Conversations at Goodwill

[+LS650]

Wow - makes you wonder what goodies they might be crushing...

[GregadetH]

My girlfriend thinks we need to go dumpster diving behind the Goodwill and I'm inclined to agree.

 

At my local Goodwill they actually have a security camera near the drop-off point. Also, their Dumpster is located inside the building. But here is the kicker: It is not a regular Dumpster, but a COMPACTOR!! So anything they chuck out not only gets trashed, but crushed in the process.

 

JY

 

Sonofawoman! That sucks!

[MrJimbo]

Looks like there is an Odyssey2 for sale on ShopGoodWill.com

 

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Vintage--Odyssey-2-Game-System-6518729.html

 

 

Based on this, it looks like they take items that would have broader appeal to more than just a local area and make items available online.

Edited July 28, 2010 by MrJimbo

[godslabrat]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that if these employees are paying *something* for their spoils, I really don't have a problem with this. True, it takes away from what is available for me, but working retail is a really crappy job... This is one of the very few perks, and I don't want to deny someone that. When I worked at Circuit City, I'd set some stuff aside, and I feel zero guilt over it.

[Osbo]

That's why I think going to the SA or Goodwill to look for video games is a total waste of time and gas.

[Rik]

The used game stores are just as bad. We used to have a Funcoland (Gamestop now) that fired the manager and 3 employees because they were buying the good trade-ins themselves instead of for the store. For the store credit trade-ins, they'd hide the good ones under the counter and buy them later.

Ohhhhhh!, so that's the real reason several Electronics Boutique employees I knew were canned.They did that type of thing you mentioned above all the time.Everyone that worked there did that.I saw one of them stocking shelves at the local grocery store.Whenever I asked them why they were let go, never got a straight answer, some were stealing also, so I heard through the grapevine.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Rik

[BDW]

My girlfriend thinks we need to go dumpster diving behind the Goodwill and I'm inclined to agree.

 

At my local Goodwill they actually have a security camera near the drop-off point. Also, their Dumpster is located inside the building. But here is the kicker: It is not a regular Dumpster, but a COMPACTOR!! So anything they chuck out not only gets trashed, but crushed in the process.

 

JY

Wow, what a metric ton of bullshit...

[fiddlepaddle]

It's less and less often now that I find any game cartridges at thrifts; maybe there just aren't as many being donated anymore. On the other hand, I found 6 vectrex cartridges for $1.99 each yesterday at a charity thrift (two of which I didn't have yet). Still worth looking...just not at GW.

[Rik]

My girlfriend thinks we need to go dumpster diving behind the Goodwill and I'm inclined to agree.

 

At my local Goodwill they actually have a security camera near the drop-off point. Also, their Dumpster is located inside the building. But here is the kicker: It is not a regular Dumpster, but a COMPACTOR!! So anything they chuck out not only gets trashed, but crushed in the process.

 

JY

 

Sonofawoman! That sucks!

Not only that, if you dive in one of those compactor bins and you get stuck, and or someone inside the store throws the switch, you'll get shredded/crushed to death. Something like that happened here not too long ago.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Rik

[Hatta]

If your life sucks so much you have to work at Goodwill, I'm not going to begrudge you first dibs on the gaming stuff.

 

As for throwing away or destroying functional consoles. Anyone who does this should rot in hell.

[Reaperman]

Looks like there is an Odyssey2 for sale on ShopGoodWill.com

oh you mean at the site where the shipping usually costs more than the item is worth, and you're still bidding on untested throwaway crap, but without the benefit of being able to look it over for yourself?

 

so it's just more expensive than ebay without the quality, buyer protection or selection.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Reaperman

[akator]

Looks like there is an Odyssey2 for sale on ShopGoodWill.com

oh you mean at the site where the shipping usually costs more than the item is worth, and you're still bidding on untested throwaway crap, but without the benefit of being able to look it over for yourself?

 

so it's just more expensive than ebay without the quality, buyer protection or selection.

 

That depends on the Goodwill store/region that is selling the item. I bought a boxed Vectrex that was well packed, shipped affordably, guaranteed not DOA with 7 day return, and in immaculate condition.

 

But you are right in that most of them are not like that. I find the better stores and limit searches to their auctions.

