Goodwill: Your one stop shop for Madden '95 for $10!
Goodwill: Your one stop shop for Madden '95 for $10!
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"OMG THE CHARITY IS TRYING TO MAKE MONEY."
Goodwills don't exist to feed your need for cheap games, they raise money for needy causes. Good on them for catching on they could raise more money and do more good rather than you getting $0.99 games you can flip for $40 on ebay - why SHOULDN'T they pay attention to what comes in?
I see your complaint about writing on the games directly - sure that's valid. Just don't bitch them out for trying to make a buck when they've been getting the shaft for so many years.
Jeez.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwill_Industries
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Originally Posted by Daltone
Originally the main purpose of Goodwill was to employ the disabled. My Goodwill has a staff of perfectly sane, able people. I'm just sayin.
My complaint is that I haven't gotten a decent game there in at least a year. I think that everything that looks like it has any value is sent off to be sold at shopgoodwill.com. Goodwill is a 100% profit organisation, aside from the regular expenses such as bills and payments for employees. 95% of their product is received at no expense to them. I just feel a little bothered that I've been shopping at the same Goodwill for over 3 years and they've more than tripled the price on games. I wouldn't be bothered if it was, say Super Metroid or Earthbound or something for $3.99, but when I see John Madden 93 for $3.99 or more it bothers me. It bothers me that I can get games cheaper at a flea market than at Goodwill.
(btw, $3.99 is the lowest I've seen video games here. They had some original Xbox sports games for $12.99, with $4.99 GameStop stickers grr...)
It's not just video games, I've seen price hikes on everything. Paperback books used to be $0.29 and now they're $0.99 among other things.
Say what you want about the "OMG BBQ They're raising the prices at Goodwill and I can't get anything good.", but I do expect something from them every once and a while.
Salvation Army, on the other hand, has had awesome prices and I've gotten some decent stuff over there recently. $4.99 Atari 2600 system FTW.
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Yah I know how you feel. I went to Goodwill a couple of weeks ago and they had Xbox Demo Discs for 15 bucks each. Yah, and they had regular games on the other rack for 5 bucks. I don't get their pricing sometimes.
I can understand if they are a charity and trying to raise money for a good cause, but if they overprice their stuff so much, they aren't going to make any money at all. Seriously, why price a bare-bones Genesis for 30 bucks and not have it sell for 6 months when they could sell 10 Genesi for 10 bucks each in that same amount of time?
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The purpose isn't to employ the disabled directly but to raise money to help the disabled find jobs. There's a difference there.
But yeah...I have noticed that sometimes it seems like they forget they're a THRIFT store. There have been many times I've seen them selling used items for more than you can get it new elsewhere. I mean, come on, sure it goes to a good cause but they paid nothing for the stuff. It was all donated so selling it for any amount is a profit. People shop there to get good deals. If they just wanted to help a charity they'd give directly.
I still find good deals though on occasion and feel better about where my money goes than, say, if I shopped at Walmart.
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I worked for Goodwill for more than three years. No, I'm not a criminal or otherwise unemployable--it was just a good job at the time and I needed one. I am amused by how many people think they're "helping" Goodwill by donating all of their useless junk to them. I was a donation attendant, and whenever myself or anyone else refused their "help" because it was clearly garbage, heads would roll. Most people treat Goodwill as a free alternative to the garbage dump, and most Goodwill stores consequently have garbage bills adding up to thousands of dollars a month. Even if you place signs on all of the doors saying "we kindly ask our patrons not to donate after hours," you will inevitably find 600 pounds of trash lying in front of the doors the next morning -on a good day-. Nothing made me angrier than waking up on a Saturday around 5 AM, arriving at work, and then immediately being told I had to carry two soiled mattresses, a couch, some useless particle board "furniture," five broken televisions and about 100 pounds worth of broken concrete weights to the trash compactor BY MYSELF within five minutes of being there. A lot of people were even less subtle about it, and would just leave five or so garbage bags literally full of garbage and soiled diapers right next to the door. One woman actually had the nerve to throw a vomit-soiled shirt in my face, just for laughs, and a lot of other people would throw or push pieces of furniture at me in dangerous ways just because they were angry I wouldn't accept something they intended to get rid of. I preferred the ones who just threw bags of clothes at me, because at least they were soft. Confront people about the garbage they're leaving you and they will scream at you, and all of the nerve you must have for daring to insult them after their gracious act of charity. You would think that only a small portion of people were like this, but I'd say roughly 1 in 4 people donating were consciously aware of the fact that absolutely nothing they were donating was of any use to anyone. The best we could do was to simply let them give us their trash if they seemed like they wanted to cause trouble, and let the garbage bills rise as a result. This ultimately led to higher prices for everyone shopping in the store. To sum it up, the Goodwill raises the prices of things you want to buy in order to pay for having to get rid of your junk, among other expenses. Think about what you donate before you leave it at the door. If you don't want it, chances are they won't either. Goodwill does not repair, clean or refurbish anything, so anything that isn't in good, working condition goes straight to the dump.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: don't blame Goodwill. Blame the people who abuse Goodwill and take advantage of the system. They're why your games cost more, in part, though I can't help but say I'm a little annoyed by the price increases, too.
