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50 Times People Hit The Jackpot While Thrifting In Goodwill Bins And Had To Brag About It In This Online Group
It’s no secret that thrift hunting and secondhand shopping have become super popular in the last few years. From professional resellers to vintage lovers, from budget-savvy shoppers to thrill seekers who love digging up something rare and valuable, it seems like everyone finds something for them.
All the thrift shopping goers have in-depth knowledge of the best destinations to look for cool used things, and Goodwill outlets are no exception. Here, most of the items are placed in large bins rather than hung on a rack or placed on shelves.
In fact, there’s even an online community on Reddit named “Goodwill Bins” which gathers all the Goodwill outlet aficionados and thrift hunters in one place as they get to share the best, craziest, most unusual finds they found in those large blue bins.
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#1
Picked Up This Cute Flip Clock Today At A Local Thrift Store For 50 Cents. Works Perfectly!
RELATED:
#2
Vintage 1940’s Picnic Basket!
#3
$2 For The Faux Fur Blanket... Stray Cat Was Free
Whether you’re an avid thrifter or an online reseller, you are probably familiar with Goodwill retail stores. However, did you know that Goodwill also has another type of store? They’re called Goodwill outlet stores and are also known as Goodwill pay by the pound stores, Goodwill weigh and pay stores, or Goodwill bin stores.
Shopping at Goodwill outlet stores is a rather unique thrift hunting experience. A small handful of items may be sorted and put in bins separately, including clothing; this is an exception rather than a rule. Items are brought out in large blue bins which the shopper will have to sort and dig through themselves in order to find the gems.
#4
I've Been Going To (And Loving) The Denver Bins For A Long Time But Just Discovered This Sub After Posting My Latest Treasure. Yesterday, I Found A Beautiful Vintage Dress That Fits Like A Glove
#5
Autographed Jane Goodall Print For $3 At The Bins!
#6
Found A Bin Full Of Vintage Pendleton, All Made In The USA Virgin Wool Pieces!
At the same time, it’s very likely that as a shopper, you will be competing with many other pickers and thrifters. Usually, the bins are lined up in many rows throughout the store. After a row of bins has been on the floor for a while, a staff member will announce the last call for that row and shortly it will be removed and replaced with more items.
#7
Vintage Quilt, Courtesy Of The Bins!
Bouche Clay 2 years ago
It looks a lot like the one my Grandma made for me, except mine is purple. A good quilt is always a blessing.
#8
46lbs Of Electronics & Games For $32.02!
David Martin 2 years ago
Whoever sold you an intact Chrono Trigger cartridge, in the protective slip on no less, is an absolute idiot. I don't know a lot about vintage game values, but I do know that one, and it is...umm, A LOT
#9
$315 Tika Leather Duffle. Scored For $10
Since most of the items are sold by the pound, there are a couple of things you may do as a shopper to make your checkout easier. Goodwill suggests dividing your cart into the categories shown in the diagram (on this webpage) since these items need to be rung up separately.
#10
Exquisite
#11
Look At This Find!
A vintage 70s 4/6 boho prairie lace dress. It won't fit anyone in my household but I had to buy it the price was crazy good, so I bought it to resell! (Yes it's still available!)
#12
Found This Lil House / Jewelry Box This Weekend! My Fave Part Is The Garage Door That Opens Into A Drawer
Moreover, the associate will determine the best way to ring up your merchandise. “Please work with them to get everything weighed properly,” Goodwill reminds their shoppers. “When rolling your cart onto the floor scale, be sure to remove your personal belongings or you will be charged for their weight,” they add.
#13
Found An Hermes Scarf In The Bins This Weekend, Couldn’t Believe It!
#14
My Wife's Find A Couple Days Ago. In A Small Cloth Pouch At The Bottom Of A Mostly Clothing Bin. Stamped 925 Sterling And A Real Turquoise Stone!
#15
Could Not Believe My Eyes When They Set This Out In The Toy Section!!! It’s A 1977 Disneyland Weebles Playset!
