an article from Saturday's newspaper
well, a couple of sentences
.
“Buying from an
opportunity store has become the fastest new way to make money.
Savvy shoppers are
scooping up bargains and reselling them online at such huge mark-ups many have
been able to quit their day jobs.
Some charities running second-hand
stores have cottoned to the practice – embraced largely by Generation Z – and have
begun marking their goods up to compensate.”
There is more to the
story, mostly extolling the virtues of GenZ giving new life to old things and
so on, but I have a different point of view:
1: these young people scoop up the best of the goods, leaving little for older people to choose from.
2: This marking-up of
second-hand goods and clothing is just one of the reasons many older people
surviving on pensions, are no longer able to go clothes shopping even in thrift
stores. In one store local to my area, they are so far “up-market” a single
second-hand t-shirt, of decent wearable quality, can be as much as $10.
Older people now have
to rely on the cheaper chain stores such as K-mart, where cheaply made, poor
quality clothing is abundant and affordable, but rarely lasts more than one
season, being made of thin fabrics that simply don’t live long. Gone are the
days when we could buy a handful of items and wear them for the next ten years.
Good quality basics, in
colours and styles that travel throughout fashion are still available, but only
if you are willing, or able, to pay the price.
Too many can’t.
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I've noticed that the prices in the secondhand stores I frequent has gone up-not too much yet, though. Instead of being $5, most clothing items are $6.50. Brand name new with tags items have always been an exception to that rule.
ReplyDeleteKathy G; my local is so "upmarket" now I don't even donate books there anymore.
DeleteYeah, things are more expensive in thrift shops than they used to be, but the shops I know (both here and in the US) occasionally run sales to clear out the overstock. That's the time to hit them!
ReplyDeleteSteve Reed; sales to clear overstock is something I've never heard about. I think here they usually just donate them to a cheaper thrift store and from there unsold clothing goes to "rag shops" where they are cut up and sold by the bagful as rags for cleaning purposes and get bought by mechanics, artists, painters etc.
DeleteThat's one place I just never think to go to. But my SIL is a regular at our local stores. He says you have to go often to find the good stuff.
ReplyDeleteMike; the good stuff is priced too high for older people on pensions and is usually already snapped up by younger people looking to resell online for more $$$
DeleteThat is truly awful to read. The opportunity shops are NOT there to make money for anyone other than the charity they are attached to. And that story goes some way to explaining the ever climbing prices in ours. Prices that will preclude many of the people they were aimed at using them. Hiss and spit.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; the ever climbing prices are the biggest problem, the second problem is sizing. Anything labelled size 16 for example is lumped together, and maybe some of them are girl 16 and some are womens 16 so finding things that fit are then harder. More so for short people who are also fat, like me. The obvious solution of course is to lose weight, but I do like to eat.
DeleteWe do have one thrift shop here and I have taken things there but never shopped there. They are charity based so I hope they are not ripping people off.
ReplyDeleteArkansas Patti; I have a thrift shop further away from home that I like, but can't go there too often, it's a two bus trip and things in my size are often either sold out (or stretched out from much wearing.) I never donate clothes myself because I wear them so long they are virtual rags by the time I'm done with them.
DeleteIt is a difficult matter. No one is doing anything illegal and why shouldn't people take the opportunity to resell. But as you clearly point out, it disadvantages those really in need. I can't think of an easy or even hard answer.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; true, it isn't illegal, and I'd guess the things they are reselling are the more modern fashions with big name brands, things that wouldn't suit or fit older women like me, but that's really no excuse for the thrift stores to put up their prices. They're not supposed to be making a profit.
DeleteI obviously don't get out at all. How about charity shops like St. Vincent DePaul?
ReplyDeleteJoanne; Vinnie's is one of the biggest offenders here. Very upmarket now and I won't ever go there again.
