local gooodwill has gone crazy on prices

[scrounger d detector collector]

seems to be a trend here. with goodwill.

why doesnt it surprise me. remember they are a private

for profit company not a charity like many others.,

they give the public the illusion that they are a community

service org. NOT. is a giant company that pays workers

minimum just like the rest of big biz. all the while the public dopily doneates.

they havent changed any basic prices. on clothing they still cheap

but anything else is right away special.

like any halfway interesting book goes right up to 499.

they had a retro look radio cd record player for 150.00

and the number of auction items tripled.

i guess our local store is not doing well.

with the economy down people arnt donating as much.

or maybe they are to a REAL charity.

no one around much and empty store.

i thought well ill view this as a challenge.

i know quite a bit about a lot of different items.

so i extra carefully checked for 2 hours

zilcho zongo nothing left in disgust.

there prices are getting to be a joke,

who do they think they are. oil companies ?

the fat cats the top make a boatload of cash.

anyway unfortunately here in my town they are the

only thrift store.

[diggummup]

Yeah, don't worry the pickins are slim to none down here too. Things aren't priced right. Some things are priced as if they were a priceless family heirloom. There are many Thrifts down here from many different "charities" but they all price their stuff pretty high lately. I still make my rounds and find something occasionally but it's not what it used to be.

[acevillav]

Preach brothere preach ! It sounds like the same song across the country from Ca to Fla to up here in Ohio. Thrift stores are no longer the land of milk and honey that they once were. Gotta look extra hard to find anything anymore.

[trdhrdr007]

I've been seeing the same thing here in Alabama. I think it's a combination of two things. There are a lot more people trying to supplement their income due to the crappy economy which increases competition for any bargain priced merchandise, & the stores have figured out they can make more money by checking online sale prices.

[centfladigger]

Goodwill is a gimmick now, they have new prices on the old stuff. They have been putting billboards up in Tampa wanting you to donate your cars. They have one with a picture of 1960` T-bird and tells you to donate dads old car, yeah right

[diggummup]

Goodwill is one of the biggest scams going. I don't know what goodwill started out as, but the ones around here in North Florida have become almost criminal.

Most people go to Goodwill to get a good deal on a used item, not to resell. I can't tell you how many times I have gone in for some regular mundane item, and it is barely less than you could get it in the store brand new. You can get rich running a Goodwill very easily.

What's funny, you go into the stores and they are literally packed to the rafters with items that are not moving because they are priced too high! It's sick! I mean, profit is profit right? Nope, not when greed takes over. Shouldn't you be turning this stuff over as fast as possible, to get money to help poor people? Nope.

They have built several BRAND NEW stores here, along with bookstores and boutiques. Their prices will astonish you. I refuse to go there anymore or donate ANYTHING. And I tell everyone I know to avoid these bait-and-switch establishments.

Go to the Salvation Army. One of the last honest stores around.

Actually one of the stores I frequent is a Salvation Army. I went there today, they wanted $9.99 for a Dickies T-Shirt xxxl (only one my size) and it wasn't even new with (or without) tags. Tommorrow is half price on clothes so i'll be back for it. I did find a nice old Irving Rice salt & pepper set shaped like an old street lamps hanging from a pole for $1.99 though.

[Daedalus]

Same here in the shops like these .
Prices have jumped quite a lot and the stores are empty . Most of the items they have for sale are the same price as the big box stores and they are used .
I even saw some items that cost more lol .
Another thing they have started in the town I came from , if you bring in items to donate and they do not think they want them after there people go through the items then they call you and tell you to come and get it or they will call the police for dumping trash on them. No kidding . We had brought in jeans that the kids could not fit into , not worn out or full of holes . Brought two lamps that worked , one in the box one that had been used about a year . They did not want them as the lady said they did not like the style . I thought this store was to help the poor ? And the stuff was good .

We got the call two days later. That was and is the last time I will ever donate anything to there stores . I was told that they did not want any items that where not new or just as close to new . Well I am not going to go down and buy new items to take to them to sell and a high price.

It makes me think that they are on the way out , because the stores do not seem to be there to help the poor , they seem to be there to make a profit . But I will never go there again or donate .

[centfladigger]

what I have seen on more than a few occasions is the mexican migrant workers load up bags of clothes that have been dropped off at the bins Goodwills have throughout the town. I have also seen one of these same families sell these items at their own yard sale

[ashleen]

I wrote goodwill off a few years ago. But, those Salvation Army thrift stores are awesome

[allen]

The prices went up here too and the products
still are the same old trashy items as before.

[Beans]

I now consider it a challenge to find something Goodwill missed. I used to buy books, untill they relized somebook are worth more than what they use to sell them for. I did pick up a Boy Scout of America Monopoly Game for $9 today. I should make a little profit from ebay. The item number is 170636791029, I do not know how to post the url for the actual auction.

[clovis97]

I wrote GW off many years ago too. I still haven't found anything in a Goodwill store that was worth carrying home.

Prices are crazy expensive...it is nothing but a waste of time for me.

[LM]

Ahhhh man, the old days. Back when ebay was still "new" and the ratio of buyers to sellers was insanely off kilter, when you could still walk into any Goodwill or Sal Army and find stuff that was an immediate and bulletproof flip. In 2000, my hourly rate for wandering around our local Goodwill and stuffing a shopping cart with random rebay crap was about $50/hr, by the time the ebay money orders rolled in.

Them thar' days are long gone to be sure.

You see this pricing trend in a lot of smaller thrift operations, too (profit and non profit).

Ebay has become ubiquitous. It completely changed the game. You can't really fault these places for not giving away free money when they can sell it for more on ebay, but what you definitely can fault them for is the delusional pricing that has entered the fray. It seems that a lot of them are now so paranoid that they will sell something for "less than it goes for on ebay", they've taken to pricing everything grotesquely high.

