As you all well know, I spend a fair bit of time in and out of op-shops, scouring like a bowerbird for vintage delights that I can add to my home.
So I see a fair bit of stuff: trash, treasure, ordinary and the occasional gem. A blog post that I wrote quite some time back titled, ‘Are Op Shops Getting Too Expensive,’ (which incidentally is still one of my post popular of all time) got me thinking when someone commented recently.
What value to do we place on the things that surround us?
I bought this beautiful Aran wool, hand knitted jumper at Savers just last week, for $10. I could hardly believe that it was priced so low, having just walked past ‘vintage’ polyester dresses at upwards of $19.95.
Here is a pure wool, hand knitted jumper that would have taken someone hours to knit. It’s a natural fiber and will keep the wearer warm, nay, toasty hot in the winter months. Because of the craftsmanship in its making, it has no doubt already, and should last for decades.
Yet it was priced at $10.
So I’m wondering now, how and why do we place a value on certain items? Why was this jumper that by all accounts could be purchased elsewhere for a starting price of $100 be so cheap?
I’m wondering if this is something that you take into consideration when you purchase clothing and home wares as well?
5 comments
Wow, what a gorgeous jumper. I can see “to be enjoyed with roaring fire and glass of fine red” written all over it! It really is a piece of art.
I have to agree with you regarding the pricing of clothing in Op Shops. No rhyme nor reason. Cheap and nasty used items are priced more than clearance items in the original store.
Recently, I was in an a Salvos when a family came in desperately seeking black items for the uncles’ funeral. Clearly this family was hard-up and the stuff they were looking at was completely overpriced. I felt that the store should have offered them clothing for free. On the same day I purchased two silk Pierucci shirts for $7 each. On another occasion my teenage son was sold a suit for $45. He wanted to dress up in it as teenagers do. It was literally rubbish. A no-name, badly made. faded piece of rubbish. It should have been thrown in the bin. I was so cross that they sold it to him especially when he could have bought a brand-new cheap suit at the local shopping centre for $70!
Enjoy your lovely jumper, a truly wonderful find!
I couldn’t agree more! I too love my op shopping, and get so excited with anticipation of what I am going to stumble across. I particularly love buying glassware, tea cups, and clothes when they have a special quality about them (much like your treasured jumper, Lady M).
I have a quiet chuckle to myself when I see some cheap and nasty but ‘newer’ items priced at often even more than the sale price brand new. On the other hand, I do a discrete ‘fist-punch’ when I stumble across a rare find marked at a ridiculously low price only because the ‘pricer’ has no idea or appreciation for its true worth. I dare not tell them, but a few are starting to have a computer set-up in the back room with the google search on stand-by.
I guess it is all a part of the fun of the world of second, and often third, fourth and fifth hand!
This Aran sweater appears to be of amazing quality and eveness for a handknitted item, which would not have taken hours to knit. More like many, many, many. hours, given the pattern and the quality of the stitch. You should protect this treasure forever & the memory of the unknown person who knitted it with love. It is a little sad that someone else decided just to get rid of it rather than hand it on to friend or family. Well spotted, Lady M! Now it certainly has a good home.
I am an avid op shopper too and my definition of a bargain is certainly not just ‘cheap’. If I find something special, or that one elusive item I have been searching for, I am happy to pay a bit more for it. However I will not pay much for items that are low quality and mass produced, no matter how much the RRP is. I find it’s often items like this that are put on the ‘brands’ rack at an op shop, rather than the special one off pieces. As the above poster said, often the op shop staff don’t know what they are looking at.
For about a year I was looking for a vintage dresser. It had to have the original upholstered seat, a large mirror, curved feet and at least three draws. I also wanted it to be in mint condition.. About 2 months ago I found exactly what I was looking for just by chance! I spent $175 and thought it was an absolute bargain. My friends and family thought I was crazy “You can get similar ones on Gumtree for $50” they said. But you can’t.. Mine is special and it’s just what I wanted and I sit at it every morning and night to do my hair and makeup/take it all off, so to me, it’s priceless!
That is a beautiful jumper! Great find 🙂
This is an interesting thing to think about, sometimes I wonder if the people with the pricing gun in op shops have any idea what they’re doing! Perhaps because your jumper IS handmade, rather than originally being store-bought, their impression is that it should be cheaper, as the only original cost was that of the wool (+ time of the knitter)… Ridiculous, as you’ve pointed out, but perhaps we put too much emphasis on how much things cost to determine their value, rather than the quality and craftsmanship.