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(WINK Fort Myers)   If you've ever wondered what happens to items after they're donated to Goodwill, this link is for you   (winknews.com) divider line
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    More: Misc, Automobile, Recycling, Power pop, lot of people, couple of weeks, high quality, cents of every dollar, bails of donations  
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1672 clicks; posted to Business » on 15 Jan 2023 at 6:50 PM (10 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



46 Comments     (+0 »)
View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest
 
ski9600 [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 1:02:39 PM  
News: People dontate goods to Goodwill. Fark.com: Goodwill throws away a lot of stuff. TF.Fark.com: People are salvaging useable goods from the Goodwill trash

/dnrtfa
 
Bob_Laublaw [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 1:26:44 PM  

ski9600: Goodwill throws away a lot of stuff. TF.Fark.com: People are salvaging useable goods from the Goodwill trash

/dnrtfa


I read the article. They only throw away stuff after it's been picked over several times and rejected by salvagers.

I've seen their local operation up close, and the process outlined is what I saw. A decade ago? Ya, their processes were shiatty. Anyone today going through Goodwill stuff in a landfill is quite literally only seeing rotten goods that salvagers deemed unfit
 
goodluckwiththat [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 1:35:25 PM  
I get some great books from goodwill.
and skirts
//also ron desantis sucks.
 
delsydsoftware [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 1:35:26 PM  
A friend's mom was both a Goodwill employee AND a hoarder. That's a dangerous combo. Anyway, at that podunk little store, the employees picked a lot of good stuff for themselves first. In my friend's mom's case, that good clothing went into ceiling-high piles in her bedroom, never to see the light of day again.
 
mistahtom
2023-01-15 1:36:39 PM  
Some goodwills are better than others.
 
TheHighlandHowler [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 1:44:15 PM  
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/08/26/434988401/episode-502-the-afterlife-of-a-t-shirt
 
goodluckwiththat [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 1:49:12 PM  

mistahtom: Some goodwills are better than others.


yeah, the ones on Orange Park FL sucked, as do the ones in GJCO.
// the book section on GJCO is pretty decent, the OPFL goodwill had way too many right wing christiian conservative Bill O.Reilly types
///and ron desantis sucks
 
Bob_Laublaw [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 1:55:33 PM  

goodluckwiththat: // the book section on GJCO is pretty decent, the OPFL goodwill had way too many right wing christiian conservative Bill O.Reilly types


Heh. My local outlet is near the university in a cultural hub, so the book section is remarkably cool

There's a lot of Jesus iconography that comes from the elderly donors & estates, and a ton of it ends up on ironic display in dorm rooms alongside old Doors posters
 
goodluckwiththat [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 1:58:43 PM  

Bob_Laublaw: goodluckwiththat: // the book section on GJCO is pretty decent, the OPFL goodwill had way too many right wing christiian conservative Bill O.Reilly types

Heh. My local outlet is near the university in a cultural hub, so the book section is remarkably cool

There's a lot of Jesus iconography that comes from the elderly donors & estates, and a ton of it ends up on ironic display in dorm rooms alongside old Doors posters


my heart breaks for you
///and ron desantis sucks.
 
Cyberluddite [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 2:26:01 PM  
We have a Goodwill outlet store a few miles from my house--one of the places where the separate the stuff they think won't sell in the regular Goodwill stores and sell it in big bins by the pound.  Unfortunately for them, the people making those decisions sometimes don't know their ass from a hole in the ground about vintage stuff, including what's valuable and what isn't.  So a couple of years ago I stopped in there and happened to see this old McIntosh receiver in one of the bins:

Fark user imageView Full Size


I bought it for 6 bucks. They tend to sell for around $1200 on eBay. I kept it though for my home office, because it sounds really nice.

