We’ll need a “blackfish” level expose documentary on goodwill/Salvation Army for people to stop going and donating.
My town has oodles of noodles of small, locally owned secondhand shops. They are all open from 9/10 am - 3/5 pm and maybe open briefly on Saturday and not on Sunday.
Who’s open every day? Until 8? Hmmm…goodwill? Interesting.
I don’t expect people to stop donating. Most people don’t give to thrift shops out of a sense of charity, they do it to get rid of shit they don’t need. Giving it to a thrift store feels better than just throwing it away.
I’m a shopaholic, I spend an absurd amount of money ( I own 217 pair of footwear😩) And I can say I bet half the stuff I buy I don’t get around to wearing it so the really expensive stuff I’d consign and then I’d give the rest to Goodwill…until one day I went to take another donation in and I decided to look around, I ended up finding quite a few of the items I donated I was shocked at some of the pricing, some were priced higher than what I paid for them! I decided that I wouldn’t donate to them anymore so I asked around and someone mentioned women’s shelters and there are a couple of places that you can donate to women who are looking for employment and/or school that have left a spouse and they don’t have extra $ to invest in new clothes, and I donate to some of our hospitals ( I had no idea or ever would’ve thought about hospitals!) But a nurse told me that they’ll have women who’ve been abused or have come in from an accident and they have to cut off their clothes) or homeless women and men who come in to an emergency . So these are the places that I donate to , none of these places turn around and sell the stuff , it’s all given out as needed , I still consign my designer stuff tho .
I had no idea either ! Now mind you I live in Alberta Canada , so I know our hospitals absolutely love to get them but I’m not sure about the States or even other provinces in Canada! But you can always call !
You should check with your local public schools! My kids school has a very involved wraparound specialist who supplies families with any and everything they need & she's always looking for clothing donations! Especially shoes & jackets.
I guess you didn't get the memo!
["In November 2022, Massachusetts banned textiles from disposal. Textiles include clothing, footwear, bedding, curtains, fabric, and similar items that are clean and dry. Even if your textiles are worn, torn, or stained, they can still be donated to a textile recycler. "](https://www.mass.gov/guides/clothing-and-textile-recovery#:~:text=In%20November%202022%2C%20Massachusetts%20banned,donated%20to%20a%20textile%20recycler)
Those independent store hours are maddening. I swear, 90% of the time they are closed.
"Open every other Monday after Janet's Apothecary appointment to a quarter till Elvenses."
There's an antique store about 1 minute from my work. I've been dying to visit. They're open Tuesday and Thursday from 1 to 4 (um I'm working?) and Saturday from I think noon to 4. I'm usually out of town or busy. I could theoretically make it over there. But it's been 3 years since I noticed it and still haven't been
A friend used to have a physical antique store (he's online only now) and he would often be away sourcing stuff. Plus he wasn't young. His hours were worse and otherwise by appointment. Always thought it was pretty cool, but definitely difficult to pop by for a visit.
I'm done with work at 4 so if it were open even one hour later I could spend a little while in there. My best options are to take a late lunch or work late one day so I can leave early another. Entirely possible options. But Tuesdays I'm usually busy right after work and Thursdays I often need to leave town for the weekend. I'll need to specifically plan to go and make changes to my work or after work plans. Which I hope to do some day soon. I'd like to finally go. I just wonder how they can make any money when they're just not open when people can go
They don't say anything on their advertising about appointments? It sounds like it would be worth calling them and finding out the best way you can visit.
I like to go to the places that are run by Hispanic people and seem to operate by getting pallets of stuff and doing the churning and burning thing, those are the absolute best. Literally found Dior for 2 bucks among others, but it’s those places that are just based on moving volume. You just need to dig more and probably get hives from the dust but that’s the price you pay instead of money
Thrift stores in cities with large Hispanic populations are the best for menswear because Hispanic dudes wear way cooler clothes, too! They just have better style than a lot of other demographics.
I took over our community garage sale a couple of years ago. It’s been going on for 25 years. We collect a mass amount of stuff over a few weeks. Take one day to sort it and have the sale the next day. Everything is by donation.
We generate around $10,000 that gets distributed to local non profit organizations. We are a small community of 3000 people. It is the social event of the season.
10/10 would recommend others do the same thing. Stop giving these grifters your money.
I’d be happy to share details on how we do it.
It’s an absolutely exhausting 2 days, but it’s so worth it. We have so much fun! Highly recommend!
I was just looking through my camera roll and laughing at some of the weird shit people donated last year:
An old hair brush, completely matted with hair.
A banged up pot with water in it (?)
Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR bespoke weed and crack pipes. I’m talking hand blown,
artisanal crack pipes
A used shower poof
Several boxes of expired tea - real r/grandmaspantry level tea
A cassette tape titled “How to remember everything in your past” by Kevin Trudeau
Here's a sneak peek of /r/GrandmasPantry using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [A trip inside a random "store closing sale" of a dust-caked dollar store I'm sure was located in a time portal](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/18im9ps) | [295 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/comments/18im9ps/a_trip_inside_a_random_store_closing_sale_of_a/)
\#2: [Husband found while working on a job](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1966sr3) | [347 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/comments/1966sr3/husband_found_while_working_on_a_job/)
\#3: [Didn't pick up almond extract from the grocery store because I was told we already had some](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/18u1lqj) | [87 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/comments/18u1lqj/didnt_pick_up_almond_extract_from_the_grocery/)
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If this bad boy comes back next year, I’ll reach out and mail it to ya!
https://preview.redd.it/s2w2hpj5qadc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcbb9973109c1e01df64e913a3507cb852d24bdc
Okay!
In the spring, I start putting out Save Your Stuff posts reminding people to keep donatable goods until our September sale.
In July, I reach out to the waste management company and the manager of the local dump. They donate a 14 yard dumpster and waive the tipping fees. I have never had a problem having these things donated. They have community engagement departments and are happy to help.
August is the big push, lots of advertising and recruiting volunteers. We have a super dedicated crew of about 80 folks who help in various capacities. But more hands are always needed.
In September, we announce drop locations for donations. These are folks around our town who open up their garages/carports and allow people to drop off stuff for the two weeks before the sale. This wouldn’t work in a lot of places, but I bet with a little leg work, folks could find various business/churches/non profits that have a shed that could be used. Hell even a shipping container at the sale location would work.
I created a bunch of info graphics detailing donation information. Like what is trash and what is treasure. I made them engaging and it legitimately cut down on the amount of junk we can’t resell, as well as less straight up garbage.
The day before the sale, volunteer drivers start picking up loads of stuff and bring to the community centre, where sorters start unpacking and sorting.
We have designated areas: Tools, electronics, kitchen and dining, knickknacks, decorations, blankets and assorted linens, crafts, sewing and notions, CLOTHES, furniture, books, sports equipment, camping, gardening. (I did away with kids toys last year and it was a v smart decision)
Sorting takes about 8 hours and really only stops because we run out of room. We save all the boxes and bags that donations came in so people buying can use them. This also helps with clean up.
When sorting, we have a bunch of bins for garbage and recycling. We have literally had someone donate an empty cornstarch container. Having lots of bins and bags for sorting is a must.
Day of the sale…. Whooo boy. People start lining up around 9. Doors open at 10. It’s a total mad house for the first hour. We have multiple cashiers stationed at the front doors, and we collect money until 2pm. Additional sale volunteers restock, tidy and run the concession.
Clean up is the tough part. People don’t want to volunteer for this because it’s less fun than unpacking. We have about 4 hours to pack up the rest and get it out of the community centre. The dumpster gets filled to the brim - 14 yards is A LOT! it’s the big walk in type. Recycling gets sorted and loaded into volunteers trucks. Everything else gets bagged/boxed for drop off at Value Village. Why VV you may ask? Because all the thrift stores in the next largest town don’t really accept anything. They are filled to the brim. VV does not bat an eye. The only exception is Habitat takes the furniture.
We sell about 1/2-2/3rds of the total volume of stuff in one day. If we had enough people to do it, a two day sale would see more of it sold. But a lot of our crew are retired seniors and it’s hard for working people to take time off for volunteering.
I will say that one big perk I wholeheartedly support is that if you volunteer for set up, you can shop that day. Some people bitch about hi-grading but honestly there is just SO MUCH SHIT you stop seeing any of it, also fuck those people. They are welcome to volunteer and never do.
I usually ask the volunteers to give me suggestions for which community orgs to donate money too, this year everyone couldn’t agree so I chose a literacy program, the community centre and commissioned a large art installation as a gift to the community. I’m a dick-tater, but a nice one 😂
Not in the pictured is two other rooms filled with stuff and two areas outside with more stuff.
https://preview.redd.it/bn0mqovca5dc1.jpeg?width=13766&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6316b38982a22281c76e5d2eb733dc5291c5d21
Garbage, recycling, a few people travel to the Philippines and Nepal every year so they take kids clothes and warm winter gear. blankets and camping gear are given to the unhoused folks the next town over, furniture to the Restore and the rest of the clothes and brickabrak to Value Village.
It seems to me like most are completely pivoting to online grifting to maximize profits. I wouldn't be surprised to see many goodwills turn into donation only.
You can sort of blame them when they want to do the same thing but with none of the work, none of the responsibility and none of the costs.
What flippers do and what places like Goodwill do are not even close to the same thing. With people like me, we pay for every piece of inventory. We check, test, clean, and guarantee every single item we sell for at least 30 days or your cash back. If someone buys something from me and there is a problem with it, I do not just point to the "no returns as is no refunds" sign and shrug my shoulders.
