Goodwill will not take older tvs at all.Guy took one look and refused everything I had with me.I have been cleaning out an old shed full of old tvs and vcrs that were slowly getting ruined by dampness and weather and full of dirt.I dumped a lot.Bryan saved the tube and hybrid tvs and I'm going to sell a few later tvs at auction.I saved a few late 70s to mid 80s tvs that worked ok and were in good enough shape(I thought) to donate.So I went to the Salvation Army.I guess they got tired of being stuck with non-working electronics.He had to plug everything in and check it.Rejected a little 5" battery or 12v tv outright because of no power adaptor with it.A kid about 8 or 9 wanted it so I showed him where the batteries went and that one got saved.Almost rejected an older 13" tv/vcr combo because the vcr wouldn't take a tape.No way I was gonna wrestle an old monster like that to change belts only to give it away.But he took it.The tv part worked perfect.He did reject a little 13" mid 70's Sharp that I know works great on Satellite because it will not get UHF reception.It has an 8 preset UHF tuner and something is not allowing you to tune in the channels.Most are stuck near 83 and just can't get it down to where the locals are.All local reception is UHF and the Salvation Army store doesn't have cable.And he rejected 2 older cd players .One because I didn't include the power cord and one because it had a crack in the front panel.Both work.Does anyone want to save the Sharp?It's got to be mid 70s or older.It's heavy as lead so I imagine it's got a metal chassis holding those circuit boards.It does have instant on though.:thumbsdn: .I can see the filaments glowing through the vents after I turn it off. I have never taken the back off.It's in pretty good shape cosmetically.I just don't know how that RCA got all the way to the floor that I alerted Bryan to in the local Goodwill when they wouldn't take my much later tvs.Some were remote.This area needs more collectors of 70s and 80s stuff.I hated having to dump so much stuff but I can't hardly give away perfectly working tvs and vcrs from that era.I'm a tv fixer,not a collector.I collect records,record players and jukeboxes.I gave up even trying to sell fairly modern 90s era tvs at the flea market in 2005.Just no money in it anymore.I was lucky if I could get $50 for a 27" with remote and they had to make sure it had composite video input at least before they would buy it.If it had woodgrain sides and had only RF input I couldn't even get $35.19" tvs of course were even worse.Maybe $25 with remote if you were lucky. I let quite a few go for $15 before I got sick of it and quit.Back in the early 90s I could sell used electronics like crazy.$100 for a used vcr.$75 for a 19" tv with knob tuners.$100 or for one with remote. $150 for a used console tv with knob tuners.Even $25 for a 12" black and white tv.Quite a bit of the stuff I sold still had tubes or were hybrid even.The glory days are gone..sigh.

They're turning down a donation? Sheez. And the GWs or SAs would sell the power adapters from the 12V sets separately (they've got plenty there), what gives? But I sorta understand some of their logic, they have to pay to move the trash (the ones that are "dead" - or left for "dead"). Used electronics are gone in an instant here - be it the BPC Soundesign boombox or the typical Sansui G receiver.

And btw, the GWs and SAs in my town knowingly sells some broken crap, so...

My neighbor across the street had a large quantity of varied items that he wanted to donate to get rid of. There were SEVERAL places that came and cherry picked just a few items each, leaving the rest (SA?, GW?, VFW?, PHV? that I know of) just sitting, so he let my next door neighbor look the stuff over before it hit the curb. My next door neighbor (Dennis) offered me two house fans (turned down, I have 6 already), and left 2 cordless phones at my backdoor (they were GOOD, with the bases, handsets AND CHARGERS taped together, with just a bit of cleaning and (for fun) I made 2 new battery packs and now I use them daily).
Then the passer byes got into the act, I saw them waiting for Dennis to finish. That night he collected the detritus from the curb and chucked it into the trash can. I'm not even sure what was in there...

After I fixed his 34" tv in the basement a few months later he GAVE me a laptop worth $200 for parts on ebay.... got a video card it needs on ebay for $30, and now I have an xp laptop (WHEN I get time to swap that video card).

