Yesterdays Thrift Shop Paddington

One of my favourite places to shop for second hand reads! Their prices are so cheap - $1-$2, and I always managed to find something that I've been looking for :) They also have a great free book section on the street that I always stop by when I go walking - a great way to keep pre-loved books out of landfill!

I’ve been a longtime fan of the Yesterday’s thrift store chain, regularly visiting the West End, Annerley, and Indooroopilly stores, and I’ve had good experiences at the Paddington location before. But this time, my visit left me genuinely flabbergasted. The pricing here has skyrocketed compared to other Yesterday’s stores. A $150 coat? $75 for a pair of Country Road boots? I understand these are higher-end brands, but this kind of pricing feels completely out of place for an op shop—and even more expensive than Yesterday's own website listings (currently, the most expensive item is $149). I have never seen anything higher than $50 at other Yesterday's stores, so it caught me very off guard. The boots and coat weren't just outliers, either - most dress were over $20, pants and jeans were $10-$15 each. Granted, the prices aren't as expensive as, say, Salvos or Lifeline, but given that Yesterday’s has always been about affordability, this shift feels disappointing and I feel like it goes against the ethos of op-shopping as a whole. The people who rely on thrift stores simply aren’t the kind who can drop $75 on secondhand boots. To be fair, they still have a $2 room, offer half-price after two weeks, and have free items outside. But overall, prices have noticeably increased, and I really hope this isn’t the direction Yesterday’s is heading. I’d hate to see one of my favorite thrift store chains lose the accessible pricing that made it so great in the first place :(

A lovely shop with many little nooks and interesting items. I visited today on a Sunday...I found a couple of delicate items and when I had those in my hands, asked my partner to please hold them so I could pick up a blue knit sweater off the rack I wanted to buy. A lady nearby, on hearing that, ran around to grab the sweater from under my nose. This was a surprise but not reflective on the store, only on one pushy customer. Otherwise it was a very pleasant shopping experience. I'll probably choose a less busy time of the week next time because the store is charming and the staff are very friendly and polite.

A gem of an op shop just down the hill from the main shops of Paddo. Loads of clean quality items which turn over regularly. For bargain hunters, there's a $2 room, and even a free rack. On Sundays, you fill a bag for $4.

EDIT - lovely owner helped me out and my mum picked up the dress the other day. She's in love with it and I wanted to say thank you again to the staff for being so understanding! Went in and found a really pretty dress for $7 that my mum would have loved, left the store to give her a call and see if she wanted it and she eventually picked up and said yes. By the time I went back for the dress less then 30 minutes later the workers had taken the tag off and repriced it for $24. How does that even work? When I asked the worker about it she said it was a good brand... I get it was a good brand but have some dignity with your pricing.