THE season of giving means more ‘stuff’ coming into households.

Shiny new items can trigger mass donations of used goods to charity shops.

While many donations are welcomed by opportunity or op shops, there’s another side to it and that’s the donation bins being used as garbage cans.

Volunteers give up their time to run or manage these shops.

Moreton Border News has printed several articles on the fight to keep shops viable when ‘not so honest’ members of the public see the industry as easy pickings.

We spoke to Joyce Rieck, a Rosewood resident who volunteers her time at the Goodwill Op Shop.

Earlier this year someone dropping off goods noticed a door had been burst open and the shop robbed.

“It is absolutely horrible because the Goodwill shop exists to help people,” she said at the time.

“We are very grateful for all the donations the community supply, we set our prices reasonably and if anyone is in need, we donate to them.

“The person or persons who’ve done this … I doubt very much that they were in need.”

A few months later she spoke with the Moreton Border News about how people had been caught sorting through donations left after hours and taking what they wanted.

A volunteer caught the sneaky thief red handed, while they were busy loading up their car.

There’s pressure on charity shops to sell good quality used clothing at low prices.

As financial stresses bite down, some shoppers complain loudly on social media that prices are too high.

This is when another side to the humble op shop comes into play.

It involves the fight by volunteers to keep the service running.

Energy and rent needs to be paid and staff spend a lot of time sorting through trash while hoping for treasure.

Some op shop managers’ report just a third of donations being saleable.

Volunteers like Mrs Rieck are often found picking up leftovers scattered across the street after looters have pillaged donations.

Then there’s the sorting and picking through things that do make it in unscathed. A significant portion of donated goods are unable to be sold and need to be taken to the tip for disposal.

Op shop volunteers say finding torn, dirty and inappropriate items are a common occurrence.

Most of these items are textiles, the reason so many are being donated could lie in recent findings by the Australian Institute.

The study found Australia surpassed the US as the world’s biggest consumer of textiles per capita.

Over-consumption has led to a glut in op shop donations and therein lies the problem.

Moving stock as quickly as possible is key to remaining viable.

If the ‘good stuff’ is pillaged before it reaches shop floors, op shops become more dumping ground than retail environment.

The public can help keep op shops running by only donating items that are in good condition and able to be resold.

Ransacking donations left outside these shops is theft and needs to stop.

If you see someone doing this, report them.