After the US election, congresswoman Cori Bush kicked off a conversation on Twitter about the high cost of acquiring a professional work wardrobe for Washington, saying she was heading to a secondhand shop to stock up.
“The reality of being a regular person going to Congress is that it’s really expensive to get the business clothes I need for the Hill. So I’m going thrift shopping tomorrow,” she wrote.
B…
Besides sniffing out local bakeries, on any roadtrip my first stop in a new town is always the antique shop. I map journeys not by renowned wineries, lauded restaurants or boutique spa hotels, but what online reviewers rated as the best purveyors of old wares in an area. The lure is twofold: there just might be a bargain hidden away, and you can learn much about an area by seeing what has been left behind.
Right now we can’t visit the pyramids or Stonehenge, but we can delve into our own history by fossicking in the dusty aisles of a junk shop for artefacts with local provenance. I love going through wooden milk crates of old photos showing the town before footpaths were laid or smiling newlyweds outside the Town Hall. Or reading postcards from someone’s Aunty Betty on the wonders of Dunk Island or picturing tartan and bagpipes from cousin Janet’s visit to Sc…
While retail across Australia takes a battering from COVID-19, op-shopping is booming.
Key points: Queensland op shops reopened doors from May 18 after COVID-19 shutdowns Op shops have reported a boom in trading while other retail sectors have crashed Vinnies anticipates a new wave of clients when job grants endOp shops reopened in Queensland on May 18 to a surge of eager customers, with some charities reporting their largest trading weeks on record.
Sunshine Coast charity Katie Rose Cottage operates four op shops and raise $400,000 net each year to help fund a 24/7 palliative care hospice in Doonan.
Chief execu…
Items dumped outside charities and charity bins cost millions to clean up but research shows that 50 per cent of people who leave items outside charity shops or beside donation bins don’t realise they often end up in the bin.
NSW EPA Executive Director Waste Operations Carmen Dwyer said the accidental dumper problem could be fixed. “Leaving items outside means they can be damaged by vandals or the weather and illegally dumped goods burden charities with the disposal costs,” Ms Dwyer said. New research from the NSW Environment Protection Authority shows that it costs NSW charities $7.3 million a year to clean up items left outside charity shops and donation bins. “These people that think they are doing the right thing by leaving their quality unwanted items outside a store or beside a full charity bin need to know that charities still want those items – they just want them in good condition.” “Let’s put an end to accidental dump…Stay stylish and save money by shopping second hand
By Nicola Dowse and Olivia Gee Secondhand doesn’t have to mean second best. But with more than 100 op shops in Sydney alone, how do you know where to bag the best bargains? Here’s our pick of the best pre-loved shopping Sydney has to offer, whether it be in the fashion department or if you're seeking out a living room's worth of furniture and knick knacks. Photograph: Mitchell Moore 1. Red Cross Op Shop Broadway Shopping Op shops Glebe It can be hard for a new kid on the op shop block to shine, but that definitely isn’t a problem for the new Red Cross joint on Broadway. As with many slick city op shops, colour coded racks of clothes lead the proceedings, with everything from a cute Dotti crop for $7 to a dedicated…You can blame this on online auction sites and smart phone apps that give you an estimated value, usually optimistic, at the click of a button. "But this is what it's going for on eBay," the sellers will tell you.
There are still bargains to be found, just fewer than there used to be. For example, the $4 op shop cup that sold for more than $75,000 at a Sotheby's Australia auction in April 2013. The astute vendor spotted this on the shelf in a Sydney opportunity shop and…A tsunami of unusable donations is overwhelming Australian charity shops. Can a clever social marketing campaign change donor behaviours and solve the problem?
William Holmes DonationsA tsunami of unusable donations is overwhelming Australian charity shops. Can a clever social marketing campaign change donor behaviours and solve the problem?
William Holmes When it comes to charity stores and bins, would you consider yourself a champion donor? Unlike the garden variety donor - who takes items to charity stores that may be of no use to anyone else - the champion donor considers what it is they're donating. They judge whether the item is in appropriate condition, and check all the parts are present and working. While the champion donor is not contributing to the 60,000 tonnes of unusable product that overwhelms many of Australia's 2,500 charity shops each year, the same c…