[quote name='LuisRM']Okay, first off, I work for Goodwill. Second, I'm not 100% I understand your complaint about Goodwill, but I will attempt to educate everyone a bit more about it.
Goodwill is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that assists people with disabilities and disadvantages in achieving their education and employment goals. Through our services, we help people achieve independence and economic self-sufficiency.
In English, we prepare people for work. We help people get jobs through offering them training classes on a variety of fields. How do we fund all these programs? By being one of the few non-profit organizations that doesn't solely rely on government funding. We are 80% self-sufficent. We are that way because of our Goodwill stores and the generous donations we receive. We sell the items in our stores, online or through silent auctions. While there isn't a set price for all items, there are guidelines to follow and we do need to find a balance between maximizing what we get for the items, plus giving the shoppers a good deal. Sometimes items are priced too high, sometimes too low, but the purpose of selling these items in our stores and online is to get the most money for it to support our mission.
As for shopgoodwill.com, each state runs it's own area, but there are guidelines to follow (no buy it now, listing items a certain way, etc.). Part of the reason they can't test everything is because there is a lot of stuff to go through, they can't hook up every piece of equipment they get and test it out. It is like a mini-ebay and there are some good finds on there.
Hope that helps out and gives you a better idea of what Goodwill is all about. Feel free to visit goodwilleasterseals.org for more information and links to books, car auctions and more shopping online. And if you have any questions about Goodwill, just post here.
Have a great day![/quote]
This is what gets me though, many of these supposed 'charities' end up charging retail or close to retail for anything with a real 'worth' or a perceived worth and many times they don't even take the common courtesy to see if the shit works before just plunking it out on the floor in the case of electronics.
So, am I more willing to pay for something that says 'untested' or 'unable to test'(usually also means too f'n lazy to hook it up if it came in complete)? You better believe I'm NOT gonna wanna pay the highway robbery price for what could be an overglorified doorstop.
Mind you, I know some people trade in electronics incomplete and some stores get in assloads of stuff every day, making testing of such items almost impossible. But, some of the smaller shops here seem to act like they get in tons of electronic stuff every day and just take it from the cart they bring it in from the truck in and slap a price sticker on it and that's it.
Then, you have the $7 shirts(for another $1-3 I can have 2 that're brand new for that price) the $10 sneakers(for $15, I can get a decent pair from WallyWorld that're NEW) and so on and so forth.
I mean, I definitely understand wanting to help people, but people DONATE this stuff out of the goodness of their hearts(well, aside from those who request tax receipts)and many may think that these items will be given or sold at a REASONABLE price to others, so that others may get some use out of those items they donated.
But, I think the days of almost ANY thrift shop run by a large charity(Goodwill, Salvation Army)being reasonably priced are long since gone. Or at least it seems that way around here.
I'd certainly love to score a $1-2 SNES/Genesis game or a complete system for $5-7, but around here, these 'charities' premium price anything they think is 'valuable' and in many cases, that just gets me to scoff at their prices and walk out, having bought NOTHING.
I don't look down upon you guys trying to do some good with the money you make from donated stuff being sold, but I laugh at the way some stores seem to price it. It's NOT new stuff, yet many price it as if it is. And THAT is the problem I have with 'thrift' stores of all kinds nowadays.