Guess what I'm saying is that the charities around here are REALLY picky...

They've had this restriction on us for awhile now. We are not allowed to dispose of sets in the garbage, they have to be taken to a re-cycler, and they charge you to dispose of the set --up to 40 dollars depending on the size!!

Thrift stores won't take old sets because of the possibility they don't work or will fail before they are sold. They don't want to have to pay the recycling fees, so they just don't take them.

Makes for finding TVs around here difficult. Unless you have connections or can manage to hit all the estate sales before 10am --it just isn't happening.

I think it's mostly the leaded glass from the crt, with some consideration also for the lead in the solder joints.

Luckily there is still a thriftstore around here which will take literally anything donated to it and put it out for sale at a fair price...have bought plenty of TV's, tube radios, projectors, pianos, organs, appliances etc. here. They even had a baby grand piano one time but someone beat me to it...
I have noticed TV's do not sell very well at all though...almost all of the sets they get are 1980's models and end up having to be discarded even though they try to sell them, working, for $10 or $15.

Goodwill and SA do seem to be cutting back on the amount of TV's they sell...SA seems to have very high prices for some odd reason. Saw a Mitsubishi 35" set with some discoloration in the screen for $300.00 at SA, I don't think so! I used to be able to get old Apple II and Macintoshes at Goodwill for $1.99 or so but they don't seem to be accepting many computers anymore.

The Salvation Army here no longer accept ANY electronics or electrical appliances here. In part due to the costs associated with dumping all the dead stuff and in part due to some stupid OH&S requirements. They used to get some interesting stuff and occasionally the guys on the floor would tell me where to go to get stuff that they had left behind. Now they only time I get stuff from there is when I pick up "donations" that are dumped in the parking lot.

The Savers chain accept some stuff and have it tested to comply with the OH&S rules, but they never seem to have anything good. That said even before the changes came in I never found any good audio/TV stuff at savers. They used to be good for vintage computers and video games though, I got both my Amiga 1200 tower and Amiga 4000 there among other things.

There is still a supposedly charity run resale shop at a local dump, but what is actually accepted and put out for sale varies depending on exactly who is on. I've been there on days when better stuff is crushed in the scrap bin than is out on the shelves. They cut all the leads in their effort to comply with the OH&S rules (which can be a real pain when you have to patch or replace the multipin cables connecting 2 halves of an organ).

Unfortunately cutting leads is becoming more and more common. I've seen notices for curbside garbage collection state that all leads must be cut. I'm seeing more and more stuff with badly patched leads (wires twisted together and taped, active/neutral swapped, even active/earth swapped!) show up.

Surely someone is more likely to get electrocuted this way than if they simply plug in the TV/stereo/whatever they find as is.

If the OH&S nutjobs get there way you won't even be able to buy a mains plug (with the new style flimsy easily bent insulated pins as they can't sell the older type anymore) without an electrical contractors license. Will they be asking me to hand in my soldering iron next as I don't have the proper permit? :rant:

Is the sharp color or B&W, and is it tube? Instant on tube set could be cool, nd i'm in the area (almost..)

Got pics? :)

I can't believe it but I've gotten 4 emails from people wanting the Sharp tv on Freecycle.It should be taken by 1 of them tomorrow.(Monday the 18th)I hope I don't get any complaints from them.The tint and brightness seems to drift from one power up to the next especially if it's moved.Probably dirty controls on the inside but I don't have time to deal with it.I kinda like the anonymous nature of the Salvation Army when I'm giving away something I don't want to deal with but that works too good to throw away.I gave 3 tvs to a lady I couldn't sell and she claims none of them worked.I know they did.She was probably trying to get local stations with the switch set to cable. I had just loaned one of the tvs out to an older lady while I obtained a part for her tv.The older lady was tickled she didn't have to do without tv.Or she may have been trying to get them to work with a remote.All were digital tuning but one was obviously not remote and I'm not sure about the other 2.The one I loaned out didn't work with any of the codes I tried on a universal remote.They were early 80s tvs so probably too old for the codes if they were remote.I've seen lots of early 80s tvs that had digital channel and even digital volume control but were still not remote.No remote sensor to be found or opening for one.But another lady from Freecycle I gave 2 80s Sonys that wouldn't bring a $2 bid at auction was tickled with them.She was keeping 1 and giving the other to a Katrina victim that moved up here.

