Thursday 26 January 2012

Things you may not know about charity op shops

Since my computer quite literally exploded (there was a bang and smoke came out of it, I'm going to call that a small explosion) I can't post my own photos on here, as I have no way to upload them to the computer I'm using.
Since I can't show you wonderful pictures of my garden, I thought I'd talk about something else very dear to me- charity op shops.
Op shops are wonderful places for a variety of reasons, and they are staffed primarily with people who are there out of the goodness of their hearts, wonderful volunteers.
This post comes both from my perspective as a customer of these shops, and as someone who has worked as a volunteer in one of these shops.
Most people know they should only donate usable things to their local op shop, as the volunteers do not have time to sit around fixing things.  Unusable things go straight to the tip.
At the store I volunteered at, they were fortunate enough to get a lot of donations every day, and this is where the story starts.
First thing in the morning, when the early volunteers arrive, the items in and piled around the donation bin are sorted.  At the store I volunteered for, things were sorted into the following categories:
  1. Unusable.  These are the things that shouldn't have been donated.  If you have something you would like to donate but think it may be "unusable" maybe fix it up before you donate it, or give it to someone you know and maybe they can use it or fix it.
  2. Disaster Relief.  This category is essentially clothing only.  Clothing that is substantially out of style (but not "costume") or that has small stains on it goes here.  At the time I was working at the store, this box went to Haiti for the earthquake appeal.
  3. Saleable.  This is the category for everything that can be sold in the store.  The very carefully sorted out "good stuff".  If everything that ended up in this category stayed out on display in the shop until it sold, I would not have felt moved to write this post.
 So many times when I was helping out at the shop my heart sank, even though I was doing a wonderful and rewarding thing, and it was always for the same reason: the waste.
The op shop symbolises the opposite of waste, doesn't it?  It's a wonderful treasure trove of new and nearly-new things, nothing wrong with any of them, as the selection process assures, but so many good things, with not a thing wrong with them, end up in the tip, even after making it to the shop.

You see, so many donations make it to some shops every day that there is simply no room for all the saleable items in the store.

This is a very wonderful problem for an op shop to have, and I do strongly believe everyone should donate any good, usable items they have to their local op shop, but there's an important thing the wonderful people who donate to op shops forget to do; they forget to buy from op shops.

Non-clothing items that sit on the shelf in an op shop for more than three weeks or so are discarded.  This is what made my heart ache so.  These items aren't sent to the warehouse to be given to stores with less donations, they aren't donated to other charities or given out to people in desperate need, they are simply taken to the tip.  Cups, plates, glasses, candle holders, vases, nearly new, collector's items and antiques.  It doesn't matter.  They're just dumped.  I saw beautiful things being thrown into boxes to be trucked out to the tip.  I grabbed a few things, but I was living in a tiny room, already very full of someone else's things, so I could really only take what I actually needed, there was no room for want.

I'm writing this today to ask you to buy from charity op shops.  I know there's a lot of reasons why people don't buy from op shops, and I'm going to ramble on a little more and talk about them here.

  • I don't need to buy from op shops But do you need to buy new?  Isn't there enough stuff in the world without making new stuff for the sake of it?  There doesn't need to be shame in buying "pre-loved", as I have well and truly covered, there is nothing wrong with this stuff.  The volunteers make sure of it.  I have been given beautiful gifts from the op shop and most of the time I would never have known if I wasn't told.
  • Op shops are for people that don't have much money Well sure they are, but they're for everyone else, too.  Use the rest of the money you would have spent to treat yourself to something else, or save it up and do something really special for yourself or someone else at the end of a year.
  • Everything in op shops is old and out of date Some of it is, that's true, but certainly not everything.  Some things, such as vases, mugs and glasses are much the same no matter how old they are, so why not visit the op shop for these?  Sometimes, actually very often, you can even get matching sets of two, four or six cups or glasses, just like you might buy from a "regular" store.  I once had a very lucky find that helped my mother piece back together a breakfast set she was given when she got married, thirty-five years ago!  I've also bought some beautiful English ceramics for less than $1 per piece.  While these things are older and have been used before, they're hardly dated.
  • Anything I buy secondhand won't really be mine Do you realise how many dozens of people have touched that shiny new set of glasses you get from the gift shop?  Of course what you bought is yours!
  • New things can be just as cheap Other stores keep their prices low by buying in bulk and often from manufactures that use sweatshop labour.  Where this is the case (it is not always but it is often) you are paying for this practise to continue.  When you buy from the op shop, you are paying to provide food and blankets to the homeless, or crisis counselling for those in need, all the while you are defending the Earth by minimising waste.
So if there's something you don't need, but it is usable please donate it to your local charity op shop; if there is something you do need, please check your local op shops for it before you look in other stores, and if you cannot see what you want on display, ask one of the volunteers.  You will be doing more for your community and the planet than you will ever know.

