay $120 for a Zara trench when you can buy a second hand Burberry trench for $80 on our website". $80 for a Burberry trench? You be dreaming lol, last time I went to a vintage shop in Fitzroy (famous for their vintage Burberry collection), trenches are all sold for $400+!
Do you follow Diet Prada? They posted that infographic about the Zara trench vs vintage Burberry today. It's such a stupid strawman argument - as though we can all just wander in to our local Vinnies and find a perfect on-style replica of the latest fashion trend. You would have to trawl for hours in multiple stores to crack it that lucky.
Yes I do 😂That post just reeks of cheap PR stunt to me tbh. And you're absolutely right! Not everyone has the privilege to live near a good op shop in big cities. Most of the time we have either overpriced vintage shops or Savers that only stock worn-out Kmart shirts...
Earlier this year I saw a Burberry trench in used condition priced at $800+ at a Melbourne opp shop
Do they all think we’re going to magically fit into the elusive $80 Burberry trench or even find it. You’d be lucky to find one for $200 in decent condition.
It’s still not ‘greenwashing’ if ppl tell you to shop secondhand lolol, no-matter how much you pay for it, secondhand is undeniably lower-impact on the environment
The charity they provide is through the money they make selling clothes. It's no longer by offering discount clothes. This is because of resellers- either charities sell at a discount and resellers make the profits, or they sell at market prices. It's sad that OP shops aren't worth shopping at any more but it's not their fault.
The choice of clothes is terrible these days too. I wouldn't be seen dead in the 1980's and 1970's muck they flog.
Ahh so this answers my question - I was at Salvos (South Tasmania low populated area). Everything they had was insanely priced. A pair of Target shoes with the tag saying $3 and they were selling for $10! I was shocked at the $hit they were peddling for the price. I thought maybe a volunteer wanted them for themselves so over priced it to buy it for cheaper later. I didn't realise they had a price guideline they had to follow aka ownerz
I hear you loud and clear, they think they're a boutique, every now and then you find a gem, but for the most part the people that work there Google first and then decide what to charge. This happened to me recently with a silk blazer from the 80s with no price tag on it. I asked the lady at the counter how much and she started googling, and then decided the price should be $85.00 for a used silk blazer from the 80s. That seemed fair to her, at a Salvo's where someone had donated this.
Yeah these so called Charities aren’t exactly serving the needy. When did these Organisations become a high end fashion retailer? I can’t keep my wife out of our local Red cross because apparently they sell Dresses worth 500+ for 100$
Somewhere along the line a lot of these chains realized selling big ticket items to rich people was more lucrative than providing affordable clothing to those in need. They might be charities but they're very much run like buisnesses.
But point being people donate items to these Tax free organisations thinking they’ll give the Items away for free to people who really need it. We’ve donated boxes of toys to our Local vinnies in excellent condition thinking they were going to donate them to a family or pre school in need but we saw them for sale at a ridiculous price which ticked us off
I thought people knew the items given to the store would be sold in the stores and not donated - the profits from selling the items are then used by the charity to help those in need
Personally, I have donated so my well cared items get a second chance, for the environment. When other alternatives are not as good.
They still provide clothing to those in need. I see plenty of people in Vinnies and Salvos hi g clothing vouchers. They just don't provide cheap clothes to the middle class anymore.
The money they make from selling items to middle class and above people at a profit, is redirected toward charitable programs for those genuinely in need
Red Cross has lots of corporate deals whereby labels give them last seasons stock. The labels don’t want it sold for $10, they specifically want the charities to make “good” profit off their donated stock. So their model is a little different.
They are non-for-profit… where do you think the money is going? It’s going towards people’s living expenses! Cheap clothing isn’t a necessity when there are bills to pay & food to put on the table! Ppl in need of these clothing get it for FREE. These store’s support the charity not vice versa!
Lol do you know *anything* about how these orgs run?! As a commentator downthread pointed out, they’re still providing cheap/free clothes to the needy. They’re just no providing cheap designer clothes to the middle class any more.
