Before we start, you most know by now I love a good op shop.
I've written about my love of scavenging for bargains. It's in my blood. My mum volunteers at our local Vinnies in our small country home town. She's up early every Saturday to get to the garage sales, usually only taking $20 and coming back with a truckload of stuff. It's a blessing and curse to have inherited that love of bargain hunting because excess stuff and clutter is also a source of high anxiety at the moment. But, I digress.
Op shops can certainly deliver the goods. The story of ANU demographer Dr Liz Allen's crazy op shop find - $35 Manolo Blahniks at Vinnies Belconnen - is still making waves.
Just spotted a pair of Manolo Blahniks at Vinnies. $35 if anyone’s interested. pic.twitter.com/xBHpJLmgLZ
— Dr Liz Allen (@DrDemography) January 27, 2021
Not only were the designer shoes a steal - purchased new they would have cost more than $2000 - but they had a special pedigree that any single girl watching the telly in the late 1990s to early 2000s would have recognised.
The royal blue Hangisi crystal-embellished stilettos were the very same style that Carrie Bradshaw wore when she married Mr Big on Sex and the City. Pretty fabulous.
The story of the find went viral and even made it to Vanity Fair Italy. Love the "35 dollari" in the headline.
But the story also got one reader wondering if our op shops are becoming just a little too high-end.
"The charity shops must be reeling from the highly publicised designer shoes that slipped through last week," he posted.
"Rather than take it on the chin as one that got away, they appear to be having a crack at top dollar. This is for a crappy dining set at a local Salvos. Value circa $50."
The "crappy dining set", i.e. table and chairs, he was referring to had been priced at $800 at his local Salvos. Not the local furniture shop, the local charity shop.
"It's interesting that these guys' core retail business is providing affordable items to people who may not have disposable income and now they are chasing the high end retro/antique market," he continued.
Others agreed. One person lamented: "I saw a pair of cowboy boots selling for $250 the other day at Vinnies. I just shook my head in dismay".
We couldn't get onto the Salvos before deadline but we did get on to St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn, who are, let's face it, a pretty terrific outfit helping the underprivileged in our community.
They told us it doesn't help anyone to under-price items in the charity shops that could, realistically, be sold for higher prices.
"The primary function of our Vinnies shops is to raise funds to support the programs and services we run that assist people in need every day. Food assistance is by far the most frequently requested type of assistance, followed by help with utilities," Vinnies said.
"Of course, we do frequently provide goods either free or at very low cost to people in need, including having 'Concession Card Thursday' each week where certain card holders receive 30 per cent off all items in stock.
"We discovered in the past that if we didn't price items according to their worth, the goods were purchased by traders who then sold them at a higher price online.
"So the goods were neither going to people in need, nor being maximised for the benefit of Vinnies fundraising."
That makes sense.
I guess, our reader's argument was that the $800 dining suite just wasn't good enough quality to justify the high price. Market forces will decide, no doubt.
But it's not always so clear cut.
If a Picasso made it's way to Vinnies, we'd want it sold for a motser, not given away.
But, also, don't the poor deserve to own nice ordinary things too, like the dining suite or the cowboy boots?
