GoodWill

[GamerTheGreek]

OK ill ask the question, I thought good will was all about clothing and baby items. i didnt realize they had games. whats the moral feeling about this particular store. but theres a store in hackensack nj and i know its not the best area in the world so i was wondering whats the moral feeling and such in the gaming community

[Neil Koch]

Not sure what you mean by "moral feeling"... the profits from the stores go to help poor/disabled people if that's what you're getting at.

Like any thrift/pawn store, it's kind of a crapshoot. The one around me used to have dirt-cheap game stuff, but now they've marked them way up (like $10 for a NES Super Mario Bros. cart).

[Gapporin]

I always raid my local Goodwill whenever I get the chance. I've found everything from an Atari 5200 to some old Infocom games.

As long as they get money, I don't think they care who buys the stuff.

[Nez]

If your on the "dark side" of things I could see a moral issue. But hell if they've got some good games grab em. I've found some good shit thrifting.

[Habeeb Hamusta]

OK ill ask the question, I thought good will was all about clothing and baby items. i didnt realize they had games. whats the moral feeling about this particular store. but theres a store in hackensack nj and i know its not the best area in the world so i was wondering whats the moral feeling and such in the gaming community

I don't understand what your asking. What do you mean by "it's not the best area in the world"? what do you man by moral feeling? If we think it's moral for us to buy games from goodwill? Or for them to sell games?

[Captain Wrong]

Pre-eBay (yes, some of us go back that far) Goodwill and the other thrifts were the backbone of this hobby, and many others. I don't think there really is a moral dilemma there at all as these stores generally put their profits towards good things. You will, however, notice a large degree of righteous indignation when a thrift has the nerve to price something more in line with "what it's worth" rather than the near giveaway prices people expect from this type of retail establishment. Personally, I have a moral problem with that, but that's kind of a different issue altogether.

[GamerTheGreek]

the old salvation army store near where i live used to make it known they were out to raise money for the poor and such. thats why they placed a shop in the well to do area ( wealthy). but this is down where people are lower middle class or lower. i just worry im taking a from the poor. who barely have enough to get a game. in paramus and washington township i dont think many poor people are gonna travel there to get stuff . just was wondering on what you all thought.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Goodwill :store in hackensack nj ..huh.. :wink 2: ........... :D

[ScottK]

I hear people all the time say what good prices and finds you can find at goodwill. I went to 2 stores last week for the first time and I don't think I'll ever return. The only games I found were a few crap 3DO games for $4 each, Virtual Tennis for Dreamcast for $5, and a Dreamcast web browser for $5. Prices probably vary per area, but I don't think I'll ever be able to find any deals where I am from.

[Icarus Moonsight]

By moral issue do you mean "all they have is sports titles"? Cause that's all I can find at the 'will here! HA! Now that's immoral.

[AFGiant]

I hear people all the time say what good prices and finds you can find at goodwill. I went to 2 stores last week for the first time and I don't think I'll ever return. The only games I found were a few crap 3DO games for $4 each, Virtual Tennis for Dreamcast for $5, and a Dreamcast web browser for $5. Prices probably vary per area, but I don't think I'll ever be able to find any deals where I am from.

It's a day-by-day hit or miss thing, man. One day you go and there's nothing there, the next day you go and there is an NES, a Genesis ($10 each), and a stack of games for each (at $2 each). That happened to me. The guys here have much, much better stories and mine is just one example of how day to day it can be. I'd go back. I'd also buy that $5 Web Browser, though ;)

[it290]

I wouldn't worry that you're taking from the poor. If it's some retro title, odds are the only other person who's going to purchase it is going to be another collector. Goodwills are scavenged all the time by collector types, not just games but also people who are into retro clothing. That's why it's been getting harder and harder to find good stuff at them for the past several years. The proceeds still go to charity, so I wouldn't worry about it that much.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Don't feel bad...ok feel bad...for about 2 minutes after you just realized you walked out with a mint 5200 lol

[Icarus Moonsight]

There have been alot of horror stories surrounding Goodwill about employee theft concerning valuable donations. Funny that most the people involved in this shady behavior don't really see VG's as valuable. I wouldn't feel bad about buying anything from Goodwill, it is serving a just and honorable cause. When you do find a worthwhile purchase feel grateful that your getting a deal and someone in need is getting that need met. Better that then some unscrupulous bastard 5-fingering the goods and throwing 'em up on eBay! I hope that the lowest level of hell is reserved for traitors and charity theives... :angry:

[norkusa]

Goodwill used to be a great place to find games 3-4 years ago, but now anything halfway decent that ends up there is either snatched up by employees before it hits the floor, or put up for auction on shopgoodwill.com.

I want to cry every time I look at the shopgoodwill.com auctions. Just about every decent game related item I see there is posted by my local Goodwill store.

