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Found out Goodwill in my area tags stuff by hand, not by machine
So I was at the Goodwill in Burbank last Tuesday and noticed the prices looked kinda messy. I asked the cashier how they decide what to charge, and she said a guy literally walks around with a pricing gun and just guesses based on what he thinks it's worth. Blew my mind cause I always assumed they had some system or database. That's why I find random stuff like a $200 camping chair marked at $4 but then a beat up coffee mug for $8. Has anyone else seen wild pricing like that at your local store?
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jenniferb535mo ago
Right around here the Goodwill pricing is totally random too. Found a vintage Pyrex bowl with a small chip for $15 once, but then a high end espresso machine that clearly worked for $6. My best guess is the pricers just go off how familiar they are with the item, so if they don't know what something is it gets marked cheap. Caught a really nice set of copper bottom pots for $12 last spring cause the guy probably just looked at the weight and guessed low. Your mileage will definitely vary depending on who's working that day.
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masonm855mo ago
Man that copper bottom score is wild, my buddy found a full set of Le Creuset at a Salvation Army for like 30 bucks once (the lids alone are worth hundreds). It makes you wonder what else slips through, you know? One time I saw a guy at the bins grab a framed print that turned out to be a signed lithograph, he flipped it on eBay for 400 bucks that same week. The pricing people honestly just seem to shotgun it based on whatever they had for lunch that day, no logic at all. I walked past a beat up IKEA table marked at 45 dollars once, then saw a mid century dining set for 20 bucks right next to it. Its like thrift store roulette out there, you just have to hit on the right day with the right pricer.
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noranguyen3mo ago
Yeah totally. It's like whoever prices stuff just guesses based on how heavy it looks or if they recognize the brand from a commercial. I feel like @jenniferb53 is spot on about the unfamiliar stuff slipping through. My neighbor found a pair of vintage Herman Miller chairs at a St. Vincent de Paul for like 15 bucks each because the pricer probably thought they were just weird old office chairs. It's all just luck of the draw and who's clocked in that day.
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