DeleteIt's a sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteOne charity our church assists has a clothing give-away for the homeless. One lady used to come every time and scout through for things to resell online, and when someone caught on to what she was doing, she was politely told to leave and they won't let her back.
messymimi; a far better solution than we have with the stores allowing it and marking up the prices.
DeleteMore people are reselling their clothes down here too instead of taking them to the charity organizations many need the money themselves. We've just taken heaps of clothes and other items to be sold by the charities.
ReplyDeleteMargaret D; selling your own things is okay in my book, but buying from a thrift store and selling at much higher prices isn't fair in my opinion, though it is legal.
DeletePlease read my post
ReplyDeleteWe'll tie you to your post Rajani!
DeleteYP; should we use barbed wire or electrified?
DeleteI used to get my clothes from charity shops but now I go to landfill sites and wait with other pensioners for the wagons to come in. Then we swarm over what has been dumped. I got myself a nice leather jacket last week! It is always good to keep an eye on deaths in the neighbourhood as bereaved families frequently chuck clothes etc. into wheelie bins or skips (American: dumpsters).
ReplyDeleteYP; clothes rarely make it to landfill here, they get cut up and sold by the bagful to mechanic, painters, cleaners etc
DeleteHere retirees have to collect recycables to get a bit more money. Some go through rubbish bins even.
ReplyDelete"Normal" people go to Primark.
Clothes likely made by children...
Once, when I worked at cgs in the city I got sauce over my jumper and went there as I had no other option. One run in the washing machine and the thing was gone.
When I was 18 (!!!) I bought a shirt at H&M - I still have it! Not for wearing in public, it looks a tad "worn", but it is still OK!!!
We have shops here for people with little money, I think (...) you need a card to buy there.
Others don´t work at all and get it all for free, it´s somewhat crazy here.
I had to pay privately for my health insurance when I lost my job.
Politics are dumb. Or do I say politicians?
Iris; people here go through rubbish bins too and collect what they can sell to the recycle centres, mostly cans and bottles, they come in their cars late at night. During the day I see older men on bicycles with big bags tied on behind, they go to shopping centres and get bottles and cans from the bins, also go to building sites, beaches, anywhere people might toss away cans and bottles.
DeleteWe have an H&M store here in Adelaide now, it looks far too fancy for me.
Politics and politicians are dumb.
Yes, H&M became way too expensive for me, too!
DeleteBack in the day it was good quality for a reasonable price.
Sad how when you worked hard all your life, likely witnessed WWII as kid and end up sorting through rubbish bins.
Just today I went quickly to the store (10+hour working day) and the guy who does not work leaned out of his window, smoking, watching me...
Our thrift stores are all getting "fancy-ed", shelves trimmed and slimmed, not as much stuff around as there used to be; all the funny, old and quirky things not there any more, and the prices rising - not that things get sold, they just sit there, being expensiver, at the shelves. I have tried tellig them that 'it's not gold, you know.' but to no avail. and I've begun buying the things only when marked down for clearance. If the things were cheaper, they would sell more, as people are more apt to buy 3 things at 5 G each than one for 10 G - and they have the stuff donated!
ReplyDeleteLately the most interesting ones have begun going out of business because the nice old ladies are getting too old and too few to sell stuff, and no new, younger ones there to take over. This is sad indeed.
Charlotte; I wonder if our stores may also soon go out of business when nobody buys much from them anymore because they are too expensive now. They must be thinking they are proper "antique" stores. But they are so wrong.
DeleteI haven't been to the used store in town in awhile. I was able though to get a good chair for three bucks. Older chair. Pretty cool. Sorry to read that you can't donate your books anymore. I just gave a few cookery books away a couple weeks ago along with a bunch of cooking/baking stuff. Hubby took it to his job. A car load. Was sooo nice to give it to folks who wanted to use it.
ReplyDeleteThe Happy Whisk; I can still donate books, I choose not to at the now upmarket place, and take them to a better thrift store several suburbs away.
Delete