[pookninja]

i have bashed goodwill in the past for raising prices on games.i believe they have raised the prices so if they dont sell for the high ticket price,it will sell on half off day,and goodwill makes more money off the games.but,after finding a working top loading nes today at goodwill for 2.50,i love goodwill again :)

[christianscott27]

i've always thought that buying from charitible thrifts was a positive side effect of collecting, feeding my addiction and doing a good turn all in one. as far as the store marking up prices, well honestly its such a scattershot thing who cares. even in the ebay age most goodwill pricers wouldnt know a combat cart from a chase the chuckwagon.

i have more of an issue with the stealth for profit thrifts like savers/value village. i cringe everytime i see some well meaning family dropping off a station wagon load of stuff there - ITS A FOR PROFIT STORE, go to goodwill or amvets...what do you donate food to the grocery store?

the age of thrifts being a place for poor familes to get clothing and housewares is pretty much over. in todays world those poor folks go to walmart and old navy like the rest of us. most thrifts actually operate a clothing donations filter where they take the items that will fetch a good price for the retail and the less desirable items go to third world clothing operations - thus the starving kid in sudan wearing the LA Clippers tshirt.

ohh and avoid planet aid, they're a for profit cult.

[DigitalSpace]

Goodwill has stores all over town here. I've never made any finds there though - the closest I came was when I found a stack of about 6 or 7 SNES titles, but I already had the ones I would have wanted (Yoshi's Island, SMW, and a couple other commons I forget) and didn't care for the rest. Then again, I don't check Goodwill that much.

On a side note, one of the local Goodwill stores has about 10 or so boxed and complete Genesis sports titles that have been sitting there at $3.99 at least since the summer. LOL

[whoisKeel]

ahh, goodwill...so what's the moral debate? i've picked up games there before just to selll, and i don't think that makes me a bad person.

some of you sound like you went to goodwill 3 times and gave up. man, i'm lucky to find one single game, even a loose madden for genny, one out of every 3-5 times i goodwill. but it's that 20th random visit that pays off. just don't go in expecting to find a duo lying around or something.

what i do is just stop by goodwills when they're on my way to or from somewhere, maybe take the long way home once or twice a week and stop in...of course, i just like rummaging through old junk anyways, its just the way i am :)

[swlovinist]

second issue of EGM for .........29 cents.........nuff said

[esquire]

i have bashed goodwill in the past for raising prices on games.i believe they have raised the prices so if they dont sell for the high ticket price,it will sell on half off day,and goodwill makes more money off the games.but,after finding a working top loading nes today at goodwill for 2.50,i love goodwill again :)

Damn those bastards!!! Trying to maximize profits on their sales so they can raise more money for the poor and indigent!!! Don't they know we are trying to find classic games for as cheap as possible!!!!

Seriously though, especially with the holiday season approaching, I sympathize with the original post. Time and again I see people complaining about no longer being able to get good deals at Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. and I stop to think that these people are being selfish and narrow-minded. I think we have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture at what those stores are meant for - to raise money for the less fortunate and provide those same people with a place where they can purchase items that they may not have been able to purchase elsewhere. When taken in that light, we should appreciate that we even have the financial security to maintain our collections. It seems rather petty to complain about having to pay an extra dollar or two for a Sega Genesis common. Besides, the money is going to a good cause and helping people with more dire problems such as keeping warm this winter.

[it290]

Agreed, but at the same time, if the games are overpriced, they won't sell, so the money isn't going anywhere in that case.

[v1rich]

If you feel bad about it maybe you should pay them extra or wait and let someone else buy them.

j/k

[Avatard]

gamerthegeek: I think you're missing the point of Goodwill. Its not designed as a place for poor people to get what they need. Its primary function is to take the money they get and do good will with it. Don't worry about buying anything from there because you are not beating underprivilaged people to things, you are giving money too them. A store designed to sell items poor people need would have no reason to sell video game items.

Those people get so much stuff in they price everything to move. They don't have time to dig through everything and see if its a collectable and price it accordingly. Buy your FF3 MIB for a dollar, and then if you feel bad drop a $20 in the donations box.

[Cryomancer]

I used to work for goodwill, and speaking in regards at least to the peoria-area sect of goodwills, they are not the nice little company they have the image of. I remember a good example being when a rather nice /new TV came into peoria, and it never seemed to make it to the floor for sale but one of the higher ups suddenly had a new TV. and did I mention that the president of that area is also the vice president of Caterpillar, the area's main business? Sure, it COULD be a charity or a method to get rightoffs or something but still...basically the point I'm trying to get at was that the group of goodwills I worked at was anything but non-profit as far as I could tell.

As for stealing things, my manager basically encouraged me to do so. Me and him were the only guys who worked there, and this was a 12 hour a day, all week store. I did 12 hour shifts on Friday and Saturday, and would come in for th afternoon for most of the other days. two guys doing one location always seemed low to me, but we weren't a store, we were a donation center. Basically I was unsupervised with people's stuff for 12 hours. Normally no one came in for at least the first three hours. Needless to say my dreamcast came along with me to work fairly often. Somehow that was a factor in me getting fired eventually despite that they were the ones who provided us with a TV anyway, and we could basically grab another one to replace the one we had from donations whenever we felt like it. In the long run, I did steal some stuff. But think about this situation. It was a rich town (asshole rich, i went to school there, football team got a massive construction project so they could SELL TICKETS better, quiz team had gear from the 70s that was mostly duct tape provided by students), so not really any collectors by any means. One day there was a dreamcast and a vectrex with games for both left OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN before hours. I'm sorry, but there's a point were something needs to be rescued and given a good home. Between the ass who left it like that or the money-hungry machine with a nice pretty image made from misinformation, I figured I could bend morality.