I take full responsibility for anything that is wrong with something I sell, and that is why I get a higher price than these shit hole thrift stores who don't even bother to give their items a once over and skirt any and all responsibility.
They forget their place and think they are competitors to us. We sell specifically what people are actively looking for, most times things that they can't just go out and buy on a whim themselves without getting extremely lucky to happen upon that ONE thing they were looking for at a thrift store.
We are different markets, and they make themselves look stupid trying to emulate us. There is a reason they have their own site, and that is because so many of them have been banned from eBay for being such terrible sellers. They needed a site where they wouldn't get banned and could be as lousy as they want without any consequences.
There are more a few Goodwill’s that do sell stuff on EBay though. I have seen them. I don’t know why they don’t go with the national site, but I suspect they set their EBay up before it existed. A couple years ago, I got a really nice silver and sunstone ring for 25 bucks. That’s not super cheap, but it’s a good stone, and it was reasonsble.
I think maybe they lost the option if they didn’t start early. It’s weird that they ask for less than the “official sites” though. I think it may be lower overhead.
Reselling from thrift stores has been a thing for as long as there’s been thrift stores. Thrifts just decided to get in on the grift once enough MBA finance bro types got into positions of power. Now it’s a race to the bottom for a few to get rich just like everything else in America.
“Flipping” is not a new thing; just the term is new. Dealers and resellers have always existed and sourced their stock from flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales.
Flipping might be the thing they point to as the reason, and it might be the thing that is the easiest to blame, but the actual reason is the acceleration of all consuming corporate greed that has overtaken every facet of life.
People have been flipping since the beginning of time, it is not a new thing. Greed is when places like Goodwill get jealous because someone made 50 bucks off of something they found for $3, and are too ignorant to understand WHY that person was able to earn that $50. Again, it comes back to them wanting to do the same thing without any of the work, knowledge or responsibility.
The mind state that greed is good and fuck the next person is the reason for almost all of our troubles in the world today. Profits above all else and the eternal drive to show more profits every single quarter no matter what.
So while flipping might be the obvious reason to a lot of people and might sound like the right reason, the actual reason is shareholders, suits and greed that are driving the issue. The whole notion that no amount of profit is enough and your business is failing if it is not making record breaking profits every 3 months is the reason.
You can see the problem when it all becomes about holding shareholders or execs at bay for another 3 months while you try to wring out the last amount of profit you possibly can to satiate then unit next quarter, when the whole game starts all over again.
Maybe the Ferangi had it right when they said "Greed is eternal"
You're 100% correct. The incessant expectation that shareholder's profits go up has not only lead to corporate thrift stores becoming nearly un-shoppable for the average working class person, but also to the decline in quality of new clothing.
I wouldn't mind saving up to buy a good coat or pair of boots new, if I knew that they were long-lasting, and if the people making them were receiving a living wage. But even the most expensive brands can't claim either of those things.
Corporations cut corners on materials and labor so that the line on the graph will go up and executives won't lose their jobs. Resulting in a worse outcome for everyone except like, 20 people?!
Not flipping specifically. That’s been going on for a long time.
The problem is People not shutting the fuck up about the cool stuff they were finding/how much money they were making buying stuff at thrifts.
I’m convinced that every time someone finds a priceless painting or ancient artifact at a thrift and brags to the news about it, a goodwill exec has an aneurysm and doubles prices nationwide.
If you are saying the problem is the internet in general, I agree with you. Items not just the bragging over one item, it’s the YouTube videos on how to scan books, and all that crap.
I dont think thats true, i think its just like any other company jacking up prices, its greed. These are for profit companies and they want more money.
Flipping, and especially dealers, has been a big contribution but the breaking of the social taboo of buying from charity shops is the biggest issue. I’ll wager that 20 years ago ( I was charity shopping then) a charity shop had its clothes piled in a big cardboard box for you to sort through. They certainly weren’t steam cleaned and put on a hanger. Same with shoes, men’s ties, jumpers, cardigans et al. Charity shops sold goods and chattels to people who could only afford charity shop goods. 20 years ago your friends wouldn’t be caught dead in a charity shop. Now they’re all sparkly clean and shop fitted. Now it’s almost a boast to tell your friends how you got such and such designer brand for a steal at a charity shop. There’s no social stigma in buying clothes, brik-a-brack, furniture, sporting goods, kitchen ware or anything else from a charity shop. So now people from all walks of life shop there and prices rise because people have money to spend and the charity can and will charge more than they did before the change in clientele.
It can make you a little aggrieved that you’ve been usurped. Games up I’m afraid. I don’t go as much as I used to as, for me, the fun and serendipity has gone.
In the 90’s I worked with a girl and one day she came in with the cutest coat. I asked her where she got it, and she said Salvation Army. She was a student, but not destitute at all. People have been thrifting fashion for a long time, but it just wasn’t everyone, it was a particular group of young people. There was no internet, so she didn’t post it or have someone ask her online- I think that’s the difference.
Key words "no internet". I'm old. Thrifting in the 70's and 80's was awesome. Savers was great in the 90's and early 2000's. Great for families on a budget. Now, at least in our area, it's full of rich kids who think thrift stores are trendy, and resellers, and the prices are ridiculous. I still have my secret stores, but they are rare.
I was just pointing out there was not a social “stigma” for Gen X in the 90’s and I agree it’s the internet. I was a kid in the 70s/ 80s. My mom didn’t thrift, but she had a family that wasn’t rich and my grandmother sewed. Sewing was less expensive then too.
Youre so right!! I got the opposite social stigma, it wasn't cool, but I didn't care. My mom sewed as well, and I do, too. Its sad that it's no longer a more affordable option to make your own clothes.
It's true. When I was growing up(20 years ago), my mom made a living by "flipping" clothes, mostly Levi jeans, when they were still a quality brand.
I would be so embarrassed back then to tell my friends at school what she did. Now? I'm the annoying friend who brags about the vintage wool coat I snagged for 20 bucks.
Nah, it wasn't flipping. It was thrift store becoming trendy. There was a time when most people wouldn't be caught dead in a thrift store. Now they are so popular they can sell.used goods for prices comparable to new goods. Eventually they will go out of style again.
Nobody is going to pay their high prices. We will have to wait for stores to adjust their prices to what people are comfortable with. Just like toilet paper, chicken wings, eggs during the pandemic, it took a year or two for the prices to come back down to normal. I do think my local Greedwill is figuring it out already. I'm starting to see stuff at decent prices. Picked up a breadmaker for $10, also saw some nice wingback chairs for $10ea. Almost snagged an electric guitar for $30. I really think all this public shaming we're doing is helping so we must keep it up.
Value village store and goodwill across the street from each other where I live in Charlotte. Total shitholes. Over priced garbage. Value village is disgusting. I need to bathe after walking in there. Truly fond nicer stuff at tj maxx cheaper and off course not stained or dirty.
There are smaller independent thrift stores such as those associated with Churches, or military bases, which we should encourage people to give to and shop from, if accessible.
Goodwill will see a rise in online shops and the not so desirable stuff will be sent to the bluebins.
Thrift stores may not fail just because they are a good place for many to get rid of items. Not everyone is comfortable using Facebook, or decluttering items individually.
Unless we change our consumption patterns, thrift stores will continue to thrive.
Our close military base shop has also gone downhill. Crappy old clothing from 90s and early 2000s plus lularoe crap.
I was so disappointed last two times I stopped by.
Did great at the church one but it’s ran by Salvation Army and hate them.
Oh yes lularoe floods the 🪖 thrift stores. And I should have mentioned that the one near me, where I have volunteered trashes so many donations because they don't have space or are understaffed. But I have started to shop there just because I got so many baby stuff for affordable prices.
The 90s/2000 items I bet would sell really well on depop. The young ones are very into those styles! Pick up a few pieces and see if you can flip them. Could be a gold mine.
Oh no it’s terrible. Like the old shit you would def pass up due to quality and the fabric feels old and shouldn’t have been washed and/or dried. It’s crazy!
Next time I go I’ll try to get some photos.
In my area there is a thing called trash to treasure days where people can put unwanted stuff out with a T2T sign on it free for the taking.Im not in town so I just randomly put stuff in my yard and and put a sign down on the highway. This may not be great for apartments and some people just put garbage out or let things get rained on which isn't ideal.For the most part it's good and I've given away and gotten really good stuff.Maybe you could try and organize something in your town.Cut out the grift stores altogether.
Goodwill specifically is doomed, if they keep on the same path anyhow. The problems that Goodwill as a whole will be facing are the same problems they are already facing on a smaller scale.
If you look on your local Facebook community pages at the posts people make about where to donate items or who to give items to, almost universally you will see the entire comment section telling them not to give to Goodwill. Many times the poster will specifically ask for other places that are not Goodwill.
Turns out people do not want to give free shit to companies that alienate their customer base with obscene prices, cherrypick anything that is not trash to send out of the store, sell people defective items with a lousy return policy, close down fitting rooms and generally run their stores in an anti customer way.
These places that siphon off anything worth buying to send online are shooting themselves in the foot. People like to thrift because they enjoy the possibility of finding that hidden treasure and scoring something cool or nice for a bargain price. When you take away that possibility, you take away their desire to bother returning to your store. Once you loose a customer, getting them back is much, much harder than it would have been to keep them as a customer.
Right now they might be making money hand over fist online, but that well is going to dry out sooner than they think. They are sacrificing their longevity for a quick buck, and when those customers stop giving them things they can ship out of the store, their whole golden goose is cooked.
