If you’re a bargain hunter or just love the thrill of finding unique items, you need to check out the Goodwill bins. These bins are filled with donated items that didn’t sell in the regular stores, and they’re sold by the pound.
But how do you navigate these bins to find the best deals and hidden gems? Here are some of the pros and cons of shopping the Goodwill bins.
Pros
1. Prices
The prices are awesome at ‘the bins’ which is why they are usually jam-packed with other shoppers. The items are usually weighed and sold by the pound.
This is great for clothes, think about getting a pound of clothes for ninety-nine cents not so great for larger, heavier items like tables or some electronics so make sure to consider the cost carefully when purchasing anything but clothes.
2. New Inventory
The Goodwill bins are not like other Goodwill stores where you get what you see for the day.
The employees are constantly bringing in an influx of new items throughout the day which is great for people that have the time to spend a lot of time in the store.
3. Variety
Because the items at the Outlets come from several Goodwill stores you may get a variety of items, but keep in mind that many times these items have been picked over already for this reason.
Cons
1. Crowds
Because of all the pros, you shouldn’t be surprised that there are most likely going to be large crowds of people to take advantage of them.
I can’t recall a time when I’ve gone to the bins and there haven’t been a ton of other shoppers in the store as well.
One secret to avoiding the largest crowds is to get there early or super late. I know what you’re thinking if you get there late all of the good items will be gone, but this isn’t necessarily true since the bins aren’t like other Goodwills and there is a constant rotation of clothes throughout the day.
2. Rude People
Get ready to rumble when you shop at the bins!
I don’t actually mean fighting of course but you may find yourself in a little bit of a shoving match as people may not always be polite. And unfortunately, fights do sometimes break out, especially when a new bin is brought out as some people are so eager to search through it that they can’t wait until given the cue that it is okay to do so.
There are people that may see something they want and will go after it even if you’re in the way.
Some people even like the rush of excitement they get from the thrill of bounding for an item while pushing others out of the way.
3. Quality
Don’t expect to find many high-end designer items in the bins, you will mostly be bombarded with low to mid-range priced items as many of the items have come from the Goodwill stores and were not wanted.
