When I say op shop, I'm not talking about an
antique shop or retro store or somewhere that will charge you an arm and a leg for really old clothes and rusty tins. I mean the good old fashioned op shops, where you can find piles of books at 50 cents each, designer label jeans for under $10, kooky knitted jumpers and all sorts of weird and wonderful but useful stuff for less than the change in your wallet.
Since op shopping become 'cool,' its getting harder and harder to find second hand stores like these. Demand increases, prices go up and before you know it, those designer jeans are going for $30 instead of $10. But I'm sure there must still be plenty of good op shops around Brisbane that I just haven't found. Some of the ones I have found and always find fantastic bargains in are:
Lifeline Supa Stores
These stores are usually huge and packed with everything from clothing and shoes to furniture, books and kitchenware. The best I've found is in Woolongabba, at 779 Stanley Street. It has all of the above in spades and is really cheap.
Salvos Stores
If you can find a massive Salvo's Store, like the one in Red Hill at 80 Glenrosa Road, then you'll find plenty of bargains. The store I've mentioned does try to be a little fancy and some of the prices for knick knacks and bits and pieces that they think are 'antiquey' are laughable (but still cheaper than actual antique shops). They always have old suitcases and picture frames and a shed full of furniture as well as stacks and stacks of clothes, all sorted into categories for easy browsing, and homewares.
Annerly second hand stores
A group of op shops in one place can be just as good as a super store, though you probably won't find furniture or other large items. Annerley has several on Ipswich Road between Dudley and Warwick Streets. There is a Lifeline, an Aid for the Blind store and an Asthma Foundation store, all of which have lots of clothes and books and often have the fantastic 'fill a bag for $2' sales.
Well, those are my tips for where to do some happy op shopping but what about yours? What fantastic finds have you picked up and where?