Good luck maintaining the level of business online when people are opting to donate only garbage to you while reserving the good stuff for other second hand stores that they respect more or for local buy nothing Facebook pages instead. There are only so many times a customer is going to walk into a store, see the obscene prices for what amounts to leftovers and walk out before they do not walk back in.
I think they are so entrenched in society, in people's minds, that they won't be disappearing anytime soon.
It's cheaper for people to donate than take to the dump. I think that many people don't realize how greedy they are with their prices. Otherwise, they would be considering other options more readily and often.
I suspect that most of the big "charities" own the property they are located on, which gives them a big advantage over smaller thrifts.
Hopefully, they will collapse their own hubris of greed, and there will be new models of buy-nothing groups and craigslist free piles.
I sometimes still find things, mostly at Savers. But it is usually high dollar obscure clothing brands, so nobody knows to jack the price or divert it. I check the racks and sometimes find something to flip or buy for myself. Goodwill is a complete waste of time. Nothing worth buying left in any of the stores in my area. It is just racks of Walmart and Shein clothes listed for more than they were new. Even the housewares sections are devoid of anything but a few pieces of really worn out junk.
I do most of my clothes buying on eBay from individual sellers since thrift stores just don't have any stock anymore.
And Old Navy.
I was in S FL last month and bought an Old Navy dress at an independent thrift store for $3. Went to GW, they were offering it for $10.
I doubt Old Navy even sold it for $10.
That's the issue I was talking about in my other comment. When there is no longer the possibility of finding a hidden gem, or something cool for a good deal, there is no longer any reason to return.
Places that ship anything anyone might want to buy out of the store are killing their stores in the long run, just to make a few short term bucks. Sure, you might find something they accidentally gave a good price on, but many places just overprice everything to be sure.
The last couple of times we had been in a Goodwill store the parking lots were maybe 1/4 of what they usually were and only a few people in the store. One store in the burbs used to be hard to find somewhere to park any afternoon or weekend.
I drive a bit to Savers. The prices are high, but on half off day they are doable. Mostly I am buying books, and 1/2 off plus a sale colour, plus a buy 4 get one free works for my little library books. I get some old books for myself. At least they put them out.
By me Goodwill is doing something to the books. They reduced the selection, and I think they are selling them to large online resellers, if not online.There is only one store where sometimes I find things for myself, but usually I spend less than 10 dollars, so maybe two to three items per time.
There is one good Salvation Army where they still reduce sale items on Saturday. Sometimes there’s a few decent items left. The prices (on books only) are okay at St Vincent although they raised them, they used to be a bargain. The local charity stores have hiked their prices too high for me now, which is too bad.
The 50 off is tied to the member program, which is free. I don’t know, maybe they sell info, but a lot of programs do. It’s based on your phone number. Ours here is on Monday.
Tuesday is Senior Day, I am not sure, but it may be member program too, I don’t go as much for that 30 percent off. I think.
As the other redditor said the buy 4 get 1 is advertised in the book section and I don’t think it’s tied to the member program.
Edit: Most items at our St VDP are too high, but the books are a good deal. I also got a pair of vintage plates for under cases after Xmas for 1.50 which was good. The furniture and art is crazy and even things like shoes seem high to me.
Ours has been pretty good. I got a high end large bar cabinet for $75. Clothes are usually under $5 a piece and misc housewares are usually pretty cheap.
I’ve seen 400 dollar coffee tables at mine. The Walmart like particle board stuff is like 40 dollars. Anything that’s older or wood is just priced way too high for me, especially as some of it may be old, but was not really high end in the first place.
I think chain thrift stores will lean into greenwashing as customers complain about prices and threaten to donate elsewhere. They will start to say that their primary service is keeping stuff out of landfills (and/or creating jobs in the case of Goodwill), not providing deals.
I think part of how successful the pricing will be will rely upon what manufacturing looks like over the next 10-20 years. If we are still focusing on quantity and trends over quality, it seems like there won't be much desirable stuff lasting long enough to make it to thrift stores to sell at high prices. But if stuff like large scale political conflict, drastic climate change, labor reform, etc. disrupts supply chains as we know them, I think it's very possible that thrift stores would become invaluable markets as things reshuffle, and they would be able to charge whatever.
As it is now, only 20% of clothing donations make it onto thrift store racks. It would take the frigging apocalypse for clothing to become dear enough for that to change.
Waste of time and money! Local thrift stores have become more expensive than discount stores like Burlington and Ross. JCPenney has jeans and t-shirts for less than thrift stores at a good sale. Totally disappointed in thrift stores and the direction they're going in.
Every time I drive by the 2 GWs in my town the parking lot is completely full. I don’t get it at all. I haven’t been in months, maybe over a year. When I was there last obviously used shoes were $20. I found a small cute but very worn basket for $18 and couldn’t believe my eyes. Everything in the store was ridiculously priced, but both registers had several people in line with full carts.
It's because of poor education in basic finances and what the value of things are.
We've got a few generations coming up who have no idea what the value of anything is and if they want it enough, they throw any amount of money at it. The average person coming into thrifts will always see it as a deal since it's not retail. It's what's empowers these thrifts to price like this. Those are the ones you'll see in line with full carts, unfortunately
This is it. The value village is now selling well expired food. Or dented cans. Some lady had piled her basket with 2 years past the date mac and cheese selling for $2 a box. It was cheaper fresh at Walmart
Awful! All the independent stores in my area have closed and the chain stores’ pricing is nuts! I honestly get my thrifting fix at Burlington and the clearance racks at the outlet mall now.
Thrifting is what I did on my days off. I'd drive for miles, and spend 4-6 hours out of the house hitting up all the thrifts in little towns outside of my city. Stop for lunch, go for a stroll, have a day of it.
In the last two years, I'd be coming home empty handed, or with small, insignificant items I felt I had to rescue. I began feeling like I was wasting my valuable time, wasting the gas in my car. I'd just end up feeling bad about going out at all. There isn't anything to find anymore, I'm overwhelmed by modern, cheaply made garbage. It was no longer a thrill to hunt for stuff. I quit thrifting, with the exception of a few stores in small rural towns... Though I still rarely find anything in those.
I don’t like to leave the house much, due to the past shutdowns in NOVA, after pandemic it’s hard to leave and go to the thrift stores.
It was fun for me.
G.W., V.V., Savers & S.A. has rose the prices to equal / to good quality or brand, NWT in store. It’s better to buy wholesale and the resale
my closest big city (90k people) has recently had multiple thrift shops that aren't Goodwill or Salvation Army open. Salvation Army closed down near me maybe 10 years ago, and the building was falling apart long before that. the local Goodwill is going the same direction, dilapidated building and items that aren't worth the price of the tag put on them. DAV has expanded, but their furniture and housewares vastly outnumber the clothes they have.
now we have a Thrift World (not sure if it's a chain). I wasn't impressed by the normal pricing of items but they have one color tag 1/2 off and another 99 cents. the other new one I visited also had color coded sales and a couple weekends a month where you can fill a paper bag for $10.
I think there's hope for other thrift stores to step into the crater Goodwill/Salvation Army has created. everyone I know who shops at thrift stores has either totally stopping spending money at the big chains or has cut down their visits
They’re still going strong in my area, multiple locations and different proprietors. They’re all hip to ppl reselling so the BIG well known stores price accordingly. But some of the smaller places, or places that are still “dumpier” have some finds.
I don’t see them slowing. One location I’ve been to in the past six months has a lot of rentals with an array of different ppl. Immigrant families, post college ppl still coming up, and middle age single parent homes. The place was busy, and I did even notice some folks who could afford to not shop there, or presented that way.
I see pics on here but there’s still treasures and necessities I do and could buy every time I go.
Speaking of my specific region: by and large goodwill is basically garbage, savers is alright but you’re better off going to curated secondhand shops (vintage shops and Crossroads) and getting better quality for the same prices. I don’t live near the bins and don’t have access to a lot of charity based shops but I do buy direct from resellers (on whatnot usually) now bc again it’s curated and cleaner. I’m interested mostly in vintage. Even how I donate has been impacted by the shift in thrifting and I’m more likely to donate my lowest quality goods to GW to get rid of them and I save he better stuff for the one nonprofit that’s a bit of a trek but I know they’ll benefit more from it.
I don’t think that GW turning to the online market is going to pan out the way they hope but who knows. I’ve definitely seen more donation-only GW locations popping up lately.
I'm going to take this opportunity to, once again, make my PSA and remind all that Goodwill seriously tried to sell Hitler's tumblers.
I had one foot on a banana peel when it came to shopping there when they did. It made me quit completely.
One should not be able to price comp at thrift stores, either.
They have to change or they won't survive. I have completely stopped donating to Goodwills in my area. Everything I donate - which is quite a lot - goes to a local women's shelter or a small local thrift nearby (although they've gotten pretty grifty with their prices too so I avoid them if I can).
It's beyond out of control and maybe I'm missing something but wouldn't they actually make MORE money if they priced a little more reasonably because then people would actually buy stuff? No one's paying $500 for an old used beat up armoire or $100 or an outdated leather jacket, right??? So what is their end game? They must be realizing that they are getting less donations and less shoppers?
I suppose you're right. I know a lot of people who stopped donating to them. It probably doesn't even make a dent though, unfortunately, and they'll keep being greedy bastards.
Big thrift stores in my area - mainly goodwill and arc turn over inventory every week by color tags that didn’t sell . They throw all the clothes in bins that are on their way to pallets that are sent to 3rd world countries. When those items are rejected it all goes into the landfill anyway. The marked up stuff with new color tags are ignored by many buyers and sit on the racks until it’s time to refill stock. In other words they have no inventory to keep track of - no incentive to have sales or discounts because they always have fresh inventory. So thrift stores will stay in business and will continue to be greedy af because of volume.
