mapledr1216
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posted on September 26, 2000 04:53:09 PM
But at least it's not another Paypal complaint!
I stopped at my nearby Goodwill this afternoon. I collect old purses (more retro than antique) and have very rarely found an interesting purse at Goodwill. I thought today was going to be my lucky day because I spotted a cute white pseudo-beaded bag with lucite handles on the purse rack - probably early 60's. It was in excellent condition especially considering it was white. I open it up and discover Goodwill has priced it by writing a huge $4.99 in black marker on the nice clean white fabric lining!
I thought about saying something to the woman who I think is the manager. But I always get this vibe from her that she really resents people who buy their merchandise to resell, so I chickened out. Should I say something next time I stop in?
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fountainhouse
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posted on September 26, 2000 05:02:20 PM
By all means! I don't know of anyone (buyer or seller) who would want to carry around a purse with the price emblazoned in it with magic marker.
People that deface otherwise usable/valuable merchandise by writing on it shouldn't be allowed to handle writing implements. Please give that loon an education. 
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buyhigh
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posted on September 26, 2000 05:05:07 PM
Just tell her that you do not want anyone to know where you buy your clothes and accessaries and should you get in an accident and wind up in an ER, it would be terribly embarrassing. Remember being told to always wear clean underwear when you were young? The worst is when thrift stores mark the price of paintings right on the canves with a black marker.
buyhigh
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jozi
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posted on September 26, 2000 05:15:20 PM
Yes! This is a HUGE gripe of mine! My local goodwill prices everything with a grease pencil: unglazed pottery, unglazed ceramic figurines, a cute stone statue I found... magazine & book covers.. ARgh! And the clothes at Value Village are all tagged but the tags are stapled on! I can't tell you how many pieces I have seen destroyed by pricing methods!
Jozi
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nowwhat
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posted on September 26, 2000 05:29:24 PM
My local Goodwill marks purses with pen. You really have to look to be able to find the price but even so it's not a good idea. They do the same thing with stuffed animals. They write the price on the body tags with red markers.
I think it's about time that they and other thrifts accept the fact that dealers are probably their best customers and that defacing items does not benefit anyone.
One day the former Goodwill Manager was talking about someone who came in all the time waiting for furniture to be marked down. She made a comment about the fact that "he's going to put it in his store and ask much more for it" ~ well duh, he has to since he has to pay for the piece and you get it for free.
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texmontana
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posted on September 26, 2000 05:51:03 PM
Speaking of the dreaded black grease pencil...today I found three vintage Elvis 45's WITH the picture sleeves. Yep, price ($6.99) written on the sleeves with the grease pencil. Ofcourse, they'll get marked down a few times before they sell, so you probably won't be able to see who's on the sleeve!!
ARG!
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busybiddy
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posted on September 26, 2000 06:10:34 PM
I have complained repeatedly to several local thrift stores about the practice of STAPLING price tags on clothing, but to no avail. Why they can't staple the tag to the label on the shirt or dress instead of right on the front of it just boggles my mind. I's just as easy and won't damage the item.
I tried telling one manager that the goods would sell better if undamaged but she looked at me like I was a lunatic.
One local thrift got wind of the value of Coach purses and now keeps them in a glass case. Funny thing is that they ask 50 or 60 dollars for them and they are totally beat!! They have no clue.
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kathyg
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posted on September 26, 2000 07:55:50 PM
This is the Goodwill you're talking about. If you want better, go to an antique mall. These are just people doing the best they can under the circumstances.
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cassiescloset
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posted on September 26, 2000 07:59:25 PM
I just purchased an incredible handmade halloween costume for my daughter for the grand total of $3.00.
There was the black mark inside, but the clerk said they used water based ink and it will come out with dish soap.
I figured I can't go wrong even if the mark does not come out. The price came out immediately without a trace.
I similar costume from the dance studio catalog retailed for $75.