I've also bought a number of old books there (all books are priced at 15 cents) including first editions, author-signed items, and other collectibles.  Just the other day I bought a first edition, first printing of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" for 15 cents.  The going price on collectible book websites seems to be about $400.
 
kdawg7736 [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 2:52:18 PM  
They closed the one in Newport, PA and there were some protests saying the company doesn't care about rural areas.
 
mistahtom
2023-01-15 3:39:16 PM  

goodluckwiththat: mistahtom: Some goodwills are better than others.

yeah, the ones on Orange Park FL sucked, as do the ones in GJCO.
// the book section on GJCO is pretty decent, the OPFL goodwill had way too many right wing christiian conservative Bill O.Reilly types
///and ron desantis sucks


Username checks out
 
goodluckwiththat [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 3:47:08 PM  

mistahtom: goodluckwiththat: mistahtom: Some goodwills are better than others.

yeah, the ones on Orange Park FL sucked, as do the ones in GJCO.
// the book section on GJCO is pretty decent, the OPFL goodwill had way too many right wing christiian conservative Bill O.Reilly types
///and ron desantis sucks

Username checks out


which part?
I'm agnostic.
also ron desantis sucks
 
Jake Havechek [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 4:32:22 PM  
This one Goodwill near where I grew up always had nice sport coats in good condition, so if you needed one for a formal function, you usually found one that fit well and cost around $5-$10 or so.
 
atomic-age
2023-01-15 4:55:35 PM  

Cyberluddite: We have a Goodwill outlet store a few miles from my house--one of the places where the separate the stuff they think won't sell in the regular Goodwill stores and sell it in big bins by the pound.  Unfortunately for them, the people making those decisions sometimes don't know their ass from a hole in the ground about vintage stuff, including what's valuable and what isn't.  So a couple of years ago I stopped in there and happened to see this old McIntosh receiver in one of the bins:

[Fark user image 850x637]

I bought it for 6 bucks. They tend to sell for around $1200 on eBay. I kept it though for my home office, because it sounds really nice.

I've also bought a number of old books there (all books are priced at 15 cents) including first editions, author-signed items, and other collectibles.  Just the other day I bought a first edition, first printing of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" for 15 cents.  The going price on collectible book websites seems to be about $400.


I bought two 1980s harmon / kardon receivers at a Goodwill years ago. It seemed like someone retired from the Army and moved, because his records were there, too, with his SSN and name on each one. Some excellent funk.

Thanks, Army dude.
 
atomic-age
2023-01-15 4:57:03 PM  
BTW, Northern Colorado thrift stores are garbage. I don't set foot in the Goodwill. It's nothing but lowest common denominator plastic trash and Old Navy clothes. The furniture is even worse.
 
goodluckwiththat [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 5:05:30 PM  

atomic-age: BTW, Northern Colorado thrift stores are garbage. I don't set foot in the Goodwill. It's nothing but lowest common denominator plastic trash and Old Navy clothes. The furniture is even worse.


no, no, no NEFL goodwill stores are the worst, unless you like Jesus.
 
fredbox [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 7:03:30 PM  
The town I live near built a brand new Goodwill store in the last couple years. I wonder why they just couldn't re-use an existing building.
 
JustMatt
2023-01-15 7:07:00 PM  

Cyberluddite: We have a Goodwill outlet store a few miles from my house--one of the places where the separate the stuff they think won't sell in the regular Goodwill stores and sell it in big bins by the pound.  Unfortunately for them, the people making those decisions sometimes don't know their ass from a hole in the ground about vintage stuff, including what's valuable and what isn't.  So a couple of years ago I stopped in there and happened to see this old McIntosh receiver in one of the bins:

[Fark user image image 850x637]

I bought it for 6 bucks. They tend to sell for around $1200 on eBay. I kept it though for my home office, because it sounds really nice.

I've also bought a number of old books there (all books are priced at 15 cents) including first editions, author-signed items, and other collectibles.  Just the other day I bought a first edition, first printing of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" for 15 cents.  The going price on collectible book websites seems to be about $400.


Completely random, but I'm pretty sure that 5 disc changer is the same one my mother got when CDs were becoming popular.
 
Turbo Cojones
2023-01-15 7:08:54 PM  

goodluckwiththat: atomic-age: BTW, Northern Colorado thrift stores are garbage. I don't set foot in the Goodwill. It's nothing but lowest common denominator plastic trash and Old Navy clothes. The furniture is even worse.

no, no, no NEFL goodwill stores are the worst, unless you like Jesus.


