DONE with Goodwill!

[kali_is_my_copilot]

Just wanted to share something that happened here over the weekend/today. Saturday evening I stopped in at my neighborhood GW store like I do several times a week (since it's close, I never find much at that location but why not if I'm already getting groceries or visiting my LCS or whatever), found some jewelry I was on the fence about since I left my wallet at home and just had a little cash on me, and decided to leave it till my next visit. I did pick up a replacement corkscrew for some friends I was going to see afterwards and made conversation (about jewelry) with the cashier while being rung up. Another employee came up just in time to hear me complaining about how picked-over everything is for the most part due to stores funneling inventory to their auction site and she started going on & on about how if I thought that was bad I better get ready for NO JEWELRY. I couldn't get a straight answer re: when this would be happening, or if it was just this store or all of the stores (at least 6-7) in our metro area, so I blew it off and went about my day.

Today I swing by to see if the items I had looked at were still there and found NO JEWELRY. Ok, I had been warned, but this seemed a little sudden? Come to find out, Saturday was literally the last day, they pulled it all after the store closed. Called another local store to verify and was told that it's a city (possibly region)-wide decision. It's not like I ever found *that* much good stuff at their stores, but I had some decent silver scores there last year (a 6 oz .925 plate, some silverware and some jewelry, all different locations) and at least they used to be fun to shop in even before I started treasure hunting. They had already been segregating their "good" stuff into the overpriced "in-store boutique" Julia's Attic, and guess what? That stuff all started disappearing a month or two ago but I figured it was just a couple of stores and didn't pay that much attention. I guess if I have a burning need for some busted, over-priced electronics or used Wal-Mart/Target merch at original retail price (or worse!) I know where to go but for the time being I am done with that organization. Sorry for the rant but it seems so antithetical to the concept of "thrift store", and finding unexpected things that are interesting or thought provoking if not necessarily materially valuable (also it kind of pisses me off).

 

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[pong12211]

Like anything else money is the root of all evil and it is unfortunatley what drives this world. Goodwill making millions on donated items kind of ironic.

 

[kali_is_my_copilot]

I want to know what the hell they're doing with all of that money. I guess first I'd like to see the books for their online side and THEN ask them what exactly they're doing with all of that money. Not much opportunity to improve people's lives through work or community service when they don't have enough stock to fill shelves or drive sales in their stores. After my trip today I visited their site for the first time in months and saw large lots of costume junk going for hundreds of dollars while listed next to lots (some sizeable) made up of piddly 10k & 14k scrap, like broken crap and single stud earrings, I just don't get it. No they probably can't find all of it but they're obviously being pretty thorough to have found what they did, even if I had $250 to blow I don't have the time or fortitude to potentially go through 15-20 lbs of someone else's garbage and not find anything. Not all at once anyway lol, I currently have at least 2-3 times that amount of junk jewelry sitting in bins in my office but there was a goodly amount of PMs and nice vintage costume stuff pulled out of it before it ended up there.

 

[pong12211]

I want to know what the hell they're doing with all of that money. I guess first I'd like to see the books for their online side and THEN ask them what exactly they're doing with all of that money. Not much opportunity to improve people's lives through work or community service when they don't have enough stock to fill shelves or drive sales in their stores. After my trip today I visited their site for the first time in months and saw large lots of costume junk going for hundreds of dollars while listed next to lots (some sizeable) made up of piddly 10k & 14k scrap, like broken crap and single stud earrings, I just don't get it. No they probably can't find all of it but they're obviously being pretty thorough to have found what they did, even if I had $250 to blow I don't have the time or fortitude to potentially go through 15-20 lbs of someone else's garbage and not find anything. Not all at once anyway lol, I currently have at least 2-3 times that amount of junk jewelry sitting in bins in my office but there was a goodly amount of PMs and nice vintage costume stuff pulled out of it before it ended up there.