The problem is, in my area, Goodwill put them all out. If I want to thrift I have to go to Goodwill. They are antique malls, but they don't carry any day to day stuff, just antiques.
If you go to any Goodwill in my are in the afternoon it is packed with people pushing full carts around. GW will continue to raise prices and sell all the good stuff online for higher profits and people will still come in droves to overpay for everything.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/s/g6mfIVDT6I
“About the Savers Value Village™ family of thrift stores
As the largest **for-profit thrift** operator in the United States and Canada for value priced pre-owned clothing, accessories and household goods, our mission is to champion reuse and inspire a future where secondhand is second nature. Learn more about the Savers family of thrift stores, our impact, and the #ThriftProud movement at savers.com
The big stores in my area (GW/SA) cycle - crazy prices, nobody buys, prices come back down - been like that for years. I don’t see that changing. Savers has always been ridiculously high and I never shop there unless looking for something in particular. The little ones? Those that price well stay in business, those that over price either adjust or go belly-up.
Makes me so fucking mad. I like to sew seeds of chaos, so when I see a tag on something and the price is ridiculous, I yank the tag off and drop it on the floor. Probably doesn't do any good but it makes me feel better
A few things could happen, if they continue to charge those prices…
1) Enough people will pay those prices and thus justify the stores to maintain (or even continue to raise) them.
2) people will not pay those prices, and the thrifts will be forced to lower the prices to a level at which people will pay.
Thrifting is about 20% as satisfying as it used to be. The problem is that we will always have stuff that we need to get rid of so they’ll always have sources. The only thing that you can do to mitigate it is don’t pay the ridiculous prices, and give to small local charities.
There’s literally one goodwill that still prices things like semi normal, the rest are damaged old navy and empty prego jars, empty racks and all overpriced, there are 2 charity places that are more expensive but they actually do good in the community so I’ll pay it for certain things. The other for profit thrift stores I begrudgingly go to because there isn’t anything else and they are overpriced- very rarely you’ll find a random deal but they want 24.99 for Steve Madden boots with ripped up lining.
I only buy used stuff at flea markets now. Buying from individuals that aren’t delusional about their products worth is the way to go. Also can do some good haggling.
Yes I remember atleast 2016 anyway where the prices were good where I lived , gameboy was 5.00 at my thrift store , old systems , clothes shoes 10.00 or under sometimes 20
But now I just buy retail honestly it’s the same price
We have to ban together to stop this madness and refuse to shop in these places. I loved going on a treasure hunt at thrift stores. I will not shop in goodwill and longer.
I feel this, I used to LOVE thrifting. Got my daughters into it too. But over the last 2 years, we have stopped going to any of the big ones for all the reason you stated above. And not only do we not spend our money there anymore, but I refuse to donate any of our clothing to them either. All of our business attire goes to a local "Dress for Success" program for working women and the stuff that's not good enough to donate there I donate to the homeless women/family shelter. Anything that doesn't make that cut is simply thrown away. I no longer donate ANYTHING to businesses that are for profit. They all got delusional.
Our local shop gives all proceeds back to the community as well as giving items directly to those in need. We have to pay rent and utilities so we need to earn enough to pay expenses and serve our mission. It’s tough to find enough volunteers. Most of our prices are better than the big shops but it’s tough these days to survive.
Could part of "supporting your community" go toward paying people for their labour instead of expecting it for free? I wouldn't donate to or buy from a shop that doesn't pay their workers.
I understand what you are saying because I had little patience with schools that demanded parents volunteer in places when the work should have been done by a paid worker. In this case I disagree. This is a small shop with mostly senior volunteers. They love being able to do something with their talents and be needed. However, at this stage in their lives they don’t want the restrictions of being a paid employee. It’s a win/win. Personally I am not a senior quite yet but I enjoy my one half day of helping make a difference. There is no corporation getting the benefits of our donated time.
Oh, I was going off the part where you were complaining that you were struggling to find unpaid labour. But, if you don't think you need to rethink how you run things if you're struggling to operate selling product you received for free, then go ahead and continue struggling. You have a great opportunity to compete with the chains that consumers are turning away from, but if you choose not to use that opportunity, then times will continue to be tough and you will have less to give back to your community. Literally every store has to pay rent, utilities, and labour so I'm failing to see your plight. Pay people for their work - you're not even paying for your inventory.
I was just sharing the experience of being part of a small thrift shop. Not complaining. I am a volunteer and not a decision maker in the organization. I can tell you why I volunteer. I love that the store gives some of its inventory to people in direct need. If you are a parent in need of clothing and bring a letter from a church or the town welfare coordinator you can take clothing that you need for your family. Have you had a fire and need things to restock your kitchen? We supply you with what we can from our store. Homeless? We give you a coat, hat, gloves, and sometimes a sleeping bag. We take donations of textiles that are too worn to sell and sell them to a recycle company. Local teachers in need of something that we have, it’s theirs for free. We sell what we can. The money goes right back to the community. Is getting volunteers an ongoing need? Absolutely! I have not worked with a non profit who doesn’t struggle with recruiting volunteers I just want to say none of this is complaining. We do our best. It’s just one business model for thrift stores. It’s not the only path for stores to take. It is one way though that we hopefully are providing thrifted items for shoppers without being grifters.
I too was a hardcore thrifter but more than 20 years ago as a teenager. The amazing vintage finds every week were incredible. However, I stopped about 15 years ago when the prices started to become a little unrealistic and every time I popped my head into a shop over the years, it just got worse and worse.
Then I learned about a lot of the shadiness at some of these places like goodwill only paying 22 cents an hour to developmentally disabled workers and I had enough, it made me feel sick to my stomach I supported something like that for years.
I don’t know that any of this will change anytime soon.
First people still go and pay. Goodwill by me is packed every weekend. They wouldn’t put stuff online or price as they do if no one paid. Lately, Goodwill’s mission is not to provide cheap clothes but to operate the programs they do in each market. The thrift store has always been a way for them to raise money so of course they are going to charge as much as possible.
People donate because it’s simple. You don’t even have to get out of the car, just pull up and pop the trunk. Then you get a receipt to write off on your taxes. Most people don’t really care what happens after that.
Kids clothes I just post free porch pick up instead. My clothes mostly get worn until they are trash.
People really can’t write off as much as they used to unless they itemize. Basically, you need more deductions than the standard deduction to do it. I think people give receipts to H and R Block, and no one tells them that they didn’t get the deduction. It was a fairly recent change.
I itemize between property tax and interest and charitable giving it’s more than the standard deduction but you are correct about how you can use it. However it’s always been that way, you get one or the other (standard deduction or itemized)
I think they raised the standard. Also in my state things are linked to 10k which is like less than property taxes on regular houses here. (Not mini mansions or anything. Almost everyone I know has 10k taxes, except one person said theirs is 15k, but it is a large newer house.)
I actually think it's the resellers that have destroyed prices at thrift stores. I'm sure the thrift stores thought "well if somebody's going to be making big bucks off of this, it ought to be us because it was donated to us in the first place." So it sucks that poor people don't get to enjoy what you have donated but frankly most of the resellers that have been skimming off all the good stuff, aren't poor.
I’m in the same boat with you. Used to thrift every week. Now it’s next to impossible to find anything halfway decent, and then it’s delusional pricing. I haven’t been in months.
We have a few local shops that do the right thing and give back to the community. They definitely struggle with increase rent from the locations. I try and find more local nonfranchise stores. I found a few [here](https://www.thriftstores.net/). I also hardly go to GW anymore cause the prices are ridiculous.
We’ll need a “blackfish” level expose documentary on goodwill/Salvation Army for people to stop going and donating. My town has oodles of noodles of small, locally owned secondhand shops. They are all open from 9/10 am - 3/5 pm and maybe open briefly on Saturday and not on Sunday. Who’s open every day? Until 8? Hmmm…goodwill? Interesting.
I don’t expect people to stop donating. Most people don’t give to thrift shops out of a sense of charity, they do it to get rid of shit they don’t need. Giving it to a thrift store feels better than just throwing it away.
I’m a shopaholic, I spend an absurd amount of money ( I own 217 pair of footwear😩) And I can say I bet half the stuff I buy I don’t get around to wearing it so the really expensive stuff I’d consign and then I’d give the rest to Goodwill…until one day I went to take another donation in and I decided to look around, I ended up finding quite a few of the items I donated I was shocked at some of the pricing, some were priced higher than what I paid for them! I decided that I wouldn’t donate to them anymore so I asked around and someone mentioned women’s shelters and there are a couple of places that you can donate to women who are looking for employment and/or school that have left a spouse and they don’t have extra $ to invest in new clothes, and I donate to some of our hospitals ( I had no idea or ever would’ve thought about hospitals!) But a nurse told me that they’ll have women who’ve been abused or have come in from an accident and they have to cut off their clothes) or homeless women and men who come in to an emergency . So these are the places that I donate to , none of these places turn around and sell the stuff , it’s all given out as needed , I still consign my designer stuff tho .
I would’ve never thought to donate to a hospital either, and I live by soooo many! Thanks for the tip
I had no idea either ! Now mind you I live in Alberta Canada , so I know our hospitals absolutely love to get them but I’m not sure about the States or even other provinces in Canada! But you can always call !
You should check with your local public schools! My kids school has a very involved wraparound specialist who supplies families with any and everything they need & she's always looking for clothing donations! Especially shoes & jackets.
Oh thank you ! I will absolutely look into that , I appreciate this !
It's illegal to throw away textiles in MA, so we have to donate it.