I vote Pensacola as having the worst.  People don't have anything good, and they are mostly illiterate.
 
Psychopompous
2023-01-15 7:14:58 PM  
I'm 6'4" tall, and I just wish Goodwill would sort out the Big and Tall clothes and set up a few Big and Tall Goodwill stores. I've given up searching for clothes at Goodwill because the odds of me finding anything in my size is so slim. I bet a bunch of Big and Tall sport coats and suits go unsold because they are less common, but if they were concentrated in a Big and Tall store, maybe one Goodwill Big an Tall per state, you could sell a lot of it. Personally, I would be willing to drive 2-3 hours in order to make periodic pilgrimages to a well stocked Goodwill Big and Tall, even further if the store was well organized.
 
Any Pie Left
2023-01-15 7:23:28 PM  
Used to be the Sally and Goodwill were good places to find vintage clothes, flashy things, and potential halloween wear. But someone at the sort center is intercepting anything cool. The clothing on the racks  in my area now is only very utilitarian manual labor type clothing.  Pants, t shirts, flannels. Winter coats. Nothing with any fashion flair. Nothing you could wear in an office.  It will keep you warm or whatever, but it also makes you look depressingly poor and unimaginative.
 
ruudbob [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 7:24:50 PM  
I have done a lot of sculpture from crap in Goodwill and other thrift store garbage. One time my girl friend and I were caught in the back, by the dumpster at night by the cops. We pretended to be kissing when the cops showed up. They told us to get a room and then left.  Goodwill pays schit to workers that are physically comprised. they are not Goodwilled. Their Ceo's  do good though.


Never forget...
also ron desantis sucks
 
austerity101
2023-01-15 7:26:57 PM  
Isn't Goodwill the company that was fighting really hard not to have to pay developmentally disabled employees their full wage?
 
keldaria
2023-01-15 7:42:15 PM  

Bob_Laublaw: ski9600: Goodwill throws away a lot of stuff. TF.Fark.com: People are salvaging useable goods from the Goodwill trash

/dnrtfa

I read the article. They only throw away stuff after it's been picked over several times and rejected by salvagers.

I've seen their local operation up close, and the process outlined is what I saw. A decade ago? Ya, their processes were shiatty. Anyone today going through Goodwill stuff in a landfill is quite literally only seeing rotten goods that salvagers deemed unfit


Honestly it only makes sense. Sending stuff to the dump is expensive. If they can get someone to buy it, even in bulk at fraction of pennies on the dollar, it saves them the cost of disposal.

They might have had to trash a ton of stuff back in the day, but I have a feeling they found enough scavengers willing to buy the leftovers in bulk to push their disposal cost to near $0. Especially after shows like storage wars and pickers became so popular a decade or so ago.
 
goodluckwiththat [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2023-01-15 7:49:28 PM  

Turbo Cojones: goodluckwiththat: atomic-age: BTW, Northern Colorado thrift stores are garbage. I don't set foot in the Goodwill. It's nothing but lowest common denominator plastic trash and Old Navy clothes. The furniture is even worse.

no, no, no NEFL goodwill stores are the worst, unless you like Jesus.

I vote Pensacola as having the worst.  People don't have anything good, and they are mostly illiterate.


so the used book section is really tiny?
 
Psychopompous
2023-01-15 7:50:53 PM  

keldaria: Bob_Laublaw: ski9600: Goodwill throws away a lot of stuff. TF.Fark.com: People are salvaging useable goods from the Goodwill trash

/dnrtfa

I read the article. They only throw away stuff after it's been picked over several times and rejected by salvagers.

I've seen their local operation up close, and the process outlined is what I saw. A decade ago? Ya, their processes were shiatty. Anyone today going through Goodwill stuff in a landfill is quite literally only seeing rotten goods that salvagers deemed unfit

Honestly it only makes sense. Sending stuff to the dump is expensive. If they can get someone to buy it, even in bulk at fraction of pennies on the dollar, it saves them the cost of disposal.

They might have had to trash a ton of stuff back in the day, but I have a feeling they found enough scavengers willing to buy the leftovers in bulk to push their disposal cost to near $0. Especially after shows like storage wars and pickers became so popular a decade or so ago.


