Top, $18.75

It’s not that the people working in op shops don’t know the value of things - after all, the only value inherent in an inanimate object is whatever we ascribe to it - it’s that their pricing doesn’t necessarily reflect that of the marketplace. I once saw a mug on sale at an op shop for $4. Considering how attractive the mug was, this didn’t strike me as particularly expensive until I turned it over and saw that its original price was  $2.99. And I know of one op shop where the ladies are so fond of Big W’s many styles of sequinned and beaded tops they sell them for $6-$8 while non-sparkly Ojay and Witchery tops sell for $3-$4. Quite often, these pricing discrepancies work in my favour. But the staff at the Salvos store in Kyneton clearly saw exactly the same value in this top as I did. Damn.