Goodwill Industries International is a nonprofit social enterprise whose primary mission has been charitable giving derived from sales of donated clothes and household items. More than 85% of earned revenue goes directly toward supporting and growing community-based programs and services. They also stand behind an environmental sustainability model of “reuse and repurpose” which helps communities extend the life of items and prevent more items from piling up in local landfills.
For many years, my local Goodwill was the sole destination for many of my secondhand shopping excursions. During these trips to the Goodwill I would score so many unique and even designer pieces. When I was first introduced to thrifting, I was most impressed by the prices of such good clothing that had been discarded by individuals. My friends and I would spend hours combing through racks and racks searching for goodies from decades that had since passed. Genuine leather coats, wool pencil skirts, pussybow blouses all from the 70s, or chunky cable knit sweaters and door knocker earrings from the 90s. The finds were endless, and the prices were the absolute best part. Nothing was more than $4.99, including coats. Times have since changed and I don’t know if we can place blame on the pandemic nor inflation. The cost of “Goodwill” has skyrocketed right before our eyes. The free donations of people giving to the organization are now being sold at a premium price. Now there is even a Goodwill Boutique, which sets the prices of high-end, designer donations on a much higher pricing scale with discounts based on the MSRP.
‘The Bins’ - Goodwill Outlet Stores
Source: Goodwill
If, like me, you’ve been priced out of Goodwill’s retail stores but would like to contribute to creating a positive impact and support their mission, let me introduce you to ‘the bins’ - Goodwill’s outlet stores. This branch of Goodwill stores are set up using bins, rather than regular display racks. Inside these stores the big blue bins are overflowing with clothing, housewares and beyond that weren’t sold at the regular Goodwill stores within 5 weeks allotment. The bins outlet stores are ideal for resellers, upcyclers and overall treasure hunters alike, offering merchandise priced by the pound - often at significantly lower prices than traditional Goodwill retail stores.
Source: Goodwill
