The Belfast charity shop that’s helping good causes along with your dress sense
At Oxfam Vintage on Fountain Street, they’ve seen all these names and more, with more arriving on a regular basis.
Previously situated on Castle Street, the store is a treasure trove for bargain hunters looking for good quality items at the best price, and all being sold for a good cause.
Money from the items sold at the store go directly to Oxfam. Currently, the money is going towards providing humanitarian aid and basic essentials such as food, water and electricity in Palestine as part of their Gaza Crisis Appeal, where at least 1.6 million people have been forced from their homes.
Jason Gilliland is the store manager and explained that hours of painstaking research go into pricing each item.
“We operate a bit differently here compared to your usual charity shop,” he told Belfast Telegraph.
“A lot of the donations we receive come from clothing banks or clothing bins left in supermarkets or direct donations from people wanting to see their clothes be given away to a good home and benefitting a good cause at the same time.
“We take the time then to filter through each item and sort through it, looking at the quality, condition and then the label of course to see if it’s a big brand and, more often than not, it is!”
Oxfam’s Jason Gilliland at their Fountain street shop in Belfast city centre. Picture by Peter Morrison
Jason said that experience has been the key to deciphering through what price to put on what label.
“We also have a labels database which helps us check the designs through the eras, for example the label on a H&M top 20 years ago is very different than it looks today, so that’s how we figure out the age of each item.
“Comparing prices on eBay, Etsy and Depop also help us to decide how valuable something is and perhaps how in-demand the designer is as well as a helpful price comparison,” he added.
“We wouldn’t just throw a random price on things.”
Aside from checking the value of each item carefully, Jason said that they have to be realistic as well when pricing.
“If someone is listing something similar by the same designer on Depop for £200 we have to be realistic and bring that price down because at the end of the day this is a vintage charity shop,” he said.
“Most of our designer items that come through the door are priced under £100, and the majority would be under £50.”
A vintage Burberry scarf sold last month was priced at £30 and a Hermes pure silk scarf was sold at £80 in the store.
“This was a bit dearer because it was just such good quality and was selling for much, much more online, so you always get a bargain either way,” he said.
“We have sold Max Mara coats for less than £50, Yves St Laurent trousers for just £20 and all our Levi and Wrangler jeans are £15. When bought new they would be well over £60.
“We want people to have these high-quality items for an affordable price, we want them to sell because that’s the only way the shop makes money, but it’s also good to know their worth.”
Oxfam’s Jason Gilliland with the Vintage cloths at the Fountain street shop in Belfast city centre. Picture by Peter Morrison
Jason said that the shop’s social media pages have “blown up” since they started advertising their designer finds.
“We recently got a delivery of 1973 bright pink Lee Cooper trousers and a pair of blue Lee Cooper dungarees and our followers loved them, they sold very quickly.”
While most items in the shop are priced under £100, the Belfast man said that there are some items just too special to price so low.
“Wedding dresses are surprisingly popular and are normally priced over £100,” he said.
“Last month we received a donation of a 1950s wedding dress a customer brought into us along with a photograph of her mother wearing the dress.
“It was so special to see and a perfect example of how every piece of clothing passed through here really tells a story,” he added.
“She told us she wanted the dress to go somewhere that would appreciate it and knew we specialise in vintage, so knew it would be better here than in a typical charity shop.”
Jason said he enjoys the social aspect of his job.
“Working here is different than any other place I’ve ever worked,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.
“People come in and stay for a chat and a yarn and we have had the same customer base over the years return time and time again.
“We never turn anything away and we appreciate when someone goes out of their way to bring us in a special piece of clothing or jewellery that meant something to them.”
Oxfam Vintage can be found at 21 Fountain Street in Belfast’s City Centre.
