Onebyone

Yes it is for profit store. The management execs are paid a very high salary. Most of the profit goes to management, expense accounts, and advertising. Salvation Army uses every penny to help those that need it. That is their sole purpose, to help. I use to work for Salvation Army. Every staple is saved if possible.

pocoellie

Personally I think Goodwill is overpriced and won't shop there. Their CEO gets a salary of millions of dollars for an organization, who's products are all DONATED, and I'm sure that their employees are making minimum wage.

ptquilts

Also IMO the items are overpriced. Sometimes you can get new items at Walmart for LESS money. And then they have piles of donations in the back that they have yet to sort through. AND they throw out a lot.

If I was running a thrift store, I would price em low and move em out!!

I have even heard about WM returns (some labeled defective) showing up at thrift stores, priced at HIGHER than it was brand new at WM.

ETA- found this on the wikipedia page

When merchandise cannot be sold at a normal Goodwill store, it is taken to a 'Goodwill Outlet' or 'Bargain Store.' Items are mostly sold by weight, with prices ranging from $0.49 to $1.69 per pound, depending on the location. The wide selection and massive discounts on a variety of household goods typically attract a fervent following of regular customers, some of whom make a full-time living buying and re-selling goods. There are also many vendors who buy this merchandise in bulk, and they send the merchandise to third world countries.

grandma23

Thanks everybody for your replies. I have also heard that they sell by the pound. I was mostly interested in shirts or other items to use the fabric from.

Thanks again!

miriam

There are 3 Goodwill Outlets in Indianapolis. There are tons of Goodwill stores in Indianapolis. The stores are just thrift stores. The outlets do sell things by the pound. Every couple hours they change out the big bins they put the stuff on. It can be anything you can imagine. The clothes are usually on a bin with just clothes. They usually have shoe bins and book bins. Then everything else is piles on the bins. When they change out the bins it can be pretty wild. It is an excellent place to buy shirts or neck ties. I have found some really smokin' deals at the outlet. Our outlet has furniture sometimes, too. I don't know why some of it is sent there and some is sent to stores. I have found some very nice things there. I think if it doesn't sell at the high priced stores they send it to the outlets. I guess I would rather see them run the junk through the outlet and give everybody a chance before they throw it in the dumpster.

lclang

Goodwill has been touted as serving the disabled, not necessarily true. They are not non profit and their good s are much higher than regular thrift stores, therefore I feel we are not really honestly informed about what they do. At our store it seems if you are slightly disabled but can't keep up the pace, you get fired. I do not go there much because of these issues preferring the thrift stores that do support good causes.

Wanabee Quiltin

I love the Goodwill Outlet Stores and they are totally different from the regular stores. They put all the merchandise into large troughs and it is a total mess. Wear gloves as I have cut myself several times. Most of the stores sell by the pound. Sewing Machines are usually a straight price like $10. I have bought my husband a quality leather coat for just pennies as well as fabric, books, curtains, rugs, beautiful Christmas music boxes etc. It is a very interesting concept how they do it: they sell part of the room and then they seal it off and empty everything which is mainly trash and then they open another part of the room. There are people who line up and it's like a free for all when they open the troughs. I love going there and some cities have better ones than others. Portland Oregon and Council Bluffs and St.Louis have great Goodwill Outlets. Try it, you might like them.

nwm50

We have a goodwill "castoff" that sells by the pound. They come from other areas that didn't sell quickly or for some other reasons...I have found great things before such as kitchenAid attachments, threads, hard to find glasses to match what I was looking for, etc. the only drawback is...when they bring them out in covered bins ..u wait til they say "go", some people dives in and grab!! I tend to wait til they finish, not about to lose my hand over it!! Lol

ladydukes

There's one near me but I haven't gone yet. My GF went and she said to wear old clothes and either remove your rings or wear gloves because you will be digging in bins and that everything is sold by the pound. Don't know if it is like that in your area, she got some good deals, so I'm ready to go 'dumpster diving' too.

jbj137

***
*** GW charges sales tax (they are not a charity - some new and some used items
*** If they are backed by a charity, you pay no sales tax - some new and some used items.

*** The ones in our area have gone crazy on pricing and charge almost new prices.
***