Vintage Gems: Melbourne’s Top Thrift Stores

Photo Credit: Prudence Earl

Although Melbourne is famous for it’s four seasons in one day, many international guests find themselves landing ill equipped for the unpredictable weather. Whether you’re looking to fill a wardrobe gap that you didn’t pack for, or to spruce up your wardrobe with local vintage gems, this guide will give you all the necessary thrift store insights of a Melbourne Local. Or, as we Melbournians like to call them, “Op Shops”.

The city of Melbourne and surrounding suburbs have a thriving second hand market. This post will detail the best places for good value second hand clothing. We have included a bonus section listing some local high quality Australian brands to look out for while thrifting, that you might not have at home.

The main players in the Melbourne second hand market are: Salvos (also called the Salvation Army), Vinnies, Red Cross, Sacred Heart and Savers. Melbourne is also home to charity stores for Uniting, Rotary, The Epilepsy Foundation, RSPCA, Lifeline, The Lions Club, MS Community, Brotherhood of St Lawrence and Save the Children. Below you will find our top picks for value second hand finds.

There is a bit of a focus on thrift stores on the South Eastern side of the city – there are a lot of affluent areas that donate premium brands. The charities also tend to distribute their higher quality items to these stores as they are able to turn these items over easily in stores around South Yarra, Toorak, Prahran, Malvern and Armadale. Customer also know to travel to these locations to find designer brands in good condition.

Salvos Malvern

234 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern VIC 3144

Malvern, Toorak and South Yarra get the highest quality second hand clothing distribution. Thus, this Malvern Salvos store is one of the top pics. I find Sacred Heart pricing to be the most reasonable and consistent. While there is always variation, you are less likely to find a premium brand name here that have been absurdly under-priced. You will, however, find consistently fair prices and higher quality pieces – which I equate to better value options. If you are looking for condition, quality and value, visit this store. The one caveat is that professional resellers and savvy thriftier know this is a fantastic store and the turnover is high. If you go back tomorrow for something, it likely won’t be there. Additionally, I don’t enjoy it on a Saturday – it’s way too busy. Early in the week and early in the day seems to be the best time. This store has a high turnover.

Vinnies Malvern

29-31 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern VIC 3144

This store can be hit and miss for quality clothing, but it really can be cheap for mid tier brands sports brands like Nike, Puma etc. I have found these brands for as little as AU$8. They have a lot of clothes to choose from, but there are a lot of cheap poor quality clothes to sift through to get to the good stuff. They have a very reasonable book section too.

Sacred Heart Windsor

262 Chapel St, Windsor VIC 3181

This store is large, however a large portion of the space is dedicated to furniture, crockery and books. There is, however, a decent clothing section. This store is one of the best value and I have found Country Road trousers here for AU$7.

Sacred Heart Prahran

110 Commercial Rd, Prahran VIC 3181

This is a relatively large store, walking distance from the Prahran shopping district along Chapel Street. Pricing is reasonably consistent and fair. The clothing can be hit or miss, but there is a lot to choose from due to the large size of the store. For some reason they often have two staff working on a single queue, which can really slow things down. Best not to be in a hurry if the store seems busy as this store can be prone to a slow moving queue.

Posh Opp Shoppe

484 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick VIC 3185

What’s great about this store is that all shirts have the same price, as do pants and skirts, etc unless otherwise stated. This makes the shopping process quicker and more straight forward. They are well stocked and have lots of men’s shirts and suits which can sometimes be a bit sparse in other stores. The other advantage of this store is that it is conveniently located right in between two other thrift stores, a Vinnies and a Sacred Heart.

Photo credit: My True Style.

Camberwell Market

Market Pl, Camberwell VIC 3124

Camberwell market is open exclusively on Sundays, from 7:00am until 12:30pm. It’s a great spot to find cheap second hand clothes. People book stalls for a variety of reasons; moving overseas, downsizing or a deceased estate. Therefore you can find some real steals. You’ll find the best items at 7am when it opens, but some sellers will drop their prices at the end of the day for whatever hasn’t sold. There is also a regular vintage jacket seller with a great variety – but at a higher price. Many of the “retro” sports jacket are around the AU $50+ price point. When visiting, keep in mind that it is an outdoor market, so you will want weather appropriate clothing; especially if it rains!

Savers, Moorabbin

Moorabbin Super Centre, Suite 4&5/430 Warrigal Rd, Heatherton VIC 3202

There are 9 Savers stores in Victoria. These stores are huge! If you donate a bag of clothes they will give you a 20% off voucher, valid for one purchase.

Bonus Section: Quality Australian Brands to look out for

Cable, Zimmermann, Camilla and Marc, Aje, Country Road, Bec & Bridge, Hansen & Gretel, P.E Nation, Oroton (mainly for bags), Scanlan Theodore, Bassike, Carla Zampatti, Alemais, Assembly Label, Elka Collective, Faithfull, Jac & Jack and Lee Mathews. Although not a premium brand, Uniqlo also wears extremely well.

Check Out these Instgram accounts for more Info

• Thrifters of Melbourne: @thriftersofmelbourne
• Brotherhood of St Lawrence: @bsl_opshops
• Savers: @savers_au
• Vinnies: @vinniesvictoria
• Salvos: @salvosstores
• Sacred Hear: @sacredheartopshops

Discounts and Memberships

Salvos have a membership system. You can sign up in store with a phone number. You will acquire point with each purchase which can be used as credit against future purchases.

Vinne’s have a membership system much like Salvos, however it takes much longer to reach the threshold to be able to use your points. Additionally they periodically sell “Vault” cards, where you can prepurchase a voucher at a discounted rate.

Savers offer vouchers in exchange for 1 bag of donation items.

The red cross has a paper card with stickers for purchases. Once the card is complete, the shopper is entitled to 25% off 1 future purchase.

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for you can….

Try online reseller markets like DePop or Facebook marketplace. Facebook marketplace can be hit or miss, but it’s generally better for buyers than sellers in terms of follow through.

Try TK Maxx. Although unfortunately this means buying new and you won’t be repurposing something pre-loved, TK Maxx does heavily discount brand names. There is one in the CBD on Spencer St, next door to Southern Cross Train Station. Other locations include Moorabbin, Heidelberg, Glen Waverley and several others further out from the city. You can find Australian store locations here.

You can also find a list of more vintage stores at What’s On Melbourne.

Thrifter’s Tool Kit

To revamp pulled clothing, especially wool jumpers, you can use a fabric shaver. It makes clothes appear newer.

To Revive and Protect Leather