Even rags can have some value, particularly linen and cotton, for shredding into fibers for the paper trade. There is a reason Rag and Bone men were a thing. Old bones were ground up for Bone Meal for plants.
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.comView Full Size
 
What in The [BareFark]
2023-01-15 7:56:25 PM  
I bought a London Fog black trench coat with removable cold weather liner in very good condition from Goodwill for $15.00. I also bought my girlfriend's daughter her college silverware from there.

Kiddo has lost six of my Oneida forks so she gets mismatched flatware.
 
natazha [BareFark]
2023-01-15 7:58:03 PM  
My wife loves the Goodwill Bins, although the one in Salem isn't all that great. Milwaukie's is much larger as it collects from the whole Portland metro.  My main winter jacket came from the Bins. I think it got tossed because the zipper is a bit fiddly. She's found many new clothing items, some with the original store tags still on them. Her son does a lot of role playing, so he's always up for a trip. Lots of baby clothes. Most kitchen stuff is trashed, though.

One time, a guy picked up a cake safe. I stopped him, rummaged around and found the locking strap for him. He gave me an odd look and asked how I knew what to look for. "We have the same Tupperware safe at home." He paid way less for his.
 
majestic
2023-01-15 8:01:49 PM  
I live in a weird part of a weird town. We had an Aldi several years ago right down the street. Nobody went to it and it closed. It re-opened as a Goodwill and instantly became a place for rich people to dump their junk.
 
2fardownthread
2023-01-15 8:41:33 PM  
Someone who is uber-crafty can get everything they need for "a lifestyle" for pennies from thrift stores. Food banks, retail overstock, dumpster diving, etc. probably make food reasonably available.

I am not advising it or overselling it, but I am strangely attracted to finding a very very inexpensive but high standard of living based on "alternative consumption."

There are still very high premiums placed on NEW goods, BRANDED goods, FASHIONABLE goods, etc. Those seem so high as to be a "consumption tax" that people willingly pay as a signal to others. Goodwill prices reflect the prices of the items without all those premiums, .... the prices, realistically, approach "free."

Consider the implications for universal basic income.
 
Omnivorous [BareFark]
2023-01-15 9:08:24 PM  
Catholic Charities collects old clothing too.  They'll ship it in bulk to Africa, where it gets sold in bulk at low cost, then resold by distributors in local markets.  My roommate was shocked to see a "Joe's Bowling Alley" from his hometown of Bergenfield, NJ in the eastern Congo but that's how it got there.

The message here is that recycling of goods doesn't always go the way that you intend or expect.
 
vudukungfu [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 9:27:56 PM  
Best goodwill picks?
Electric guitar $30
German oak, dovetailed, dental tool carrying case for my bits and drivers in my shop $45
A rolling bin filled with soft ukekle cases at $3 each
Vermont made rolling wood cart for $15
A signed wildlife print for $6 the artist is still alive.
A signed Joe Koch, original. $7 and he passed
I have passed on bargains there but I find goodies.
 
vudukungfu [TotalFark]
2023-01-15 9:28:51 PM  
Spent $30 yesterday at Salvation on 10 vintage collectable tee shirts.
 
Random Celebrity Insult Generator [BareFark]
2023-01-15 9:32:40 PM  
I always thought the good stuff got listed at the auction site

https://shopgoodwill.com/home
 
10Speed
2023-01-15 9:53:14 PM  
Chumps, the Habitat for Humanity thrift stores are where it's at.
 
Obituary Birthday
2023-01-15 10:10:55 PM  

Turbo Cojones: goodluckwiththat: atomic-age: BTW, Northern Colorado thrift stores are garbage. I don't set foot in the Goodwill. It's nothing but lowest common denominator plastic trash and Old Navy clothes. The furniture is even worse.

no, no, no NEFL goodwill stores are the worst, unless you like Jesus.

I vote Pensacola as having the worst.  People don't have anything good, and they are mostly illiterate.


I think the Waterfront Mission thrift stores would be better than Goodwill in the Pensacola area. That's the store that we always donate to.
 
