DEAR News Of The Area,

I WROTE to the paper a few years ago about the spiralling price of clothing in op-shops.

Since then, they have continued to increase prices, including those that were always reasonable before.

In last week’s paper there was an article covering one of the major culprits and their complaint regarding dumped clothing.

I feel the major reason for this is that very few, if any op shops, currently receive donations of clothing because they are inundated.

Why are they inundated?

Mainly because it is now cheaper to shop at popular outlets for new clothes than it is to buy second hand clothing.

How ludicrous is that!

Where have the $2 racks disappeared to in our op-shop outlets?

I don’t mean the dodgy stuff that no one will buy,

I mean the good wearable clothes, brand names and all, that are freely donated by the public.

The reason the public are dumping is because no one will accept these usable items and residents don’t want to dump good clothes in the red bin, creating more landfill.

There must be a simple solution to this crazy problem.

Yes, more clothes are on the open market than ever before and we know Aussies are world-high consumers, but there are still many, many Australians who need good clothes and rely on these once inexpensive alternatives for them.

A message to our op-shop outlets: Go back to your original aim of helping disadvantaged people and stop increasing your balance sheets.

Regards,
Liz PHILPOTT,
Boambee East.