With the cost of living biting and vintage now cool, op shops are more popular than ever. Aoife Moynihan has a rummage through the racks to get the low down on why thrifting is thriving.
Shopping second-hand in NSW saved us $432 million in cost-of living relief in 2024, according to the government-funded Reuse Data Study, where we spent an average of $5.33 across 107 million items resold. Nationally, it saved Aussies $2 billion. But as well as saving money, op shops raise $1 billion a year for good causes and save 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. Thrifting is good for our pocket, good for the planet and raises money for charity.
The professional thrifter
Narrabeen artist Julie Lindfield will slip off to an op shop at a moment’s notice to check out the latest gems donated. She’s passionate about giving things a second life, on top of making money stretch and saving items from the tip.
“I don’t think I own anything new,” Julie laughs. “I pretty much thrift every day if I can and try and squeeze it in on my way to places. For instance, I dropped my son off at school this morning and I went straight to Salvos up at Mona Vale.”
Julie, now in her fifties, came from a large family and had a lot of hand-me-downs. One of her earliest memories is visiting Vinnies when she was about seven years old with her mum. “I think one of the very first things that Mum ever bought me was an Anne of Green Gables book.”
Back then, buying second hand wasn’t generally something you told people, but Julie quietly embraced it. “I think people have changed and they embrace it a lot more now,” says Julie. “There’s a better recycling population and the younger generations coming through are much more inclined to want to shop second hand.”
Julie buys everything second hand – the only new item in her house is her bed! She also uses a lot of recycled materials in her art and upcycles furniture. As a professional thrifter, she has some tips for op-shopping wannabees.
“Go regularly and go often, whenever you get a chance,” Julie advises. “Keep an open mind, look at the possibilities of something – not just what it is but what it could be. Be resourceful and think about how you can use things differently.”
Julie is a regular at many op shops and has her favourites – such as Vinnies in Roger Street, Brookvale, Salvos in Manly Vale and Lifeline in Narrabeen and Mona Vale. She says the Red Cross in Newport is fantastic with well-curated items.
“Be prepared to really look at things,” Julie advises. “Don’t walk in there and go, ‘Oh there’s a rack of shirts and none of them look any good.’ You’ve got to look one by one. Sometimes my muscles hurt because I’m pushing things along so I can have a look one by one. It’s a great arm workout – I highly recommend it!”
Making a living from markets
Kirribilli Markets stallholder Jessica Ianni was introduce to ‘second hand’ when just a child, as her mother ran vintage shops in Sydney when she was growing up.
“All I knew was second-hand clothing and markets. So, it was second nature for me to follow my mum into that industry,” Jessica says. “(Mum) always had a flair for fashion. I remember her picking me up from school in 1970s blouses, cigarette jeans and heels. Fashion was always a big thing in our family.”
She says there was a stigma about wearing pre-loved clothing back in the 1990s. “I think there were people that looked down on second-hand clothing,” she says.
Jessica, 37, who lives in the Inner West, started doing markets aged 17. She and her husband Carlo run stalls around Sydney – including Kirribilli Markets which they’ve done for the past 10 years. She travels all over Sydney to other markets, op shops and shops online, hand picking all the pieces for her business, and says she doesn’t buy by weight as many dealers do. It’s not an easy job but Jessica loves it. “It’s a lot of work physically and mentally,” she says. “And you’ve always got to have new items to show your customers.”
Jessica’s regular Kirribilli customers range in age from their twenties to their fifties, from size six to 20+.
“I feel like the younger generation are more into the Y2K op shopping,” she explains. “And they’re the girlies looking for the low waisted jeans and little 1990s tops.
“My customer base is more just like every day, comfortable living. I sell good quality items like Zimmerman and Camilla and those sorts of brands, but most customers are looking for great brand basics like Witchery, Country Road, and Sportscraft,” Jessica explains.
The cost of living has meant Jessica has had to move into online selling too.
“Everyone’s doing it tough at the moment,” says Jessica. “Times have changed on our end as a seller, and it’s getting a lot harder to source products at a price that works for both,” says Jessica, who also runs a successful eBay store and sells on online platform Whatnot. Follow her @backontheracksyd on Instagram.
The not-for-profit
Megan Hook, retail manager of Lifeline Northern Beaches, Mosman to Kirribilli (LNB) says that more people have moved into second hand retailing. “It’s the fastest growing segment in the world of fashion retailing,” she says. However, she says that the charity sector’s share isn’t necessarily growing. LNB curates and professionally presents everything in its 10 stores, but it’s not always as easy to find good quality clothing as it competes with fast fashion.
“Many younger people are consuming more fast fashion, and there is less quality fashion being sold,” Megan says. “And as the population ages, fewer people are buying investment clothing and better-quality clothing.”
Megan shows me a mountain of bags of fast fashion items piled high in their newest store The Hub in Brookvale. She says they offered some to other op shops who refused, having enough already.
Megan says while there are more people thrift shopping, people are generally buying less. “Times are tough with lots of people reselling their own items to generate money,” she says. Going that extra mile for the customer and allowing their stores to shine is more important than ever, especially as its retail revenue covers over half the cost of providing its vital services.
Each Lifeline store has its own story that reflects what’s happening in the store. There are three bigger ‘lifestyle’ stores – Manly, The Hub and Mosman.
“Those are large stores with strong women’s wear, men’s wear, and homewares business. Other stores can be a bit smaller,” Megan explains.
“We have a fantastic vintage store in Cremorne – a tiny little bijou jewel of a store which receives great designer donations.”
Narrabeen and Mona Vale stores tend to have a lot of beachy linen, and the Balgowlah store is known for amazing homewares.
“We’ve got a fantastic vibe in our other Brookvale shop in Roger Street,” says Megan. “There’s an energetic team there and very young shoppers.”
Lifeline’s events are an important source of income. “It’s about taking what we do in the shops out into the public arena,” says Megan. The recent pOP drOP shOP pop-up event at the Steyne Hotel in Manly in September was so successful there’s a second one planned for 11 December.
Megan says you can do your bit for LNB by continuing to shop at Lifeline, donating or volunteering at its stores. To keep in the loop about Lifeline’s upcoming events follow @lifelinenb on Instagram.