How to shop Goodwill Outlet. Tips to make your first experience successful

Goodwill Outlet's are starting to pop up all over the place. {find a store near you}  I have started going on a nearly weekly basis and I have found all kinds of treasures. Before you attempt your first trip, I have compiled a few things that you should know before you go.This isn't your normal Goodwill store. You will have to dig. Bins are rolled out and filled to the Large bins are filled to the brim with anything from knives to teddy bears.  Sometimes glass frames are put into the bins and then

something heavy is loaded on top and before you know it, there is broken glass everywhere.  In an attempt to dig to find that one thing you have to have but don't know what it is, you could have a close call with that broken piece of glass. Which is why tip number one is wear gloves.

             source         

But don't be afraid to take off your gloves either.  I hate digging in the clothing bins with gloves. Think about your favorite shirt.  It's probably made of some really nice feeling fabric right?  Well, how can you feel that with gloves on? I've found the nicest brands and clothing just by feel, which is why tip number two is  ditch the gloves.                                       At Goodwill Outlet you pay by the pound.  The more you buy, the cheaper your haul is. It's o.k. to weigh your items before you buy.  If you are close to the next cheaper pound bracket, keep shopping.  You may just find a few more things that will make your purchases cheaper than they would have been with them than without them.Over the summer I went to Goodwill Outlet to find some small items that I needed for a Bible school craft project.  I dug and dug for hours in some pretty shady looking bins but was finding what I needed.  I got distracted by a new aisle of bins and left my cart unattended at the end of an aisle. When I came back a few minutes later, my cart was gone.  I don't think the people really wanted the trinkets in my cart, but they did want my cart.  Which leads me to my next tip.  Cover your cart. It's silly, but usually just finding a blanket in one of the bins and covering your cart will keep people away from digging in your cart.  There seems to be an unwritten rule about a covered cart. Depending on the store you go to, there are rules.  I've noticed that there are usually the same rules at every store, but how they are enforced is different at every store.  One of the rules is that you must clear the aisle when a new set of bins is being wheeled in.  And not only that, while the bins are being wheeled in, there is no shopping until every bin in that aisle is in place.  This can sometimes take about ten minutes.  It's inevitable that a small crowd of anxious shoppers will gather and those people get really upset if you try to sneak in early. You can usually tell a newbie because they wander down one of the closed aisles seemingly oblivious until someone puts them in their place.The rules are usually posted on a sign somewhere when you walk in.  If it's your first time, go read the sign.  It's easy to get caught up in the hunt and forget to examine the items that you have in your cart carefully.  I usually put the items that have caught my eye in a cart as soon as I find them. Sometimes this means if I find a shoe that I like, but not a pair, I still put it in my cart.  It's not uncommon to stumble upon the shoe while searching. Once I am about ready to go, I usually grab an empty cart and start doing the final decision making.  This is when I make sure zippers work and there are no holes in the crotch of jeans {I've never seen more crotch holes in my whole life than at the Goodwill outlet!}.  If I examine the item and it's a go, I put the yes item in my new empty cart.  If it's a no, I put the item back in the bin.The last tip I have for you is to be aware of your space.  There are usually a few people at a time searching through the same bin.  Don't throw your discarded items at the person next to you in your excitement to find the treasure at the bottom.  It doesn't matter how nicely you say you are sorry, someone, every single time I have been in an outlet, has gotten upset at someone else being in their personal space.  Sometimes this results in screaming or fighting {some outlets have security} and other times it could mean they sabotage your space.  Be polite, know who is around you and tread lightly.I've had a lot of fun shopping at the Goodwill Outlet lately.  Much more so than I have at the regular Goodwill.  You just never know what you are going to find. The more often you go, the easier it is to spot the regulars.  Don't be afraid to ask them what they are looking for.  Sometimes you can work together while you look. The hunt is sometimes the best part of it, and having something to look for makes it that much more fun.  Enjoy the hunt!

