Anybody else here love Goodwill?

[zippyzappy]

We donate stuff we no longer use to Goodwill, but I also shop for nearly everything there before going to regular stores to buy new. I get the kids' clothes there, especially outerwear. Coats are around $5. I got DS dress shoes for $12 to wear with his band tux. I've found many of my shirts and pants there (about $3 each), dresses and jeans ($5 I think), a larger fishtank for my ever-growing goldfish, cast iron frying pan, books, flannel bed linens, just *everything*! I love that place, and I love its mission of recycling and helping people with barriers to working, providing low cost goods to people...i just love that place! :smitten:

[abroadinSacto]

I prefer the smaller, local npo-run thrift stores we have around here. They have more character and better stuff, albeit less stuff. That's probably a matter of where I live, though.

[chryssiie718]

I love Goodwill!! Between the Goodwill and another thrift store locally, I bought virtually all my work clothes (when I was working). Saved a ton of money on clothes I wouldn't wear anywhere but to work. I have also bought kids' clothes which is a huge savings. I have bought books, furniture, bedding, you name it! I also donate to both stores. The local Goodwill store here is very busy and I think all the thrift/second hand places are doing well with the economy the way it is now.

[fadeaway1289]

I love goodwill and the salvation army. I wish we had more thrift stores around here but thats it. I go there weekly. Almost everything I own (clothes, furniture, appliances, books, etc) are all second hand. The only things I really buy that are new are paper goods, cleaning supplies, food and other things I can't get there. I really see no point in buying new things unless absolutely necessary.

[Digger]

I used to shop Goodwill all the time, especially for field gear, but they've gotten so incredibly expensive in my area it just doesn't save enough money to be worthwhile.

[jenna]

the one here has really jacked up their prices. i'll browse through it but i don't really buy stuff from there anymore.

i like going to the salvation army, habitat for humanity, spca thrift store, ACTS.

[Tori~CL]

I donate and shop at the Goodwill. I agree that the prices are too high, but sometimes they have kids clothes marked down and other things.

There is another thrift store that I shop at too. You really just have to hit them a lot to find the best deals.

[jenni-anti-fur]

I donate there all the time and shop occasionally...there prices have gone up a ton in the last year...I do shop at my local thrift stores moreso...great deals...and wonderful volunteers...and the local shelters are all benefiting some charity...I like that:)

Peace Love and Happiness

Jenn

[Nonna]

Oh Yeah...Goodwill & Sal's boutique (Salvation Army) My favorite shopping places, especially half price day.. I also take a bunch of clothing I no longer use to them or a local Church.

[fadeaway1289]

The other day I was at Salvation Army and someone was dropping off a brand new comforter set still in the bag, brand new espresso and coffee machines still in the box, along with some new electronics. Some items still had a bit of wrapping paper on them so I'm assuming they were unwanted christmas gifts. I thought it was cool that they were donating them but I was still really surprised because everything looked expensive.

[Michael]

We need to get in the habit of going there to shop. When we clean house we always take stuff over there but we never go there to buy things. It's nice knowing things are going to be reused and you get the tax deduction.

[WickedlilMisty]

:boobies:
We donate stuff we no longer use to Goodwill, but I also shop for nearly everything there before going to regular stores to buy new. I get the kids' clothes there, especially outerwear. Coats are around $5. I got DS dress shoes for $12 to wear with his band tux. I've found many of my shirts and pants there (about $3 each), dresses and jeans ($5 I think), a larger fishtank for my ever-growing goldfish, cast iron frying pan, books, flannel bed linens, just *everything*! I love that place, and I love its mission of recycling and helping people with barriers to working, providing low cost goods to people...i just love that place! :smitten:


Oh HOW i love goodwill and all thrifts let me count the was in my wallet and closet~!...lmao;);)

Im super picky tho i actually sort though a lot of it before actually selecting few items i'll go in that booth and try on about 26 things and then leave with 3 you know it burns calories to try that stuff on now dont you???

And further more once i broke my coffee pot in my kick ass percolator and guess where i found a replacement YES GOOD WILL.. also it was 3 bucks .. cant get better than that..i do believe i have good taste in fashion.. i just think its ridiculous to only like a name brand.. thats the equivalent of buying anything in a commercial which we all know is brain wash~!... you have good taste man~!

[Skylark]

I would hardly own anything were it not for garage sales and thrift stores. Let's see... stuff I bought new... my computer... my tie-dyed peace-sign wall hanging... my TV... a few kitchen utensils... really most everything else was second hand.

[Tori~CL]

We need to get in the habit of going there to shop. When we clean house we always take stuff over there but we never go there to buy things. It's nice knowing things are going to be reused and you get the tax deduction.

In 2007 I got around a 200 tax deduction if my memory serves me right because I donated so much.