[GregadetH]

If your life sucks so much you have to work at Goodwill..

 

That's a shitty statement considering I just put an application in to Goodwill on Friday. But then again, I've been unemployed for 3 years so my life must absolutely suck compared to yours right?

[godslabrat]

If your life sucks so much you have to work at Goodwill..

 

That's a shitty statement considering I just put an application in to Goodwill on Friday. But then again, I've been unemployed for 3 years so my life must absolutely suck compared to yours right?

 

Well... there are some situations in which being unemployed for 3 years and then working at Goodwill would be a sign of good fortune. Perhaps you inherited several million dollars and didn't need to work, and only now decided to get a gig at Goodwill to pass the time? Perhaps you're a bestselling author, getting back from a long book tour, and are working at Goodwill doing research for your next novel?

 

In any case, I would suggest that such scenarios are not very likely to be the case. More likely, something unpleasant happened that prevented you from working, and now you're getting back into the game finally. It's not a personal attack on you to say that you'd probably rather those things didn't happen to you... even if you did make the best of them.

 

And if you can get first dibs on any classic gaming goods... you've got my blessing.

[christianscott27]

We've been screwed since Ebay took off guys. It used to be that the Goodwills around me were staffed by social welfare cases (seriously as a program) but that seems to have changed. Theres actually a new Goodwill near here that is trying to be a trendy urban boutique, right down to the emo kids staffing it. Back in the day you'd see a surly employee roll out with a big laundry cart full of random crap which could be anything from broken VCRs to mint INTV games and just dump it all in the electronics section... I miss those days. Now you see people googling things on their phones while they are in the store holding the item.

[Rev. Rob]

I still make good finds at Goodwill and Savers. I came across a "Miracle Piano" at a Goodwill. Since I already had one I posted the location on this board. I've found numerous CIB NES games, like The Legend of Zelda. I even picked up an official Xbox 360 controller for less than $5. At Savers I found a 7800 for $9.99. Last time I was there they had a lose Gamecube for $20, but that seemed like a lot for no controller or cables. However, I did score a bunch of ColecoVision games.

[Almost Rice]

At my Goodwill computer works. They have been selling 700-850Mhz P3 laptops @ $5-15. I have been picking them up. I can use them for many things since they have network, serial, and parallel ports. Most are missing RAM and HD.

 

At least this location puts out very obscure stuff and not dump them like most locations. I have seen Apple IIe sold at the one in Austin. I look for classic computer items and it is great they do no throw them out.

[SRGilbert]

Not only that, if you dive in one of those compactor bins and you get stuck, and or someone inside the store throws the switch, you'll get shredded/crushed to death. Something like that happened here not too long ago.

 

 

That happend at a Goodwill here in Lansing, MI about 2 years ago, but she was hiding from the cops in the dumpster when someone turned it on.

[orangest]

I still make good finds at Goodwill and Savers. I came across a "Miracle Piano" at a Goodwill. Since I already had one I posted the location on this board.

 

You too, huh?

 

 

I guess living in Los Angeles gives an advantage, but I see PS1, PS2 and Xbox stuff at Goodwill regularly. Mostly sports titles, but not exclusively. I was tickled to see a 5200 w/ Pac-Man recently, and the Goodwill nearest my place did give me the $5.99 CIB SMS Buster Douglas Boxing earlier this year, so it never hurts to keep looking...

[Rik]

I lucked out at one EB store.The 2 employees there had INTV,2600,ColecoVision game consoles, expansion modules, games, you name it, all in like brand new condition.I couldn't believe my good fortune.They sold all the stuff to me only.They waited until I came in the store and showed me all this stuff they brought from home.They were using the store to sell their own stuff to me!Like I said I've heard of employees getting 1st pick of goods all the time, but actually using the store to sell their own stuff?The one guy was the district manager, so I figure that helped them get away with doing that as I imagine someone higher up the ladder would've canned them both for sure.But later on, I saw the stuff presumably, the stuff I didn't buy out in the show room shelves for others to buy, not sure what the deal was there, it seems the store, the higher ups let them do it? .Anyway that was how I got a lot of the really good stuff like the CV Roller Controller and 2600 expansion module.