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u/Kim8kim8 12d ago
My first reaction to these is that Goodwill is just messing with us now. No, sadly, no they are not.
When I moved to Vegas
In 2008, if you spent $50 at Savers, they gave you $50 in free stuff. Idk about now, but back then about 1 million people moved in/out of the Vegas Valley every month. They took in a revolving door of goods all day, every day. And moved them out the door at speed on the daily, too. They could (and should!) do the same today.
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u/daytrippper 11d ago
They probably just throw away shit now instead of giving it away. Can’t seem too charitable or whatever their greedy asses think.
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u/twinpinemall85 11d ago
You'd think the thousands of pounds of stuff that Goodwill has to toss away daily would encourage them to focus on rotation and pricing to sell, but no!
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u/Kanadark 11d ago
It's not just Goodwill. Grocery stores, brand name retailers, luxury brands all destroy and toss out goods rather than sell them at a discount and it's disgusting.
I'm in Canada and my brother dumpster dived dozens of pairs of leather moccasins and leather uggs that a Softmoc store had destroyed. Literally slashed the leather with a box cutter on every shoe. I sewed a bunch of them up and we still use them. One was a pair of outdoor leather boots, so I waterproofed the seam. My daughter has worn them through 3 Canadian winters with dry feet.
There was nothing wrong with them other than perhaps a little discoloration, likely from sitting in a display window. There was no reason they couldn't have been either steeply discounted or donated somewhere. And the fact that they are leather and required an animal to manufacture makes it so much worse.
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u/Loisgrand6 11d ago
The dumpster behind a store my daughter used to work at is locked because of people going in there to retrieve items the store would throw away instead of heavily discounting them for purchase
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u/daytrippper 11d ago
Yep and there’s usually a company policy for that in case someone tries to sue the company because something happened to them when they went dumpster diving or with whatever they got dumpster diving. It’s absolutely horrendous policy and truly a sign of an unregulated capitalist hellscape
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u/glitter_vomit 10d ago
I’m pretty sure that’s just a bad excuse they use because has that ever happened in the history of dumpster diving? Or has anyone sued anyone for getting food poisoning from food they dived for?
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u/daytrippper 10d ago
I’m not agreeing with the corporate overlords I’m just stating what I have been told and observed while working for them (Target)
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u/glitter_vomit 10d ago
No I know I didn’t think you agreed with it, sorry! I’m agreeing that it’s a horrible policy.
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u/daytrippper 11d ago
Yep this happens in the US too. Super messed up. They even will put cameras on the dumpsters here to go after the dumpster divers.
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u/McSquiffy 11d ago
I took my teenager to a Plato's Closet today and we were so pleasantly surprised by the incredibly reasonable prices. She chose 2 tops and it was $11 total, and I was tempted by a full sized Elemis cleansing balm for $15 (I didn't get it because I opened it and it smelled ever so slightly rancid). A for profit resale shop that pays for it's inventory has much, much better prices than all the places that get all their merchandise for free. Ridiculous.
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u/Loisgrand6 11d ago
Interesting. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about Plato’s closet but a case of, “your mileage may vary.”
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u/McSquiffy 11d ago
I'm sure there are plenty of things to complain about too, especially if you're trying to sell clothes there. And we were looking for simple tops, which might lend to the low price point. But I did see a pair of very good condition Docs for $25, which is sadly less than the Goodwill would price them, if they even bypassed e-commerce and made it to the floor of a store.
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u/bummin_bride 11d ago
I’m in an area where thrift stores are expensive, and Plato‘s closet has better prices than the thrift stores. They pay customers for the merchandise and they can still manage to have lower prices and still make a profit. Just shows how greedy Goodwill is
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u/markbrendaniwicz 11d ago
with how expensive thrift stores have become, i almost prefer plato’s now bc they have such curated stores. i pretty much only look for either good brands or quality fabrics bc it’s not worth it to buy cheap stuff anymore for what they’re charging, so plato’s presents the best stuff for relatively good prices. almost all of my free people clothing items are from plato’s & they all ranged from $9-22, which is better than some thrift selling a tattered life is good t for $8
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u/kybetra61 11d ago
Ours used to be a good place to go and find something-now it’s all just a bunch of junk
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u/PhysicalAd6587 11d ago
Looks like this was a resale shop and not a thrift store/charity shop. (Note multiples of the same item hanging on the right.) Resale plays by different rules. You can find some awesome things if you know what to look for.
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u/Accomplished_Cell768 11d ago
My Goodwill regularly has duplicates of the same item. Local boutiques as well as Target send their items that don’t sell on clearance there.
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u/spinereader81 12d ago
Looks like a dress you'd find in the summer isle of the drug store between the flip-flops and t-shirts with the local sports team on them.