Goodwill is an awesome place to shop if you don’t mind buying used items. Of course Goodwill also has many new items that were donated from people who didn’t need them or stores that were getting rid of overstock and donated the items instead. It is easy to see that Goodwill is like a used department store.
When shopping at Goodwill stores you are going to find some stuff that you would never buy or that you would never use. But if you are patient or looking for anything in particular, you might be surprised at the great finds.
Here is what our three local Goodwill stores have.
Clothing
Obviously the most common item you will find at Goodwill is clothing. There are thousands of clothing items including pajamas, jeans, shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, shoes, lingerie, swimwear and even wedding dresses (which surprised me for some odd reason). Name brands are plentiful at Goodwill and the majority of the items are priced at $4.00 or less. Most children’s items are under $2.00 or less. We were looking for some things for camp this summer and we decided to try Goodwill. We purchased $70 worth of items. Sitting down when we got home, we tried to estimate what these items would have cost off the shelves at the stores they were originally purchased from. We would have spent over $830 to get the amount of stuff we got at Goodwill. Most of the items were top or popular name brands: Old Navy, Gap, Limited Too, Gymboree, Liz Claiborne, Ambercrombie, Talbots and Talbots Kids. We were surprised and are positive we will be back to further clothe our five children. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Furniture
While not the largest department in any of the stores we visited, we were surprised at the great finds. End tables for $10 that honestly looked more like $200 end tables. Couches, sofas, love seats and recliners ranging in prices from $45 to a surprising $175 for an all leather full length couch that looked brand new. Lamps, tables, chairs, dining sets, coffee tables, bedroom sets, and many other items were discovered at different stores. It is a hit or miss on the furniture, as sometimes they get a ton of stuff in, and other times you have to visit a few stores to find what you are looking for. Almost all of the furniture we found was in great shape and while you could tell it was owned at some point, it was still really nice. If you have any interest in refurnishing furniture pieces, you’d have a field day at a Goodwill Store.
More on the various Goodwill Store Departments in the next article. See below for the other articles in this series.
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
More Articles in this series:
Shopping at Goodwill Saves Loads of Money
What You Can Find At Goodwill Stores Series – Clothing and Furniture
What You Can Find At Goodwill Stores Series – Kitchenware, Luggage and Accessories
What You Can Find At Goodwill Stores Series – Shoes, Toys, and Electronics
What You Can Find At Goodwill Stores Series – Home Decor and Artwork
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