Shopper floored by unbelievable discovery at Goodwill: 'What a sham'

Most of the time, thrift shops offer used or secondhand items for sale. Occasionally, you'll find unopened products, too.

One thrift shopper was floored when they found a pack of new pillowcases at their local thrift shop at an exorbitant, department store price, particularly for a local Goodwill.

They shared the lunacy to the r/ThriftGrift subreddit — a community focused on unethical thrift shop practices.

A prominent tag on the package of new pillow shams showed their price of $30.

"My local Goodwill isn't usually too crazy on their prices but this one made me do a double take over the weekend," the original poster began. "At least it's new?"

One commenter pointed out that a new set of pillow shams on Amazon was available for half that price, which encourages shoppers to simply buy new things instead of thrifting.

Thrifting enables shoppers to meet everyday needs and purchase household necessities at a fraction of the cost, while finding items that are often brand new.

For example, one lucky thrift shopper scored a still-usable KitchenAid mixer — which retails for over $400 brand new — for a shocking price of only $1.99.

Another thrift shopper snagged a like-new KitchenAid stand mixer for $35, saving more than 90% when considering the home appliance's retail value.

Thrifting also helps prevent high-quality goods from becoming "trash" and entering our landfills, in turn reducing the amount of waste that pollutes the ocean, carried by the wind or rain.

Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics? Giving me money back 💰 Letting me trade for new stuff 👕 Making it as easy as possible ⚡ Keeping my stuff out of landfills 🗑️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Affordable prices are a big part of why savvy consumers shop at thrift shops and secondhand stores. When thrift shops price their items as if they were a standard retail store, shoppers become less inclined to continue buying secondhand.

Every manufactured item requires time, effort, and resources to create, and each time a shopper purchases new things, it reinforces consumer demand and prompts companies to continue manufacturing products.

This cycle is wasteful, especially when so many things are readily available secondhand.

Fortunately, corporate greed in thrift shops is not entirely widespread. Many thrift shoppers still continue to score amazing deals on household items and necessities.

"I thought it said $3 and went 'yeah that makes sense' just to realize it was THIRTY no way," one commenter said.

"What a sham!" another user joked.

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