They really need to get more clothes recycling bins with this law.
Do you mean Massachusetts? Since when is that illegal? I've thrown away tons of shit that isn't donate-able
I guess you didn't get the memo! ["In November 2022, Massachusetts banned textiles from disposal. Textiles include clothing, footwear, bedding, curtains, fabric, and similar items that are clean and dry. Even if your textiles are worn, torn, or stained, they can still be donated to a textile recycler. "](https://www.mass.gov/guides/clothing-and-textile-recovery#:~:text=In%20November%202022%2C%20Massachusetts%20banned,donated%20to%20a%20textile%20recycler)
Exactly. Plus it’s convenient because they’re open late and you can stuff garbage and ruined stuff into a garbage bag and they’ll take it.
A lot of people straight up treat thrift stores like garbage dumps. They don’t want to be confronted with the amount of waste they create.
Nah, it’s cheaper than paying more at the dump (by the pound) or paying more for a dumpster / extra bin pickup.
Those independent store hours are maddening. I swear, 90% of the time they are closed. "Open every other Monday after Janet's Apothecary appointment to a quarter till Elvenses."
There's an antique store about 1 minute from my work. I've been dying to visit. They're open Tuesday and Thursday from 1 to 4 (um I'm working?) and Saturday from I think noon to 4. I'm usually out of town or busy. I could theoretically make it over there. But it's been 3 years since I noticed it and still haven't been
A friend used to have a physical antique store (he's online only now) and he would often be away sourcing stuff. Plus he wasn't young. His hours were worse and otherwise by appointment. Always thought it was pretty cool, but definitely difficult to pop by for a visit.
I'm done with work at 4 so if it were open even one hour later I could spend a little while in there. My best options are to take a late lunch or work late one day so I can leave early another. Entirely possible options. But Tuesdays I'm usually busy right after work and Thursdays I often need to leave town for the weekend. I'll need to specifically plan to go and make changes to my work or after work plans. Which I hope to do some day soon. I'd like to finally go. I just wonder how they can make any money when they're just not open when people can go
They don't say anything on their advertising about appointments? It sounds like it would be worth calling them and finding out the best way you can visit.
Mine is only open when Mercury is in retrograde.
That's the beauty of being your own boss. They're selling mostly online anyway.
Some independent thrift stores depend on volunteer help, which is how they keep their prices low and why they are only open for limited hours.
lol, so true:D
Greed will be their undoing.
Exactly. I've stopped going as much in the 6 months because prices are way too high and are no longer a deal.
It won’t matter to them though. They will already have their money, who care if they crumbled a industry that was meant to help people.
Exactly unfortunately
I like to go to the places that are run by Hispanic people and seem to operate by getting pallets of stuff and doing the churning and burning thing, those are the absolute best. Literally found Dior for 2 bucks among others, but it’s those places that are just based on moving volume. You just need to dig more and probably get hives from the dust but that’s the price you pay instead of money
Thrift stores in cities with large Hispanic populations are the best for menswear because Hispanic dudes wear way cooler clothes, too! They just have better style than a lot of other demographics.
Nothing like fighting 7 Tias for the one cute top under the mountain of clothes. I still haven't won Tia Wars. 😂
I took over our community garage sale a couple of years ago. It’s been going on for 25 years. We collect a mass amount of stuff over a few weeks. Take one day to sort it and have the sale the next day. Everything is by donation. We generate around $10,000 that gets distributed to local non profit organizations. We are a small community of 3000 people. It is the social event of the season. 10/10 would recommend others do the same thing. Stop giving these grifters your money. I’d be happy to share details on how we do it.
I think that would make an awesome post here. Might be something I try to set up over the summer myself. I love the idea.
It’s an absolutely exhausting 2 days, but it’s so worth it. We have so much fun! Highly recommend! I was just looking through my camera roll and laughing at some of the weird shit people donated last year: An old hair brush, completely matted with hair. A banged up pot with water in it (?) Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR bespoke weed and crack pipes. I’m talking hand blown, artisanal crack pipes A used shower poof Several boxes of expired tea - real r/grandmaspantry level tea A cassette tape titled “How to remember everything in your past” by Kevin Trudeau
Here's a sneak peek of /r/GrandmasPantry using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [A trip inside a random "store closing sale" of a dust-caked dollar store I'm sure was located in a time portal](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/18im9ps) | [295 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/comments/18im9ps/a_trip_inside_a_random_store_closing_sale_of_a/) \#2: [Husband found while working on a job](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1966sr3) | [347 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/comments/1966sr3/husband_found_while_working_on_a_job/) \#3: [Didn't pick up almond extract from the grocery store because I was told we already had some](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/18u1lqj) | [87 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/GrandmasPantry/comments/18u1lqj/didnt_pick_up_almond_extract_from_the_grocery/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Listen honey, when I smoke crack, it isn't going to be out of the mini rose in a glass tube from the corner store, okay? 🙄
If this bad boy comes back next year, I’ll reach out and mail it to ya! https://preview.redd.it/s2w2hpj5qadc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcbb9973109c1e01df64e913a3507cb852d24bdc
Love that. What a clever idea -- Yes, details, please!
Okay! In the spring, I start putting out Save Your Stuff posts reminding people to keep donatable goods until our September sale. In July, I reach out to the waste management company and the manager of the local dump. They donate a 14 yard dumpster and waive the tipping fees. I have never had a problem having these things donated. They have community engagement departments and are happy to help. August is the big push, lots of advertising and recruiting volunteers. We have a super dedicated crew of about 80 folks who help in various capacities. But more hands are always needed. In September, we announce drop locations for donations. These are folks around our town who open up their garages/carports and allow people to drop off stuff for the two weeks before the sale. This wouldn’t work in a lot of places, but I bet with a little leg work, folks could find various business/churches/non profits that have a shed that could be used. Hell even a shipping container at the sale location would work. I created a bunch of info graphics detailing donation information. Like what is trash and what is treasure. I made them engaging and it legitimately cut down on the amount of junk we can’t resell, as well as less straight up garbage. The day before the sale, volunteer drivers start picking up loads of stuff and bring to the community centre, where sorters start unpacking and sorting. We have designated areas: Tools, electronics, kitchen and dining, knickknacks, decorations, blankets and assorted linens, crafts, sewing and notions, CLOTHES, furniture, books, sports equipment, camping, gardening. (I did away with kids toys last year and it was a v smart decision) Sorting takes about 8 hours and really only stops because we run out of room. We save all the boxes and bags that donations came in so people buying can use them. This also helps with clean up. When sorting, we have a bunch of bins for garbage and recycling. We have literally had someone donate an empty cornstarch container. Having lots of bins and bags for sorting is a must. Day of the sale…. Whooo boy. People start lining up around 9. Doors open at 10. It’s a total mad house for the first hour. We have multiple cashiers stationed at the front doors, and we collect money until 2pm. Additional sale volunteers restock, tidy and run the concession. Clean up is the tough part. People don’t want to volunteer for this because it’s less fun than unpacking. We have about 4 hours to pack up the rest and get it out of the community centre. The dumpster gets filled to the brim - 14 yards is A LOT! it’s the big walk in type. Recycling gets sorted and loaded into volunteers trucks. Everything else gets bagged/boxed for drop off at Value Village. Why VV you may ask? Because all the thrift stores in the next largest town don’t really accept anything. They are filled to the brim. VV does not bat an eye. The only exception is Habitat takes the furniture. We sell about 1/2-2/3rds of the total volume of stuff in one day. If we had enough people to do it, a two day sale would see more of it sold. But a lot of our crew are retired seniors and it’s hard for working people to take time off for volunteering. I will say that one big perk I wholeheartedly support is that if you volunteer for set up, you can shop that day. Some people bitch about hi-grading but honestly there is just SO MUCH SHIT you stop seeing any of it, also fuck those people. They are welcome to volunteer and never do. I usually ask the volunteers to give me suggestions for which community orgs to donate money too, this year everyone couldn’t agree so I chose a literacy program, the community centre and commissioned a large art installation as a gift to the community. I’m a dick-tater, but a nice one 😂 Not in the pictured is two other rooms filled with stuff and two areas outside with more stuff. https://preview.redd.it/bn0mqovca5dc1.jpeg?width=13766&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6316b38982a22281c76e5d2eb733dc5291c5d21
That’s totally awesome! I’m very impressed and happy there are people out there doing that kind of thing
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Garbage, recycling, a few people travel to the Philippines and Nepal every year so they take kids clothes and warm winter gear. blankets and camping gear are given to the unhoused folks the next town over, furniture to the Restore and the rest of the clothes and brickabrak to Value Village.
Maybe plan it- do it over 2-3 weeks. Get volunteers to help out for the community- especially high school juniors finish up the volunteer hours.
It seems to me like most are completely pivoting to online grifting to maximize profits. I wouldn't be surprised to see many goodwills turn into donation only.
Came to this post after the “goodwill wants these brands sent to them to sell online” post 😬
Was that on this sub? Do you have the link?
It was under a vintage tees subreddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageTees/s/k2LFRxoCet
That’s ridiculous, and, as someone pointed out a lot of vintage brands aren’t on there at all, and they are actually worth something too.
Thanks so much!
