Thrift store rip-offs..

[ncmurray512]

Went to our local Goodwill the other day. They had tons of old yarn. It had a clearance sticker from the original store for 69cents a skein. How much did Goodwill want?? $2.00 a skein!

What a rip off!

Needless to say, I didn't buy any of it. Why do these name brand thrift stores feel the need to overprice things that were GIVEN to them?

That's my little rant for the week. lol

[crochetsal]

Wow, I hear of people getting such good deals at thrift stores, but that one sounds like one I went to once. I know the profits go to a good cause, but the least they could have done was take the original sticker off.

 

 

Sally

[nana5boys]

i also hear that people such a cheap price and sometimes items are about the same price of a new item. i'd rather buy a new item instead of a used item. geez everybody wants to get rich.

 

jaye

[crs5]

I want to the Library yesterday in my town they had a rummage sale and I bought a bag full of different kinds of yarn, like Red Heart Lustre Sheen, patons Kroy, and some other kinds of wool yarn, I also bought a doll. It was a donation so I gave her 4.00.

 

Carol:hook

[snugsmontreal]

i used to love going to thrift stores but almost all of them around here now are "boutique" stores with "vintage and antique" items (loads of crap is what they are selling) and why would i pay 7$+ for a pair of jeans when i can scour the downtown seasonal clearance racks and find a pair for 6 bucks brand new from last season ... these people are crazy

[Jess.in.WI]

Agreed. Goodwill used to be the place to go to find good used stuff... but now you might as well watch sales. That really is gutsy to charge $2 for yarn and leave the clearance tag on it!!! I'd have said no, I'm only paying the clearance price! That would make a great letter to the editor in your local newspaper!

[minwifeof4boys]

I have given up shopping Good will in our area since they are more of a for profit /nonprofit now..I stick with disabled vets and the SPCA thrifts...alot more reasonable...

[birdlady1]

Don't forget that Goodwill is a non-profit organization providing job training and employment services to people with disabilities. They're not the cheapest place in town (and I often walk out of their stores empty-handed for the same reasons) but many of the other thrift stores are in business to make a profit for themselves and not the needy.

[Cinnaminn]

Did all of the skeins have the 69 cent sticker on them or was it only 1 of them? If it was just one (or even a few skeins), I'd guess that the sticker may have come from something else (either accidentally or on purpose).

 

If it had been me, I probably would have asked the Goodwill people about the price(s). I've been in one Goodwill store where if something doesn't have a price sticker/label on it, they can't sell it until the person in charge sets the price for the item.

 

From what I've heard/seen, there are some scams that people will do in stores including changing/adding price stickers from one product to another which could have happened at that store.

[luvmnms]

I use to be able to find really good deals at the local Good Will and Salvation Army, but now their prices are so high, you can get the same thing on sale brand new. I have been to both stores and have seen the same thing with the pricing, skeins of partially used yarn, with a sale price on them from a store at less than a dollar, but they are selling them for $2 each.

One of the stores I now go to sells yarn, in bags of 2-4 partial skeins each, but what they do is if they get say 6 skeins of one color, they split them up into six different bags, so if you are looking for all the same color you have to buy all six bags, which range from price $4 to $6 each. Sometimes I get lucky and find a deal, but most of the time I now leave empty handed.

[Gardener]

The Goodwills around here seldom seem to have yarn, and their prices are usually quite a bit more than yard sales. However, the last time I was there, i got a hardcover afghan pattern book and a leisure arts afghan pattern booklet off the 3/$1 table. I had to buy a third books to get them at that price, but there were lots of kids books on the table so i just got my grandsons a book too.

[miller3602]

Wow. I love thrift stores! In fact, I got a 1930's bone crochet hook for 50 cents today. Sorry about the yarn.

[hookdonU]

Goodwill here has great deals if you keep your eyes open but it helps to know what the going rate for yarn is. I scored 12 skeins of yarn a couple of weeks ago for $5.99 but there was a bag right next to with 5 skeins of Red Heart yarn for $10. DH thought it was a good deal but I said "A good sale at the yarn shop would be equivalent to that price." You just have to keep your eyes open.

 

Sorry to hear that people are having such a tough time finding a good price for things that were donated.

[karin4christ]

Don't forget that Goodwill is a non-profit organization providing job training and employment services to people with disabilities. They're not the cheapest place in town (and I often walk out of their stores empty-handed for the same reasons) but many of the other thrift stores are in business to make a profit for themselves and not the needy.

 

My husband and I own a thrift store. Our store is "for profit" which means after we pay for our merchandise, our employees, our utilities, our taxes, our building rent, etc., we get to "keep" the profits. If there is any. While our store is "for profit" I do believe that we are providing something valuable to our community. Namely: jobs. We employee over 30 people. Just because a store is for profit doesn't mean that it isn't of value or is of less value than a not for profit store.

[faedragon]

Why the outrage over what Goodwill was charging? As long as you didn't buy it , you weren't "ripped off".

