But staff at Dunedin's St Vincent de Paul shop have reported increasing numbers of cruise ship visitors coming into the George St store.
St Vincent de Paul Society Otago area president Lynlea Forbes said nearly twice as many people visited the store on cruise ship days.
She was particularly surprised by the number of customers last week when a cruise ship on a 180-day tour around the world visited Dunedin.
''It was amazing the number of people that came in.
''All morning there were people going through the store.''
For some passengers, St Vincent de Paul was like a convenience store.
''We had a lady walk in last week and it was a lovely day out, but she had something really warm on. So she bought a light top and left wearing it.''
Most people bought ''pre-loved'' clothes, Mrs Forbes said.
But some of the more unusual items bought were souvenir teaspoons, crockery and balls of wool.
''Last week we had two or three people wanting wool. They must knit on the boat.
''There was another lady who came in and bought a beautiful little jug from the front window. It's not what you expect someone on a cruise ship to be buying.''
While not certain what was behind the change, she believed it was because op-shopping was becoming popular, and ''St Vinnies'' was so well known around the globe.
''We're a worldwide organisation.
''They [passengers] have these shops at home, and when they go to other cities in other countries, generally there's a St Vincent de Paul shop. They're all over New Zealand.
''So they like to come in, and husbands will often stand and chat about where they come from, while the wife shops, or vice-versa.
''The bulk of the time is about talking. It's really, really neat.''
