Op-shopping, something you should consider as a way to save money on your clothing budget. Even for things like home wares and secondhand furniture. It’d been a while since I’d considered it. Here’s what happened last time I dropped into my local Vinnies…

Been To An Op-Shop Lately?

I had a dress up party and the theme was the 80’s. I had decided I wanted to be a very 90’s rapper. Neon come at me. After googling the look I was after (my early childhood 90’s memories are a little fuzzy) and decided I needed an over-sized pair of jeans. Not wanting to spend bulk money on brand new jeans to wear once, I decided I’d visit an op shop.

My wife had already been to one for her outfit but ended up buying off eBay, but for my gear that wasn’t an option so off I went. After a quick Google of the op shops in my local town, I made a list of the bigger ones figuring they would be the best bet.

I had never been to this one before, so I didn’t know what I was in for. Total virgin.

While wandering around the store, I found the men’s section. There were all sorts of shirts and jumpers etc. but the thing that caught my eye was the dress shoe section. I had spotted a few pairs of shoes that looked like brand new and would be perfect work shoes for me.

Would you believe both were a similar size to mine, so I checked out the price (not knowing at this point what op shops charge) to my surprise the black pair I wanted was $4? Yep, brand new looking YD dress shoes that would retail for over $100 were in my size (or near enough) for $4, how could be the ultimate bargain shopper go past them.

I had collected my first purchase before finding what I had come in for baggy jeans.

Then I proceeded to look around while sending pics to my wife of different things that she might like (not just for the party but wear in real life).

It got me thinking, I would bet that these shoes were bought by some guy who wore them once for a wedding and ditched them. Leaving them in the cupboard for a year or two until the missus chucked them into the donation pile.

To be honest with you guys, I almost felt bad getting such a good deal. But I realised that the charity store hadn’t paid anything for them, I had a legitimate use for them and the money was going to a good cause.

On the other hand, I paid $10 for a shitty old pair of jeans I’ll never wear again which will probably end up part of the dumped clothing cycle again soon enough.

During my adventure, I also grabbed a few other items which will end up in the kids dress up box. My grand total was $19.50; the perfect donation to my local charity and an opportunity to reuse these perfectly good items one more time.

I can’t recommend it highly enough! Which makes me sound like such a grandpa, but I’m right.

The next time you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary or just like sussing out a bargain jump on google and find your local op shop. Take a look and see what they have on offer. You might be a little surprised it’s not all old furniture and old books.

Dean Walker

Dean is the brother of the Blog Boss, husband of Jessica, father of adorable children and sometimes hiker of large mountains. He is an adulty adult in his day job but enjoys spending time with family and friends the most.