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My experience at the GoodWill Outlet in Aurora, CO

joshmick

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I did some searching on here and didn't see very much mention of these stores, so I figured I'd write up a brief summary of my trip there this past weekend. (Admins, feel free to move this if I should keep it in the thrifting thread)

If you aren't familiar, this is where all of the items from the normal GW stores go after they haven't sold. Everything is put in a huge tub, you sift through it all and at the end, pay by the pound. Prices vary from 40 cents to 1.49 per pound depending on the category of item you are purchasing. Here are my thoughts:

1. Bring gloves. Sifting through a bunch of rejected items gets messy, and in general there is a sense of dirtiness in the whole place.

2. It's almost like being in a 3rd world country, there were about 5 different languages being spoken, people pushing and shoving to get to items when new bins were put out, etc.

3. I saw two (near) fights, people grabbing items out of other peoples carts and calling each other names.

All that said, I left with some decent stuff, however I don't think I will be going back. GW is cheap enough as is, the atmosphere at the GW Outlet in Aurora, CO is not worth the savings, IMHO.

Photo of the inside:



My Haul:
Aquascutum (ladies I think?) overcoat. Missing one button, otherwise in great shape.



Alan Flusser Lambswool Cashmere blend blazer, made in Vietnam, nothing super special.



Vintage Banana Republic Blazer, Made in USA



Osh Kosh B'Gosh Jacket like Carhartt or Filson



Women's Orvis Corduroy Blazer




All of this was ~$9 total. Great deal, for a "decent" haul, maybe not worth the hassle.
 

joshmick

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considering 1,2 and 3, is it really worth it though
confused.gif
In my opinion, no. However, some might be up for the adventure haha.
 

katabatic

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In San Francisco we have Goodwill As-Is, which is a lot like that, only it's on the intake side -- you get to sort through the stuff before it gets sent out to stores, and it's a fixed price per item ($2, I think). Same big blue bins. They let vendors have first cut though.

I went once recently - found a really interesting vintage Brooks Brothers orphan jacket. In need of some major repairs though.
 

Master Squirrel

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Our Goodwill presorts and removes anything of value and places it on in either an online auction or in a higher-priced off-site boutique. I've stopped shopping there as the "treasures" are no longer found there. And they hang clothes by color, not size.
 

joshmick

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I usually don't mind when clothing is hung that way, I tend to look through everything anyways. I notice that a lot of the thrift stores that have clothing sorted by size make mistakes or stuff gets moved to different size areas. Plus, most of them think a 40R suit coat is an XL and put it in that section, hah
 

mr monty

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Our Goodwill presorts and removes anything of value and places it on in either an online auction or in a higher-priced off-site boutique. I've stopped shopping there as the "treasures" are no longer found there. And they hang clothes by color, not size.


same for the Indianapolis GW stores.
 

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