The Emporium (A Lifeline Darling Downs Op-Shop)

“There was some nice vintage stuff but the pricing was absolutely outrageous. Second hand kmart stuff marked higher than the retail price, bric brac was average quality but exorbitant pricing. Books and dvds were pretty standard pricing in op shops these days but would definitely not recommend looking for clothes here. Toys were very over priced and poor quality too.”

“The prices in this shop are unbelievable. Condition is obviously not taken into account while pricing as there are high prices on chipped, broken, repaired or incomplete pieces. They may as well call it an antique shop at this point.”

“Really cool shop. Pity that the prices are so high, a couple of cool jackets I would have bought but they were about $100 each! Lots of variety . Car park out the back”

“This place used to be good. I loved going here about a year ago. However. Prices rose incredibly high in a very short amount of time like -cds are 2 bucks each now (which isn't a big deal but go to Vinnie's and you can get 5 CDs for 2 buck) -pattern prices went up -half the books I find are upwards of 7 bucks -jewellery is priced close to retail -selling clothing for 20-40 dollars under retail price when the quality is not that good (several jackets for example had holes and stains and were still being sold for 200+ dollars -the manager used to be friendly but now she is incredibly rude and if you mention the prices and how it's not good for an OP SHOP she looks at you like your the scum of the earth. -just about everyone who goes in and buys something makes a complaint to the staff about the pricing. - they took away they're bags, dolls, stuffed/kids toys and cleared a lot of their costume section. The last time I bought clothing there we could only afford 3 clothing items totalling to 17 dollars. In addition the manager makes the shop feel very unwelcoming. I haven't gone back in a couple of months because I can not stand to be in that shop. Feels like your in a place that your distinctly no wanted and they would rather have no one in there.”

“Extremely expensive. I paid $88 for 2 clothing items and a pair of shoes. I wouldn't have bought them but I had an emergency situation. The manager was not very helpful and her idea of friendly customer service is talking about herself. I asked why the prices were so high but she responded it's because of "the quality" (but the dress I bought was just cheap Asian made stuff) and stated many people say they're cheap items compared to other stores. Apart from it being the most expensive of the 7 I visited yesterday in Toowoomba, I am in Melbourne op shops frequently as well as currently on a roadtrip and have been to them across NSW. I hung around waiting to pay while she served other people who pushed in. And then she seemed to struggle with the cash register deliberately on purpose to avoid responding to my feedback and change topics. Finally, I told her I was here for the funeral of a parent and her response was to tell me her best friend died last week and how long she known her!! No compassion at all, and given her role at a charity organisation, the whole experience with this store was very unpleasant. They're totally profiteering from the kindness of people's donations (probably to pay salaries of staff, not help the needy). As I said, if I wasn't in a pickle I wouldn't have ever shopped here.”