By * Oncea haven for budget-conscious shoppers and vintageenthusiasts, op-shopping is facing new challenges: risingprices and an oversupply of fast fashion. With , one could reasonablythink that the days of thrifty thrift shops are over.Especially when Shein garments are reappearing in charityshops - and in many cases, with swing tags stillattached.
Opportunity shops are not only having tocompete on price, they're subsequently dealing withpoor-quality discarded fast fashion items donated or dumpedon their doormats. Rising operating costs are alsoforcing prices of second-hand clothing to go higher in manycases. According to Tom Doonan of Textile Recycling, whichoperates 28 commercial thrift SaveMart stores nationwide, 95percent of clothing that is donated to thrift shops is notsuitable for resale "as cost of resale is higher than resaleto item".
This is the case for online pre-lovedretailer &Again, which is no longer accepting prelovedlow-priced fast fashion items, including Shein, on itsplatform. "Their price points are so low the resalevalue is $5. That doesn't cover the cost to steam, shoot andupload a garment," &Again founder Wendy Quachsays.
Ontop of that, online vintage resellers are also being accusedof picking the racks clean of the good stuff at a bargainand selling it at inflated prices on their onlineplatforms. Many resellers "are pulling their hair outbecause we get a lot of flak", Taupō-based reseller EmmaWhitlock of Eden Preloved says. "There's the argumentthat.
