Another Goodwill story

[bloodybaron]

Went to goodwill today and to my amazement there was a gamecube game there, and not just any gamecube game... Mario party 7 with a microphone!  it was wrapped in cling wrap like you would use on a sandwich and I was assuming they were priced at like $50, but no... just 9.99!  So I go to the front and ask to open it before I buy it and they say sure and I open it up, no stickers on the case, mint manual with precaution and ads papers what have you... but no disc.  They see that there is no disc and say to me "oh that's a shame." and they throw it in the garbage... I ask since they threw it away if I could have it anyway and they said that according to their store policies they can't give anything away if there is an issue with it they need to throw it away... the charity needs to throw it away instead of give it to me...  Yeah that makes sense, but anyway I now sit here knowing there is a near mint condition case, artwork, manual, and microphone to Mario party 7 sitting in the trash can right down the road because a supposed charity cant give anything away.

[exonerator]

Yeah, I'll admit, I actually gritted my teeth and fumed at the end of that story. Why would they throw it away?! What kind of policy is that? Especially for a CHARITY, whose primary goal is (or at least should be) altruism!

[hexen]

Goodwill used to be great 5 years or so ago when their main priority seemed to be charitable... now their main goal seems to be cold, hard business and they suck. Anything worthwhile goes in the damn bidcase and this is all non-crappy video game stuff. To be fair, even back then they might have done that thing in your story, though. I was just thinking about that today because my boss was telling me how she wouldn't give customers what was essentially garbage she was going to throe away if they asked for it. Businesses are pretty f'n dumb.

[koemo1]

Im not from America but is goodwill like, I donate stuff to them so they can sell for charity?
If so, why do they me to give them stuff if they rather throw it away then give it away?

[maximo310]

That really does suck especially since everything else was included except for the disc( even the mic!!!), so its a waste that they can't give it out to people who want their items.
I'm glad I haven't really run into that problem yet. I was at a Goodwill Bookstore the other day, and I found a game I wanted but it only had the manual and case, but the store employee let me have it for free anyways since I usually visit the store and frequently buy quite a few games from them. Nevertheless, I still hate how many of their items are thrown out if they don't have the basic content or just put on their auction sites, with many of the stores charging execessive shipping fees.

[bikingjahuty]

When I first started hunting for games in the wild for cheap around 2010, I used to LOVE Goodwill, ARC, and pretty much all the other thrift stores. Sadly, over the past two years they have become progressively worse and worse in every way possible, especially if you are looking for games. They'll throw all the crap on the shelf, but forget about anything hallways decent. You have to go on Ebay or their auction site and pay out the ass for the good stuff. There are a few Goodwill stores that don't even care anymore and just throw a $20 sticker on Super Mario World and throw in in their display case as if they actually paid money for it. I hate Goodwill with a passion, the store is dead to me.

[GrooDWanderer]

AWWWW!! Couldn't you have said, "I'll pay you $1 for that right now!" It makes no sense to just throw that away. Did Goodwill get bought out by GameStop?

[dashv]

My thoughts on Goodwill have changed. Three times.

When I moved out to California I gave the goodwills in the area literally 2 truckloads of stuff. Clothes, Appliances, Toys, (no video games).

It was all good condition stuff I just never used it and didn't have room for it. My motives were 2 fold:

* Maybe someone else can put this stuff to good use and get a good deal on it.
* I don't want to pay the dump to take all this stuff.

At the time I thought Goodwill was a legit charity. But to be honest. I was trying to make myself feel good and save money.

Later I started hitting up Goodwills in the area looking for bargain bin game pickups. After seeing some "not so thrifty" prices, reading up here, and having my wife clue me in on her Goodwill research. I started thinking they were a scam. How can they be a charity or "thrift" store when they are charging me the same amount for a used Wii as GameStop?

There is another thrift store here (non-Goodwill) that has really crazy low prices on everything. There is also another thrift store that is very very tiny and completely staffed by volunteers. All the money from that store goes to providing support services for abused children.

I've been stopping in at these 3 places once or twice a week for over 2 months now and I've realized. The charity of Goodwill is not in giving me a great deal on some video games.

For the last store it's mission is obvious.

For the other two it takes a bit more reflection. It's in giving 10 people in the area a steady job and a decent work environment. Seriously. There are no kidding at least half a dozen goodwills I've been to within a 20 mile radius of my house and each one has more employees per square foot than Home Depot and Wal-Mart and the employees seem a lot happier.

All October they were in different costumes and makeup. I'd walk in and hear "hello!" I'd leave and  hear "thank you!" Even if I was empty handed. I rarely need to wait for assistance with something. Someones always around.

10 employees times 12 stores and that's 120 people employed in just this 20 mile area. According to wikipedia 82% of Goodwills revenue is put into employee wages, benefits, and training. Not bad at all.

Yeah I wish their prices were cheaper. But that's me being greedy not them. Those cheaper prices would probably come at the cost of 1 or 2 less employees per store.

Which might mean 24 more homeless people in my area because Goodwill was the last gig they could get. Here in the Bay Area where homeless are everywhere I'm amazed that organizations have figured out how to use peoples throw aways as employment opportunities for literally dozens of people that are willing and able to work.

They threw the item away because they believed it was of no value. If the policy was to give that stuff away you can imagine the abuse that would ensue with things getting tagged routinely as "no one will want it like this. I'd better just take it."

Did you ask if they would be willing to sell it for $5 instead? It still would have been a good deal for the mic alone and they would have had to choose between less money or throwing it away.

[betelgeuse]

Reminds me of the time I tried to buy Poy Poy at a Game Crazy. The case and book were in PERFECT condition on the shelf. I took it up to the counter and the sales guy quickly put it in a drawer and said they don't have the disc for that game. It was obvious he was keeping it for himself. He would not sell me the case!!! I told him I don't care about the game since I had a disc at home. He wouldn't budge and said it was against store policy to sell an incomplete game.

[kamikazekeeg]

I think it's bull when they say they can't sell cases without games.  There's one near me that I go to and I've bought a half dozen cases for them for like a buck a piece.  They were mostly just for backups which is handy if I need a clean one.  Never had a problem with that before so it's weird when I hear stories of them not selling empty cases. 

It seems like if it is policy, it's a bad one as they are just losing money doing so and if they are gonna have that policy in the first place, then they should make sure their games don't get stolen.  Put them in a glass case or do what another thrift shop I go to does, is they keep them behind the counter on the shelf or they take out the discs and put them in a cd case behind the counter.  No games stolen then.  I guess some do, but it's very clearly not a regular thing for Goodwills.

[burningdoom]

I've seen games without cases at Goodwill, but only when it's like a pile of games, and they sell them all together for like $20.

[Warmsignal]

Hit that dumpster up.

Sort of a pro-tip you might consider in situations like this - if it's still worth having without the game, don't mention it is missing. I've done this before so that I could at least get the game case, because I know they won't just let me have it.