Tupin is right, though. I saw some pretty awesome stuff go into the compactor, and I've personally thrown some pretty cool things in there, just because they set the prices too high and no one could afford to buy them. the general excuse for not lowering prices on expensive goods is that if they did so, no one would buy them at their original prices, and would wait until the prices for everything went down before buying anything. That makes sense, but in my opinion they would save a lot of waste if they just set the prices lower to begin with. It broke my heart to destroy some of that stuff, but I guess that's why I got paid.
As for finding games at Goodwill, I just walked out of my local one last week with a boxed copy of Ogre Battle 64. Other good finds I've had include two separate copies of Lunar (PSX and Sega CD), Breath of Fire 3, Wild Arms, a Master System with about 20 games for about $20, and a sealed copy of Dr. Mario. I know that last one isn't very impressive, but I thought finding a sealed NES game was pretty cool. It had been years since I had even seen one for sale outside of an actual gaming store. I got my half busted PS2 there for $20 a year or two ago, too (it doesn't play CDs, and I'm too dumb to take it apart without detaching that little ribbon that connects the two halves). Goodwill isn't as good of a place to find games as pawn shops are, but I like shopping at mine because I'm probably the only person who goes there to look for games anymore.
Aslo, a quick addition that I forgot. The games (and pretty much everything else in the store) are primarily expensive if the employee working in the electrical department is an idiot. That employee is also the reason why there was packing tape on your game. That's about the only reason. They have set prices that they try to use for games and other items, but most of the pricing usually ends up reflecting whatever the person pricing something thinks it's worth. There's just too much stuff to price in a day to refer to a list every five seconds. If the electrical person doesn't know a thing about games and doesn't care, they tend to sell for next to nothing, or the going rate for that store. If they think they know something but really don't, then you'll find a lot of bad games for high prices. If they actually know what to look for, you'll never find a good game in that store, because it will be sent somewhere else.
Last edited by Jehusephat; 08-22-2009 at 11:30 PM.
That's one heck of a story.
We (me and my folks) occasionally leave little bags of stuff (NOT junk) at the local GW after hours - of course it's always possible that somebody will come by and just steal it, but that doesn't rattle us.
I think part of the difference here is that we're in a more rural area, sounds like you're in the inner city or something. Not everybody around us is rich, but it seems to me that they have enough sense not to take absolute garbage to Goodwill. That said, there's usually something out in the dumpster behind the store.
I live in a semi-rural area (about 20,000 people, up to 30,000 when school is in session), so I was surprised to see how many people behaved like this in my town. I think the perception is different from the outside because you never get to see exactly what's in all of those bags people are giving the store. Open a few of them up, and you'll find skid-marked underwear and clothes yellowed from cigarette smoke. We even found one used dildo a month, with surprising regularity. It's not often you get to throw a floppy purple dildo at someone you work with without being charged with sexual harassment. Anyway, nasty clothes are great if you're struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and I'm sure the batteries from a dildo could power your game boy for an hour or two, but in terms of what people will buy used in the real world, there are limits. There are two kinds of Goodwill stores, though. Some are just little thrift stores, and the bigger ones are distribution centers. The little stores take a few donations, but generally receive their goods from donations which have already been sorted and processed at the larger distribution centers. That's why there's less junk at and outside of the smaller stores.
I find it hilarious that people are bitching that they raised the prices a couple bucks...I mean come on, its going to a good cause, and zelda is still a deal at 4$ ,quit crying ;-)
Someone i know sadi that goodwill ships things over seas to sell in other countries...who know's if that's actully profit. And, well, Zelda isn't there everytime. what if i wanted just a copy of super mario, but it was 4 bucks? terribad.
I'm sure everyone here will agree with me when I say that the price on Super Mario Bros has gone waaaay up in recent years because people used to buy a TON of the carts at 10 cents a piece and reuse the shells.
Now, that the retro gaming boom is in full effect, the demand is so great and there are fewer copies than before, so naturally the price raises.
BTW, it's not just Goodwill. My local thrift store is a part of a chain called Unique Thrift Stores. Our stuff used to be CHEAP! My friend once got boxed copies of Zelda, Dragon Power, Contra, Super C, Ninja Gaiden, and Tecmo Bowl for $20 all together! I used to get records there for a buck.