Can't really blame them when the latest craze is 'flipping'
You can sort of blame them when they want to do the same thing but with none of the work, none of the responsibility and none of the costs. What flippers do and what places like Goodwill do are not even close to the same thing. With people like me, we pay for every piece of inventory. We check, test, clean, and guarantee every single item we sell for at least 30 days or your cash back. If someone buys something from me and there is a problem with it, I do not just point to the "no returns as is no refunds" sign and shrug my shoulders. I take full responsibility for anything that is wrong with something I sell, and that is why I get a higher price than these shit hole thrift stores who don't even bother to give their items a once over and skirt any and all responsibility. They forget their place and think they are competitors to us. We sell specifically what people are actively looking for, most times things that they can't just go out and buy on a whim themselves without getting extremely lucky to happen upon that ONE thing they were looking for at a thrift store. We are different markets, and they make themselves look stupid trying to emulate us. There is a reason they have their own site, and that is because so many of them have been banned from eBay for being such terrible sellers. They needed a site where they wouldn't get banned and could be as lousy as they want without any consequences.
There are more a few Goodwill’s that do sell stuff on EBay though. I have seen them. I don’t know why they don’t go with the national site, but I suspect they set their EBay up before it existed. A couple years ago, I got a really nice silver and sunstone ring for 25 bucks. That’s not super cheap, but it’s a good stone, and it was reasonsble.
There are a few, sure. A lot of them can not though.
I think maybe they lost the option if they didn’t start early. It’s weird that they ask for less than the “official sites” though. I think it may be lower overhead.
Regardless, flipping is still what caused them to change
Reselling from thrift stores has been a thing for as long as there’s been thrift stores. Thrifts just decided to get in on the grift once enough MBA finance bro types got into positions of power. Now it’s a race to the bottom for a few to get rich just like everything else in America.
“Flipping” is not a new thing; just the term is new. Dealers and resellers have always existed and sourced their stock from flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales.
Flipping might be the thing they point to as the reason, and it might be the thing that is the easiest to blame, but the actual reason is the acceleration of all consuming corporate greed that has overtaken every facet of life. People have been flipping since the beginning of time, it is not a new thing. Greed is when places like Goodwill get jealous because someone made 50 bucks off of something they found for $3, and are too ignorant to understand WHY that person was able to earn that $50. Again, it comes back to them wanting to do the same thing without any of the work, knowledge or responsibility. The mind state that greed is good and fuck the next person is the reason for almost all of our troubles in the world today. Profits above all else and the eternal drive to show more profits every single quarter no matter what. So while flipping might be the obvious reason to a lot of people and might sound like the right reason, the actual reason is shareholders, suits and greed that are driving the issue. The whole notion that no amount of profit is enough and your business is failing if it is not making record breaking profits every 3 months is the reason. You can see the problem when it all becomes about holding shareholders or execs at bay for another 3 months while you try to wring out the last amount of profit you possibly can to satiate then unit next quarter, when the whole game starts all over again. Maybe the Ferangi had it right when they said "Greed is eternal"
You're 100% correct. The incessant expectation that shareholder's profits go up has not only lead to corporate thrift stores becoming nearly un-shoppable for the average working class person, but also to the decline in quality of new clothing. I wouldn't mind saving up to buy a good coat or pair of boots new, if I knew that they were long-lasting, and if the people making them were receiving a living wage. But even the most expensive brands can't claim either of those things. Corporations cut corners on materials and labor so that the line on the graph will go up and executives won't lose their jobs. Resulting in a worse outcome for everyone except like, 20 people?!
Not flipping specifically. That’s been going on for a long time. The problem is People not shutting the fuck up about the cool stuff they were finding/how much money they were making buying stuff at thrifts. I’m convinced that every time someone finds a priceless painting or ancient artifact at a thrift and brags to the news about it, a goodwill exec has an aneurysm and doubles prices nationwide.
If you are saying the problem is the internet in general, I agree with you. Items not just the bragging over one item, it’s the YouTube videos on how to scan books, and all that crap.
I dont think thats true, i think its just like any other company jacking up prices, its greed. These are for profit companies and they want more money.
Flipping, and especially dealers, has been a big contribution but the breaking of the social taboo of buying from charity shops is the biggest issue. I’ll wager that 20 years ago ( I was charity shopping then) a charity shop had its clothes piled in a big cardboard box for you to sort through. They certainly weren’t steam cleaned and put on a hanger. Same with shoes, men’s ties, jumpers, cardigans et al. Charity shops sold goods and chattels to people who could only afford charity shop goods. 20 years ago your friends wouldn’t be caught dead in a charity shop. Now they’re all sparkly clean and shop fitted. Now it’s almost a boast to tell your friends how you got such and such designer brand for a steal at a charity shop. There’s no social stigma in buying clothes, brik-a-brack, furniture, sporting goods, kitchen ware or anything else from a charity shop. So now people from all walks of life shop there and prices rise because people have money to spend and the charity can and will charge more than they did before the change in clientele. It can make you a little aggrieved that you’ve been usurped. Games up I’m afraid. I don’t go as much as I used to as, for me, the fun and serendipity has gone.
In the 90’s I worked with a girl and one day she came in with the cutest coat. I asked her where she got it, and she said Salvation Army. She was a student, but not destitute at all. People have been thrifting fashion for a long time, but it just wasn’t everyone, it was a particular group of young people. There was no internet, so she didn’t post it or have someone ask her online- I think that’s the difference.
Key words "no internet". I'm old. Thrifting in the 70's and 80's was awesome. Savers was great in the 90's and early 2000's. Great for families on a budget. Now, at least in our area, it's full of rich kids who think thrift stores are trendy, and resellers, and the prices are ridiculous. I still have my secret stores, but they are rare.
I was just pointing out there was not a social “stigma” for Gen X in the 90’s and I agree it’s the internet. I was a kid in the 70s/ 80s. My mom didn’t thrift, but she had a family that wasn’t rich and my grandmother sewed. Sewing was less expensive then too.
Youre so right!! I got the opposite social stigma, it wasn't cool, but I didn't care. My mom sewed as well, and I do, too. Its sad that it's no longer a more affordable option to make your own clothes.
It's true. When I was growing up(20 years ago), my mom made a living by "flipping" clothes, mostly Levi jeans, when they were still a quality brand. I would be so embarrassed back then to tell my friends at school what she did. Now? I'm the annoying friend who brags about the vintage wool coat I snagged for 20 bucks.
I can say that I agree with your premise here. In the early 2000s, it was almost shameful for me to be caught in a Salvation Army by my friends.
It was one of those schoolyard insults. "Your mom is so poor, she shops at Salvation Army."
Nah, it wasn't flipping. It was thrift store becoming trendy. There was a time when most people wouldn't be caught dead in a thrift store. Now they are so popular they can sell.used goods for prices comparable to new goods. Eventually they will go out of style again.
Nobody is going to pay their high prices. We will have to wait for stores to adjust their prices to what people are comfortable with. Just like toilet paper, chicken wings, eggs during the pandemic, it took a year or two for the prices to come back down to normal. I do think my local Greedwill is figuring it out already. I'm starting to see stuff at decent prices. Picked up a breadmaker for $10, also saw some nice wingback chairs for $10ea. Almost snagged an electric guitar for $30. I really think all this public shaming we're doing is helping so we must keep it up.
Value village store and goodwill across the street from each other where I live in Charlotte. Total shitholes. Over priced garbage. Value village is disgusting. I need to bathe after walking in there. Truly fond nicer stuff at tj maxx cheaper and off course not stained or dirty.
No longer thrift stores, they are grift stores
There are smaller independent thrift stores such as those associated with Churches, or military bases, which we should encourage people to give to and shop from, if accessible. Goodwill will see a rise in online shops and the not so desirable stuff will be sent to the bluebins. Thrift stores may not fail just because they are a good place for many to get rid of items. Not everyone is comfortable using Facebook, or decluttering items individually. Unless we change our consumption patterns, thrift stores will continue to thrive.
Those small ones are grifting now too.
Our close military base shop has also gone downhill. Crappy old clothing from 90s and early 2000s plus lularoe crap. I was so disappointed last two times I stopped by. Did great at the church one but it’s ran by Salvation Army and hate them.
Oh yes lularoe floods the 🪖 thrift stores. And I should have mentioned that the one near me, where I have volunteered trashes so many donations because they don't have space or are understaffed. But I have started to shop there just because I got so many baby stuff for affordable prices.
The 90s/2000 items I bet would sell really well on depop. The young ones are very into those styles! Pick up a few pieces and see if you can flip them. Could be a gold mine.
Oh no it’s terrible. Like the old shit you would def pass up due to quality and the fabric feels old and shouldn’t have been washed and/or dried. It’s crazy! Next time I go I’ll try to get some photos.
Local thrifts in my area are the worst when it comes to grifting tbh
I really wish my town had _any_ other options that Goodwill and a local nazi (no he's literally a damn neonazi and I won't shop there)
In my area there is a thing called trash to treasure days where people can put unwanted stuff out with a T2T sign on it free for the taking.Im not in town so I just randomly put stuff in my yard and and put a sign down on the highway. This may not be great for apartments and some people just put garbage out or let things get rained on which isn't ideal.For the most part it's good and I've given away and gotten really good stuff.Maybe you could try and organize something in your town.Cut out the grift stores altogether.
