Shop Goodwill Worse Then Ebay...

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Goodwill of Central Florida...from Orlando, FL.

I've been wondering where all of my finds went to for retro games. Anything worth more than $3 in their eyes gets sent to HQ where it gets tossed on the site.

*sigh*

[jb143]

At least they didn't list them as sealed but then say they opened them to take pictures of the contents like they have done in the past.

[portnoyd]

Goodwill can eat dicks. The thrift part of their stores seems to go away whenever they sell something that can be used in or something is directly plugged into a wall.

I mean I get they're doing it for a good cause and I'm being completely all out for myself, but if you lived in NJ, you'd know shit is picked over enough as it is and having a store picked over AND with absurd prices is infuriating.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Here's a great example of the downfall of Goodwill as a place for finds:
1 year ago, I found 6 Square RPGs for $3 each. They were still carrying retro games in the store outside of glass.

3 months after, shopgoodwill.com started picking up and they started putting things up for auction in Orlando.

Fast forward to now:
All games are put in a glass case. Almost all games are sent to HQ if they are dropped off. Prices for games are $5, if there's even anything in the case itself. Anything electronics, if not 5 years old, is sent to HQ. Everything that looks expensive is sent to HQ...essentially, the only thing left to pick through is old furniture, books, clothing, CDs, and odd/broken pieces of electronics.

6 months ago, there were no games listed on shopgoodwill for Central Florida. Now, it's the only place to find decent ones.

All the power to Goodwill for finally realizing their stuff is worth something to people, and for raising more money for charity...but it may be their downfall, as people will realize their stuff is worth something eventually.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[ScottK]

This is one of the reasons why I never donate anything to Goodwill. Whenever I have stuff to donate (clothes, furniture etc.), I give it all to local churches who will distribute it for free. I don't like the idea of my stuff being resold to pay for employees and rent.

[Baloo]

Shopgoodwill is fucking horrible, have you seen their shipping prices lately?

[pseudonym]

I wonder how high that auction is going to go, it doesn't say whether those games are complete with maps/posters or not.

At least this hasn't spread to Canada yet. You can still find decent games in the thrifts from time to time. They're picked over like mad though, hard to beat the ebay/flea market vultures when they're there as soon as the place opens.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I haven't found any VG stuff worth buying at Goodwill for years... I stopped going.

[phreakindee]

Other than the occasional overpriced auction like that one, Shopgoodwill's shipping prices are absolutely insane. I've found some great deals on random things there before, but now the shipping is just absurd. A couple PS1 games for $4.99, shipping $20 from just a couple states from me? Complete crap.

Thankfully, not too many of the local Goodwill shops have started putting their crap online. The few smaller ones near me I still find stuff quite often, and at great prices. Boxed C64 with disks and extras, $10, as an example.

[Gameguy]

At least this hasn't spread to Canada yet. You can still find decent games in the thrifts from time to time. They're picked over like mad though, hard to beat the ebay/flea market vultures when they're there as soon as the place opens.

Maybe where you are thrifts are still ok, the thrifts I've been to around here have raised their prices in the last few years. The odd thing might slip through if they don't know what something is, but most games are overpriced. The prices are pretty much on par with or greater than a Microplay I sometimes go to, the only time I would luck out is if they get something actually rare and it gets priced the same as the commons, which doesn't happen often. I would go to that Microplay more often but it's a bit far away from me, at least the Microplay guarantees their used games for 6 months unlike thrifts which are pretty much final sale or 7 day exchange only.

[pseudonym]

I usually leave thrifts with something in hand. I'm not there just for games, I look in most sections for something interesting and if I happen to find games, that's cool.

/ontopic : shopgoodwill auctions that usually go for well over Ebay prices? That's nothing new. The "thrift" part of GW disappeared years ago, if you think electronics are bad, why are they selling ratty old 70s/80s furniture suites for $200-500 each? Who the hell knows where it's been.

[SPAZ-12]

I've only ever seen one decent videogaming item at the Goodwill near my house, which was a NES for a reasonable enough price. Other than that, the only thing it's good for are old VHS tapes and records. Even their DVDs are too expensive, $5 is too much for the crap movies that people are willing to leave at Goodwill.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Wouldn't it be funny if they were just boxes or had the wrong games in them?

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[jb143]

I'm not going to lie i've found some amazing finds inside the store but you have to go a LOT!

My experience has been similar to yours. I usually leave empty handed but every so often I'll find something really good at a good price. Almost all of my collection has come from Goodwill in fact.

In general though, yes, Goodwill has completely forgotten that they are a thrift store.

[portnoyd]

I'm sure Goodwill Hunter would say the same thing. It must be regional as in NJ, any Goodwill I've been in has had nothing and this includes checking one twice a week for a span of a month.

Just consider yourselves lucky and milk it as long as it lasts!

[mobiusclimber]

It really boils down to location. The Goodwill in Downtown is one of the ones that not only sends stuff to shopgoodwill but also puts stuff up on Ebay and Amazon. There's almost never anything worth buying there. The one in Ballard, on the other hand, almost always has something VG-related and at a decent price, tho the pricing can be all over the place. The other one nearby overprices almost everything, so they'll HAVE games and stuff but it's at ridiculous prices (a boxed Genesis for $70 as but one example). I've just kind of stopped going to thrifts for the most part. I still will stop into the Value Village in Lake City only b/c I go to the Fred Meyer up the street from it, but they've also gone insane w/ their pricing. I'm usually more disgusted than pleased.