There are a few thrift shops that still 'get it' - that realize volume is the key... Keep the donations coming in, keep the goods flowing out (which means priced cheap), keep the register full... John Q Public might be able to find an underpriced gem, but that's 100% of the reason people go to thrift shops to begin with. When they try to be a thrift shop/antique store hybrid, that's when they go off the rails and no one shops there anymore, save for the ragpickers in the clothing section.

Rant over.

[jeff of pa]

I Havn't been in a goodwill since the '90's
I was in 2 in my life.
One in Pottsville , One in Millersburg

& Honestly, I Was shocked at Prices then already.

Nothing in them was worth what they were asking.
even Jeans at $10 $15 were overpriced

I'll stick to Doing Yard/garage sales.
$2.00 for Jeans $5.00 Tops if the tags are still on them.
& 50 Cent T-shirts

But avoid Buying at most Annual Community Yard sales.
These have become Buisnesses also.
They would rather put it in storage for another year
Then sell it for a Buck or 2

[LM]

But avoid Buying at most Annual Community Yard sales.
These have become Buisnesses also.
They would rather put it in storage for another year
Then sell it for a Buck or 2

I think it depends on the area.
Tomorrow, Whiting, Indiana is having their annual Garage-Mahal event, where the whole town has their garage sales at once. I'll probably go, just because that area is right in the sweet spot of the sorts of areas that produce good sales.

It's a very old, established area. When grandpa dies and they clean out the basement, it's all stuff from the 50's, 60's... It's been working class forever, meaning people always had a little money to spend. Unlike wealthier areas that tend to drastically overprice their stuff or poorer areas that tend to have garbage, areas like this are usually made up of people cleaning out their garages and basements, estate sales, etc where sometimes, good stuff can be had cheap since they just don't care about wringing out every last nickel.

[LM]

I think it depends on the area.
Tomorrow, Whiting, Indiana is having their annual Garage-Mahal event, where the whole town has their garage sales at once. I'll probably go, just because that area is right in the sweet spot of the sorts of areas that produce good sales.

It's a very old, established area. When grandpa dies and they clean out the basement, it's all stuff from the 50's, 60's... It's been working class forever, meaning people always had a little money to spend. Unlike wealthier areas that tend to drastically overprice their stuff or poorer areas that tend to have garbage, areas like this are usually made up of people cleaning out their garages and basements, estate sales, etc where sometimes, good stuff can be had cheap since they just don't care about wringing out every last nickel.

OK, so, self-quotage...
Couple weeks back, hit the Whiting Community Sale.
Spent about $100, am over $800 back so far in resales.

Examples: Bought an Espresso Machine, like new in box (used 1 time, per the seller), for $5, resold on craigslist for $40.
Bought a World Timer Three Dial Clock for $3, brought $90 on fleabay....

The absolute gem (not included in the above totals) was a vintage midcentury modern tension/pole hanging lamp with wood detail elements from the 60's that was at an estate sale, disassembled and hastily tossed into a corner. Apparently, the painters took it down and couldn't figure out how to get it back up. Paid $15 (and spent another 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get the damn thing in the car)... closest sale price I've found online for a comparable unit was $600. There's apparently a pretty strong demand for them. I'm very picky on personal home decor but this definitely made the cut, so the reward was well beyond financial. It's now part of my life.

All in all, the trip was WELL worth it. Most of it got rained out, which was a bummer, but even in the 4-5 hours we worked the map, we were able to cover 50% of the town and hit dozens and dozens and dozens of sales, while occasionally doing the 'tactical drive-by' on sales that didn't look fruitful.

[SCdigger]

I now consider it a challenge to find something Goodwill missed. I used to buy books, untill they relized somebook are worth more than what they use to sell them for. I did pick up a Boy Scout of America Monopoly Game for $9 today. I should make a little profit from ebay. The item number is 170636791029, I do not know how to post the url for the actual auction.

$35!!! good flip!

GT

[fmerg]

most of the thrift shops are managed by a larger group
how ever there is always hope look for your local food pantry or church run thrift store
they only answer to their selfs

[bootybay]

Goodwill here, sucks, over priced and the place has a stench to it... that grosses me out to begin with.

thrift stores.. locally owned and operated for the area hospital here.. they have a ridiculous price guideline list they have to go by, prices are outrageous..Now they opened one up, up the street from me, after one year, they decided to try a experiment, everything in the store is one buck.. so I will see if I can get designer jeans there to flip ...remember too, soon parents will be looking for name brand jeans for their kids for school.. But, back to this one dollar thrift store experiment, I first thought, yea right, all the good stuff will go to the somers point thrift shop, theres no housewaress in this 1.00 shop now, just clothing.. it will be interesting to see..however, I did get a nice leather jacket for one buck for hubby.. thinking will stock up on leather jackets for flea bay..and jeans of course..

love those yard sales, but some folks think they all got that million dollar item, heck some are priced so high that for 2 bucks more I can get the item new... those I wont buy from.. ya just can't fix stupid.. I swear..

but I do love those good deals to flip on ebay.

heres one for you gents that you might not know..women love perfume, get to know what name brands are hot..even if the bottle is half full..IT SELLS... am drop dead serious.. just go look on ebay you'll see. heck they even buy empty bottles of certain perfumes like shalimar.. kinda funny on that one...

yard sales I LOVE, gonna speed it up for this summer I do believe, get my winter stock for flea bay.

[WIT]

But avoid Buying at most Annual Community Yard sales.
These have become Buisnesses also.
They would rather put it in storage for another year
Then sell it for a Buck or 2

Not always the case. I just returned from the 100 mile, lower Mississippi Valley "garage sale" and I did quite well.

I always do.