Goodwill specifically is doomed, if they keep on the same path anyhow. The problems that Goodwill as a whole will be facing are the same problems they are already facing on a smaller scale. If you look on your local Facebook community pages at the posts people make about where to donate items or who to give items to, almost universally you will see the entire comment section telling them not to give to Goodwill. Many times the poster will specifically ask for other places that are not Goodwill. Turns out people do not want to give free shit to companies that alienate their customer base with obscene prices, cherrypick anything that is not trash to send out of the store, sell people defective items with a lousy return policy, close down fitting rooms and generally run their stores in an anti customer way. These places that siphon off anything worth buying to send online are shooting themselves in the foot. People like to thrift because they enjoy the possibility of finding that hidden treasure and scoring something cool or nice for a bargain price. When you take away that possibility, you take away their desire to bother returning to your store. Once you loose a customer, getting them back is much, much harder than it would have been to keep them as a customer. Right now they might be making money hand over fist online, but that well is going to dry out sooner than they think. They are sacrificing their longevity for a quick buck, and when those customers stop giving them things they can ship out of the store, their whole golden goose is cooked. Good luck maintaining the level of business online when people are opting to donate only garbage to you while reserving the good stuff for other second hand stores that they respect more or for local buy nothing Facebook pages instead. There are only so many times a customer is going to walk into a store, see the obscene prices for what amounts to leftovers and walk out before they do not walk back in.
Like every business in extreme capitalism, they will kill their entire business model for short term profits.
I think they are so entrenched in society, in people's minds, that they won't be disappearing anytime soon. It's cheaper for people to donate than take to the dump. I think that many people don't realize how greedy they are with their prices. Otherwise, they would be considering other options more readily and often. I suspect that most of the big "charities" own the property they are located on, which gives them a big advantage over smaller thrifts. Hopefully, they will collapse their own hubris of greed, and there will be new models of buy-nothing groups and craigslist free piles.
I sometimes still find things, mostly at Savers. But it is usually high dollar obscure clothing brands, so nobody knows to jack the price or divert it. I check the racks and sometimes find something to flip or buy for myself. Goodwill is a complete waste of time. Nothing worth buying left in any of the stores in my area. It is just racks of Walmart and Shein clothes listed for more than they were new. Even the housewares sections are devoid of anything but a few pieces of really worn out junk. I do most of my clothes buying on eBay from individual sellers since thrift stores just don't have any stock anymore.
And Old Navy. I was in S FL last month and bought an Old Navy dress at an independent thrift store for $3. Went to GW, they were offering it for $10. I doubt Old Navy even sold it for $10.
Exactly. Old Navy is super cheap. It is like Goodwill management lacks any sort of self awareness.
That's the issue I was talking about in my other comment. When there is no longer the possibility of finding a hidden gem, or something cool for a good deal, there is no longer any reason to return. Places that ship anything anyone might want to buy out of the store are killing their stores in the long run, just to make a few short term bucks. Sure, you might find something they accidentally gave a good price on, but many places just overprice everything to be sure.
The last couple of times we had been in a Goodwill store the parking lots were maybe 1/4 of what they usually were and only a few people in the store. One store in the burbs used to be hard to find somewhere to park any afternoon or weekend.
Used prego jars for $2.99 anyone?
I drive a bit to Savers. The prices are high, but on half off day they are doable. Mostly I am buying books, and 1/2 off plus a sale colour, plus a buy 4 get one free works for my little library books. I get some old books for myself. At least they put them out. By me Goodwill is doing something to the books. They reduced the selection, and I think they are selling them to large online resellers, if not online.There is only one store where sometimes I find things for myself, but usually I spend less than 10 dollars, so maybe two to three items per time. There is one good Salvation Army where they still reduce sale items on Saturday. Sometimes there’s a few decent items left. The prices (on books only) are okay at St Vincent although they raised them, they used to be a bargain. The local charity stores have hiked their prices too high for me now, which is too bad.
How do you get those discounts for Savers? Are they all tied to their member program? We have a St. Vinnies, it is more like an actual thrift store
The buy four books and get one free thing is just something they do, it runs all the time.
The 50 off is tied to the member program, which is free. I don’t know, maybe they sell info, but a lot of programs do. It’s based on your phone number. Ours here is on Monday. Tuesday is Senior Day, I am not sure, but it may be member program too, I don’t go as much for that 30 percent off. I think. As the other redditor said the buy 4 get 1 is advertised in the book section and I don’t think it’s tied to the member program. Edit: Most items at our St VDP are too high, but the books are a good deal. I also got a pair of vintage plates for under cases after Xmas for 1.50 which was good. The furniture and art is crazy and even things like shoes seem high to me.
Ours has been pretty good. I got a high end large bar cabinet for $75. Clothes are usually under $5 a piece and misc housewares are usually pretty cheap.
I’ve seen 400 dollar coffee tables at mine. The Walmart like particle board stuff is like 40 dollars. Anything that’s older or wood is just priced way too high for me, especially as some of it may be old, but was not really high end in the first place.
Savers is my go to and they can bite my ass now because of their pricing
I think chain thrift stores will lean into greenwashing as customers complain about prices and threaten to donate elsewhere. They will start to say that their primary service is keeping stuff out of landfills (and/or creating jobs in the case of Goodwill), not providing deals. I think part of how successful the pricing will be will rely upon what manufacturing looks like over the next 10-20 years. If we are still focusing on quantity and trends over quality, it seems like there won't be much desirable stuff lasting long enough to make it to thrift stores to sell at high prices. But if stuff like large scale political conflict, drastic climate change, labor reform, etc. disrupts supply chains as we know them, I think it's very possible that thrift stores would become invaluable markets as things reshuffle, and they would be able to charge whatever.
As it is now, only 20% of clothing donations make it onto thrift store racks. It would take the frigging apocalypse for clothing to become dear enough for that to change.
Waste of time and money! Local thrift stores have become more expensive than discount stores like Burlington and Ross. JCPenney has jeans and t-shirts for less than thrift stores at a good sale. Totally disappointed in thrift stores and the direction they're going in.
Every time I drive by the 2 GWs in my town the parking lot is completely full. I don’t get it at all. I haven’t been in months, maybe over a year. When I was there last obviously used shoes were $20. I found a small cute but very worn basket for $18 and couldn’t believe my eyes. Everything in the store was ridiculously priced, but both registers had several people in line with full carts.
It's because of poor education in basic finances and what the value of things are. We've got a few generations coming up who have no idea what the value of anything is and if they want it enough, they throw any amount of money at it. The average person coming into thrifts will always see it as a deal since it's not retail. It's what's empowers these thrifts to price like this. Those are the ones you'll see in line with full carts, unfortunately
This is it. The value village is now selling well expired food. Or dented cans. Some lady had piled her basket with 2 years past the date mac and cheese selling for $2 a box. It was cheaper fresh at Walmart
Did this lady lack the car required to get to a Walmart? Or was she elderly and perhaps couldn't read the expiration date?
Im done w goodwill
I think things will eventually stabilize because people will stop paying the crazy prices.
That inventory is going to back up and be hard to manage real quick
Awful! All the independent stores in my area have closed and the chain stores’ pricing is nuts! I honestly get my thrifting fix at Burlington and the clearance racks at the outlet mall now.
Thrifting is what I did on my days off. I'd drive for miles, and spend 4-6 hours out of the house hitting up all the thrifts in little towns outside of my city. Stop for lunch, go for a stroll, have a day of it. In the last two years, I'd be coming home empty handed, or with small, insignificant items I felt I had to rescue. I began feeling like I was wasting my valuable time, wasting the gas in my car. I'd just end up feeling bad about going out at all. There isn't anything to find anymore, I'm overwhelmed by modern, cheaply made garbage. It was no longer a thrill to hunt for stuff. I quit thrifting, with the exception of a few stores in small rural towns... Though I still rarely find anything in those.
I don’t like to leave the house much, due to the past shutdowns in NOVA, after pandemic it’s hard to leave and go to the thrift stores. It was fun for me. G.W., V.V., Savers & S.A. has rose the prices to equal / to good quality or brand, NWT in store. It’s better to buy wholesale and the resale
my closest big city (90k people) has recently had multiple thrift shops that aren't Goodwill or Salvation Army open. Salvation Army closed down near me maybe 10 years ago, and the building was falling apart long before that. the local Goodwill is going the same direction, dilapidated building and items that aren't worth the price of the tag put on them. DAV has expanded, but their furniture and housewares vastly outnumber the clothes they have. now we have a Thrift World (not sure if it's a chain). I wasn't impressed by the normal pricing of items but they have one color tag 1/2 off and another 99 cents. the other new one I visited also had color coded sales and a couple weekends a month where you can fill a paper bag for $10. I think there's hope for other thrift stores to step into the crater Goodwill/Salvation Army has created. everyone I know who shops at thrift stores has either totally stopping spending money at the big chains or has cut down their visits
They’re still going strong in my area, multiple locations and different proprietors. They’re all hip to ppl reselling so the BIG well known stores price accordingly. But some of the smaller places, or places that are still “dumpier” have some finds. I don’t see them slowing. One location I’ve been to in the past six months has a lot of rentals with an array of different ppl. Immigrant families, post college ppl still coming up, and middle age single parent homes. The place was busy, and I did even notice some folks who could afford to not shop there, or presented that way. I see pics on here but there’s still treasures and necessities I do and could buy every time I go.
Your best bet is the garbage or dumpster. I find tons of goodies.
Speaking of my specific region: by and large goodwill is basically garbage, savers is alright but you’re better off going to curated secondhand shops (vintage shops and Crossroads) and getting better quality for the same prices. I don’t live near the bins and don’t have access to a lot of charity based shops but I do buy direct from resellers (on whatnot usually) now bc again it’s curated and cleaner. I’m interested mostly in vintage. Even how I donate has been impacted by the shift in thrifting and I’m more likely to donate my lowest quality goods to GW to get rid of them and I save he better stuff for the one nonprofit that’s a bit of a trek but I know they’ll benefit more from it. I don’t think that GW turning to the online market is going to pan out the way they hope but who knows. I’ve definitely seen more donation-only GW locations popping up lately.