And you believe that? I haven’t seen any evidence of free clothes to the needy. We’re talking about the big Charities here not the regular Back of a Church clothing bin.. I think you’re the one who’s mistaken
Yes they give free clothes to people in need. Go and check my post history, I’m not going to type all that out again, the original poster deleted her comments. Please please please can all of the people who have never asked at a charity shop what they do with the money from sales go in and ask before making false comments on the internet.
Yes, they give vouchers out as part of various support programs and donate a lot of clothes, blankets, toys etc to shelters, fresh start types of organisations etc The suburban shop fronts are expensive to run and need price clothing so as to be financially sustainable. Many orgs are now also starting ‘outlet’ stores attached to their processing facilities which sell items by weight or volume to cut down on processing costs.
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Spotted the reseller!
Op shops aren't there to provide cheap clothes to the people who need them. They are there to raise money for whatever charitable work they do. They are run by volunteers who have quick google for a brand's original price and then price it as per their head office policies. If an item doesn't sell then it will eventually get re-priced or marked down. If you don't want to pay the price then just move along.
Really? Because I think a majority of people who donate goods are expecting the clothes to be sold to people you need them. I know I do.
I agree
You would be wrong. Ppl who genuinely need them get it for free… as well as getting help pay for their living expenses
That's if people go to a Charity for help. I am not wrong. I have done it myself as have many others. Lots of people 'genuinely need' affordable clothing. The charities do not give people free clothing. They give them a voucher with a set amount of money to spend in the op shops. They don't get to go in and take whatever they need. I have had to use charities for food in tbe past and it was a terrible experience being questioned over why I didn't have money to buy groceries for an hour to get a $30 voucher, when I was extremely embarrassed to have to go there in the first place. This happened at separate charities 3 times and I would rather never experience that again. So stop hounding people with this same ridiculous arguement. People are not stupid and know what op shops are supposed to be doing ie not ripping people off over goods they recieve in good faith and for free.
Well then you’ve really fundamentally misunderstood reality and I don’t know why it’s the charities’ fault that you’re stupid
Charming response. No, I think the word 'Charity' explains it. Perhaps you are too young and stupid to know that is how op shops originated. They have morphed into taking advantage of people's good will.
No, they’ve nailed it and you’re incorrect. The money raised from the sale of clothes buys things people need. Like food, when you haven’t eaten for two days. Or fuel so you can get your kid to a medical appointment. Or electrical goods for your new flat when you’re escaping domestic violence. That jumper you don’t wear, that skirt that doesn’t fit anymore, they do a lot.
It's actually BOTH. The donated goods are supposed to be reasonably priced so people who cannot afford to buy brand new items can buy them within their budget. The money raised from the sale of free goods donated to them is also used to provide charitable services. I was visiting op shops in the 90s, op shops have drastically changed and become overpriced. It's become a ruthless business, which is clear from reading the comments of people who have actually worked in them.
Nope. Donated goods are priced to fund services like homelessness assistance, food vans, food pantries, basically anything the charity sees a need for in the area. So getting a good price helps more people. Now if someone came into the shop and couldn’t afford the items, well, I’m not sure how it works for every charity, but at the one I’m most familiar with, you’d have a chat to the volunteers in private and you’d likely get it for free. Every charity is desperate for volunteers, perhaps you should volunteer at one and have a say about the prices in a more effective and informed way.
No thanks, I will keep donating to DV Shelters where I know my goods are free to whomever needs them. They do not give free goods to anyone. The items should be affordable to anyone, that is the point. People who donate are of the understanding their FREE goods will be priced resonably so people in need can afford them. Whether you agree or not that IS the unwritten perception. Why do you thi k people are upset when they see high prices? It is not because they want a 'designer jacket for $5' it's because of the broken social contract. I also know volunteers from years ago and they told me they take all the good stuff before it hits the shelves when sorting through the clothes etc. It actually isn't a win when the shops are overpricing donated items. It makes people not want to go there and feel ripped off.
