22 March 2011

There are things that even an op shop can’t sell. Last week, this dumpster at the side of a Vinnies store was full of unsaleable clothing. Today, it was full of unsaleable books and magazines. I was tempted to ask the staff if I could go through the dumpster’s contents. After all, there are things I won’t pay for but will happily take home for free. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to ask - turns out there’s a limit to how cheap I’m prepared to look in front of a complete stranger. Who knew! And as I walked away a recycling truck arrived, backed up to the dumpster and emptied it.


7 comments:

  1. Amy this is a whole new world of stuff for me thanks to Mark D

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  2. Well I hope you're enjoying this whole new world!

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  3. its different, not certain that it will be my new thing, but definitley not a bad thing

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  4. Hi Amy,
    Love reading your blog. Thank you!
    How sad to see the books in the recycling bin. It seems a shame and I know what you mean about not being able to buy everything but it doesn't mean it's rubbish.
    I think it would be great if thrift stores should give people an opportunity to take away things as free first before throwing them away completely. There's lots of things I like making with old books and I wouldn't feel as bad to chop up the books if I knew they were destined to be pulped anyway. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to ask next time. Everything deserves a chance of a second go before it goes to the bin.
    All the best!
    -Bendigo Thrifter

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  5. Hi Bendigo Thrifter, thank you for your kind words. I often think a good solution is to have regular fill-a-bag-for-$5 days, but it seems to be only the little op shops that do those.

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  6. Vinnies actually have pretty stringent rules about what books they will and won't sell. All rejects are trashed.
    Fortunately, the staff usually ignore instructions or aren't capable of implementing them - but I don't think you will get many devil worshipping books there.

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  7. Hi Paul Perry,
    I once overheard some staff members at a Salvos store telling a new staff member what books they weren't allowed to sell. Astrology books, apparently, were out. But there's generally plenty of astrology books at your typical Salvos store.

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