one thing that annoys the $h!t out of me is that Badwill has gotten all post-9/11 "we're protecting your security" paranoid, they don't even sell Apple iiEs because they might contain someones SSN, rachel rays recipies, pictures of grandma, and assorted government secrets. They send them to some place where they wipe the HDs and sell the computers for a vastly inflated price. They dont even sell printers, because heaven forbid if grandmas mapquest to the bingo hall is jammed in it. Its hard to find anything computer related, except for the usual keyboards and mice coated with soda and sticky crap.

other thrift stores are a little more relaxed, but it's NO FUN when you see a mint looking late model compaq deskpro thrown into a bin and have some fat mexican lady get in your face and say "NO FOR SALE" when you approach it

In the past (before all the changes) I've gotten some interesting weird computer stuff via the Salvation Army. One day years ago I saw the guys unloading some stuff and went straight over. Picked up a couple of Toshiba 4900CT (the first Pentium laptop) and a couple of Xterms. The guys unloading told me they left a load of stuff behind and gave me the address. I drive down there, it turns out to be a BHP research lab that closed down. Dual processor PCs, Sun workstations, Macs, all loaded with weird DSP and coprocessor cards. A couple of Phaser solid ink printers, networking gear. The 2 guys left on the site just wanted some beer and I could cart it all away. It took me 3 trips to get it all home (me in a station wagon, a friend in a pickup). Those were the days.

They used to pull the "not for sale" thing on me at one place I used to go. For a while I could get away with grabbing while they were looking and taking to the other end of the store where a different person would sell it to me. Eventually they caught up to me though.

I went to the salvation Army store in Joplin mo. yesterday and they had more electronics than I had ever seen there before. There were a few console tvs several table models and 4 or 5 console stereos. They wanted 45.00 each on the stereos which is kind of high. There was a tube Capitol console stereo that was almost mint that I wouldnt mind having. They said it worked. The literature was still with it. But I really dont have the room and am not sure I would want to pay that much.
John.

I think other folks have made similar observations here before, but I too have noticed that most of the smaller thrift store 'chains' and independents tend to be less "picky" about taking old TVs and such, so will often tend to have better pickings for such things.

A few other things (which many of you have probably also noticed) regarding Salvation Army and Goodwill stores:

- Goodwill and Salvation Army stores are organized in "districts," and each district seems to have their own guidelines regarding accepted donations and item pricing. I've noticed that Goodwill stores in some districts are waaaay pickier and priced higher than Goodwill stores in other districts, for example. Also, some individual stores within a district may tend to end up with certain types of merchandise more frequently than other stores.

- It appears that Goodwill and SalArmy tends to have one "primary" store in each district that's larger than the other stores, and this is often (but not always) the store that will end up with the lion's share of the "interesting junk".

- I've noticed that some SalArmy districts (at least used to) have a designated "AS-IS" store. These featured newly-donated items that were deemed too old/not good enough/too cheap/broken/whatever to be sold in their "regular" stores. I suppose getting rid of such 'worthless' stuff via the "AS-IS" store was cheaper than paying the trash company to haul it away. These were great-- stuff like old TVs, radios, old stereo/hi-fi equipment, classic microcomputers, cameras, and other such stuff popped up there all the time, and generally at giveaway prices. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the SalArmy "AS-IS" stores have been phased out or become far less "trashy".