0

Thrift shopping in Tacoma

Last week, I went thrift shopping with my friend Mandi.You know, the Mandi from Persnickety's Awesomeness Emporioum.Earlier this year, Mandi and I visited the Goodwill outlet in Seattle for the first time.It was an experience!I may or may not have gotten spoken to {in a loud voice} about following the rules of the Outlet and been threatened by the Goodwill security.Since hearing that they opened a Goodwill outlet a little closer to home in Tacoma, we decided we were going to go together to see how they compared.It took us about 6 months to schedule a day that worked for both of us.Yikes!Mandi needed to fill her shop, and I needed to find some bargains.Here are a few of the places we shopped at.
Deseret Industries in Federal WayWhile I can't say I have found the best finds at the store, I really haven't given it a fair chance.I think if you are going to be serious about thrifting, you need to go to a store multiple times a week to find the good stuff.  People tell me all the time that they never find anything good at garage sales, but if you only go to one garage sale on a Saturday, you aren't going to find the good stuff that I find by going to 20 garage sales.I digress... Deseret is less expensive than my local Goodwill and has similar donated merchandise.The clothing prices confuse me and the powers that be that make up the prices seem a bit confused on the quality of brands.  The Wal-Mart brands seem to be priced higher than some of the "better" brands.  Some of the clothes on the racks make me shake my head because I'm not sure who would buy the out of date 90's romper or the t-shirt with the armpit stains and name inscribed on the back.To each his own though.The household items and furniture are worth taking a look at because the price is right most of the time.

Our next stop was the 

Tacoma ReStore

I've been in a few Habitat for Humanity ReStores and haven't been impressed, however, this Tacoma location was one of the better stores I have been in.The furniture prices were expensive {that large hutch was over $2,000} but there were some good finds to be had.  Mandi picked up a huge antique mirror for $25.  And if you are looking for building supplies for a small area, and you aren't too picky, the ReStore is a good place to start.

We made our way to the Goodwill Outletjust down the road from the ReStore.

Compared to the Seattle location, this Goodwill outlet seemed to have less vintage finds.

However, the shoes were rubber banded together {easier to find a match}

and the clothes seemed to be in better condition {no crotch holes}.

There were similar rules {and I was told more than once that the Goodwill employees had the right to kick me out and ban me from the store for up to a year if I didn't follow them}

and just as many regulars.

One guy I chatted up was recovering from an injury at work and he said that he stopped in a few times a DAY to shop for bargains.  He said he mostly gets things to take with him to Mexico to resell.  

I found that this Tacoma location had better prices than the Seattle location.

Final stopBargain WorldI've driven past this store about 100 times and never stopped in.Bargain World gets mixed reviews on Yelp, some people swear by the great finds they get {Joe's jeans for $10} while others think of it as a ghetto Goodwill...and that's saying something!I was unimpressed.What always makes me wonder is why these creepy clowns are priced at $15.95

and this tufted headboard is only $5.95?

The stock seemed low and the prices for most of the items seemed too high.

If I had a gun to my head and could only pick one thrift store in Tacoma to go to for the rest of my life, it would be the Goodwill Outlet.The cheap prices and good quality merchandise I walked out with make it worth a stop another day.I'm still not a willing thrift store shopper.  I love my garage sales.But if I get the itch for a deal, I know where to go.What are your favorite thrift stores?Maybe I can be converted.

