The community op shop where everyone can share good things
The community op shop where everyone can share good things
As technology progresses and more online solutions emerge (all the time!), we are seeing a shift in the way we raise mobilise support and raise money. We have seen it over the last decade in the online sponsorship space – a fun run can raise millions of dollars from pledges from family and friends flung far afield.
A similar shift is now happening in the ‘Yard Sale’ or ‘Thrift Shop’ space, thanks to Community.Market. This shift brings about the widening of the potential supporter/ buyer base for donated second-hand goods.
Taking it online: the power
We came across a powerful example of how an online presence for your second-hand goods can provide not only a benefit to your group, but to your new ‘global’ marketplace.
Imagine breaking a treasured family heirloom that you thought you’d never be able to replace. This happened to a gentleman from Gympie in Queensland recently. After accidentally breaking a Wembley Lustre Ware Sundae Cup (part of a rare set), he was distraught and his wife devastated. In desperation he turned to Google searching for Wembley Lustre Ware.
St Luke’s online op shop in listed on Community.Market popped up, showing a set of 4 of the exact cups he was searching for. He was able to purchase them online and have them shipped immediately. This same set of cups had sat on a shelf in the St Luke’s op shop in Enmore, Sydney, for quite some time. That was, until they set up the online extension of their physical shop with Community.Market, expanding their audience from Sydney and surrounds to Australia and potentially even beyond.
What you need to know:
Community Market is a social enterprise, providing a way to convert goods into cash for worthy causes. When you have an online Op Shop on Community Market, ninety percent of the sale value goes directly to your group, less credit card transaction fees. Ten percent powers the operations of Community.Market. There are no upfront set up costs.
By creating online thrift shops for community groups to give a ‘second life’ to re-useable, unwanted household items, Community Market is fulfilling their mission to provide financial, social and environmental benefits for all communities.
How it works:
Community Op Shops are set up to give your group an ongoing income stream and the more members you have join your group the more money you can raise. More members will also ensure that your online shop is well stocked, and the best part is that stocking can be done by anyone, anywhere across Australia, as long as they nominate your group or charity as the recipient.
The Community Market app is designed to work seamlessly with your mobile browser, so in order to list an item, all you need to do is take some photos and enter a description and you’re away! And of course the more items you list and sell, the more money you’ll raise for your group.
When you buy or sell through Community Market, your transaction is processed through a secure gateway and tracked in real time, so you will always have an up to date summary. Customers can pay on their mobile phone and sellers will receive notification of the transaction. Funds received by your shop are automatically transferred to your group’s nominated bank account at the end of each month.
‘Second life’:
Setting up an online op shop is a great way to give a ‘second life’ to items that you may no longer need but someone else might. Not only will you be clearing your home of unwanted items and supporting your group but you will be saving our precious earth from unnecessary landfill.
They say ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, and it’s now more accessible than ever before!