- Some Goodwill districts have a "Bargain Bin" store or something similar, but most of the ones I've seen appear to be mostly stuff-that-was-in-a-regular-Goodwill-store-but-sat-around-unsold-for-too-long, rather than 'new' donations that the powers that be deemed not worthy of being in a regular store in the first place.

1. - It appears that Goodwill and SalArmy tends to have one "primary" store in each district that's larger than the other stores, and this is often (but not always) the store that will end up with the lion's share of the "interesting junk".

2. 7I've noticed that some SalArmy districts (at least used to) have a designated "AS-IS" store. These featured newly-donated items that were deemed too old/not good enough/too cheap/broken/whatever to be sold in their "regular" stores. I suppose getting rid of such 'worthless' stuff via the "AS-IS" store was cheaper than paying the trash company to haul it away. These were great-- stuff like old TVs, radios, old stereo/hi-fi equipment, classic microcomputers, cameras, and other such stuff popped up there all the time, and generally at giveaway prices. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the SalArmy "AS-IS" stores have been phased out or become far less "trashy".

.

i agree wholeheartedly on both points....

I think other folks have made similar observations here before, but I too have noticed that most of the smaller thrift store 'chains' and independents tend to be less "picky" about taking old TVs and such, so will often tend to have better pickings for such things.

A few other things (which many of you have probably also noticed) regarding Salvation Army and Goodwill stores:

- Goodwill and Salvation Army stores are organized in "districts," and each district seems to have their own guidelines regarding accepted donations and item pricing. I've noticed that Goodwill stores in some districts are waaaay pickier and priced higher than Goodwill stores in other districts, for example. Also, some individual stores within a district may tend to end up with certain types of merchandise more frequently than other stores.

- It appears that Goodwill and SalArmy tends to have one "primary" store in each district that's larger than the other stores, and this is often (but not always) the store that will end up with the lion's share of the "interesting junk".

- I've noticed that some SalArmy districts (at least used to) have a designated "AS-IS" store. These featured newly-donated items that were deemed too old/not good enough/too cheap/broken/whatever to be sold in their "regular" stores. I suppose getting rid of such 'worthless' stuff via the "AS-IS" store was cheaper than paying the trash company to haul it away. These were great-- stuff like old TVs, radios, old stereo/hi-fi equipment, classic microcomputers, cameras, and other such stuff popped up there all the time, and generally at giveaway prices. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the SalArmy "AS-IS" stores have been phased out or become far less "trashy".

- Some Goodwill districts have a "Bargain Bin" store or something similar, but most of the ones I've seen appear to be mostly stuff-that-was-in-a-regular-Goodwill-store-but-sat-around-unsold-for-too-long, rather than 'new' donations that the powers that be deemed not worthy of being in a regular store in the first place.


Our local Salvation Army store(Salisbury,MD)used to have a 99 cent bin they rolled out at 5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.It was usually rushed as soon as they opened the doors.Lots of computer stuff and other things that didn't work.I got a Hotpoint tv from the bin once. Can't believe it survived all the people fighting over stuff before I got it.They always left any older tv or record player.Even grabbed some nice recievers and turntables after the fighting was over.Some things that came out of the bin worked but they just put it in there because it was old. I have a nice vintage 1960 Magnavox console stereo that came from that store too.That was a little more than 99 cents...lol.
In the last couple of or so almost all the old computer stuff has disappeared from both Salvation Army and Goodwill in Salisbury,the console stereos have disappeared and hardly any tvs either.No good stereo equipment or speakers is showing up in either store.All I ever see is cheap cheesy stereos(usually all in one with cd on top)Hardly any speakers except real crappy bookshelf ones,some vcrs and phones.The Goodwill is nearly all clothes.They just remodeled the store and the clothes just about took over while the book,record and furniture section got even smaller.The electronics is one small shelf in the back.Hardly even worth perusing anymore. At least they still have records. But I find less and less worth having and they charge a $1 an lp.Sometimes I get lucky and find a few 45s.

I seldom post here, but I felt that I must contribute to this thread.

