Buying and selling second-hand clothes in Australia has never been easier.
Aside from the old op-shop stalwarts like Vinnies, the Salvation Army or Red Cross shops, the rise of fashionable ‘vintage stores’ in metropolitan Australia has fuelled a new wave of sustainable shopping in the Land Down Under, with rare and cool garms curated for your convenience.
However, they can be incredibly pricy ($50 for a ringer tee? Tell ’em they’re dreaming). Thankfully, there’s a whole bevy of online clothes marketplaces such as Depop, Etsy, GOAT and Grailed if you’re looking for a style refresh (or you’re looking to get slim down your wardrobe).
Of course, you can try your luck with the big general online classifieds, like Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree.
But if you’re really desperate, you can check out eBay, the biggest of them all. But be warned, what you might find may shock you. Case in point: these questionable Nike athletic shorts some Melburnian is hawking for less than a tenner.
They don’t look like they’re in terrible condition. The listing reads “barely been worn and great condition,” and we’d like to give this seller the benefit of the doubt.
However, there’s a big difference between buying a second-hand shirt and a pair of pre-loved athletic shorts.
We have a couple of questions. What does “barely been worn” mean? You’ve only run a couple of marathons in them? How elastic is, well, the elastic? And most importantly, will you wash the shorts before they get sent out?
We’ve got nothing against buying second-hand clothes; far from it. But we reckon you’d have to be pretty brave to want to wear someone else’s gym clothes.
The eBay listing’s still up if you’re looking for an activewear bargain. Good luck.