The Bias Against Goodwill (sell, items, prices, price)
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It seems like almost every day (I guess people are decluttering as their New Year's resolutions) I see posted on Facebook or NextDoor, "Where can I donate things that ISN'T Goodwill?" Why all the hate? I've heard the rumor that the higher ups are greedy and don't pay employees enough (whatever), but to me, it's like "I won't set foot in Walmart because of slave labor." Well, okay, justice warrior, but you're only hurting your OWN pocketbook there. Personally, I love my Goodwill and - although prices have increased, like everywhere else - I still find great stuff there and save tons over buying new. It's like it's become the thing to announce that you won't support them. I also notice that "free" sites on social media seem to be gaining ground, and I worry that this will hurt not only Goodwill but local thrift shops on which needy charities depend for their contributions.
I donate to Goodwill as a last resort, but I prefer to donate to other places first. My opinion is that by donating to a local place, more of the money gets into the local community and to the people who need it.
I have a love/hate relationship with Walmart. I shop there as more of a last resort. I probably shop there only about 15 times a year. They are no longer the cheapest on everything. Sometimes they are, but you need to know your prices.
I think a lot of people prefer to support a local charity/thrift shop. They know there are no high-paid executives and they can see where the money goes. For instance, in my area, the largest thrift store supports an agency that helps people avoid eviction, pay heating bills, sends kids to camp, and much more.
Not saying that GW doesn't do some good things. But it is like the Walmart of thrift stores. Plus it is overpriced a lot of the time. Like dollar store items marked up over what the DS was charging.
I think it all started with a false meme that went around the internet about GW paying their president millions of dollars or something. People do love to put it down.
Most of the time it’s because they’re seeking to donate something Goodwill does not accept. Or they have an item that needs to be picked up and Goodwill does not provide that service.
Most of the time it’s because they’re seeking to donate something Goodwill does not accept. Or they have an item that needs to be picked up and Goodwill does not provide that service.
I've never known Goodwill to not accept something. Granted, they probably throw a lot of stuff away if unusable, but you just drop it off at the donation drive-thru; nothing could be easier! I keep a "running bag" just for that purpose; when it fills up, I drop it off when I'm driving by. It takes literally two minutes. That said, I do put aside the nicer things for a particular thrift shop nearby that benefits the humane society. There IS a lot that THEY won't accept; the list is quite long! And that other stuff has to go somewhere. Personally, I would rather see things go there where it does the animals some good versus a "free" site online. However, I think - especially after the isolation of the pandemic - many users are enjoying the personal connections they can make using these pages, as they seem to be growing in popularity.
I have no kick against Goodwill.
If I have something I no longer need, I’d rather give it away to someone who specifically needs that thing through the Buy Nothing Project. No money exchanged, and the item can’t be “impulse purchased” by someone who may not really need it.
It's a heck of a lot of work to photograph each individual item, post it, discuss it with numerous posters, arrange by PM for pick up, deal with no-shows, open your house to strangers, possibly have to repost it, etc. The exact same amount of work, in fact, involved in selling things online, which I personally would not have the patience for...
But apparently a lot of people enjoy the process or at least find it to be worthwhile.
I think a lot of people prefer to support a local charity/thrift shop. They know there are no high-paid executives and they can see where the money goes. For instance, in my area, the largest thrift store supports an agency that helps people avoid eviction, pay heating bills, sends kids to camp, and much more.
Not saying that GW doesn't do some good things. But it is like the Walmart of thrift stores. Plus it is overpriced a lot of the time. Like dollar store items marked up over what the DS was charging.
I think it all started with a false meme that went around the internet about GW paying their president millions of dollars or something. People do love to put it down.
Click on the link for more:
A 2013 article on Watchdog.org reported that Goodwill's tax returns showed that more than 100 Goodwills pay less than minimum wage while simultaneously paying more than $53.7 million in total compensation to top executives.[37] Douglas Barr, former CEO of the Goodwill of Southern California, was the highest paid Goodwill executive in the country.[38] He received total compensation worth $1,188,733, including a base salary of $350,200, bonuses worth $87,550, retirement benefits of $71,050, and $637,864 in deferred compensation, after serving as CEO for 17 years. This is often incorrectly cited as his salary[37]
For years the state had a contract with goodwill to provide a work evaluation to some of our clients with disabilities. At the end they frequently would hire people that weren’t competitively employable. It was a win-win and those employees worked hard and stayed. Then out of state management came in and fired the 2 compassionate people that ran it and they then fired all the disabled employees. We canceled the contract and I won’t donate or buy from a goodwill.
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