0

The adventures of my time as a Goodwill employee

When I was barely 16, I started my first job as an employee of the Westfield, Indiana Goodwill.The job not only provided me valuable work experience during my 18 months of employment, but it satisfied my love of digging through old boxes for treasures, and sorting through piles of used clothes for gems {I got my first Giorgio Armani shirt there}.Last week, after going to the Goodwill Outlet with my friend Mandi, I started retelling some of my favorite Goodwill stories on our way home and we laughed until my side hurt!I figured you all could probably use a few stories from my days of employment at Goodwill.Let me start by introducing you to one of our loyal customers.Her name is Mrs. Bryant.source{not actually Mrs. Bryant}
Mrs. Bryant came into the store every.single.day.She was always dressed in a business suit, panty hose and she always wore heels.Usually open toe heels.sourceShe looked like the kind of woman who got her hair done once a week at the local salon and when it rained she would wear a plastic babushka.Even though it was the mid 90's, Mrs. Bryant was very much stuck in the 60's era.What would be seen as a very Mad Men type of style, at the time was just out of date.She even had this same red hair, although it was always down.sourceYou see, Mrs. Bryant was stuck in the 60's because for the past 30+ years she had been {rumored} to be serving time for murdering her husband.Yep, murder.Sweet.Mrs. Bryant would call all of the employees sweetie or hon and would usually keep to herself.All 5'1 of her would wait for hours to shop the latest household bin that was rolled out.She would sometimes even peek her head into the backroom wondering when the next one would be full.These are the exact baskets that we would fill up with household items and roll out to the floor as we put the merchandise away on the shelves.When I worked at Goodwill, we had a pricing system for household objects.We used a grease pen to mark the prices on the item.The grease pen can be easily scratched off when you buy the item, and it makes it easier to price the item since you don't have bulky price guns or tape to mess with.The system for pricing was that every first and last number would be the same.For example $1.91 or $2.92 or $3.93That way, if the first number was scratched off, the last number would indicate the price.Something that appeared at the register for .91 cents, we knew was actually $1.91.Clearly not rocket science to figure out the system.Nearly every day, Mrs. Bryant tried to test our system.She was known to "pop some tags" as Macklemore would say.She would scratch off the first number and try to pass off the item as something that cost pennies.And nearly every day we would have to remind her of our system.Mrs. Bryant just pretended that she had no idea what we were talking about, and played dumb when we told her that the price must have gotten scratched off. She just smiled.  Pretending to be blissfully unaware.One of Mrs. Bryant's favorite things to buy were coffee mugs.And since Goodwill is where coffee mugs go to die, she always had a large selection to choose from.sourceI asked her what she did with all of the coffee mugs and she told me that she would give them to friends as gifts.  Count yourself lucky if you weren't a friend of Mrs. Bryant's.Continuing to perpetuate the rumor that she killed her husband, most of the Goodwill employees assumed that she must have poisoned his coffee.Seems to fit, don't you think?Anyway, one day I was ringing Mrs. Bryant up and she had selected a cart full of goodies.She was purchasing at least a half a dozen coffee mugs.She had lots of friends.Or as the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.She lined all of the coffee cups up on the counter and continued to pile every household item in her cart up as well.The counter space was limited but she kept piling.As I reached to grab a .33 cent coffee mug to wrap it up{wouldn't want it to break now would we?}one mug pushed another mug off of the counter shattering the mug to pieces and sending ceramic glass shards into Mrs. Bryant's open toed shoes {yep, that detail earlier was important}and cutting her toe.There was blood, but not excessive amounts.We offered her a band aid and a paper towel and carried on with the transaction.A few weeks passed as normal. Mrs. Bryant continued to shop every day.But one afternoon was different.I was called into my managers office and was told that Mrs. Bryant had filed the paperwork to sue our Goodwill store because of the damage from the broken mug.Turns out Mrs. Bryant left Goodwill the day of the mug accident and headed straight for the ER.As a mom of three kids now, if my kids would have gotten a cut on their toe like Mrs. Bryant did that day, I would have slapped a band aid on that bad boy and called it good.There was no need for an ER trip, and quite honestly, no need to sue Goodwill because of the "accident".But we carried on.The days continued to pass as normal.Mrs. Bryant continued to shop daily.And I continued to be gainfully employed.Several months later, I was ringing up Mrs. Bryant's purchases at the cash register.She always paid by Master Card no matter how big or small her purchase was.On this particular day I ran her credit card and the machine said it was denied.Now at this point I had worked at Goodwill for at least 6 months and never once had someone have a declined credit card.Shocking?  Maybe.I attempted to run the card again.Again, it was denied.I turned to Mrs. Bryant with the card in my hand and asked her,"What do I do? Do I cut it up?"She just smiled at me with that blissfully unaware grin that she always gave and replied"Oh, sweetie, of course!"So, I took out a pair of scissors and cut that bad boy up.Right in front of her.sourceShe was mortified.Apparently, that's only something you see in the movies.You aren't really supposed to cut up someone's credit card when it's denied.But I was 16, working at my first job, how was I supposed to know?Believe me, I heard about it every day.She would give me a daily update to let me know that a new card hadn't arrived in the mail yet, and what an inconvenience it was.Two weeks later a new card arrived.Phew, I was getting tired of the updates.So my friends, here are a few lessons learned from Mrs. Bryant.*don't wear open toe shoes when shopping Goodwill*don't cut up denied credit cards {unless they are your own, in which case, cut them up and start reading my living well on less series!}*grease pens come off easilyand finally*always smile like you are blissfully unawareps-you thought I was going to say don't murder your husband didn't you?