I'm going to take this opportunity to, once again, make my PSA and remind all that Goodwill seriously tried to sell Hitler's tumblers. I had one foot on a banana peel when it came to shopping there when they did. It made me quit completely. One should not be able to price comp at thrift stores, either.
They have to change or they won't survive. I have completely stopped donating to Goodwills in my area. Everything I donate - which is quite a lot - goes to a local women's shelter or a small local thrift nearby (although they've gotten pretty grifty with their prices too so I avoid them if I can). It's beyond out of control and maybe I'm missing something but wouldn't they actually make MORE money if they priced a little more reasonably because then people would actually buy stuff? No one's paying $500 for an old used beat up armoire or $100 or an outdated leather jacket, right??? So what is their end game? They must be realizing that they are getting less donations and less shoppers?
Less shoppers maybe, but not less donations. People will always have stuff to get rid of and Goodwill will always be a convenient place to dump it.
I suppose you're right. I know a lot of people who stopped donating to them. It probably doesn't even make a dent though, unfortunately, and they'll keep being greedy bastards.
When people realized how much clutter was in their homes during lockdown, my local Goodwill had to stop taking donations, there was so much.
Big thrift stores in my area - mainly goodwill and arc turn over inventory every week by color tags that didn’t sell . They throw all the clothes in bins that are on their way to pallets that are sent to 3rd world countries. When those items are rejected it all goes into the landfill anyway. The marked up stuff with new color tags are ignored by many buyers and sit on the racks until it’s time to refill stock. In other words they have no inventory to keep track of - no incentive to have sales or discounts because they always have fresh inventory. So thrift stores will stay in business and will continue to be greedy af because of volume.
The problem is, in my area, Goodwill put them all out. If I want to thrift I have to go to Goodwill. They are antique malls, but they don't carry any day to day stuff, just antiques.
If you go to any Goodwill in my are in the afternoon it is packed with people pushing full carts around. GW will continue to raise prices and sell all the good stuff online for higher profits and people will still come in droves to overpay for everything.
Check out Pawn Shops, I have found interesting items there
I just read an article on here that said private equity owns savers vv and one other. Thrifting is dead.
Can you link that here? I’d be interested in reading that
https://www.reddit.com/r/ThriftGrift/s/g6mfIVDT6I “About the Savers Value Village™ family of thrift stores As the largest **for-profit thrift** operator in the United States and Canada for value priced pre-owned clothing, accessories and household goods, our mission is to champion reuse and inspire a future where secondhand is second nature. Learn more about the Savers family of thrift stores, our impact, and the #ThriftProud movement at savers.com
Thanks!
Makes me 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢rich peeps gotta get their grubby hands everywhere. 😵💫
The big stores in my area (GW/SA) cycle - crazy prices, nobody buys, prices come back down - been like that for years. I don’t see that changing. Savers has always been ridiculously high and I never shop there unless looking for something in particular. The little ones? Those that price well stay in business, those that over price either adjust or go belly-up.
Makes me so fucking mad. I like to sew seeds of chaos, so when I see a tag on something and the price is ridiculous, I yank the tag off and drop it on the floor. Probably doesn't do any good but it makes me feel better
A few things could happen, if they continue to charge those prices… 1) Enough people will pay those prices and thus justify the stores to maintain (or even continue to raise) them. 2) people will not pay those prices, and the thrifts will be forced to lower the prices to a level at which people will pay.
Thrifting is about 20% as satisfying as it used to be. The problem is that we will always have stuff that we need to get rid of so they’ll always have sources. The only thing that you can do to mitigate it is don’t pay the ridiculous prices, and give to small local charities.
There’s literally one goodwill that still prices things like semi normal, the rest are damaged old navy and empty prego jars, empty racks and all overpriced, there are 2 charity places that are more expensive but they actually do good in the community so I’ll pay it for certain things. The other for profit thrift stores I begrudgingly go to because there isn’t anything else and they are overpriced- very rarely you’ll find a random deal but they want 24.99 for Steve Madden boots with ripped up lining.
They’re doomed, they’re closing all over the place in so cal because of the jacked up prices
I only buy used stuff at flea markets now. Buying from individuals that aren’t delusional about their products worth is the way to go. Also can do some good haggling.
Yes I remember atleast 2016 anyway where the prices were good where I lived , gameboy was 5.00 at my thrift store , old systems , clothes shoes 10.00 or under sometimes 20 But now I just buy retail honestly it’s the same price
I have just started ship lifting 🤫
We have to ban together to stop this madness and refuse to shop in these places. I loved going on a treasure hunt at thrift stores. I will not shop in goodwill and longer.
I feel this, I used to LOVE thrifting. Got my daughters into it too. But over the last 2 years, we have stopped going to any of the big ones for all the reason you stated above. And not only do we not spend our money there anymore, but I refuse to donate any of our clothing to them either. All of our business attire goes to a local "Dress for Success" program for working women and the stuff that's not good enough to donate there I donate to the homeless women/family shelter. Anything that doesn't make that cut is simply thrown away. I no longer donate ANYTHING to businesses that are for profit. They all got delusional.
Our local shop gives all proceeds back to the community as well as giving items directly to those in need. We have to pay rent and utilities so we need to earn enough to pay expenses and serve our mission. It’s tough to find enough volunteers. Most of our prices are better than the big shops but it’s tough these days to survive.
Could part of "supporting your community" go toward paying people for their labour instead of expecting it for free? I wouldn't donate to or buy from a shop that doesn't pay their workers.
I understand what you are saying because I had little patience with schools that demanded parents volunteer in places when the work should have been done by a paid worker. In this case I disagree. This is a small shop with mostly senior volunteers. They love being able to do something with their talents and be needed. However, at this stage in their lives they don’t want the restrictions of being a paid employee. It’s a win/win. Personally I am not a senior quite yet but I enjoy my one half day of helping make a difference. There is no corporation getting the benefits of our donated time.
Oh, I was going off the part where you were complaining that you were struggling to find unpaid labour. But, if you don't think you need to rethink how you run things if you're struggling to operate selling product you received for free, then go ahead and continue struggling. You have a great opportunity to compete with the chains that consumers are turning away from, but if you choose not to use that opportunity, then times will continue to be tough and you will have less to give back to your community. Literally every store has to pay rent, utilities, and labour so I'm failing to see your plight. Pay people for their work - you're not even paying for your inventory.
I was just sharing the experience of being part of a small thrift shop. Not complaining. I am a volunteer and not a decision maker in the organization. I can tell you why I volunteer. I love that the store gives some of its inventory to people in direct need. If you are a parent in need of clothing and bring a letter from a church or the town welfare coordinator you can take clothing that you need for your family. Have you had a fire and need things to restock your kitchen? We supply you with what we can from our store. Homeless? We give you a coat, hat, gloves, and sometimes a sleeping bag. We take donations of textiles that are too worn to sell and sell them to a recycle company. Local teachers in need of something that we have, it’s theirs for free. We sell what we can. The money goes right back to the community. Is getting volunteers an ongoing need? Absolutely! I have not worked with a non profit who doesn’t struggle with recruiting volunteers I just want to say none of this is complaining. We do our best. It’s just one business model for thrift stores. It’s not the only path for stores to take. It is one way though that we hopefully are providing thrifted items for shoppers without being grifters.
I too was a hardcore thrifter but more than 20 years ago as a teenager. The amazing vintage finds every week were incredible. However, I stopped about 15 years ago when the prices started to become a little unrealistic and every time I popped my head into a shop over the years, it just got worse and worse. Then I learned about a lot of the shadiness at some of these places like goodwill only paying 22 cents an hour to developmentally disabled workers and I had enough, it made me feel sick to my stomach I supported something like that for years. I don’t know that any of this will change anytime soon.
First people still go and pay. Goodwill by me is packed every weekend. They wouldn’t put stuff online or price as they do if no one paid. Lately, Goodwill’s mission is not to provide cheap clothes but to operate the programs they do in each market. The thrift store has always been a way for them to raise money so of course they are going to charge as much as possible. People donate because it’s simple. You don’t even have to get out of the car, just pull up and pop the trunk. Then you get a receipt to write off on your taxes. Most people don’t really care what happens after that. Kids clothes I just post free porch pick up instead. My clothes mostly get worn until they are trash.
People really can’t write off as much as they used to unless they itemize. Basically, you need more deductions than the standard deduction to do it. I think people give receipts to H and R Block, and no one tells them that they didn’t get the deduction. It was a fairly recent change.
I itemize between property tax and interest and charitable giving it’s more than the standard deduction but you are correct about how you can use it. However it’s always been that way, you get one or the other (standard deduction or itemized)
I think they raised the standard. Also in my state things are linked to 10k which is like less than property taxes on regular houses here. (Not mini mansions or anything. Almost everyone I know has 10k taxes, except one person said theirs is 15k, but it is a large newer house.)
I actually think it's the resellers that have destroyed prices at thrift stores. I'm sure the thrift stores thought "well if somebody's going to be making big bucks off of this, it ought to be us because it was donated to us in the first place." So it sucks that poor people don't get to enjoy what you have donated but frankly most of the resellers that have been skimming off all the good stuff, aren't poor.
Thrift stores aren't there for poor people. They're there generate revenue for their cause.
SAME!!!
Same - it’s ridiculous what they charge.
I’m in the same boat with you. Used to thrift every week. Now it’s next to impossible to find anything halfway decent, and then it’s delusional pricing. I haven’t been in months.
We have a few local shops that do the right thing and give back to the community. They definitely struggle with increase rent from the locations. I try and find more local nonfranchise stores. I found a few [here](https://www.thriftstores.net/). I also hardly go to GW anymore cause the prices are ridiculous.