My local Salvation Army store was once full of electronics dating from the 50s to the 70s. I recall finding a Magnavox combo with its remote control for $12.99 about five years ago. I now wish I had bought it, of course, but my mother would have had a duckfit if I had brought it home. Now, they have nothing but ugly clothes and shoes that no one in his or her right mind would buy.

The thrift stores are rapidly becoming retail stores. Goodwill used to be a fine place to purchase records, old console stereos and TVs, and vintage clothes. Now Goodwill is a fine place to purchase six-foot-tall wooden hippos and $140.00 espresso makers. Thrift store? I think not. They're now buying items from HSN (Home Shopping Network) to sell in their stores. I'm not joking, I saw the boxes.

I always believed thrift stores were places where one could purchase used items for a reasonable price. Apparently, I was wrong. The "thrift stores" in my area sell mostly new items, and one is very lucky to find anything in one of them made before 1999.

Sorry for the rant...

Just a quick thought,
Sometimes I wonder where all they old stuff on E-bay etc comes from, could some of it get filtered out some how and not end up for sale in the Goodwill/thrift stores?

The stuff has to be going somewhere and I don't think all of it ends up going to the dump. There are people outthere that know what some of this stuff will bring using the internet. Just a thought....

Thrift store? I think not. They're now buying items from HSN (Home Shopping Network) to sell in their stores. I'm not joking, I saw the boxes.
You should see all the reject items my Goodwills get from Target. One has a special section of Target furniture in boxes that sometimes look like they've been retrieved from not-even-god-knows-where.

(On the other hand, that store does have a very nice 1981-vintage Zenith 25" Space Phone console there right now. If only...)

What annoys me is when I see products in Target on sale for about a quarter, then see the same products in Goodwill for about $1! I know Target ships their unpurchased items (across the street in my case), but they shouldn't be priced MORE expensive!! Can we say THRIFT store??

I am a multi media specialist (marketing) employed at a Goodwill corporate headquarters in the Midwest. As Whirled One stated above, Goodwill's are organized in "districts", so acceptance of donated goods can vary dramatically from one area to the next. It is unfortunate that some items can not be accepted but the reality is, if we can't sell it, we have to pay for disposal. Those prices have dramatically increased in the last few years.

As far as the product pricing goes, that again can vary widely between districts. Please try to remember we are a “mission driven enterprise”. The money we make is put back into job training and other programs to make our communities stronger and to give people a chance at a better life. As government programs shrink, Goodwill and other not for profits will be playing a more important roll in helping those who need a "hand up". Please continue to support us and other not for profits through your donations and purchases. We are really trying to help!

I am a multi media specialist (marketing) employed at a Goodwill corporate headquarters in the Midwest. As Whirled One stated above, Goodwill's are organized in "districts", so acceptance of donated goods can vary dramatically from one area to the next. It is unfortunate that some items can not be accepted but the reality is, if we can't sell it, we have to pay for disposal. Those prices have dramatically increased in the last few years.

As far as the product pricing goes, that again can vary widely between districts. Please try to remember we are a “mission driven enterprise”. The money we make is put back into job training and other programs to make our communities stronger and to give people a chance at a better life. As government programs shrink, Goodwill and other not for profits will be playing a more important roll in helping those who need a "hand up". Please continue to support us and other not for profits through your donations and purchases. We are really trying to help!


But I don't go to Goodwill to look for clothes.Shopping for clothes and knick knacks at Goodwill doesn't interest me. The only vintage thing I find locally anymore that keeps me going to Goodwill is records.If Goodwill stops selling those I won't have a reason to shop there anymore. What was wierd was the old RCA tube metal portable I wasn't interested in showing up that I alerted Bryan to.The normal person taking donations must have been off or something for that to slip through.I hadn't seen any tv,let alone that one for a year,a console stereo for 2 years and any vintage electronics older than late 80s or early 90sfor about the same and even then it was vcrs and real cheap low quality stereo equipment.Where are the good quality stereo components going I wonder?Straight to ebay?I know they don't just throw them away.In fact I've never seen anything but BPC stereo components there except for consoles when they did have them.Never any of the stuff they brag about finding over in the audio forums.

