By Sarah Kempson
As a general consensus, Saturday means sport for the boys and shopping for the ladies. It’s no surprise I like to shop; most females do, but in the time of Global Financial Crisis, how do we feed our need to shop and not break the bank? How do you wear the latest fashions and express your individual personality through dress and decor without spending a fortune on new season stock? The answer is even better than the mid year sales – introducing Melbourne Op Shop Tours.
A relatively new company, Melbourne Op Shop Tours organises your Saturday shopping for you and takes a small group around Melbourne’s suburbs to scour bargain bins and racks of second hand clothes to find that elusive needle in a haystack hidden treasure – and possibly some other pretty cool stuff along the way.
Above: The Melbourne Op Shop Tours Team
Born in 2008 by three young Melburnians, Melbourne Op Shop Tours is run by Jessica, Richmond and Jenny; savvy op shoppers and entrepreneurs. With a focus on sustainability, charity support and your hip pocket, the tours teach a new way to think about shopping. All tours are run on public transport so the sustainability element is high and, unlike shopping tours where you visit factory outlets, the tour company doesn’t get a cut of the sales – all of your dollars and cents are going straight to whichever charity the op shop supports.
Melbourne Op Shop Tours offers several different options for the novice op shopper. Covering all areas, you can choose from East, Inner West, South East, North, Inner East and Inner North East. Currently offering an opening special of $25, your tour guide Jess will meet you at the local train station and, with carefully planned public transport timetables and opening hours of the op shops, guide you around the stores in the area.
My first tour was in the eastern suburbs of Mitcham, Forrest Hill and Nunawading. We visited 8 op shops over 4 hours and enjoyed a lovely lunch (at own cost) at a local café. Public transport was free for September on Zone 2 buses so we saved even more money, and I met some great people on the tour who were equally as excited at the prospect of the bargains we might find in our travels.
Accompanied by my Mum, a seasoned op shopper herself, our group managed to find lots of exciting things over the few hours we were op shopping. It’s amazing when you find something you know would look perfect in your living room, or you see a dress that, with the aid of a little adjustment, could be the perfect vintage frock for spring.
As soon as you start looking through racks it becomes very easy to be creative and find something unique. After 4 hours, I had procured 2 men’s bow ties, one black and one pink, that I plan to make a headpiece or necklace out of. I found a vintage brown satchel bag and an ‘80s dress that with a hem change and a belt will be gorgeous as the weather warms up. A cookbook and new scarf finished my day – and all this came in at just under $20. Not only did I save the several hundred of dollars I would have spent at the shopping centres, but I got to meet some fabulous people, support local charities and do my bit for sustainability.
The tour was brilliantly organised down to the minute, the café choice for lunch was delicious and Jess was not only an exceptional tour guide, but an engaging and vibrant girl as well. Her op shop find stories are marvellous and show that dedication to the craft will yield many successes, although I think everyone was very happy with their finds after just one day.
Of course, after you have taken the tour you should return to the op shops regularly as new stock comes in everyday. It’s certainly an opportunity to create unique looks and deck out your home, library or wardrobe for a fraction of the cost of new goods.
Visit www.melbourneopshoptours.com.au to book.
I also uncovered some other op shop tours around Australia:
* Op Shop Tours Australia
* You, Us and a Bus Op Shop Tours – Adelaide
www.youusandabus.com/opshop.htm
* Time Out – Sydney
www.timeoutsydney.com.au/checkout/vintage-style.aspx
(Note this is not a tour, but a listing of stores)
* For a listing of most op shops around Australia, or to start your own tour visit www.opshop.org
If you have any tours or op shop gems you want to share, leave them in the comment box below.