Oh Im sure there are some real honest hardworking suits pocketing that money.

 

[Beachkid23]

Are good will stop selling jewelry here about two years ago. That used to stick a piece of gold or silver in their case along with all their junk jewelry. But that all came to a screeching halt. Now anything of value goes to the site. The stores are still full all the time though. I don't understand what's in there to buy that's worth it. There is a thrift store down the road that is 10 times better than Goodwill. It's called Salvation Army! And then there's another one that's family rug that's better. I don't even bother with Goodwill anymore so overpriced for such garbage. The toys irritate me the most. They will have brand-new open toys from stores there and if a toy was $24 on the shelf there they're asking $19.99. The things open and it's missing parts. I bought boat covers there one time they were taped shut and the manager said they just came in from the store brand-new. They had maybe six boxes of them. I bought them all for $15 apiece went home and they were all moldy inside of them. Now their return policy is that I can only trade for something in the store. There's nothing there worth trading for! But there's plenty of opportunity other places than to spend money on stuff at those stores. Actually the only thing I found there in the last couple months was a Texas instrument calculator for $10. And I drive by the store every day it's baby five blocks from my house and I won't even bother anymore.

 

[Pointman]

You should be able to see there books. I think there is a law that it is public information especially for a company that gets donations. I am not sure if they have it online-more than likely you have to ask. Off course, they can report their numbers however they like.

 

[Indian Steve]

I read recently that 3% of profits at Goodwill actually go to help people. Our local regional manager make $450,000 a year and that is the low end of regional manager pay. I still buy at Goodwill but donate to the local Community Storehouse. They convert all of their profits into food that they donate to locals in need.

 

[kali_is_my_copilot]

It's not so much a matter of being able to access the books, I'm sure there are quarterly & annual reports available and more specific regional details are subject to public scrutiny as well. It's more like what difference would it make anyway, and it would probably be depressing, I suppose I was being rhetorical lol. There are better thrift shops so I'll show my disgust by taking my $ elsewhere and supporting local businesses & actual charities.

 

[cyberdan]

Oh Im sure there are some real honest hardworking suits pocketing that money.

you use that word "suits" in the same way I do. A Derogatory, put down term! I have not put on a suit since I got married 25 years ago, it won't fit me now.

 

[GlenDronach]

Like this?

Goodwill's Charity Racket: CEOs Earn Top-Dollar, Workers Paid Less Than Minimum Wage | John Hrabe

 

[kali_is_my_copilot]

It's just such a blatant racket, this article is two years old ffs but it (and many others similar in both content and memorability) must have just gotten lost in the noise I guess? When frequenting GWs I would check out people in the donation line and what they were dropping off, I'm already thrifting when most people are at regular God-fearing day jobs so why not a little people watching. It's mostly older ladies on the smaller side or harried-looking mom types and I'm pretty sure that they all genuinely believe they're paying it forward by donating to a charity.

I don't feel that there is ever any justification for encouraging shameless wage discrimination directed towards vulnerable job seekers, but wait, there's more! In my experience a huge chunk of GW staffing needs are met by "allowing" people to fulfill community service requirements of their probation or parole arrangement. I had a brief stint with mandated CS myself once but I sought out a small non-profit thrift and did the minimal paperwork required to have them approved as my unpaid part-time job. People go to GW for this because it's easy, their friends did it, it's at the top of the list they get from their probation officer. I don't doubt that in addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise just dropped off at the door and thousands of hours of free or deeply discounted man power per week my local GW organization enjoys significant tax & employer regulation leeway vis a vis both city & state governments, and they're getting a nice chunk of that money back eventually so why not?

 

[diggummup]

I read recently that 3% of profits at Goodwill actually go to help people. Our local regional manager make $450,000 a year and that is the low end of regional manager pay. I still buy at Goodwill but donate to the local Community Storehouse. They convert all of their profits into food that they donate to locals in need.

