Bargain-hunters and rarity collectors love going to Salvation Army shops because there’s a decent chance that someone has unwittingly donated a valuable dress, pair of boots, books, toys, or record collection. What they don’t expect to find are the cremated remains of another human being. [More]
goodwill
Goodwill Returns $97,000 To Couple Who Accidentally Donated It
By 6.20.17
Do you bother to ask for a receipt when you donate your old stuff to Goodwill? If not, you might start after reading what happened to a couple after they donated some clothes. [More]
Goodwill Has A Use For That Pile Of Amazon Boxes In Your Garage
By 12.21.16 — Updated: 12.22.16
If you’ve been shopping online a lot this holiday season or just in general, you probably have a lot of cardboard boxes in your house that you don’t need. You could break them down and recycle them, or you could fill them with crap around the house that you don’t need and make someone else recycle them. [More]
Goodwill Shopper Pays $6 For Rare Diving Watch Worth $35,000
By 2.18.15
There are some people in this world just begging for envy, and the guy who managed to spot a $35,000 watch amidst of bunch of broken, dead and otherwise junky timepieces at Goodwill is definitely one of those. [More]
Goodwill Puts All Of The Good Stuff In Special Hipster-Focused Boutique
By 12.17.14
Attention young, hip shoppers: do you want to dress yourself in thrifted clothing, yet you don’t want to spend hours combing through the racks of actual thrift stores? Great news for thrifty shoppers who are too snobby or pressed for time to shop in thrift stores: Goodwill Industries is trying out new store formats for people who only want designer-label goods, and for hipsters. [More]
Please Do Not Donate Your Cremated Loved Ones To Goodwill
By 12.16.14
After someone dies, it’s normal to box up all of their stuff and take it to the nearest thrift store. However, it’s probably a good idea to give some of that stuff a cursory check first. Not just because you might be inadvertently giving away some serious valuables, but because the earthly remains of your relatives have a poor resale value at Goodwill. [More]
Goodwill Workers Track Down Family Of Heirloom Bible Found In Donation Bin
By 4.2.14
One might think that when a wayward object travels through time and across great distances, only to find rest in the donation bin at a Goodwill store, that its destiny lies far from where it started. But when workers at one Denver thrift store spotted a 19th century Bible that had names listed inside, they made it their mission to reunite it with members of that family. [More]
Why Do People Not Check Clothes For Thousands Of Dollars Before Donating To Goodwill?
By 3.5.14
I’m willing to bet that most of us check your clothes pockets for money and other objects before tossing things in the wash or handing stuff over to a dry cleaner. And I’m also pretty certain that for most of us, all that pocket-mining has never turned up more than an errant $20 bill or two. But time and again, people keep donating old duds to Goodwill without checking to see if there might be a few thousand dollars hidden inside. [More]
Goodwill Worker Returns $43,000 In Cash Found Stuffed Into Pockets Of Donated Clothing
By 1.31.14
You know the feeling when you reach into the pocket of some jeans or a jacket you haven’t worn in a while and come up with a $5 bill? Multiply that feeling by a whole lot and imagine what it’d be like to find a suit stuffed with cash for a grand total of $43,000. [More]
Goodwill Fires Cashier, Presses Felony Charges For Giving Discounts To Poor People
By 9.27.13 — Updated: 9.29.13
Goodwill is a charitable organization that sells donated goods in thrift stores to raise money for its job-training and employment programs. So it’s an organization that helps people. Just not the people who shop in its stores. That’s what a teeenage cashier learned recently when he gave some broke customers off-the-books discounts, and got arrested on felony charges (and fired) for his trouble. Update: The store decided not to pursue the charges. [More]
Ask Tax Dad: Old Clothes, An Audit Dispute, And IRA Rollovers
By 4.8.13 — Updated: 4.15.13
Usually, our staff Certified Tax Cat handles readers’ questions about taxes, but he’s also a cat, and cats occasionally just do whatever the hell they want. Filling in for him is Laura’s dad, a retired accountant and real live independent tax preparer. Exclusively on Consumerist this spring, Tax Dad answers your questions. [More]
Squatters Push Goodwill's Good Will To Limit With Rooftop Camp
By 8.10.12
Goodwill stores are well regarded as a place to pick up clothes and other items on the cheap, but a group of squatters in California seemed to think Goodwill’s good will extended to free rooftop living. [More]
Advice To Aspiring Counterfeiters: Print The Correct President On Your Bills
By 7.31.12
We’re not normally in the business of giving advice to criminals, but some aspiring counterfeiters in Arizona might want to study up on their American history. They allegedly tried to pass fake $100 bills with the image of Benjamin Franklin on the note, but a watermark of Abraham Lincoln. Oh, those Founding Fathers all look alike. [More]
Generous Mystery Family Hands Out Cash, Pays For Purchases, At Indiana Goodwill
By 12.19.11
Over the weekend, a family in Valparaiso, IN, took the name of the Goodwill store quite literally, handing out money to shoppers and paying for their purchases at the checkout line. [More]
80-Year-Old Man Accidentally Donates Life Savings To Goodwill
By 12.1.11
Check your pockets before sending clothing and household goods to Goodwill, especially if you’re in the habit of storing your life savings in the pocket of a favorite suit. An 80-year-old man in Illinois with a Depression-era mistrust of banks stashed his savings around the house. That cash was in the pocket of a suit jacket that the main claims he donated to a Goodwill thrift store. He didn’t realize what had happened until a week later. [More]
This Goodwill Sign Was Drafted By Arizona Lawmakers
By 9.22.10
Ryan happened upon a Goodwill that feels the need to check your ID before it lets you partake in the pleasures of its restroom. [More]
Watch Out For Ripoffs At Secondhand Stores
By 9.17.10
Secondhand, used and outlet clothing stores can be treasure troves for bargains, but you need to keep your wits about you as you stroll the aisles. Take it from Bob, who says four Goodwill locations were charging unrealistic prices for items. [More]
Goodwill Fires Worker With Down Syndrome After His Mother Buys Him A $3 Shirt
By 7.31.10
The Goodwill in Washington Iowa fired a thirty-year-old employee with Down syndrome after his mother bought him a $3 shirt. Goodwill initially refused to sell the shirt because of a policy banning employees from making purchases on days they were working. Another employee intervened and approved the sale after the employee’s mother explained both that she was a family member and not an employee, and that the employee with Down syndrome had no interest in buying clothes. When the employee reported to work the next day, he was fired. [More]