Signed with love,
Cassandra Louise.

Here is a list of what is generally accepted as donations by:
St Vincent de Paul Stores (Vinnies)
Salvo's Stores
Lifeline Stores
Animal Welfare League (Queensland)
If you are unsure, please ask.

30 comments:

  1. Great post! I routinely drop stuff off & then stay to browse. Some of my favourite stuff has come from opshops. One item I was undecided about cost twice as much as the Chinese imports but has outlasted them by many years. They sure don't make them like they used to! Many things you just don't find anywhere else. I regard the opshops like I used to regard secondhand shops that have vanished, replaced by online auction sites. Nothing quite like being able to touch/ try on stuff.

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  2. What an amazing post. I will be putting this everywhere I can for people to read!
    Miss SAMawdsley xx

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    1. Thank you so much! Your sharing is appreciated. :-D

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  3. Loved reading this! You have convinced me to visit my local opshop more regularly. I had no idea that the turnover on the shelf items was so frequent!

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    1. The turnover time does depend on a lot of factors, such as the location of the store and how many donations they recieve, but every store without exception has to clear the shelves at some point, and it all just goes out.
      I'm glad you found the post helpful. You never know what you will find. I'm planning a follow-up post to this one with some pics of great finds of my own!

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  4. I never think to shop as I wonder if I am taking something a person in greater need might want. I didn't think that the cash from my sale would be useful too

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    1. The money from sales is just as helpful to the community as material donations, sometimes even more, especially for charities that focus on offering counselling services, and need to pay counsellors (as an example).

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  5. There's an op shop near where I live that I adore. I found a complete dinner setting there - six places, and it was complete and in great nick. It's now my 'for good' dinner set. I've found presents there - some lovely vases and salad bowls and other kitchenware. I like knowing I'm not adding to the trash pile, and that my cash is going to a good cause.

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  6. Last thing I want to do is discourage someone to shop in op-shops but as a person on a strict budget who both shops and has volunteered at op shops,I would like to say that alot of op-shops have become over priced for most items they sell particularly furniture and clothes even bulky toys are half the price of a new item.Especially Salvo's now they have been privatised.

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  7. Thanks for this, I certainly feel that more people are shopping at op shops than before.

    I do shop at op shops too, but let me share why I don't more often.

    They are too expensive!

    When I donate my baby clothes I want you to sell them for 50 cents. I recently saw a baby romper in the op shop for $4, I think because it was pumpkin patch they thought they might get some extra dollars for it. You can buy brand new at kmart for $3.

    So now I will bundle up my clothes and sell them on ebay. I am not fussed about not getting much money for them, I want someone to get the bargain I expected in the op shop. If someone gets a package from me for 99 cents, it saves going to landfill, that is my greatest concern.

    I also shop in op shops for 'events' and functions. When I hosted a 1980s dinner party recently I thought it would be great to get a cheapie old dinner set from the op shop, but the prices were so high I couldn't justify it for a one off dinner party. I got a table cloth (in 1980s mission brown and some vases, which was over $30 already) but the rest which was too highly priced for me is probably now in the tip.

    Prices for new things have never been cheaper. Of course op shops are full of bargains, but basic supply and demand economics shows that the prices are too high, if so much is still going to landfill.

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    1. How wonderful of you to share what you can and make sure usable things don't end up in landfil!
      I'm a big fan of online auctions and the like as well. I believe things that can still be used, should be used.
      You are right about the prices at op shops, they do seem to be creeping up, which is unfortunate. I found living on the Gold Coast the op shops were quite expensive, and I found myself going to non-charity secondhand shops. I live in Maryborough now, and it's easier to find a bargain, maybe small town mentality?

      Anything that helps people and the planet (like putting things on ebay nice and cheap) can only be good. :-)

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    2. I agree with ClaireyHewitt, op-shops are pricing themselves too high. I know they need to make money, but I know many people, myself included, who buy new clothes at K-mart because it's cheaper. As far as knick-knacks go, the last thing I need is more dust catchers. Op shops these days seem to exist for rich people searching for vintage items to wear to a special themed party.

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  8. Great piece and I have shared on Facebook. I agree with you on so many things, it's kinder on so many levels to buy preowned where possible.

