Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Op Shop Lament

Overheard today ...
"We can give it a clean and put $15 to $20 on that - that's what they go for on the Internet"

Oh rue the day that the op-shop ladies got Web savvy! Seriously though, this was in a little country op shop in a little country town. A squadzillion people use and peruse the Internet - total visitors to the store - well, a whole lot less than that so why not put five bucks on it and someone will snap it up for their kids to play with? sigh  Wanna know what the item was? A phone with a dial - not so very old, the sort kids like to have in their cubby. Maybe when people sign up as volunteers in thrift shops they should sign a pledge to stay away from Ebay. I left without making a purchase. Unheard of but I felt a bit disconsolate. sigh (again - for effect!)

6 comments:

Loo xx from Jumbles and Pompoms said...

Oh Sue, this is one of my favourite moans. In the UK, charity shops are looking more and more like boutiques with ridiculous prices to match. My favourite one has recently had a makeover and now sells brand new things - towels and clothes and the like. Aaargh, makes me very cross. Another charity shop near me has had a vintage mirror (you know the ones, with a chain on the back and bevelled edges) in the window for nearly 2 months now (!) and the price tag is £60!!! On ebay, a similar one was on for £24 plus £10 for pp.

OK, I'll stop going on now, but I did say it was my favourite moan didn't I? Sigh....

kit and nancy. said...

i hear you! what happened to making money for these charities? Exactly my thoughts, why put $20 on something that will sit there for weeks not selling when you could put $5 on it and sell it in 5 minutes. I've had ladies deny me a sale because the item was for display only. I walked out wondering why they choose to lose money (to support the less fortunate) over keeping treats for display and their own enjoyment. ho hum. :(

Numinosity said...

I hear you. Our local "Value Village" in Alaska has the most ridiculous prices almost what you'd pay for new clothes and the jewelry isn't even that great either.
I like it when I find a yard sale where the folks are clueless and they practically give things too you just to rid themselves of it. When I go traveling to other states that's where I usually get the deals.
xoxo Kim

Melissa said...

We have boycoted a local oppie due to their silly pricing.
"Charity" doesn't seem to be in their vocab any more, they seem to have forgotten their reason for being.

Lauren said...

oh man...I thought the country town op shops still had the $2 policy! Happy blogtoberfest!

Anonymous said...

I see this sort of thing every day. Some thrift shop sell at dealers prices! (And the items never sell)

It is Grannygreed and I'm sick of it!