I've found some great records at Goodwill though. The Goodwill here is far more promising than Salvation Army for records. I've bought probably 10 times more records from Goodwill than Salvation Army even though they are pricier.Maybe that's why. They stay on the shelf longer. Also I know there are a few workers at Salvation Army that cherry pick the records when they are donated.One used to set up at the flea market.He still works there as he took some of my tvs in.Probably just about anything could be cherry picked by the workers before it ever sees the store and this happens everywhere I'm sure.

It's too bad no one at these places knows that people collect vintage electronics. I guess if they knew they were antiques they'd want way too much for them...

There is a Salvation Army store around the corner from where I work. The "store" is there mainly for the donations, its in a very affluent suburb of Albany NY.
I usually stop in there at least once a day and have gotten to know several of the employees. If things are slow, I get to Cherry Pick new donations of records.
As far as accepting TVs and electronic equipment, at this store the only requirement is that it has a plug on it, so they can test it.
A Salvation Army truck sits outside the store about 10 hours a day and almost everything is loaded from the donator directly onto the truck.
I have noticed a sharp decline in donations of anything worthwhile(vintage electronics) in the last 3 yrs. I used to be able to occasionally pick up a decent amp or pair of speakers. Most of whats in there now is the black plastic junk that quit after the 2nd year of use.
The local Goodwill has a few records but other than that mainly, newly minted target rejects.

But I don't go to Goodwill to look for clothes.Shopping for clothes and knick knacks at Goodwill doesn't interest me. The only vintage thing I find locally anymore that keeps me going to Goodwill is records.If Goodwill stops selling those I won't have a reason to shop there anymore. What was wierd was the old RCA tube metal portable I wasn't interested in showing up that I alerted Bryan to.The normal person taking donations must have been off or something for that to slip through.I hadn't seen any tv,let alone that one for a year,a console stereo for 2 years and any vintage electronics older than late 80s or early 90sfor about the same and even then it was vcrs and real cheap low quality stereo equipment.Where are the good quality stereo components going I wonder?Straight to ebay?I know they don't just throw them away.In fact I've never seen anything but BPC stereo components there except for consoles when they did have them.Never any of the stuff they brag about finding over in the audio forums.

I've found some great records at Goodwill though. The Goodwill here is far more promising than Salvation Army for records. I've bought probably 10 times more records from Goodwill than Salvation Army even though they are pricier.Maybe that's why. They stay on the shelf longer. Also I know there are a few workers at Salvation Army that cherry pick the records when they are donated.One used to set up at the flea market.He still works there as he took some of my tvs in.Probably just about anything could be cherry picked by the workers before it ever sees the store and this happens everywhere I'm sure.
Just so you know, anyone "cherry picking" at any Goodwill ends up looking for a new job. Period. We consider this theft.

Just so you know, anyone "cherry picking" at any Goodwill ends up looking for a new job. Period. We consider this theft.

Surely if it something that wouldn't be sold in the store anyway it's better that someone takes it rather than it end up in the dumpster...

Just so you know, anyone "cherry picking" at any Goodwill ends up looking for a new job. Period. We consider this theft.


Yeah but even if they don't steal it they could buy it long before I cruise in there 3 hours or more later when I finally get off work or 3 days later in the case of the Salvation Army which only has evening hours after 5 pm on certain days.Down to 1 day a week now.Or set it aside and offer to purchase it bypassing the floor totally.

As far as the product pricing goes, that again can vary widely between districts. Please try to remember we are a “mission driven enterprise”. The money we make is put back into job training and other programs to make our communities stronger and to give people a chance at a better life. As government programs shrink, Goodwill and other not for profits will be playing a more important roll in helping those who need a "hand up". Please continue to support us and other not for profits through your donations and purchases. We are really trying to help!

