05/01/2026
Opp shops used to help many ppl get on their feet àgain
Renee Ivory is 100% spot on with her thoughts below! I find it easier to dump things too than donate now!
I witnessed a lady try to donate very good quality books the other day and she was turned away!
Renee says the following:
Dear “Opportunity” Shops,
Let’s call it what it is — many of you, not all, are no longer opportunity shops, you’re rip-off shops.
Around 95% of your stock is donated FOR FREE by the community to help those doing it tough — not to be sold at boutique prices as though we are on the Las Vegas Boulevard!
If you’re refusing donations, then slash your prices and clear the stock that was given to you.
No item of clothing should be over $20. Ever. Brand labels mean nothing in a donation-based store.
People who shop with you often donate more than they ever buy. That generosity is being taken for granted.
A friend of mine recently had to dump an entire house full — furniture, crystal, dinnerware, brand new linen — because op shops wouldn’t accept any of it. A young girl who was trying to buy a dress for her formal, found one at the op shop, it was $180! Formal dresses are on the throw out rack, at the formal shops NEW for that price and sometimes less.
That is wasteful, greedy and completely against what you stand for.
Drop the prices.
Open the doors to donations.
Or stop pretending you exist for community good.
Enough is enough, I am off to the dump!
