4 ms·

the volume/variety may have increased, but the value-finds have gotten much worse. As a kid I used to frequent the Goodwill Electronics Waste store in Santa An

by serf 6y ago

the volume/variety may have increased, but the value-finds have gotten much worse. As a kid I used to frequent the Goodwill Electronics Waste store in Santa Ana, you could kit entire machines together for just a few twenties; the value of the parts compared to their once retail price was maybe 5 or 10 % of the MSRP even back then. I went back two years ago to satisfy my nostalgia and found the place now filled with 3-4 year old product that hovered around the cost to buy the same parts on an online vendor of some sort, and any of the interestingly-old-but-useless equipment like old ISA video cards/early PCI stuff/AT keyboards/anything beige was marked up so huge by some staffer that mistook vintage for value that it was absolutely impossible to find anything worth buying. Water damaged gameboy faded-grey cartridge? 200 dollars. Pentium 3 e-Machine? 300 dollars. 480 line composite security camera with no power supply and no hope that it will ever do anything useful ever again in the future? Does it have a beige or metal casing? 200 dollars. I think I ended up finding some cheap molex-style 12v fan to buy for a few bucks (more than any online retailer, still), but it was mostly just a guilt purchase to help support the Goodwill. I left incredibly disappointed.

bombcar 6y ago
There was a golden era around the 2000s where Goodwill was amazing for deals - then someone wised up on values of some items and they just went nuts on pricing, especially anything that looks "high tech" - I suspect overpricing computers and not selling ANY of them is why the Goodwills won't take any computers anymore.
troupe 6y ago
So are the prices adjusting to the market? I'd assume the price would get marked down eventually to the point where they can move stuff to make way for other things that come in. While their cost basis is low, they still have to move inventory to be sustainable. I just wonder if maybe there are a bunch of people out there willing to pay those prices for some reason.
- BombNullIsland 6y ago
  Goodwill isn't part of a "market", it's a charity. As such prices aren't set rationally but emotionally. The people giving away their time at the register are doing it to feel good about themselves, to "give back", not because they are interested in or have competence in retail. The product being traded between buyer and seller is smug narcissistic self-satisfaction and moving anything at all is irrelevant. I've volunteered at a similar outfit as a driver and tried to offer some assistance with realistic valuation for the ikea shit that was wasting 60% of the warehouse, but it wasn't welcomed. $300 for a Billy is "reasonable" and it's for a "good cause".
  - URSpider94 6y ago
    People working the register at Goodwill generally aren’t volunteers, they are paid employees, though they are often paid less than minimum wage.
    - BombNullIsland 6y ago
      My case was probably an extreme example, Salvation Army (in Australia) was a mostly volunteer organization for the brief time I was there. Problem is the same everywhere regardless of pay structure, charity is used to as a crutch to wave off all criticism, a lack of retail competence, and any willingness to learn.
      - URSpider94 6y ago
        There’s a big difference between Goodwill and Salvation Army. Salvation Army runs thrift stores to raise money to fund their homeless shelters and disaster relief efforts - thus they are generally staffed by volunteers. Goodwill’s charity is … running Goodwill stores. That’s it. They don’t donate money to anyone. They in fact pay their store employees below minimum wage, under the theory that they are providing “job training”.
        blabitty 6y ago
        They also make a big use of court ordered "volunteers". They might be a non profit but their regional directors are pulling in large salaries off an operation that runs essentially on free inventory and below market labor.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> the volume/variety may have increased, but the value-finds have gotten much worse. Yes, awareness of competing buyers (and better market access of the seller) erases arbitrage opportunities. Venues that price at a steal compared to the broader market are not in a stable equilibrium.

by serf 6y ago

bombcar 6y ago

There was a golden era around the 2000s where Goodwill was amazing for deals - then someone wised up on values of some items and they just went nuts on pricing, especially anything that looks "high tech" - I suspect overpricing computers and not selling ANY of them is why the Goodwills won't take any computers anymore.

troupe 6y ago

So are the prices adjusting to the market? I'd assume the price would get marked down eventually to the point where they can move stuff to make way for other things that come in. While their cost basis is low, they still have to move inventory to be sustainable. I just wonder if maybe there are a bunch of people out there willing to pay those prices for some reason.

BombNullIsland 6y ago
Goodwill isn't part of a "market", it's a charity. As such prices aren't set rationally but emotionally. The people giving away their time at the register are doing it to feel good about themselves, to "give back", not because they are interested in or have competence in retail. The product being traded between buyer and seller is smug narcissistic self-satisfaction and moving anything at all is irrelevant. I've volunteered at a similar outfit as a driver and tried to offer some assistance with realistic valuation for the ikea shit that was wasting 60% of the warehouse, but it wasn't welcomed. $300 for a Billy is "reasonable" and it's for a "good cause".
- URSpider94 6y ago
  People working the register at Goodwill generally aren’t volunteers, they are paid employees, though they are often paid less than minimum wage.
  - BombNullIsland 6y ago
    My case was probably an extreme example, Salvation Army (in Australia) was a mostly volunteer organization for the brief time I was there. Problem is the same everywhere regardless of pay structure, charity is used to as a crutch to wave off all criticism, a lack of retail competence, and any willingness to learn.
    - URSpider94 6y ago
      There’s a big difference between Goodwill and Salvation Army. Salvation Army runs thrift stores to raise money to fund their homeless shelters and disaster relief efforts - thus they are generally staffed by volunteers. Goodwill’s charity is … running Goodwill stores. That’s it. They don’t donate money to anyone. They in fact pay their store employees below minimum wage, under the theory that they are providing “job training”.
      - blabitty 6y ago
        They also make a big use of court ordered "volunteers". They might be a non profit but their regional directors are pulling in large salaries off an operation that runs essentially on free inventory and below market labor.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> the volume/variety may have increased, but the value-finds have gotten much worse. Yes, awareness of competing buyers (and better market access of the seller) erases arbitrage opportunities. Venues that price at a steal compared to the broader market are not in a stable equilibrium.