[smileygirl]

Maybe the yarn was sitting in someone's house for years. That price could have been the clearance price back then but now maybe goodwill feels like it is worth more. They could have taken the stickers off though. However, I must admit that I only pay about 2.50 for the yarn that I use most of the time, so this still seems very high for yarn unles sit was very nice yarn.

[mountainangel]

I think it's just a matter of the person put in charge of pricing not having a clue what the current cost of an item is. I have seen prices for some items like electronics at Goodwill and the local Baptist church thrift store actually priced more than new. One local thrift store has a section with what they think is better clothes priced at about $7 each item or more. but, in there regular store section they have nice desgner outfits that are currently in style at only $2 each. Pots and pans are similarly over priced at more than new. The yarn also can be overpriced. I sometimes just take it up to the cashier and make an offer. This doesn't work for Goodwill as it is a chain more or less. but the local thrift store manager don't are volunteers and don't always have a good idea of what to charge.

 

last week at the local goodwill, I was looking at picture frames and the fella came out with a cart from the back and placed an original pen drawing of a local landmark on the shelf. It was about 2 ft by 1/1/2 foot large, in the original rapper with the artists business card and the drawing was numbered 496/500. It had a $2 sticker on it. I bought it. They could have easily sold it for $15 or more.

angie

[CLLinda]

It really depends on the workers, the area, the "pricing Lady" and other factors. You may have asked about lowering the price if you did see a lower "original" price on it. Sometimes they will lower it.

 

Our church has a "Resale" shop and they get a lot of yarn donated from the parishners. When they get a bunch, they bring it over to our Knitting/crochet group and we use it up. I love that kind of deal. We get all kinds of yarns in and it is fun to pick through and take what we want.

 

If you are using it for "charity" projects, you can ask if they can lower the price or they may give it to you. It really depends on who's working that day.

 

[Aelita]

That's why I stick to going to Value Village they have bags of either 8 to 10 skeins of yarn or bags of yarn balls for less then $2.00. I always buy all the yarn they have when I go there.

[kazily]

Our goodwill is really off on pricing sometimes too. I think it is like someone posted, that some things they have no idea what the going price is, they take an uneducated stab at it, sometimes overpricing sometimes underpricing.

 

I had to laugh once when our goodwill store set up a glass locked display case with some items & on the tags were written ... EBAY Price $xx, Goodwill Price $xx. That really bothered me although it was funny too. I told dh that was crazy! If I wanted to pay $3 under ebay price I'd just watch more auctions at home until I got a deal I liked lol... Unless you're specifically looking for a CERTAIN item, that you cannot get anywhere else for less, & you really want it...no one is going to pay those kind of prices at Goodwill lol Most people go to treasure hunt like yard sales.

 

I think they found that out because the ebay signs have since gone.

[crochetdiva]

At our Value Village thrift store you are encouraged to question a price with the manager. If you feel it is overpriced they will consider that. Certainly if that yarn was at our store it would have been lowered. It might have been just a mass pricing where the pricer did not look at each label.

 

I like buying yarn at the Sally Anne here because you get alot more bang for your buck. Yesterday I bought a bag with 8 balls of yarn for $1.49. It had been wound on a yarn winder so I am not sure how much is on each ball (will have to weigh it). But it is a lovely royal blue/emerald green yarn. I also bought a ball full of 8 skeins of Bernat Handicrafter for $4.49. It would have cost me $8 on sale at Michaels.

 

The only qualm I have about the SA is that they remove all the labels and usually bag them in like colors. So I never know what is in the yarn. Otherwise I am thrilled with the place.

[rae-dean]

i don't know what is up with goodwill and their yarn.i went to check for me some yarn cause i get really good buys at this one 2nd hand store i go to.one day they did not have any and i was near goodwill.12.99$ for a creepy smaller bag of yarn...not even special yarn.they have different prices at different goodwills. one place is 2.99 to 4.99$.the other ones magic number is 12.99$anyway-i got 37 new full skeins at the non-goodwill place for 5$.so i just go there now.hugs rae-dean http://groups.msn.com/ChunkyMonkeyCrochet

[snugsmontreal]

i must say althought the yarn prices can be a bit high at the salvation army i go to, they are consistent. they charge between 399-699 for each bag, depending on how full of a bag it is and they dont even consider the yarn they put in it. i only got 9 skeins of sirdar mohair for about 12$ which was way better than the 6-8 dollar a ball retail price and i got 5 balls of black with silver strand mohair for 399 so all i can say is for my store it really is someone who doesnt know 4-7 is the magic number for them

[HappyOldCro]

I find most of my buys at yard sales and flea markets. I and the 2 friends I do have that are into yarn (they knit), will sometimes have yarn swaps with each other. Especially when making scrap afghans or small items. Works out pretty good for us. Something someone else might want to do. I have seen that kind of pricing at Good Will too. I try to keep in mind the name of the store, and feel I am donating to a good cause. But it can be very frustrating to see that.