0

Junkin' in Seattle

Last week, my friend Mandi and I decided to hit the Goodwill Outlet in Seattle for the first time.

I have heard of the Goodwill Outlet but sort of boycotted it because to me, it sounds like a bit of an oxymoron.

The Goodwill outlet is the final stop for all of the items donated at the local Goodwill stores before heading to the dump.  Most of the items are sold by the pound and are deeply discounted from the normal {expensive} Goodwill prices.  You can see my post here about how I think Goodwill is too expensive.

You enter into a warehouse building like this and find hoards of people.

Rows of blue bins are rolled in filled to the brim with clothing, toys, and household items.

People quickly gather around the newest rolling carts and dig.

There is a little bit of organization to the madness.

Everyone waits behind a blue line until all of the new carts are in place.

Then once they wheel in the final cart, everyone starts digging.

I may have gotten yelled at more than once for not being aware of how this system works.

Now you know.

Bring a pair of gloves or better yet, your haz mat suit.

You will leave feeling like bugs are crawling all over you.

The Goodwill outlet has it's own security...and it needs it.

A fight nearly broke out within the first five minutes of us being there because someone was upset that someone else threw the clothes they were sorting too aggressively across the blue bins.

Yep, that really happened.

And we were told by other Goodwill outlet customers who are frequent shoppers that that happens a lot.

It's like prison.

Keep your head down and mind your own business.

I wasn't on a search for clothes on this trip but I was curious to see why all the people flock to the clothing bins.  I really didn't come away with any answers.  I'm sure there are finds to be had, but every single pair of pants that I found had holes in the crotch.

I'm not joking.  

Every.single.pair.

I did also spend some time searching for shoes.

There were a few pairs that had potential, but only if you had one foot.

Pairs were hard to come by.

Finding a pair of shoes was like searching for a needle in a hay stack.

So, I gave up.

If you are a one legged individual who doesn't care if you have a crotch in your pants, then the Goodwill outlet is your place to shop!

This is my basket filled with my goodies.

The clothes that I did find were found on the top of the piles.

Rejects that people no longer wanted in their own carts.

I picked up a coat for my son and a zip up jacket for my dad.

I also found some fantastic fabric samples, a large rug, a duvet cover, and an old suitcase.

I'm sure there were other fun finds in there.

Grand total for all of this...$19.

I found that the prices for items seemed to be set by each cashier.

Especially those items not sold by the pound.

Mandi got this basket of goodies for about the same price as all of my stuff.

Pretty sure she got a better deal.

I would definitely head back to the Goodwill Outlet for another shopping experience.

I learned a thing or two and feel like a real expert.

I probably wouldn't go by myself though.

And I would never go without gloves.

The next stop Mandi and I made was just down the road at a shop called Second Use.

Second Use is a salvage store that is slightly cheaper than Earthwise, but not cheap like a garage sale.

There were some finds to be had {especially in the free pile}.

Mandi picked up this half door {soon to be table} and two window frames for $5 each.

There were a lot of things that were eye candy.

This green scale is fantabulous isn't it?

You know how I love old windows.

My new window passion is leaded glass.

Hard to find, but amazing when you do.

If you need a door, Second Use is the place.

There were rows and rows of old doors.

Barn doors, front doors, screen doors, you name it.

I'm a sucker for old machines.

Isn't this buffet beautiful?

It looks like it was an old built in in a turn of the century house.

Image the parties it has seen!

Industrial is awesome.

This was probably my favorite piece of the whole day.

It is so much better in person.

Wouldn't it be an awesome upper cabinet if you were re doing a kitchen?

Mandi was loving this as a store front check out area.

Did you know my favorite store, Persnickety's Awesomeness Emporium is moving to downtown Sumner?

It's a big deal.

Aren't these handles super rad?

Need a knob or a hinge?

Perhaps an old school house pendant?

Not sure what you would do with an old radiator.

So many people have been hiding them for years.

It's time to embrace them as a decorative element.

Love the design on this one.

We had so much fun junkin' in Seattle.  

Do you have a favorite place to score old junk or an experience with the Goodwill Outlet?

I would love to hear from you!

I'm sure there are stories to be told!

0