posted on August 29, 2000 06:31:47 PM new
Yes, so much for the Goodwill stores and also for the local Catholic charities (St. Vincent De Paul) it is unbelievable how most of the things there are heavily damaged and chipped or cracked. I think this is an outrage - who would buy this junk ? Things like this should be placed in the trash and not piced and placed out there to be sold ! Going there is a waste of time and I am certainly no longer going to donate any of my things to Goodwill, knowing the cream is being skimmed off and never reaches the showroom floor! I will consign my used clothing and furniture to the trash before donateing any more ! These stores deserve to have to close their doors, shame on them! I think a TV show should do an expose and go in there with a camera crew and expose the miserable junk that is being pawned off on the public - then maybe folks will stop donateing to them and have garage sales instead.
posted on August 29, 2000 06:42:20 PM new
At least they are putting the stuff out there. I overheard our local thrift store owner talking about how full her house is of all the good things(antiques & collectables) that people give to her. Most people donate things to the store thinking they are helping someone in need. Ha! When you pay for whatever you buy at the counter she's crying about how she needs money to do this and that for her store. Needless to say, she (the owner) does not have a good reputation in our town.
posted on August 29, 2000 07:33:19 PM new
I've experienced about the same as written about here re: SA etc.,--VERY SURPRISED-- at local large pet charity!It has a "private"(viewable--from a distance) mezzanine with the better items--none of us (town residents) ever allowed in there-owner/mgr.has an "upcoming auction" mailing list-none yet-3 or 4 years now......I surfed a bit at shopgoodwill.com (GWs auction).....the little I saw was uninteresting....but I'll check another time. Eliza
posted on August 29, 2000 08:01:41 PM new
Good thread!
I think that when most people donate items to the charity, they are in good condition.
Its when I see them load them on the truck from my porch, how they are thrown in the back, how they are handled at the 'sorting room' and finally, how they are hadled by the customers and cashiers..is when a lot of the damage is done.
I have bought items, and have had the cashiers (at value village) just drop breakables into the bags.
Now, I 'help' them to wrap them properly. They just don't seem to care....When I was a youngster the 'Goodwill' was run by little old ladies that were delighted to have anyone purchase their items, and treated their customers royally!
posted on September 3, 2000 02:18:40 AM new
I was in my favorite thift store the other day..... one that was cheap until resently and I heard the manager talking to someone about how to price the items..... They mentioned e-bay and kovels.... it is getting to the point where they are cutting us, the middle man out
posted on September 4, 2000 02:44:06 AM new
thriftysalez
You are right that not all thrift shops gouge the customer. I know of a couple that have a fixed amount they charge for each item, regardless of brand name, new with tags, ect. The prices these stores charge are no way near 1/3 retail (way too much for a used item), more like 1/10 or less. They also have progressive tag sales. Full Price, 25% off, 50% off, 75% off and finally $.25 (no items are excluded).
When we go into these stores, we usually load up (if they have a lot of good stuff).
We have gone into value village and found a Liz Claiborne evening dress for $49, then gone into our favorite store and found the same dress for $5.99 (in perfect condition).
People go into a thrift shop looking for a bargain. Some people shop there because they cannot afford to shop at retail.
If a thrift store is charging consignment store prices the bargain hunters will go elsewhere.
I've been a Goodwill hunter for a long time now and I've noticed a pattern. The good stuff (usually overpriced) almost always does not sell and sits there untill they are finally forced to mark it way down. 95% of it makes it all the way to $.99 tag sale days, because even 50% off is too much to pay. The stuff that is excluded with special tags never sells. I've seen stuff sitting for months.
They just don't seem to get it. Price it cheaper in the first place and they would sell it without having to mark it down. If their prices were lower, they would make more $$, because it would not sit untouched till $.99 tag day. I personally would rather sell a nice item for $8.00 - $12.00 than sell it for $.99.
I won't even go into the shops that re-tag the nice items before tag sale days.
posted on September 4, 2000 07:48:51 AM new
We have the same problem here with our goodwill and salvation army stores. Items are being priced so high that the folks that need to shop in these stores can't not afford to do so, the items are in such bad shape and the prices are higher than shopping at the local Kmart or Walmart, Our goodwill is located just between the two stores, so they are losing business since people can get it new cheaper.
I recently went to goodwill for the first time in many months, found some vintage tupperware, sign says 25 cents unless otherwise marked, all items were marked about 50 cents except one, so I assume it's 25 cents, I go the cashier, and she rings up $1.00 so I question this, and she says that this item isn't considered a 25 center. I didn't buy, it was for personal use and there is no way I would pay that much for when the set wasn't complete. It was indiv. jello cups and there were a couple missing.
I also found a mens suit, which is what I primarily sell on ebay, the pants were covered with paint so I asked for a discount since they would and should be thrown away and was told no, they can't give any kind of discount and they would sell that suit to someone else, eventually. Which I doubt for what they were asking for it $20, all other suits there were $8 which is still rather high.
I am lucky though we have a small private thirft store, which is run by the Mentally Handicapped, they price things very fairly and if you discover something that is not priced fairly, they will nego., they don't price things with cracks and chips at more than a quarter no matter who the marker is and even more pricey items are very reasonable. I also live in a city , size is about 8000 in the summer and 2000 in the winter, we have 15 antique shops. Lot of competition means lower prices.
I go to the city once a month to check out the salvation army and another thrift store, but I usually can find things in my own town, much better quality and much cheaper.
Eliza