Conversation over heard at GW - GW employees can now buy off the floor

Beans

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Drmad7

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My local Goodwills do not allow employees to buy anything from the store in which they work. But they are free to shop at other GW stores. And everything from Goodwill is not donated. My local Goodwills BUY the salvaged and clearance items from BigLots and Target Stores. I regularly buy new iPhone cases and other things from there. Back in 2005-2008 before EVERYBODY was broke, I used to time the clearance and Target and if I didn't buy an item before at a certain clearance price, I would then go to Goodwill and sometimes get lucky and buy it even cheaper!
 

tamrock

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I just saw a lady putting up the jewelry in the cases of a ARC store and there was a little pile in the corner not put in yet and they get 10% off anything in the store. I looked through that pile and found a 14k pendant for $19.99 and it was clearly a 2 + gram piece of gold. She saw me pick it up and head to the check out. She ran after me and said I picked up something she put aside for herself. She said it's okay I take it, but then she said, would you maybe tell me what I was going to list it under on eBay so she could see what it sells for? I said why do even think that's what I'm going to do with it? Then she gave me a sad look and said she really was going to buy it as a gift for her mother. :(... We then stopped talking and just looked each other in the face for about 15 seconds. I began to struggled with the thought of buying it with that look she gave me and handed it to her thinking karma was involved hear in this situation and said here "it's yours". It kind of pissed me off for a time, but the next day or maybe 2, I found this 208 gram English sterling plate made in 1863 for for under four bucks at a flea market. Funny how that goes?? To me the employees incentive to by at a discount is a good thing for them and just one more kink in the hose for me. You just got to have the tenacity to deal with all the elements of finding that treasure.
 

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GlenDronach

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Yes, but if employees buy the good stuff, that's less traffic in the store from people like us who are in there for the deals. I bet a significant portion of TS business is people looking for items in niche markets or some form of arbitrage.

It's like the estate sales that use eBay asking prices as guides for their sales...you may win a few times but in the long run no one's going to want to pay your stupid prices.
 

gilgar

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My daughter works at Goodwill. They are not allowed to shop in their own store nor can they set things aside. In addition her family is not supposed to shop in her store but if they (I) insist then we just have to go to a different cashier. she gets a 20% employee discount at any other Goodwill store.
 

srcdco

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Keep in mind that Goodwill stores are locally owned and operated, so each "company" has it's own rules. My wife works at one of the Goodwill stores operated by Goodwill of the Finger Lakes (Rochester, NY). Their rule for employee purchases is that the employee can not purchase any items with the current weeks color tag. Once the color changes (Saturday morning), they can purchase it and get a 15% discount. Now, what some employees do is hold an item until late Friday, price it and put it on the floor just before closing on Friday, then go in first thing on Saturday and purchase the item. They just can't be caught doing it or they will be fired. As far as family members go, we can purchase anything anytime, although the last time I was in and the store manager saw me, she asked my wife why I was there and what I was buying. I'm still not sure what that was all about.

Scott
 

cyberdan

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looked each other in the face for about 15 seconds....with that look she gave me

That look may be practiced in the mirror. Do you have daughters? I have one and know the look you got. It works on me most of the time.
 

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