Ten Things We Learned From Goodwill

Ten things we learned from Goodwill

How does Goodwill feel about resellers? Has the increase in our fast fashion consumption had an impact on Goodwill’s inventory? What about Marie Kondo? When is the best time to shop at Goodwill? What happens to my stuff after I donate it? We sat down with Dee Dee Collura, VP of Retail Operations at Goodwill Akron’s headquarters for an in-depth behind the scenes look at Goodwill for these answers and more.

The best time to shop the half price item is on Friday and Saturday

Goodwill uses a color rotation system to track their inventory. After an item has been on the sales floor for four weeks, it gets marked down to half price. Sales start every Friday of every week so the best time to shop the sale is Friday and Saturday before it gets picked over.

Myth: Goodwill employees get first dibs on the best stuff

Goodwill Akron has strict policies in place that do not allow employees to shop when they are working. Also, an item has to be on the sales floor for a certain period of time before they are permitted to buy it in order to allow customers an opportunity to shop first.

The busiest day of the year is New Year’s Eve

People are in a rush to get their donations out the door before the December 31 tax donation deadline which results in an influx of donations and treasures!

You can shop Goodwill online at ShopGoodwill.com

Shopgoodwill.com is an auction-style site where shoppers can find everything from antiques to brand name items from Goodwill stores across the country. Click here to see Dee Dee’s Russian Doll collection that we mentioned in episode 11 from ShopGoodwill.com!

New items are put on the sales floor roughly every 15 – 30 minutes

When is the best time to shop? Always! The key is to go often because new items are rolled out on the floor all day, every day.

Shopping at a Goodwill in an affluent neighborhood doesn’t mean you’ll always find the best stuff

If an item is donated at a specific store, it usually stays in that store. However, items that are donated to their Attended Donation Centers (the big trucks you see in church parking lots) are distributed among their entire agency. For example Hudson and West Akron don’t have retail stores in those neighborhoods so all of their donations are distributed among the entire Goodwill Akron agency (Summit Portage, Media, Ashland, and Richland counties). So you could find something donated from Hudson in Brunswick.

Goodwill loves resellers

Goodwill’s VP of Retail Operations tries to engage resellers to help them find the brands and items on their lists.

Furniture is sterilized with the same chemical used by exterminators

Goodwill is required by law to sterilize anything that has a stuffing. They use a chemical called Steri Fab, the same chemical used by exterminators. If an item has a big yellow tag on it, that means it’s been sterilized.

Younger people are thrifting more now than ever before

Goodwill is seeing an influx in younger, college-aged shoppers, including young men.

Goodwill will recycle your unwearable items

Goodwill will recycle items with rips, pilling, and some stains by placing it into the salvage stream. Put them in a separate bag and mark them as SALVAGE when you drop them off to Goodwill. Items placed into the salvage stream can often be recycled into stuffing, insulation, rags, and more.

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