Woman’s ‘ridiculous’ $850 charity shop find exposes sad trend sweeping Australia
Charity stores have become so expensive, they've alienated the very community they were first created to cater for, experts say.
Australian charity stores have again come under fire for their unaffordable prices after a furious op-shopper spotted a secondhand jacket for a whopping $850. It's prompted industry experts to repeat their pleas for regulation in the sector, which they argue is way overdue.
This week, an outraged Yahoo reader criticised the "ridiculous" price tag of a secondhand Burberry jacket she saw recently at a secondhand store near her home in Brisbane. "Who shopping at an op-shop could ever afford that?" the woman questioned.
And she's not the only one speaking out. Another woman named Sarah, who's based in Cooma, NSW, told Yahoo News Australia that she "noticed the same thing" at her local Salvos store. "I was disgusted to see the price on brand name labels and things like recorders and shoes," she said. "$60 for a second-hand Kathmandu jacket for a child, and coats up to $400.
"They're also charging $2 to $3 for shirts that are $3.50 brand new," she claimed.
The woman said that "a lot of the locals that need to use charity stores" are now going without "because of the price tags". "It's a cost-of-living crisis and they're cashing in on it," she said.
She admitted "many people are struggling" and said charity stores "are making it worse" by increasing their prices — and experts agree.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Dr Andrew Hughes of the Australian National University said op-shops and charity stores, largely run by faith-based organisations, have an "obligation" to keep prices low for consumers, but have chosen not to.
He said particularly due to the fact they're exempt from paying tax — despite now most operating as a fully-fledged business with staff on the payroll — charity stores are failing Australians with their "exorbitant" prices, which are pushing battling communities further and further away.
Hughes argued products listed for hundreds of dollars "might be fair value in a market sense", but he questioned whether it's "ethically fair", especially in terms of the "business operation and who their customer bases are".
Op-shops driving Aussies away with their pricing, expert warns
"In the past these stores were just run by volunteers, and volunteers would just sell things for what they thought was fair value," Hughes told Yahoo. "Whereas now, there's professionals involved in running their operations, that's where the price hikes are coming from.
"In terms of operating costs, because they're not paying any tax, it's pretty good money. They're operating now not as charities but as professional organisations — professional businesses."
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The "whole point" of opportunity stores is to provide "someone out there who might be struggling" with a product "at a better price" than in stores elsewhere, said Hughes.
"By setting those prices, it changes the target market. You suddenly go from being priced to the point where people who are hard-up, maybe low-income — even middle-income earners — they no longer can afford that sort of item," he said.
"And they're asking 'OK, where do I go now? Where do I have to go? Do I have to go back to a low-cost retailer?' From what I hear from a lot of people, it's Temu, big online Chinese brands.
People 'changing their spending habits' as a result of unaffordable charity store pricing
People are changing their habits because they no longer can afford to go to where they once did, even though that organisation says it's a charity to "help those in need."
Not only are there clear ethical questions surrounding ultra-cheap online retailers such as Temu, including the obvious environmental impacts, and the fact that recently hazardous chemicals such as phthalates, lead, chromium, and nickel were detected in Temu and Shein products, it's also driving business off-shore.
Hughes said all of these points combined highlight the need for a regulator to monitor dodgy practices within the retail sector.
He said of particular concern is the fact that major charity stores like Vinnies and The Salvation Army have almost a total market dominance, meaning they can easily "quash competitors".
"So if you think about it as a business model, it's near perfect, because you're getting free stuff given to you by people who think they're doing the right thing in donating to a charity," he said.
"And all you have to do is look after charity bins or oversee donations on weekends. So you're getting zero cost of goods as it is, but yet your profit from selling those items is probably fair value to market prices, which means your profit's massive."
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