Otago Boys’ High School was forced to cancel today's sale day because of a limited supply of second-hand uniforms.
Rector Richard Hall said he understood many families were facing economic pressures and the start of the school year could be a hard time.
"My daughter is starting a new school this year, so I’ve had to buy a uniform and stationery as well, so I very much empathise with parents at this stage.
"I’ve already had some feedback from a couple of parents disappointed it has been cancelled, but we literally just don’t have the stock."
He assumed families were either passing old uniforms to younger siblings or selling them on places like Facebook Marketplace.
Mr Hall said the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was very disappointed to have cancelled the sale.
"I know the PTA are very keen to run it because they realise it’s a great service for parents, so I guess we’re kind of hopeful that this will prompt a few who may have stuff sitting in their wardrobe to just get it in."
Blazers and the junior uniform in large sizes were in particular demand and hard to find.
Op shops also had a limited supply of uniforms.
The Red Cross shop in Bond St had just one rack for uniforms from a variety of schools.
Store manager Tannia Lee said they tried to list uniforms as cheaply as possible given the high cost of living.
"We try and put it out really cheap because we know that uniforms are very expensive and parents could be struggling, especially if they have more than one child and they all need uniforms."
Mr Hall said if enough uniforms were donated to the school, it would host another second-hand uniform sale day.
