Op Shop Blues?

 Yes—this is an important issue that’s quietly but steadily hurting the very people op shops (thrift stores) were originally meant to help: the needy, the struggling, and the frugal. Let's break this down to open up a meaningful discussion:

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The Up-Pricing of Op Shops: A Crisis of Mission Drift

What’s Happening?

In many parts of Australia (and elsewhere), people are noticing a disturbing trend:
Op shops—traditionally havens for the poor, pensioners, students, and those trying to get by—are raising their prices to near-retail levels.
What was once a $2 shirt is now $12–15.
A secondhand couch is priced at $300+.
Even visibly worn or damaged goods are no longer “cheap.”

Why Is This a Problem?

1. Mission Drift
   Most op shops (Vinnies, Salvos, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, etc.) were founded with charitable missions—to serve the underprivileged, not to run like boutique businesses.
   Up-pricing contradicts that purpose. It excludes the very people they were supposed to help.

2. Donated for Free, Sold for Profit
   The goods were donated by the public, for free, with the understanding that they would go to help people—not generate maximum profit.
   When pricing becomes greedy, this breaks trust in the community and the donor base.

3. Hurting the Poor During a Cost of Living Crisis
   When people can’t afford rent, fuel, or groceries, op shops become essential.
   Instead of relief, many are now shocked by prices that rival or exceed what they can find new at fast fashion stores like Kmart or online.

4. Selective Filtering and EBay Reselling
   A growing number of op shops now sort and skim off "valuable" items for online sale or auctions, leaving only the lower-quality goods in-store—yet still at inflated prices.

5. Volunteer Labour, Corporate Salaries
   Many op shops are staffed by unpaid volunteers, but the parent charities have CEOs drawing six-figure salaries.
   This adds to the perception that the pricing structure is being gamed from the top.

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What Are the Excuses Given?

Op shops often justify up-pricing with claims like:

• “We need to fund our programs.”
  Yes, but your primary program was to make secondhand goods accessible. If you're now behaving like a profit-maximizing retailer, you’ve become a different entity.

• “We have rising overheads and rent.”
  Perhaps true, but the question remains: Should the burden fall on the poor? Shouldn’t you then adjust your operations—not punish the most vulnerable?

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Possible Solutions

• Two-Tier Pricing Model:
  One system for people who qualify (low-income earners, pensioners, concession card holders) and another for everyone else.
  Think of it as a means-tested relief service, like a food bank.

• Pricing Transparency:
  Clear signs explaining pricing policies, with an appeals process for people in hardship.

• Dedicated 'Relief Zones':
  Special racks or bins with ultra-affordable basics—$1 to $5 clothing, $10 furniture—especially for urgent needs.

• Community Oversight Boards:
  Local volunteers and donors should have a say in how pricing is set.

• Public Pressure & Boycotts:
  People can and should start calling out this trend. Letters, petitions, social media pressure—highlight the hypocrisy and hold these organisations accountable.

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Bottom Line

Op shops are not luxury vintage stores. They were born out of charity and solidarity, not greed or trendiness.
When they forget that, they betray the people they exist to serve.

You're raising exactly the right questions—and ones that strike at the heart of a growing, unethical contradiction in Australian charity retail. Let's address them one by one:

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1. Are Church-Run Op Shops Tax-Free?

Yes. Most op shops operated by religious organisations (e.g., Salvos = Salvation Army, Vinnies = St Vincent de Paul Society) are part of registered charities and enjoy full tax exemptions, including:

• GST-free status on certain goods and services

• Income tax exemption

• Deductible gift recipient (DGR) status for fundraising

• Fringe benefits tax concessions for employees

• No capital gains tax on property sales used for charitable purposes

They also do not pay company tax—because they are registered not-for-profits.

So when they claim that rent and overheads are pushing up prices, we must ask:

Why are you charging the poor, when your organisation enjoys massive financial relief that regular businesses don’t?

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2. If Churches Are Funded by Donations, Why Can’t They Cover Basic Costs?

That's the core contradiction. Churches and their charities often do have large endowments, properties, and ongoing donations. In fact, they:

• Often own their shopfronts outright

• Employ volunteer labour

• Get free inventory from the public

• Get government grants

• Use forced unpaid labour from the unemployed (Work for the Dole)

So if op shops still can’t run without charging $20 for a used shirt, either their money is being mismanaged, or they are intentionally commercialising their model under a false charitable pretext.

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3. Why Do They Have CEOs on Six-Figure Salaries?

Large "charities" have become quasi-corporations. They now operate with:

• CEOs

• Boards

• PR departments

• Strategy arms

• Revenue growth targets

• Online sales divisions (eBay, depop, etc.)

Many of these CEOs in big charities earn $200,000–$400,000+ per year, and sometimes more (figures from ACNC and public reports).
For example, as of last reporting:

• Salvation Army (Australia): Executive salaries for senior positions exceed $250K.

• St Vincent de Paul: Executives receive high salaries, though harder to track due to state-by-state structures.

This is completely out of sync with the original mission of service to the poor. It's mission drift, plain and simple—“charity” becoming “business.”

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4. Work for the Dole: Modern-Day Exploitation?

Yes—many op shops benefit from Work for the Dole, which is part of Australia's mutual obligation system under JobSeeker. Here’s how it works:

• Unemployed people are forced to “volunteer” for up to 25 hours/week to keep their payments.

• They receive no extra pay for this work.

• Job agencies get paid per placement and often don’t care about the outcome.

• The op shops get free labour, often treating it as disposable.

• The skills gained are rarely transferable, and job agencies discourage putting this on a resume, as you said.

So:

• The unemployed are being exploited.

• The job agencies are profiting.

• The op shops are getting free labour.

• The poor are paying more.

• The taxpayer is funding it all.

It’s a closed loop of systemic abuse, with no upward mobility for those at the bottom.

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5. Should the Government Audit These Organisations?

Absolutely. But here’s the catch:

• The ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission) does exist to provide oversight—but its enforcement power is limited.

• Many religious organisations are legally protected or exempt from certain financial disclosures.

• Governments often rely on these same charities to deliver public welfare services—so there's no political will to investigate them too hard.

In other words, the system is complicit.

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So, Who Loses?

• The poor, who can’t afford op shops anymore

• The unemployed, used for free labour with no future

• The donors, who think they’re helping

• The community, who lose trust in charity

• And ultimately, genuine charity itself, which is being replaced by corporate exploitation hiding behind halos