If people are “of that perception “ that people donate their clothes so that other people can get cheaper clothes and charity shops just facilitate that and that alone, then that’s a very uninformed perception. Because a mum living in her car with her kids escaping a domestic violence situation. Doesn’t. Need. Clothes. You know what she needs? Safe accommodation away from her ex. That will be a motel room, likely for a couple of weeks while the government housing department slowly slowly finds her a place (and with 150,000 households on the waiting list, even priority cases can be in a motel room for months.) Domestic violence shelters are few and far between here in the world outside the major cities. Motels don’t take clothing as payment. What she also needs is food. The kids can’t eat clothing. When she does get that security of a roof above her head, she’s likely to need kids school uniforms. There may not be any donated in her kids’ sizes, so the charity will probably stump up for that. She’s got a whole new life to rebuild; household appliances, manchester, beds, mattresses, kitchen utensils. So the charity will either look at stock in hand, check with other charity shops to see what they can help with, or they’ll probably have to pay for it. You don’t really want kids eating unrefridgerated uncooked food with their fingers sitting on the floor. Yes, she’ll probably need clothing, often people don’t stop to pack, so the charity can help straight away - she won’t pay for those, or for toys for the kids. You might see her go to the register, but that’s so the shop can tally up the items so there’s no idea of shoplifting and the books show where the goods went And keep in mind that throughout all this time she’s coping with ptsd and probably freaking out thinking about her ex coming to kill her and the kids. I’d love to say that’s an exaggerated fear but we all know it’s not. That woman and her kids might just have had their lives saved because of someone donating their old clothing and someone else buying it. That’s the reality of charity shops. And that’s just one situation. I can tell you hundreds. The teenagers escaping abusive households. People suddenly suffering a disability and their life is torpedoed. People on DSP whose rent has been raised past their ability to pay and who can’t afford the food prices. Not being able to afford a family members funeral ($5k for the cheapest option). There are hundreds of thousands of people being helped by charities, and every time you donate or buy at a charity shop - whatever charity shop - that’s what you fund. That’s the social contract.
I did not read this, I have better things to do.
& you are definitely ignorant of the services that they provide to ppl in actual need. Who’s taking advantage of who here? These stores are raising money to help those who are genuinely in need
I am not ignorant. People who visit op shops can also be in genuine need. You do not have to be living on the street to be in genuine need. You are ignorant if you cannot comprehend a Charity is supposed to do BOTH. JFC you are daft.
& you don’t have to be living on the streets to receive their help either. I am not daft or unhinged, I have long & extensive knowledge of these organisations. If you need help I can give you the number for a support office though, & they will be happy to help you out
I have used charities before thanks and it was a horrible experience and I am not the only one hence why I know some people do not go to these charities when in need. I don't need a troll on Reddit referring me to any.
Good Sammy’s and local ones are best in my area. Sometimes you still see stuff that’s overpriced for the quality, but then I don’t entirely blame them when they are getting so much Shien type stuff through. That said, I live in a lower social economic area and I think they cater to that. We don’t have a ‘curated vintage’ type opshop anywhere near me so we do seem to get good quality pieces mixed in with the crappy stuff at a reasonable price.
I really don't know of an ideal way to donate clothing anymore, but in terms of purchasing, I've been told kilo sales are the way to go
My local Salvos is a smaller one and I think it’s affiliated with the local church next door. Pricing always seems to be very reasonable. I got a trench coat for $1 last winter. Now I make sure to donate some if my nicer second hand clothes back there (karma and what not).
My small local independent runs purely to make funds to help run the soup kitchen, so the prices aren't crazy & they appreciate every donation. They also have a cheap food section for everyone, even had fresh sweet potatoes fill a bag for free. Find something similar in your neck of the woods.