#16
Found A Pokémon Binder At The Hardline Full Of First Edition Pokémon Cards
#17
Throwback To Elementary School Computer Lab Days In The 90s
#18
Cute Miniature Tea Set, All The Pieces Were There And In Perfect Condition
#19
I Was Checking Out A Backpack At The Goodwill Bins And Someone Left Their AirPods In It! Couldn't Have Paid More Than $1 For Them
#20
Found This Oak Cabinet (Suspected Old Microwave Cart) At The Bins For $3 A Little While Back. Just Added Some New Hardware, Cleaned It Up And Installed LED Light Strips And Now It Is My Bar
#21
Yay! Perfectly Functioning Roomba At The Bins With The Charger Still Attached?! $4! (My Cat Can't Tell If She Likes It Or Not)
#22
Found An Awesome Never Used Vintage Carbon Steel Chinese Cleaver And Used It To Prepare The Most Delicious Blt
#23
Bins Treasure. Lock Was Broken And Needed Some Extra Care But Could Not Pass Up This Leather Beauty. $1.50!
#24
Outerwear Finds From The Bins
#25
Cookie Jar And A Music Box
#26
First Time At The Bins And I’m Addicted! Patagonia, Yeti, J Crew Sweater Blazer, And 100% Cashmere Sweater
#27
Someone Boxed Up Their Playstation Collection And Donated It. I Was Lucky Enough To Be Standing At The Right Place At The Right Time. Ps2, Psp, Psp Vita
Balso Steele 2 years ago
That was a mom "helping" their kid "clean" on his first week away at college. No, I'm not still bitter about all my unopened 90's X-men cards, why do you ask?
#28
Found Today In Oklahoma
#29
First Time To The Bins. I Spent $48. I Am A Former Preschool Teacher And Have My Own Daycare Now. Most Of What I Bought Is For My Daycare
Bob D. Lin Quint 2 years ago
The cat yearns for a time before all this stuff entered their home
#30
Two Kitchenaid Mixers For $22 Total. Gw Airport Bins And Gw Milwaukee (Or) Bins
#31
What Did I Get Myself Into!? Also Mini Desk Vacuum, Does It Get Any Better
#32
Just Found A 1945 Ww2 Ike Jacket At The Bins Moments Ago!
#33
Rescued From The Bins! Pair Of Robert Sonneman For George Kovacs Feather Lamps
#34
Big Find Today! Found Some Tropical Teal Dunks In Really Good Condition Just Gotta Clean Em Up And Boom! New Dunks For Only $2
#35
Kate Spade In The Bins??? Both In Really Good Shape. I'm Not Even Sure How Stuff Ends Up In The Bins And Not The Store
ZombieSushi386 2 years ago
Goodwill employee, in case anyone is wondering, brands like Kate Spade, Coach, etc. usually go to Goodwills online store, but if they are not in the best of condition they will be sold in store. What probably happened was they had been sitting on the shelf to long and they went into the bin when their tag color was due to be pulled. (aka either thrown out or put into salvage to be sent for recycling) It kills me when we have to salvage good items like this.
#36
Scored This Light Up Canopy For My Reading Nook!
#37
Found Within My First Hour At The Bins , My Best $3 Pickup Ever
#38
Dewalt 18 V Score
#39
Found These At The Bins!
#40
Randomly Scrolling Through Caligraphy At 1am And Thinking, Hmm That Looks Cool Maybe Worth Trying
Soon after the bins provide a random assortment of fountain and caligraphy pens.
#41
Found This Disney Parks Exclusive Dress In The Bins! They No Longer Sell This One I Saved It From The Landfill And Found It A New Home With A Disney Lover
#42
A Couple Weeks Ago I Saw Someone Post In Here That They’d Found A Pendleton Wool Blanket At The Bins, And I’d Been Sulking Ever Since. Until I Found My Own!
#43
Goodwill Bins Come Through For Me Again. It Still Had Tags From Rei On It. I'm Super Excited Because I Needed A New Daypack
#44
Something Something The Simple Things In Life. Couple Of My Favorite Finds That See Daily Use
#45
Found A Pendleton Wool Coat That Someone Put Back. $4
#46
My Silk Scarf Collection From The Bins. Can’t Believe How Little I Paid For Such Pretty Things
#47
Spiewak Golden Fleece N3-B Flight Parka From The Bins! These Retail At Over $800!