Now, they sell Madden 93 for FIVE BUCKS! Records are $10, and broken Genesis' are $30!
We can blame it on a different reason. Bums and crackheads. Yes, you heard right! BUMS AND CRACKHEADS! When the games were a dollar each, they used to come in and buy a few of them and trade in at the mom and pop store across the street for $6 cash. So, they'd walk in with about $10 worth of games from across the street and get $60. Then, they'd go back and do it again! So, the same games that were at the thrift for a buck are now $20 across the street!
Which is why we get LESS games there now and why when we do, they cost a bit.
I wished for a fucking thrift to come here and when it finally does, shit like THIS happens. It's enough to drive a person insane!
Last edited by JohnnyBlaze; 08-27-2009 at 05:54 AM.
A different reason? Isn't that the same exact thing as flipping?
Still though, flippers aren't as bad as the scumbags who STEAL from thrift stores. Like my friend said, if CD games are priced $2 and under, how cheap do you have to be to just steal it? I've seen a copy of Metal Gear Solid in pristine shape with no discs in it. I wouldn't even be as angry if the thief had just bought the game and flipped it, because the Goodwill would've still gotten its money and the guy would've made off with more.
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Yeah man, fuck the homeless for not breaking any laws or begging and instead being enterprising! It's ridiculous that the homeless people don't even consider your needs as a collector first. What a world we live in...
I must say that Goodwill price stickers have the most annoying adhesive I've ever seen. It never comes off clean.
I haven't had them write on games yet, that's the independent shops that are too cheap to use price stickers. I've bought enough $1 vinyl from there that they can get some cheap price stickers...
Their prices on games is kinda random, but it hovers at $3.06. I got some N64 stuff for $1.06/each a little while ago, but they got more in and they're $3.06 now. PC games are usually $3.06, but console games vary a little more. CDs are $3.06, and that bothers me, because they have CRAPPY music there. For about a month they had a special, $1.06 for CDs, so I got a few but nothing amazing. I come in again and the sign is still up, and I find Peter Gabriel's So. Of course, the promotion is over, they just forgot to take the sign down. I paid and they thanked me for reminding them.
They also have no return policy. Period.
Salvation Army feels more human. I find neat stuff there far more often, and it's ALWAYS priced better. CDs are $2, and games usually are too. They don't get gaming stuff nearly as often, and it's still mostly PC stuff, but their price stickers are easy to remove. Still, I've seen some awful prices in there too, like the $60 8-track player and the $80 Xbox. Goodwill got an Xbox and they asked $20, and it took weeks to sell, but that $80 Xbox was at SA for one week.
Sometimes, you have to step back and realize that you're criticizing the policies of THRIFT SHOPS. They're charities run by volunteers, old people, and people that generally don't know what the stuff really is. These are people that don't realize that half the CDs on their racks are illegal bootlegs that some teenager burned and labelled with a Sharpie. When I find Stadium Events CIB with tape and stickers all over it with a price written on each side, THEN I'll complain to management.
I got my Atomic Runner cartridge at the Hilo Harbor Salvo (in Hawaii), but locally, the SA is a bit farther away, and it's in one of those places with a huge floor space and warehouse-like high ceiling - and is usually pretty empty. I've picked up a few items at it over the years, but it usually seems to have little of value when I go by.
I would absolutely agree with you, if raising prices resulted only in additional profits, although this is not the case. Goodwill throws out more stuff than you can believe. Good stuff that people would have loved to own, although were not willing to pay ridiculously high prices for. I just feel that it is extremely said to see reusable items being sent to the dump because Goodwill wouldn’t sell it for less.
My local Goodwills haven't gone up much in price thankfully and they seem to be reasonally uniform with pricing but it still varies. What bugs the heck out of me is the stupid management lately. They have hordes of PS2 and XBox game under the counter for $9.99 each but leave every CD case empty on the shelves and keep the discs in back. The display glass cases are usually crammed with junk but the shelves remain empty, no uniformity there. Too many times there are old shoulder cam corders under the case for a ton of money that block the view of other stuff and the price tags are always hidden because the employees are too lazy to put it in the case right. Game consoles are usually the same way, just crammed in without the price visible, then I ask to see it and it's just a bare bones console with maybe a power cord for always around $12.99 to $20, sadly the complete consoles are the same price which is reasonable. Would it be too much to take a quick look through the stuff before just blindly slapping tags on everything? The employees are that lazy lately. They had an $80 XBox recently too.
Salvation Armys are another story, all but one near me are complete hellholes that are impossible to find stuff in. When stuff turns up it's usually filthy but mostly reasonable prices but not worth the time to look through now. They also leave old garage sale stickers on things then tell you that's not the price even though they never even priced it in the first place and that's just plain lazy.
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