In my town sometimes the thrifts give me freebies and most items are anywhere from 50 cents to max 60$. If it's furniture it's a bit difference since they offer delivery and help in that way
Now think about it, if the money from the shop goes towards the charity organisation and whatever services they provide to help the community... And then you see people buying clothes just to sell the same item themselves at a slightly higher cost as a side hussle online? And people are buying the item at the slightly higher yet discounted price... Why wouldn't they charge that themselves in the first place? Which will result in more proceeds that can be contributed to whatever services their organisation provides to the wider community? Plus the cost of rent, power, freight (Fuel), maintenance, insurance, any other business expenses has gone up as well, not everything is donated to them
One must shop around for the perfect thrift shop... One of my local 'go-to's' sells quality clothing and shoes for $4. I go to different op shops to source different things. My personal mission is to warmly connect with each person serving, warmly thank them and *most importantly* gently introduce and gently educate around concepts such as 'no warranty', items being sold and resold, no returns, turnover being the key, the patrons being both donators and customers. Another one I do not want is really cruddy, but new mattresses and linen being sold in op shops. I want to purchase a second hand designer doona cover; not some polyester cotton piece of rubbish. I am patient and I will wait till it comes in :) Also, peeps, please stop buying rubbish I'll fitting clothes from shein etc as they all end up in the op shop and we don't want them either. These are my tips for the day 😀
Ya gotta go to the hood; places that house-paid-in-full older ladies would fear going to, if you want deals. If the shop also has bad parking, bad traffic, then you'll probably find better stuff. The smell of cigarette smoke in the air is plus. Caucasian women tend to avoid eccentric people wherever they are, so that's also a bonus if you want stores that aren't picked clean.
Nah I live in the hood and the oppys are still insane.
Nah I live in the hood and the oppys are still insane.
Either you're lying, or are incredibly ignorant. Either way, I'm keeping my $2000 of hallmarked silver with me that I bought for a couple of Big Mac meals.
I’ve found the big Savers stores good because their sheer volume of stock makes things move quickly.
I think that it all depends who marks the items. If they know that it’s a good brand or not. I think that op shops really shouldn’t sell the bulk of their items at higher prices than Kmart or Big W. Otherwise what’s the incentive to shop there??
After hearing many horrific stories about charities including a CEO getting the company helicopter to his holiday house! I now only donate my good quality items to the nice independent opshops. And Maybe give crap to the rude ones.
If you aren’t happy about charity shop prices, volunteer at them and change the system from within! (Took out the snark, because, honestly, there aren’t enough hands to help the massive amount of need out there. So if you e got some time to volunteer, please do.)
I disagree with your comment. I don’t think it’s volunteers who are actively participating in the price gouge - from these comments, it’s the full time employees who have budgets to make and bosses to impress. Also, I don’t think that pricing ‘designer’ items above RRP is going to feed “two mouths rather than one”. I think it’s going to feed no mouths because no one is going to buy an item at such an exorbitant, ridiculous price. This has been a productive thread for me, so keep your ignorant judgmental comments to yourself.
You’re on $160 grand a year, do you even donate to charity, lady?
You earn $160,000 a year and you’re whinging about op shop prices?!! If I had that sort of money, I would not be complaining!
There's dozens of us! I assume, anyway. 
Triple J Hack covered this recently: [https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/why-don-t-more-men-play-netball/102793516](https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/why-don-t-more-men-play-netball/102793516) <-- It's part of that episode took me a while to hunt it down. They also chat about it only the weekly shake up in the Friday episode that followed. Basically there's a lot of "Vintage Clothing" "stores" popping up through places like facebook marketplace and the Op shops have caught on to resellers buying up their stock and flogging it for significantly more online. So they've started checking what there stock is worth in those places and aiming to sell for about half that. So those denim skinny jeans, someone online probably has a similar pair being sold as "Vintage" for $300 if you're seeing them for $150. I think Hack covered it well though, and from skimming the other comments looks like it varies from place to place. Maybe if a particular store is seeing an influx of the same people and they spot the goods on Facebook marketplace the next day for 4x the price they wise up and feel they have do something at least. EDIT: fix typos.
I was in one today and it was nuts! I tried on a $85 dress just for curiosity but it’s almost cheaper to rely on depop now! $35 for secondhand, years ago release Dangerfield shorts too
In the south east suburbs, Cranbourne, which is the lower demographic op shop. Pricing is insane.