Anyway, sorry for going off on this, but I worked there for awhile and thought I'd throw this story out. However, I do still go shop there when I can, I'm in a new area so I hate these goodwills less, heh.

[Mattiekrome]

dont forget the jobs, the local goodwill here always pushes the "we provide jobs to the community" card... Basically, If I buy something I am helping pay someones paycheck, not to mention I donate quite a bit of stuff there as well...

[BIGMIKE]

my local goodwills aren't the best, but i still hit em about once a week. every once in a while they get good stuff in (like when i got my newwwwwww boxed Colecovision for $10) . i am usually shut out a lot, but it's just the thrill of the hunt for me. all the games used to be .75, they have now raised them to $2. i've always believed that if a game is uner $5 it's a good deal for the most part. so it was good why it lasted. for me though, a game is a game, even if it's sports. i can get a complete sports game every week from the good. most of them are new to newish condition as well. overall, i like the good. the prices are cheap, and i probably owe the last 100 or so games in my collection to the Good.

[Porkchop]

the old salvation army store near where i live used to make it known they were out to raise money for the poor and such. thats why they placed a shop in the well to do area ( wealthy). but this is down where people are lower middle class or lower. i just worry im taking a from the poor. who barely have enough to get a game. in paramus and washington township i dont think many poor people are gonna travel there to get stuff . just was wondering on what you all thought.

Most Thrifts I know of are not in the best areas. I think it has to do with low rent. Most seem to be in old half empty strip shopping centers. I don't think they care what people can afford to buy in those areas, it is what can they afford to rent.

[christianscott27]

i like a good religous thrift store, even if i dont make a find i get a peak into their trip.

up here we have a jewish chain called haddasah, a place that would rather just keep its junk. now they've stopped doing video games because thats "electronics" although they have no problem with CDs, videos and PC software, eh go figure. they close on saturdays and have lots of ugly menorrahs.

then there are the catholic ones run by the "grey ladies", these places tend to come up with day old donuts and shrivled produce and they just mix it in with the regular thrift items. in grey lady land every thing closes at 4:00pm and 4pm starts at 3:20 so hurry up and get out of the store.

the born again ones are fun too since they seem to clean out their dead members houses. the selection goes on forever and they even permit games to be sold, of course you get to listen to cool tunes like "our god is an AWESOME GOD!" while you shop. the odd thing about these shops is you cant tell if their employees are transitioning out of homelessness or church members volunteering.

[Avatard]

You can get fired from a Goodwill? Wow....

[Raedon]

Moral feeling? Moral is something that stops people from killing and raping.. My ethical feeling is Goodwill is area specific on if they use the money they make for the community or for the owners gain.

You can't find games at Goodwill in my area anymore, They Ebay everything game related unless is just super super common. There has been a Combat cart and several SMB/DH's on the shelf with the tapes with $5 on them for a long long time.

I didn't have a problem, years ago, picking up 2600's and R5's for nothing because the price was posted and the money went to "charity." Though some might have said that a kid could have used that 2600 more then I because I made a profit on it.

This may change with Ebay sell prices falling.

[Cryomancer]

You can get fired from a Goodwill? Wow....

They decided to restaff and change the center into a sorting facility. The other guy was transferred, I was told to "wait for a call on monday". Personally after what it became I didn't really wanna stay anyway. Somehow i couldn't get unemployment, apparently i was *fired* for misconduct somehow even though all my boss said was "we don't really have a place for you, sorry". Whatever.

[Porkchop]

You can get fired from a Goodwill? Wow....

They decided to restaff and change the center into a sorting facility. The other guy was transferred, I was told to "wait for a call on monday". Personally after what it became I didn't really wanna stay anyway. Somehow i couldn't get unemployment, apparently i was *fired* for misconduct somehow even though all my boss said was "we don't really have a place for you, sorry". Whatever.

Now this seems more like a moral problem for Goodwill. Saying they fired someone instead of laying them off so they don't have to pay unemployment pay. :(

[Raedon]

You can get fired from a Goodwill? Wow....

They decided to restaff and change the center into a sorting facility. The other guy was transferred, I was told to "wait for a call on monday". Personally after what it became I didn't really wanna stay anyway. Somehow i couldn't get unemployment, apparently i was *fired* for misconduct somehow even though all my boss said was "we don't really have a place for you, sorry". Whatever.

Now this seems more like a moral problem for Goodwill. Saying they fired someone instead of laying them off so they don't have to pay unemployment pay. :(

No.. that is ethics.. business ethics in fact.

[Cryomancer]

Oh, and this all happened RIGHT before I'd have gotten a pay raise and benefits. ;)