[jenni-anti-fur]

I went today and an awesome find was to be had....I am the biggest Fan Of Princess Diana and have a Book Collection of everything I can get my hands on...well went to GW today and they had four Hardcover books on My Princess that Retail for over 20 bucks for 50 cents :pibo::pibo:....a woman who was volunteering in there was soooo happy for me she said awoman came in and said that her daughter in law had bought them for her for Christmas and she had no intrest in them...so she donated them...Lucky me...hehe:)....yippiieee:pibo:

Peace Love and Happiness

Jenn

[Tori~CL]

I went today and an awesome find was to be had....I am the biggest Fan Of Princess Diana and have a Book Collection of everything I can get my hands on...well went to GW today and they had four Hardcover books on My Princess that Retail for over 20 bucks for 50 cents :pibo::pibo:....a woman who was volunteering in there was soooo happy for me she said awoman came in and said that her daughter in law had bought them for her for Christmas and she had no intrest in them...so she donated them...Lucky me...hehe:)....yippiieee:pibo:

Peace Love and Happiness

Jenn

That is so cool! :nana:

[greensgood]

I used to shop Goodwill all the time, especially for field gear, but they've gotten so incredibly expensive in my area it just doesn't save enough money to be worthwhile.


Agreed, Goodwill is way to expensive, i go there on occasion to look for certain items (i collect vintage pyrex and repair and sell vintage clothes on ebay), and i feel like im in Bloomingdales!

i much prefer the Salvation Army, they have sales almost everyday and mega sales around holidays.

i am lucky and have 2 salvations, a lighthouse for the blind thrift store, eco-thrift, 2 Gina's thrift stores, segundo mano (got the most awesome vintage couch for $20!), and a goodwill, all in the city i live.

[Princess78]

We donate stuff but our local Goodwills prices on some stuff are almost the same as it would be new so I don't shop there much.

[WickedlilMisty]

your right about those goodwill prices but. the salvation army is a whole lot less costly and has plenty of the variety too.even local thrift stores independent ones or in plazas For example flamingo plaza in Miami FL after legume .. not bad at all!~
they even have color codes tickets and some 50% off that day ..damn I sound like a spokes person,,,Ahahh well you get me its nice and fun to shop occasionally i find things that aer worth a lot more than the price its selling for .. once i bought a digital mini pair of binoculars for 5 bucks and when i looked up the model online and it's worth 75 bucks not bad its an army one that can take helicopter pictures wings stopped in focus..pretty CooL~!..same thing happened with a pair of boots i bought.. its luck adventure and affordable passtime=)~
PEACE m~

[zippyzappy]

Wow, I didn't realize that Goodwill prices vary so much from place to place. I'm curious about the overpriced ones. What does a shirt or a pair of jeans cost at them? At ours, a shirt is $3-something, and jeans are $5. There are also weekly half-price and 25 cent sales on specific tag colors.

My parents are looking for secondhand vcrs with controllers (they don't want to start using dvd's at their age, they say), and they had 2 at our store yesterday, one for $5 and one of $7.

What do typical items cost at your Goodwill stores?

[Shamandura]

I love thrift shopping, but I havent been to a Goodwill for a while. I go to mostly local stores and Salvation Army. I rarely ever buy clothing, I don't even look at them, because I am too busy rushing to the houseware items! Just recently I bought a complete, beautiful handpainted and not out of date, dinner plate setting for 4, only $7!! I've been so fortunate at finding good stuff at Thrift stores and flea markets, I cant justify paying rediculous full prices for some things anymore, especially furniture. This last weekend I repainted a large wooden framed, very heavy mirror, black and gave it a sanded primitive look and it's gorgous, someone would pay big $$$ for it and its all mine! hehe!! It feels so good to recycle!

[greensgood]

Wow, I didn't realize that Goodwill prices vary so much from place to place. I'm curious about the overpriced ones. What does a shirt or a pair of jeans cost at them? At ours, a shirt is $3-something, and jeans are $5. There are also weekly half-price and 25 cent sales on specific tag colors.

My parents are looking for secondhand vcrs with controllers (they don't want to start using dvd's at their age, they say), and they had 2 at our store yesterday, one for $5 and one of $7.

What do typical items cost at your Goodwill stores?

dresses are $10, jeans $8-$20, shirts $5, compared to some of the others, these are high prices where i live.

[Digger]

dresses are $10, jeans $8-$20, shirts $5, compared to some of the others, these are high prices where i live.
Yep.

Recently I went to Goodwill in search of kitchen items (I had just moved into a new apartment). A used frying pan I wanted to buy was priced 8 dollars at Goodwill when a new one from Walmart was just a few dollars more. Utensils (such as spatulas and the like) sold for 2 bucks at Goodwill when I was able to pick up brand new ones for the same price or even less.

I like to support Goodwill Industries and recycle, however when doing so is an economic loss to me I find it much harder to do. I'm a disabled grad student on a very tight budget.

I generally consider thrift store purchases to be economically feasible if they are priced at 50% or less of the new price. Goodwill in my area is priced well above that.

Dig

[Skylark]

Digger, garage sales may be the way to go for you, at least in the summer depending on where you live. I find prices there to generally be much lower than thrift stores, and you get to dicker when you think a price isn't fair.

[chryssiie718]

Goodwill's prices here are higher than the thrift store I frequent but they have a much larger selection. I like to look for the color deal and get stuff half price. Even at full price, 3.49 for shorts and shirts, and 5.39 for jeans, its a bargain.