The Smails Kid
2023-01-15 10:35:41 PM  

mistahtom: Some goodwills are better than others.


Some girls' mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers.
 
wildcardjack
2023-01-15 11:05:50 PM  
First step, if it has a remote control or power supply, throw that away.
Second, send everything to central processing so things that were paired go different places (I.e. volume 1 & 3 to the north, volume 2 to the south).
Third, hang clothes on wrong sized hangers.
Fourth, pay executives hundreds of thousands to run things poorly.
Fifth, distribute items around town so that the stuff donated in good neighborhoods can get closer to the poor.
 
fatalvenom
2023-01-15 11:18:07 PM  
I was going to go with "jizz rag" or "hooker blood mop".

My priorities are farked.
 
Social Justice Warlock
2023-01-15 11:49:19 PM  
I've had shoes in the trunk of my car for months. They didn't rot. So I'm just not sure what other people do to their shoes...?
 
MBZ321
2023-01-16 12:23:59 AM  

wildcardjack: First step, if it has a remote control or power supply, throw that away.
Second, send everything to central processing so things that were paired go different places (I.e. volume 1 & 3 to the north, volume 2 to the south).
Third, hang clothes on wrong sized hangers.
Fourth, pay executives hundreds of thousands to run things poorly.
Fifth, distribute items around town so that the stuff donated in good neighborhoods can get closer to the poor.


Or my favorite, if the tag says 'Greenbrier International' on it (Dollar Tree), mark it up to $2.99!
 
Lsherm [TotalFark]
2023-01-16 12:34:12 AM  

Jake Havechek: This one Goodwill near where I grew up always had nice sport coats in good condition, so if you needed one for a formal function, you usually found one that fit well and cost around $5-$10 or so.


You have to visit regularly, but the DC Goodwill stores routinely get crazy good donations of recent high end men's clothing. I think it's either diplomats, interns, or political appointees moving out of the area. You can get a really nice $900 suit for less than 50 bucks. Yeah, it might be 2-4 years old and thus "out of style" but DC isn't a fashionable enough town for most people to notice if your Hugo Boss suit is from 2020 instead of 2023. Sometimes you'll get lucky and a Tom Ford or something really extravagant will slip in.
 
squegeebooo
2023-01-16 11:17:37 AM  
I'm not sure how true this is in practice
(in regards to clothes/linens)

"That way the donations come into these central points. They get priced appropriately, and then they get sent out to the stores so that no matter what store you're shopping in, you're going to get the same quality of merchandise."

It def. seems like the stories in nicer areas by me have nicer things, and also the store by college has a ton of great stuff right at the end of the school year.

But, maybe it's just that the stores in rougher areas get picked over quicker and the college thing is just in my head?
 
Bruscar
2023-01-16 5:02:49 PM  

Any Pie Left: Used to be the Sally and Goodwill were good places to find vintage clothes, flashy things, and potential halloween wear. But someone at the sort center is intercepting anything cool. The clothing on the racks  in my area now is only very utilitarian manual labor type clothing.  Pants, t shirts, flannels. Winter coats. Nothing with any fashion flair. Nothing you could wear in an office.  It will keep you warm or whatever, but it also makes you look depressingly poor and unimaginative.


Goodwill sells used clothing. Retail has changed. The stores our parents associated with solid quality now sell clothing that is or nearly is as low quality as the clothing sold at Big Box retail stores. Almost all fabrics are adulterated with petroleum by products, rayon, or both. These adulterations produce less attractive clothing that will last a fraction of the time that clothes sold prior to 1990 would have. Plus, the continual increase in the cost of living combined with mostly stagnant wages means it has become increasingly "fashionable" to dress like an Eastern European gym rat or an extra from a movie made in the 80's set in a post-apocalyptic hell scape. People aren't going to donate nicer clothes than they own for themselves. All this means a lower quality product for the used clothing market.
 
Strangeart [TotalFark]
2023-01-16 7:35:15 PM  
I recently scored a beautiful floral oil painting and an Eastlake mirror in one trip at our local Goodwill. I find random awesome things about once a month, but I do go a lot.
 
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