Resellers Mixed on Goodwill’s Newest E-Commerce Site – WorthPoint

Since October 2022, Goodwill Industries’ newest online platform, GoodwillFinds.com, has been expanding its e-commerce presence and growing its customer base to generate more revenue for community programs.

While this is great for the people Goodwill helps—and for customers who can now do more thrifting online—some resellers and shoppers have mixed feelings about the site.

The biggest complaint many have is the high price tags on items. Resellers also wonder if the site will pose competition for them and how it will affect Goodwill’s other online platform, auction site ShopGoodwill.com. Then, some people who like to browse in person think all valuable items and bargains are now being taken out of stores and put online instead.

GOODWILL’S MISSION

Founded in 1902, the nonprofit Goodwill Industries’ mission is to provide employment placement services, job training, and other community-based programs for people who face employment barriers.

Comprising over 150 independent organizations, Goodwill has been the go-to spot for millions of people to give their unwanted clothing and household items—and thrift through other people’s donations that fill bins, racks, and shelves at more than 4,000 locations nationwide. The money generated from the sales of these donations funds the organization’s programs.

SELLING AND BUYING WITH PURPOSE

GoodwillFinds CEO Matthew Kaness told Chain Store Age that Goodwill generates around $6 billion a year in revenue, with less than 10 percent coming from e-commerce efforts, including individual stores that sell donations online via Amazon and eBay.

Though its first online platform, ShopGoodwill.com, founded in 1999, has generated more than $2 billion, Goodwill faces growing competition from for-profit online shopping platforms that also sell secondhand fashion, home goods, and other items, including Poshmark and ThredUp.

The idea for GoodwillFinds came from a growing consortium of Goodwill members throughout the United States who wanted to help the organization realize its full potential by expanding its e-commerce opportunities and leveraging the combined online reach of members’ stores.

Employees choose items to sell on GoodwillFinds from donations to member organizations, which include a wide array of men’s and women’s name-brand clothing, collectibles, electronics, jewelry, sporting goods, toys, and more. There are also vintage goods and rare finds. Items are inspected but not cleaned, so people are asked to donate only undamaged things with few signs of wear.

GoodwillFinds centers on social impact and revenue from sales funds members’ local community service programs.

“We are seeing remarkable support and excitement about shopping with purpose on GoodwillFinds.com,” said Kaness. “Our growth since launch not only affirms consumers’ growing interest in shopping second-hand online but also their preference to consciously shop values first as their purchases directly support the Goodwill mission.”

HIGH PRICES A THORN FOR MANY

There was a big buzz in the thrifting and reselling community when GoodwillFinds launched. Members of the GoodwillFinds, ShopGoodwill, and Flipping communities on Reddit wondered if it would make it harder for them to source items, how the site would affect ShopGoodwill.com, and took issue with the near-retail prices, especially for clothing.

Increasing prices have been an ongoing complaint with shoppers, who think Goodwill is becoming more expensive than Target and Walmart.

Though many items on GoodwillFinds are under $10, some are thousands, like a vintage charm bracelet, integrated amplifier, and an art print by German artist G. H. Rothe.

Despite pricing complaints, plenty of people are shopping at GoodwillFinds.

Kaness said that in the first year of operation, GoodwillFinds generated $25 million in gross merchandise value, had billions of impressions, and signed 600,000 subscribers to its email lists. He noted that the site now has fourteen participating Goodwill organizations (representing over 500 individual stores) and plans to be at forty by the end of 2024; another goal is to have 1 million items listed in a few years.

MIXED FEELINGS

Several resellers WorthPoint recently spoke with have mixed reactions to GoodwillFinds.

“I don’t like GoodwillFinds because it’s basically Goodwill selling people what resellers would previously buy in their store and sell online,” said Logan Burns, a member of Reddit’s r/Flipping. “This confirms that they cherry-pick the stuff they deem worth more, so most of the time, the stuff in the stores is lower quality. I think people just hope Goodwill employees make mistakes and sell something really expensive for a low price.”

Scott Mann, a reseller in Colorado, echoed that sentiment. “They take better quality items and valuable vintage goods from their local stores and sell them for huge profits on GoodwillFinds and ShopGoodwill. Local shoppers don’t benefit from donations because they get low-quality leftovers. This also prevents local resellers from buying and flipping their purchases for a profit,” Mann said. “In my opinion, the stores’ most important role to the company is to collect donations for their online sales. While you can find rare and valuable vintage goods, it’s nearly impossible to find a bargain.”

Deb Kuhar, a member of the Facebook group Goodwill and Thrift Store Finds, said she sees so many people complaining about being unable to find anything good at their physical Goodwill stores, especially antique and vintage items. She said some blame Goodwill for hoarding all of the best stuff to sell online so they can get more money for it.

“But every day in this group, many people post the cool things they find at Goodwill. I also recently found a nice piece of Fenton uranium glass,” she said. She added that if she’s ever looking for something specific, she’ll check out GoodwillFinds, but she has more fun thrifting in stores because she can search every nook and cranny.

“There are still treasures out there for me to find,” Kuhar said.

Recent news stories attest to valuable items still being found at Goodwill like the rare LEGO found at one store that sold for $18,000 and the vase bought at another store for $3.99 that sold for $107,000.

Nicole Treadway, a reseller in Maine, said people need to remember that Goodwill is a business just like resellers are and can price things how they wish, no matter how much people grumble about it.

“Goodwill is not in the business of making resellers money. They’re in the business of making as much money as possible to fund their programs,” she said.

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Adina K. Francis has been a writer and editor in the antiques and collectibles field for more than 20 years. She has a bit of an obsession with the Victorians and thinks that dogs are one of life’s greatest gifts.

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