Thanks for the post MichaelJ-- I think most of us appreciate what Goodwill Industries tries to do. It actually is one of my favorite charitable organizations, and I think it (and other similar organizations) are actually a much better deal for the general public (read: taxpayer) than many government programs. A couple years ago, an email-friend and I were discussing thrift stores, and I wrote the following (edited slightly) regarding Goodwill:

----

I think Goodwill is a great model for a charitable organization, and I'll tell you why. Have you ever seen people ringing bells in front of supermarkets and Wal*Marts asking for coins for Goodwill? Probably not, no. Have you ever received a letter in the mail telling a sad, depressing story, asking for your generous cash donation to Goodwill Industries..? I bet you haven't. Why? That's because Goodwill appears to be designed to be essentially self-supporting.

It works using a simple economic cycle, and everyone in the cycle benefits.

(1) People donate used clothing, housewares, etc. to Goodwill. This is helpful to the donor, because it not only makes them feel good by helping others, but also helps them get rid of unneeded things that they might otherwise toss out in the trash or on the curb. Plus, the donor even has the option to request a contribution receipt from Goodwill, thus providing a possible income tax deduction (thus providing a small financial return to the donor).

(2) Goodwill then takes the donated goods, sorts them, distributes them to their retail stores. This process creates jobs, as people are needed to process the donated goods, drive the trucks, mark the selling prices, stock the shelves, man the cash registers, etc., etc. Goodwill staffs many of
these jobs with disadvantaged people, and this is great for those people,
since these jobs teach a lot of basic job skills that will help them become self-sufficient and be able to get a better-paying job elsewhere. At the same time, a job at Goodwill is rather 'safe' in that the environment lends itself well to success. [in other words, it's hard for someone to really screw up, and even if they do, it probably won't cause serious trouble.]

(3) Customers go to the store and buy the stuff from Step 1. With money. This helps the customer, because the customer gets something they need or
want, and usually for much less money than an equivalent new item would cost at a regular store.

(4) The money pays for the payroll (i.e. the jobs that were created in Step 2) and other store expenses (rent, utilities, taxes, etc).

(5) Go to Step 1.

And: Nobody gets a free ride at Goodwill. People who go to the store pay for the stuff they buy. This not only neatly eliminates the problem of people
trying to "game" the system to get something-for-nothing, but also relieves the truly needy from feeling embarrassed or guilty-- in other words, they don't have to feel like they're asking for a handout, because they're not. They're making a purchase-- they're paying money for the goods they receive. The people working at the store are getting paid, but they're holding a *job*-- this isn't "welfare". The store merchandise comes from people who donate goods. So, everyone in the cycle "pays" into it *and* gets something out of it-- whether they pay in cash (the customer), labor (the employee), or goods (the donor). In addition, the system can benefit the same people at both ends of the cycle. The same person who donates their old living room furniture to Goodwill can walk into the store and buy a
boombox and some shirts. There's no income requirement to shop at a Goodwill store-- it provides a useful resource to a wide variety of people-- from the low-income person trying to make ends meet, to the student who needs cheap furnishings for their dorm/apartment, to even the more financially-stable person looking for anything from collectibles to a household appliance. Everyone's money is equal at a Goodwill store! It's a charity that uses basic capitalistic principles to provide benefit to a wide scope of people.

It's too bad no one at these places knows that people collect vintage electronics. I guess if they knew they were antiques they'd want way too much for them...

Sometimes they do, but the problem is that it's going to be difficult to find someone(s) at these sorts of stores who can consistently price a wide variety of such things fairly (fair both for the store/charity and for the consumer).