Goodwill gets a bad rap because of their large size and number of retail outlets, and they are one of the higher priced thrift stores out there. That being said they are also one of the cleanest and best organized as well. According to records, Goodwill Industries International earns $5 billion revenue per year, and they spend about 83 cents of every dollar earned on programs and services for people in need. It is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges. Goodwill raises money for their programs through a chain of thrift stores which also operate as non-profits. The current President and CEO of Goodwill is Jim Gibbons, who in 2011 received a total reported compensation of $725,000. Read more here- snopes.com: Executive Salaries in Charities

 

[Paleo_joe]

I want to sell at retail. Goodwill wants to sell at retail. I can't begrudge them that - they're under no obligation to wholesale me stuff so I can sell at a profit.

BUT as far as wages: This is society where maximizing investor profit by minimizing worker wages (down past the poverty point) is reckoned as the ultimate good a corporation can do. We reward bankers and CEOs who figure out ways to do that with millions of dollars. Goodwill is no different. When we created a society in which profit is the measure of right and wrong, and when we made the free market an idol, and when we granted corporations the same rights as a human being, this is what we get.

 

[mugsisme]

It is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges. Goodwill raises money for their programs through a chain of thrift stores which also operate as non-profits.

I thought GW was a FOR PROFIT store? Every time they ask me to round up, I always say no.

 

[Drmad7]

I always round up when asked. I've made so much money from them...its the least I could do. Our local GW do their auction in the store, and not online, so I still have a fair chance to win the items. And if I bid someone up(or they bid me up) I know it only helps GW and the folks they service. My goal is to buy their items as cheap as possible and their goal is to sell it for as much as possible.

 

[Slingshot]

Yeah, I started noticing GW going downhill beginning about 15 years ago when things in a lot of different catagories started "not" appearing at their retail sites as they had in the past. Just more and more and more JUNK which mostly should be headed to a landfill. Then whenever they had something decent, the price rivaled full retail for the same new thing in a regular retail store. So, caveat emptor - buyer beware, not much actual good will going on at these places anymore, and just one more example how the average Joe is conned into believing he is helping other people like himself when he makes a donation to that corporate entity which high-grades everything and not much quality merchandise actually gets through to economically challenged people who could really use it and appreciate it.
I have them on my personal boycott list and won't be wasting my time in their establishment anymore.

 

[Keppy]

I thought GW was a FOR PROFIT store? Every time they ask me to round up, I always say no.

What does ..round up .mean ?

 

[meanpc]

What does ..round up .mean ?

Keppy, when you check out- say your total is 12.68. The clerk will ask if you would like to round up to $13 as a donation to Goodwill.

 

[boogeyman]

The GW by me is a rip period! They have a "job training center" most of the time the lights aren't on, and there's a table with a couple 286 PCs. Asked the lady what the program consisted of. She replied, They provide a place where an individual could access the web to find a job. Cmon, couldn't come up with a better story??

What turned me away for good was 1. when I needed to find a 5 1/2 floppy drive to recover some data from some floppies for a friend. Last place I checked was this GW. Believe it or not they had one! Get this! It had a thirtyfive dollar price tag!?!? Asked the lady if that was the right price since they were selling them for $5 on Ebay. Her response? Get this "Well, we have overhead." Told her I had brains & common sense! Walked out. 2. Helping a neighbor clear out a relatives house and she was emphatic we donated to GW. Pulled up, the guy comes out and digs through the bags in my trailer. Pulls out the three best items and says that's all they want!?!? Needless to say ALL the stuff went to a church thrift store that actually does good for people. That was four years ago & was the last time for me.

 

[boogeyman]

Keppy, when you check out- say your total is 12.68. The clerk will ask if you would like to round up to $13 as a donation to Goodwill.

Or anytime you get hit with this or any of the donate your change things use my come back! "How about donating $10.00 to the FMFB foundation?"

What's the FMFB you say?

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