Goodwill opens up video game-themed store called "The Grid" in NC

[Lord of Pirates]

Sell it on CL for a dollar and you can rest assured it goes to a better place .

[Gypsy]

This is also why there is a huge disparity with how regional Goodwill chains price goods. My local Goodwill stores seem to use Ebay and Pricecharting as a reference. I kid you not, they've got an untested loose Intellivision for at least $60 (it may have been more; I want to nearly say $80 but I was so annoyed about it that I didn't even care to pay much more attention). Before that, it was a loose untested SEGA Master System for $30 with no accessories at all. I don't even bother anymore. If I want to pay Ebay prices, I'll do it with a return policy and at least some sort of guarantee that it's been tested.

Exactly. It bothers me when people/thrift stores think they can get ebay prices or above for untested merchandise.

I don't want to rant, but we have similar views of Goodwill.

Yeah, each region is managed individually, so it sucks that yours is using Shopgoodwill.com

Mine doesn't list their items on there, and so I still find a lot of great items for cheap. Some stores have return policies of 10 days and in-store credit. You have to shop there (and use the in-store credit regularly) to make it worthwhile.

I think a couple of my greatest Goodwill finds were:

Musha (sega genesis) cart only for .49 cents
Game and Watch (Mario Bros) mint condition for .49 cents
Turbo Grafx 16 with Turbo Booster, TurboStick, Controller, hookups, and a few games for $16

For comparison, a thrift store in my area had a turbo for $80 with no games, maybe hook-ups and one controller. Same place also had a Gamecube for $100.......console only....................

I think I've got some stuff from that place, but I can't recall what off-hand. To really get deals you have to go every day, or potentially know the people working there, know when they put new things out etc... I rarely get thrift store deals anymore because I don't even really go once a week. It's just not worth it for me compared to garage/yard sales and posting up ISO ads on CL, FB etc...

Yeah, I was thinking about that too. But you'd be surprised what gets donated at Goodwill stores and then the actual values they go for online. Some don't care, want to clear their attic, basement, estate, etc.

Yeah lots of people don't care. I don't know clothing/purse etc...brands to be reselling that kind of stuff.

[zborgerd]

Yeah, I was thinking about that too. But you'd be surprised what gets donated at Goodwill stores and then the actual values they go for online. Some don't care, want to clear their attic, basement, estate, etc.

Willing to bet that most people who drop off merchandise to Goodwill don't shop there normally. They usually are just trying to get rid of things that take up space; E.g. Clothes that don't fit but aren't worn enough to discard. The same goes for old electronics and "junk". My local Goodwill stores all have a huge wall full of useless cables and other things that are almost unrecognizable.

[Lord of Pirates]

Exactly. It bothers me when people/thrift stores think they can get ebay prices or above for untested merchandise.

I don't want to rant, but we have similar views of Goodwill.


For comparison, a thrift store in my area had a turbo for $80 with no games, maybe hook-ups and one controller. Same place also had a Gamecube for $100.......console only....................

I think I've got some stuff from that place, but I can't recall what off-hand. To really get deals you have to go every day, or potentially know the people working there, know when they put new things out etc... I rarely get thrift store deals anymore because I don't even really go once a week. It's just not worth it for me compared to garage/yard sales and posting up ISO ads on CL, FB etc...

Yeah lots of people don't care. I don't know clothing/purse etc...brands to be reselling that kind of stuff.

Same here, I refuse to shop there or donate anything to them.

[ramzastrife]

Goodwill and Salvation Army are not big in my area because of a different thrift store chain.

I had looked at that goodwill gaming store a week or so ago, and it could potentially be a very lucrative venture for them. Like someone said a lot of it looked new, so maybe gamestop or something donates "new" stuff when they clear out stock.

Also, most people don't care what their **** is worth. They donate it so they can feel good about themselves, don't have to do **** about it, and get a tax write off. Though oddly enough not everyone makes them fill out the form.

[Gypsy]

Getting the tax write off is the same as selling it basically.

Also I know for a fact Target donates old stock to thrift stores (including video games), not sure about anywhere else but I'd bet a lot of stores do. It's a tax write-off for them and lets them salvage something from unsellable product.

[storino03]

Target actually sells their clearance items to thrift stores, including Goodwill. At least with GW, it isn't a free donation. They still have to pay a % of the shipment.

[Gypsy]

I just assumed it was for the write-off but that does make sense that they would want something for it. I wonder if they still get to have some tax breaks for it anyway, since these places can't be paying much based on the prices I've seen on stuff that was clearly from Target. I don't know all the legal stuff involved though.

[storino03]

The ones around here seem to price their Target stock roughly half off of the ticketed price.

[JWiley_12]

For comparison, a thrift store in my area had a turbo for $80 with no games, maybe hook-ups and one controller. Same place also had a Gamecube for $100.......console only....................

But this is a good sign, because it means you're dealing with people who have no idea what they have in their hands.

On flee markets out here, you sometimes see people sell PS2 shovelware for like $15 a piece, and next to that lie complete PC big box games for $2. I once asked a woman about the price difference and she told me "the PC games were cheaper because they were older". :-)