I've seen this handled a few different ways. Some stores (especially certain Goodwill stores) sometimes sell suspected "collectibles/antiques" using a silent auction process (which is inconvenient for the buyer, but makes pricing unnecessary). I think some stores even "eBay" stuff nowadays. Some SalArmy districts have/had a designated "antiques/collectibles" area (usually a special room or section within their main store in the district), but the pricing sometimes gets unreasonably high or (less-often) low. High prices would normally tend to take care of themselves thanks to basic capitalism (i.e. if an item sits on the shelf for a long time, that's a pretty good indicator that it's overpriced), but most SalArmy stores don't seem to do automatic time-based discount programs these days for housewares (i.e. color-coded tags, with the "oldest" color having a discount), and almost never for items they put in the "antiques/collectibles" section, so it's probably basically up to the staff to notice what things have been sitting for a long time.

By the way, you can sometimes have a subtle effect on the policies of the store yourself. Even a "fussy" thift store might occasionally "goof up" and take in a vintage electronics item. If it's something you like and it's reasonably priced, buy it-- if you (and other folks like you) keep doing that, you'll be sending a useful message to the store management that "hey, there are people out there actually buying this junk! Maybe we shouldn't turn these sorts of things down after all!" :)
You might also ask nicely, especially when something like that does turn up. (i.e. "Excuse me, but do you ever get in other items like this..? I'm looking for a (whatever)"). It may not help, but you never know.

Thanks for the kind words Whirled One. You nailed the Goodwill Model. I was beginning to feel a little touchy. I love where I work and believe me I could be making much more elsewhere.

You should see all the reject items my Goodwills get from Target. One has a special section of Target furniture in boxes that sometimes look like they've been retrieved from not-even-god-knows-where
i wonder what the link is between illwill and target


1. Some stores (especially certain Goodwill stores) sometimes sell suspected "collectibles/antiques" using a silent auction process (which is inconvenient for the buyer, but makes pricing unnecessary).

I HATE that freakin garbage; they'll bundle a bunch of "related" stuff like a super nintendo, a bunch of carts for it and some controllers, a sega genesis, a handheld casino game from the dollar store, and random assorted video-game looking junk and then price the bundle for $200, or "silent auction." more often than not it's like trying to buy a jewel in a middle of a cow pattie

i wonder what the link is between illwill and target


?? I don't think there's any sort of "link" between Target and Goodwill. I know that Target stores in some areas do happen to consistently donate some of their unsold and/or customer-return goods to Goodwill. In some other areas, they consistently donate such goods to SalArmy instead. I'm not sure why some folks here seem to think this is a problem. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy Target-store "leftovers" at a thrift store. Though I will agree that much of that sort of stuff I've seen at SalArmy or Goodwill stores do tend to be overpriced in my opinion, but that's not what I look for at thrift stores anyway, so it really doesn't matter to me. However, since much of it *does* actually sell, evidently it's not quite as overpriced as you or I might think. Again, I don't think this is a problem. If you don't like stuff like that, don't buy it. If Target didn't donate that stuff to Goodwill or SalArmy or some other chaitable organization, they'd probably have to junk/destroy a lot of it (because for one reason or another it would be impossible to sell it as new or return to the manufacturer), so at least this gives that stuff another chance to be useful to someone who needs it.

I had a roommate in college whose home was not far from the main warehouse for a large mail-order clothing company (I think it was either L.L. Bean or Land's End), and when he'd go home on vacation he'd stop by a particular thrift store that always received a lot of factory "seconds" that were donated from that company, because that way he could get a nice 'new' coat or jacket for cheap. That doesn't sound like a problem to me.

I saw a very old juicer at the GW today, and perhaps the helper had trouble with the labeler, but they had it priced at $69.99. Yikes. And in terms of audio, they have had naught but crappe there for weeks.

I have noticed the Goodwill silent bid auctions often result in higher prices being paid for items...some things such as electronic organs which were out for sale at a certain price and not bought for a while, and a similar item is offered for bid and people end up paying more. Maybe people getting into a competitive spirit...

funny it just inspires a homicidal spirit when i see a denon labeled $199

Same with St. Vincent Du Pauls, they do not take in console TV's anymore. :(