Lifeline Online is having a 24 hour flash sale. From 3pm Tuesday the 16th of February until 3pm Wednesday the 17th of February 2021 everything on our online store will be 20% off. Use code FLASH2021 on checkout to receive discount. Cannot be used with any other offer or discount. Free delivery when your cart is $50 or over.
On the other side of the coin, people will go through op shops to buy items for resale at much higher prices. At least this way the charity has more funds and can directly provide goods to those in need.
I don't have a massive issue with them taking and reselling quality goods for higher prices. I have a problem with them then taking garbage and trying to sell it for inflated prices. Just cos it's old doesn't make it vintage. They're focusing too much on trying to make money selling to hipsters. But while there are plenty of vintage clothing stores, there aren't enough stores for poor people
I still vividly remember when i took an old armchair set to Salvos, I had managed to sell the matching couch for $10. Nothing really wrong with it, just really retro looking, my grandparents had donated to me when i moved out. The Ssalvos then took the 2x armchairs and tried to sell for $150…needless to say, it a) didn't sell, and b) didn't sit well with me that they're stopping actual poor people from buying
Really gives me the shits
Charity/thrift/op- shops absolutely still cater for people who have fallen on tough times. They price items in-store based on what someone with discretionary funds could/should reasonably pay. The revenue is turned back into the costs of running the shopfronts including rent, insurances, wages (not all staff are volunteers), utilities etc. Surplus funds are sometimes turned into prepaid grocery gift cards, electricity/gas credits etc
But if a customer turns up to the checkout needing an essential household item or some clothing - and they cannot afford to pay any/all of the ticketed price - then they will generally be able to leave the store with the items anyway. No, I'm NOT suggesting they will hand over the stash of Wii/Playstation2/XBox consoles to flip on eBay just because you claim you "need" them cannot pay. Don't confuse kindness with stupidity.
This online shop is an idea of tapping into a completely different market not usually customers of their bricks and mortar outlets. Based on the success of places like https://www.thredup.com it's a way of flipping a small percentage of their stock that might otherwise go to landfill (old CDs/DVDs) or recycling (books, clothes).
Hope this perspective helps.
Anyone remember when opshops used to be designed (and priced) to cater for poor people? Good luck going into a Salvos and buying a cheap piece of furniture anymore. It legit makes me mad, because I didn't donate my things to charity stores so that they can try and market themselves as a vintage store