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  9. My mum works at the Salvos and she said it's not privatised. She also said whatever her shop doesn't sell after a few weeks goes to another Salvos store to be sold and that the Dandenong store just had a all clothing $2.99 sale. Mum loves working for the Salvos and just got me a pair of jeans that would have cost $125 new for $12.99 and they look new. She saved $112. Expensive? No way. From Cody

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    1. Thanks Cody! It really does depend on the charity running the store, the state and many other factors. The bargains at op shops can be fantastic, can't they? I've gotten some great things over the years, some I know were only a tiny fraction of the original price. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. My mum works at the salvos and she said they are not privatised at all. She also said that they don't take salable items to the tip, the items she doesn't sell after a few weeks are packed up and sent to another store, Just because they didn't sell in her store doesn't mean they won't sell in another one. Expensive? I don't think so. Mum got me a pair of jeans that would have cost $125 at just jeans for $12.99 which is a saving of $112. I think that's the biggest bargain ever. She also got my maths book for this year and only paid $8.99 instead of $67.00! I love it, I get more things I ask for because I am happy with pre loved. Thank you from Cody

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  11. When I worked for the Red Cross in Melbourne a few years ago. All of our excess stock or stuff that had been rotated off the floor after three/four weeks was actually sent to a central depot (Including bric-a-brac as well as clothing and accessories). This was then re-sorted to be sent out to other stores. This same depot supplied the Salvo's, St. Vinnies, and some of the other charities as well. We would buy bags and boxes of stock from the depot and were credited for stock that we sent back, which supplemented the donations brought to the door. The regional centres relied more on donations, and depending on the size of the regional store, they would have monthly deliveries from Melbourne. I have had heaps of people complaining to me about the price of clothing in these stores, but they forget these charities have to pay rent, bills as well as trying to raise money to support all of their community programs. I hear complaints about the stores being there to supply cheap clothing to the needy (which is not the purpose of the store), yet most are unwilling to sit down with the charities financial aid departments, who would give them vouchers to spend in store, as well as help get them back on their feet. I find this is the most frustrating criticism. It is because of this mindset that most of these shops have eliminated 'Op-Shop' from the name of the store, as they are are trying to change the public's view of them being at bargin basement prices...they are actually second hand goods stores, and deserve to be able to ask the same prices that privately run second hand good stores ask...because they are putting the profits back into helping the community. I know too many people who use these shops to make a profit by re-selling on ebay, or to second hand dealers...why shouldn't the charities ask a reasonable price for their goods in the first place and be able to put the extra money back into the community?

    Sorry if the end of this sounded a bit like a rant, I didn't mean it to. I just wanted to explain a bit more about the whys and wherefores behind the scenes of the 'Second Hand Goods' stores being run by charities.
    Thank you, Kate

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    1. "Ranty" comments are welcome here, as long as everyone is "nice". Your comment is an excellent edition to this post. :-)

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  12. Living in a small country town, I in-frequently visit the op shops as I am a larger person and not too many very large sizes make their way to the front I find.. I did however find a 'wildchild' dress in a Red Cross store in Melb when visiting once. It cost me $20.00 but I was happy to pay this. New with tags. I would have paid this for a clearance price via an online store and then have added postage price.
    If I want something like hard goods - vases, glasses etc I look there first.. Ramekins was a good item in question.. the older ones are so much nicer than the new ones in Safeway and similar prices. I donate a lot to my local op shops and in return they give me some old blankets and sheets that are unsaleable so I can take to a pet re-homing group for snuggle rugs. Maybe if some other groups approach the op -shops then this could be a viable option for these items.. instead of landfill or rags.
    It really depends on what you want.. and if you buy something 'old' that you like, you can always pretend it has been 'in the family for years' lol

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    1. What a wonderful idea to use the unsaleable sheets and blankets for our animal friends! And so wonderful that you're happy with your finds. I like a nice old ramekin myself.

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  13. Thanks for this post - very informative. I often buy from my op shop, but our small town has an amazing 6 op shops. I often buy books. As a teacher I find children in my class often don't own a book but they have the latest play station games. The books I pick up are often brand new - this amazes me.

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    1. It is truly ammazing what you can find, isn't it? Wonderful places to explore.

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  14. I've given this blog post a shout out today, very insightful http://www.facebook.com/RecycledFashion

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  15. Great post just like everyone else has commented. Firstly my best 'treasure shop' find was my husband. He was transferred to my local store and ... Well he was a bargain hehehe. I love your passion for op shopping and your attitude. If everyone thought of something they 'needed' this week and bought it from an op shop they would be pleasantly surprised wouldn't you say?!? Uh Huh... They would....thus opening the doors of new and endless possibilities. It absolutely pains me when friends boast about their $5 'regular' shop bargains when they could have put their $5 to better use in an op shop and pushed their $$ further to help others rather than blindly support mass produced sweat shop clothing... ARRRGGGGHHHH.... I need a fair trade coffee now... Join me?!

    Xo Steph

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    1. Haha! Any time, Steph!
      What a wonderful way to meet your husband. :-)

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  16. Totally great post.. will share it on my site too. I am a passionate Op Shopper for not only my business but my family and home are full of Op Shop Treasures and CLothing and Books Etc..doing out best to keep it out of landfill :) Soph

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    1. Excellent philosophy! Thanks for sharing! :-D

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  17. I love this post. Really gets you thinking . I have shared this!

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    1. Thank you so much! I really appreciate the share. Glad you liked it. :-)

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