OP SHOPS BECOME GOLDMINE
BUYING from an opportunity store has become the fastest new way to make money.
Savvy shoppers are scooping up bargains and reselling them online at such huge mark-ups many have been able to quit their day jobs.
Some charities running second-hand stores have cottoned to the practice — embraced largely by Generation Z — and have begun marking their goods up to compensate.
Vinnies Queensland general manager Drew Eide said his teams had noticed a big uptake in younger shoppers buying from their stores. “We have noticed an increase in thrift shopping over the last year and we’ve seen some record-breaking sales, even relocating stores to have a bigger location due to this demand,” Mr Eide said.
Vogue Australia fashion writer Jonah Waterhouse said the second-hand trend was not just money-driven.
“As an understanding of the environmental ramifications of fast fashion becomes more widespread, it makes sense that young people are gravitating toward thrift shopping,” Mr Waterhouse said. “Aside from the sustainability credentials, it also allows a level of individuality that brand-new clothing can’t provide.”
Esta Musumeci, from Cairns, has made more than $200k in her four years selling thrift-shop clothing on marketplace app Depop. In her most successful month, she made around $9500. “It operates by solely going on one or two trips a week, driving around the area I live to pick up stock and resources for my shop, I source from local shops around my area, thrift stores, garage sales, markets and donations,” Ms Musumeci said.