The rise and rise of op shops

Are op shops still worth it for charities? Pro Bono News investigates.

“I love your outfit!”

“Thanks, it’s vintage!”

Second-hand shopping is having a resurgence, as savvy shoppers seek out those ever more elusive bargains. Whether driven by cossie-livs concerns or nostalgia for bygone days, vintage clothes are a source of pride now, and people love to show them off.

But where are they getting them from?

‘Op shops’ have long been a source of income for many charities, supplying low-cost goods to those who need them and providing volunteering opportunities for members of the community along the way.

So-called ‘brick and mortar’ stores have made a comeback after pandemic lockdowns as people returned to old shopping habits.

Nevertheless, online shopping is favoured by customers for various reasons including product availability and range, according to research out of Monash University.

And with the rise of online shopping has come the online second-hand behemoths: Ebay, Facebook Marketplace and other outlets like Depop and Poshmark.

In the face of this competition, are physical op shops still worth it for charities? Pro Bono News spoke to several major players to find out.

Op shops still make a contribution

Matt Davis, national director of Salvos Stores, told Pro Bono News that the Salvos Stores network continues to grow year on year.

There are currently around 365 stores nationally, supported by an army of around 10,000 staff and volunteers.

Salvos Stores sit behind the Red Shield Appeal in terms of the proportion of funds they contribute to the Salvation Army’s mission, according to Davis.

“Salvos Stores [are] an incredibly important source of funding for what the Salvation Army does,” he said.

He said even the pandemic didn’t put a dint in the network’s growth — or the number of people who walk into a Salvos store each day.

“I’m really encouraged, I have to say, about how Australians are embracing the… circular economy, because we’re continuing to see all sorts of different walks of life come in and try us out, and obviously lots of customers who’ve been shopping with us for generations,” Davis said.

A Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) spokesperson agreed.

“Since reopening post-lockdowns, our BSL stores have experienced an increase in the amount of sales generated,” the spokesperson said. 

Three new BSL stores have opened in the last six months to a positive reception from their communities, the spokesperson added.

They said BSL stores also serve another purpose in the community, providing “a great sense of camaraderie for not only the communities that we serve but also for our volunteers who so generously donate their time and effort” and allowing staff and volunteers to form close connections.

Why we heart op shopping

Asked what could be driving the interest in op shops, the BSL spokesperson said tough economic conditions are a likely contributing factor.

Over at the Salvos, Davis said the charity had actually completed research into different customer segments and their motivations for shopping at Salvos Stores.

“About 20 per cent of all customers were motivated by sustainability as their primary reason for engaging with our shops,” he said.

A majority also indicated concern about the climate crisis and a desire to take personal responsibility by getting away from fast fashion.

He added that other motivations for shopping at the stores include for value for money, or because they have few other alternatives.

“What’s really shifted in Australia in the last five years is that essentially, sustainable choices have become mainstream,” he said.

But there is another cohort visiting op shops: resellers.

Samantha Arthur, marketing coordinator communication and advocacy at Sacred Heart Mission, said the charity’s stores had seen “a huge surge in second-hand resellers”.

“[We] welcome them to our stores — we learn a lot about what’s trending in the market from resellers and love that particularly Gen Z people are supporting the circular economy and choosing to buy second-hand quality items over fast fashion,” she said.

Online game changers

Arthur said although Sacred Heart Mission’s physical stores are still getting plenty of foot traffic, online competitors like Facebook Marketplace and Depop have “changed the game in terms of donations”, with people choosing to sell their old items rather than donate.

“We support that — it’s part of the circular economy,” she told Pro Bono News.

“But we find older generations still choose to donate to us and of course, people choose our free collection service over selling online because it’s convenient and fast. We often get phone calls from donors saying ‘we’ve listed this item online for ages and we’re sick of being stuffed around by buyers, so we’d rather you just take it off our hands’,” she said.

Arthur said brick and mortar op shops “serve as recycling hubs” and provide opportunities for donors to learn about recycling practices.

In-person shoppers also love to visit and assess items by hand, she said.

“A lot of keen op shoppers enjoy ‘the treasure hunt’ and we find even with our online store, customers still want to touch, feel and try on garments before they buy.”

Sacred Heart Mission is one of the charities that has made the move to online shopping, opening a digital op shop for those who can’t make it in store.

“Our online op shop was created pre-COVID and caters to those who don’t have time to op shop or enjoy ‘the hunt’, and would rather we find the designer and high-end bargains for them. We take the time to describe items and take lots of photos because customers again can be unsure buying second-hand online,” Arthur said.

The BSL spokesperson said “there is no doubt” that online outlets like Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace and Depop “have had an impact” on the second-hand market.

But, they added, the community is still full of those who love the op shop dive, browsing for their next score and touching and feeling items before they buy.

“We find that many in the community still wish to visit their local charity op shop for a variety of reasons,” the spokesperson said.

BSL has also dipped its toes into online shopping with an online bookshop, which houses more than 40,000 near-new books.

The power of online retail

Davis said rather than being a drag on physical sales, online second-hand outlets have “had the opposite effect” on Salvos Stores, leading instead to an increased interest in what the stores can offer.

He said the launch of Gumtree and eBay more than a decade ago had normalised reselling, recycling and donating.

The launch of Facebook Marketplace helped localise the circular economy, highlighting the second-hand prizes on offer within one’s local community.

“And what that did was really educate people that it’s much more convenient to recycle and reuse items than we first thought, and [it] got them taking more positive action,” Davis explained.

“So what’s actually happened in practice is that goods are cycling through the circular economy, the second-hand economy, faster than they used to. So it may be that some items that would have gotten donated to a charity are first perhaps sold on, say, Facebook Marketplace, maybe once, twice, any number of times. And then eventually they make their way into the charitable recycling system and are resold again and again. 

“So everybody has benefited from the growth in the circular economy… but whichever way you measure it, whichever way you look at it, Salvos Stores are as busy today… than we have ever been at any point in the past.”

Salvos Stores began making the move to online retail before the COVID pandemic.

“We could clearly see that there was going to be a time in the future where [an online shop] really needed to be part of what we offer if we were to continue to have our social and environmental impact. We made a conscious decision maybe three years ago to really invest heavily into it,” Davis said.

The online infrastructure was put in place just before the pandemic hit — so when lockdowns forced the closure of the brick and mortar network, the Salvation Army was able to encourage customers to make the switch.

“That was a huge turning point for us both in terms of people shopping with us,” Davis said.

Staff were provided with new opportunities in online merchandising.

Now, Davis said, Salvos Stores online are “a genuine alternative” for shoppers.

“I think that was really the breakthrough for us, and one of the silver linings during the pandemic that we got to really do the change really well with the team,” he added.

Op shops into the future

Davis believes op shops will continue to be a useful fundraising arm for charities.

“The shops, the charitable retailers have a really important role to play because the circular economy is not just about environmental impact, it’s about social impact as well. I’d like to think that we’re really thinking carefully about the choices that we make so that everything that we do in that transition is making a difference to people’s lives. 

“Unfortunately, poverty is a complex problem. And it’s always around us. And we need to continue to adapt to be able to meet that challenge. And I think we’ve got a really great role to play as Australia goes through that, that green transition into the future,” he said.