People Are Anonymously Sharing Secrets From Their Jobs That They Aren't Supposed To Share In A Viral Online Thread

It’s no secret that every industry has its own secrets that remain virtually invisible to the people outside of it. So Bored Panda has contacted a US Goodwill employee who preferred to stay anonymous, to find out whether it’s true that half of the donated goods end up in the trash, as stated in the thread.

The Goodwill employee said that the staff has always followed guidelines and if anything is unsellable, it gets tossed. “People donate bags of clothing, some are stained, have holes, or are in some way unpresentable. Donated electronics are a hit or miss. Sometimes we test them and if they don’t work, garbage.”

Other unsellable stuff which gets thrown away includes anything that has “major cosmetic damage” or anything else that “would prevent its sale.” This may be “that pair of earbuds in the bottom of your donation bag.”Once, “I had a set of speakers covered in what I hope was maple syrup.”

Sometimes, it's “wares or household items: if it’s damaged in any way, it’s tossed.”The Goodwill employee says that “Bottom line is, people find it's cheaper to donate things rather than throw them away.”

Sadly, according to them, “it is rare to find newer items with tags on them.”But it also depends on the demographic. “For example, a Goodwill will have less valuable items in Detroit than upstate New York,” they explained.

But these are not the only secrets in the donated goods industry. The Goodwill employee said that “where I worked, there were no price tags, so you had to select the price written on it at the cash register” and it “took forever.”

Moreover, “people rub off the prices all the time and ask for it to be repriced.”Oftentimes stuff sold in charity and non-profit shops get scouted by resellers. “There are always resellers checking values of everything on eBay. Speaking of resale, it is a known problem that people run “kahoots “ and sell stuff lower to employees who resell it online. Strict rules at my Goodwill stopping that, but issues elsewhere,” the employee commented.

Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why there are so few better-value goods in your local American Goodwill, it may be because “anything of true value gets sent off to a blue boutique store (owned by goodwill) to be individually priced.”