#48
Wait What's That?
#49
Found All Of These Shoes At The Bins!
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Natty Glass 2 years ago
Something about people who were like oh i bought it to resell or I got this amazing find then found another of the same but still bought both just rubbed me the wrong way- like maybe someone else could’ve used that vitamix or kithenaid instead of you having two for no real reason.
Keating_5 2 years ago
Yeah I’ve been wearing stuff from thrift stores since I was a kid too poor to really get anything else, but my mom always made sure we looked nice so I wasn’t picked on for it. I still refuse to pay full price for most clothes because I like the aspect of recycling and saving loads of money especially on name brand items for myself or people I know will use such gifts if I get it , but now everyone is so focused on the resale value of everything that it can be hard to even find good hauls anymore. And especially people who will buy it all up just to resale it and not leave it behind for people who legit need it, like buying a good plus size dress just to resale when that is very needed and hard to find, it sucks!
Load More Replies...
ZombieSushi386 2 years ago (edited)
Unsorted donations. When someone donates we usually sort clothes and other items before they go out on the sales floor, I'm guessing some Goodwills have sale days where you can get a discount for going through them? I'm not 100% sure as my store sadly doesn't do this. Editing to add this link explaining the bins. https://www.dinasdays.com/how-to-shop-the-thrift-store-bins/ apparently when an item gets pulled from Goodwill it gets swnt to an outlet store before being sent for recycling and these outlet stores are all bins. The more you know. Lol.
Load More Replies...
Daniel Yamada 2 years ago
Benchmade 535 and Benchmade 555 pocket knives in like-new condition. Blades are still razor sharp. Price was one dollar each in the kitchenware section of a charity thrift store. Total retail price for the pair is about $270. Knives-631...a98ab8.jpg 
J Kwon 2 years ago
Were you able to verify they're real? I contacted the company awhile back about a flood of knives being sold on Wish and Ebay. They said all the ones on Wish were identical, high-quality fakes and they couldn't do a thing about it.
Load More Replies... Natty Glass 2 years ago
Something about people who were like oh i bought it to resell or I got this amazing find then found another of the same but still bought both just rubbed me the wrong way- like maybe someone else could’ve used that vitamix or kithenaid instead of you having two for no real reason.
Keating_5 2 years ago
Yeah I’ve been wearing stuff from thrift stores since I was a kid too poor to really get anything else, but my mom always made sure we looked nice so I wasn’t picked on for it. I still refuse to pay full price for most clothes because I like the aspect of recycling and saving loads of money especially on name brand items for myself or people I know will use such gifts if I get it , but now everyone is so focused on the resale value of everything that it can be hard to even find good hauls anymore. And especially people who will buy it all up just to resale it and not leave it behind for people who legit need it, like buying a good plus size dress just to resale when that is very needed and hard to find, it sucks!
Load More Replies... ZombieSushi386 2 years ago (edited)
Unsorted donations. When someone donates we usually sort clothes and other items before they go out on the sales floor, I'm guessing some Goodwills have sale days where you can get a discount for going through them? I'm not 100% sure as my store sadly doesn't do this. Editing to add this link explaining the bins. https://www.dinasdays.com/how-to-shop-the-thrift-store-bins/ apparently when an item gets pulled from Goodwill it gets swnt to an outlet store before being sent for recycling and these outlet stores are all bins. The more you know. Lol.
Load More Replies... Daniel Yamada 2 years ago
Benchmade 535 and Benchmade 555 pocket knives in like-new condition. Blades are still razor sharp. Price was one dollar each in the kitchenware section of a charity thrift store. Total retail price for the pair is about $270. Knives-631...a98ab8.jpg
J Kwon 2 years ago
Were you able to verify they're real? I contacted the company awhile back about a flood of knives being sold on Wish and Ebay. They said all the ones on Wish were identical, high-quality fakes and they couldn't do a thing about it.
Load More Replies...
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