Looking for appliances for cheap? Goodwill… well, it used to have you covered.
An unhappy thrifter from Anchorage, Alaska, shared photos of a $750 TV to r/goodwill.
"It is utterly insane to me [that] a store that gets 90% of its product via donations has prices like this…" the original poster said. "Most of the people there are thrifting to survive or be frugal. Seriously. I won't be back here."
The kicker? The OP shared that they found the same TV on Amazon for a few dollars less.
"That shouldnt even be in the store for that price," one commenter said.
Unfortunately, stories like these are becoming more common. For example, one Goodwill shopper stumbled across a $40 Le Creuset dish: an oddly high price for a donated item.
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There's no one right answer when it comes to rising thrift store prices.
For Goodwill specifically, items are priced by each store's employees and not the organization as a whole.
Cathrine Marston, project manager for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, said in a statement published by Goodwill, "If an employee does not shop at the specific store, or isn't familiar with the brand, they would be unaware of the retail price for the item."
This is one possible explanation for why an item might cost more at Goodwill than at a retailer.
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Cheaper clothes 🤑 Really, it all boils down to human error.
Unfortunately, situations like these can turn away would-be thrifters from what would otherwise be a cost-effective, eco-friendly shopping experience.
This doesn't mean that secondhand shopping should be ditched entirely. In the greater scheme of things, thrifting remains beneficial for consumers. An OfferUp report found that people in the U.S. who thrift save over $1,700 each year.
Plus, secondhand shopping saves perfectly good items from being thrown into landfills. There, e-waste like TVs and other old electronic goods release heavy metals and other hazardous pollutants into the environment, per the Children's Environmental Health Collaborative.
Goodwill outlets can provide a solid alternative. Items are priced by weight and often go for much cheaper than at retail locations. Funnily enough, Goodwill also has an online store.
One commenter noted, "Now that they put all the valuable, easily shippable stuff in the online store, they don't have to competitively price in the physical store because they don't need any of that stuff to sell."
While this isn't fully true, it does point out the online store's value.
If you're like the OP and your local Goodwill isn't cutting it, there are several solid alternatives — namely, online platforms. You can score some great finds on websites like ThredUp, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace, just to name a few. Either way, secondhand still reigns supreme.
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