While I was there, I found 3 dance skirts in the 3 for $1.00 bin. The pen mark came out with soap and water. I did okay. I still wish they wouldn't mark things since I can't tell if permanant or waterbased marker was used.
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heavnsqt
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posted on September 26, 2000 08:14:21 PM
I dont know why the people in goodwill have an attitude...everyone I go to is the same. Like they own the place and they never even fold things ....
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fountainhouse
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posted on September 26, 2000 08:24:55 PM
This is the Goodwill you're talking about. If you want better, go to an antique mall. These are just people doing the best they can under the circumstances.
kathyg - Presumably, Goodwill has stores to sell things?
Perhaps if they heeded the common-sense suggestions often found in threads like this, they would achieve greater sales levels with which to support their worthwhile cause.
Besides, what's so hard about pricing the merchandise so that you don't ruin it in the process?
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kathyg
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posted on September 26, 2000 08:34:17 PM
The Goodwill employees I have known are recovering from mental illness, alcoholism, or something equally devastating. Working in these stores is a way to occupy their time while they try to make their way back. They don't give a s*** about eBay.
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twinsoft
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posted on September 26, 2000 08:44:32 PM
At least one store I go to, the manager prices everything with a black Sharpie PERMANENT marking pen. She complains that customers switch the tags. I have watched her and it's obvious she does it for spite. I overheard her on the phone with another store manager saying that she marks certain items "way up." Lady, if I wanted an overpriced antique store I would shop in one.
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nowwhat
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posted on September 26, 2000 08:58:48 PM
kathg ~ I know pretty much everyone who works in my local Goodwill and the employees with handicaps of one sort or another are not the ones causing problems.
The store in my town is currently a huge mess. The District Manager is in there all the time trying to organize the place. I don't think it's working because it's getting worse and worse. The Manager is out on Maternity leave and the Assistant Managers just don't care.
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tattoonana
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posted on September 26, 2000 09:07:03 PM
I found a couple of old board games at our local thrift. The price was right but they had wrapped black electrical tape around and around the box. Not only could you not see what pieces were there or not, but the paper came off with the tape. Oh well! I surely didn't buy those. When I complained, the manager said I wasn't supposed to look in the box before I bought it anyway. Oh sure. I made that mistake once when I took the Tattoograndson to the thrift. He wanted a Mousetrap game. I bought it. Half the pieces were not there. It was really hard to explain that to a 5 year old. Had to go immediately to the local Wallyworld and purchase a new one retail.
I love grease pencil prices on the INSIDE front page of my old Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy Books, don't you???
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mauimoods
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posted on September 26, 2000 09:23:03 PM
They mark all over the soles of shoes too. Oh yeah, its the mark of high fashion to wear shoes with 1.99 on the sole while having brunch with the boss in front of clients
And Goodwill or Salvation army is doing a good thing with helping people cope with ailments and being sober, etc. However, having that ailment, and getting help for it by "staying busy" isnt any excuse for rudeness, is it? And some of the employees there ARE rude.
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mballai
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posted on September 26, 2000 09:31:38 PM
This happens at a lot of thrift shops. I simply won't buy anything that I can't clean off easy anymore. The cost of a little Avery price sticker is about a penny. Clue phone!!!
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surrrfurtom
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posted on September 26, 2000 09:45:43 PM
Where I live the Goodwill and Salvation Army have become very selective on what they'll take as a donation. Unless it is good stuff (in their mind) they don't want it. I brought in several boxes of items. They looked at each item and decided which they wanted and which I could keep.
This is probably easier said than done but the manager should attempt to teach the employees some basic skills of retailing, like customer service and also how to tag or mark items correctly.
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midnightdesigns
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posted on September 26, 2000 10:27:45 PM
Here we have a store called savers. They do something almost as bad. They STAPLE the price tags onto anything pliable..plastic items, and worse, clothes. REALLY makes me mad to see a beautiful blouse that is totally screwed up because it has dull staple holes in it..
[email protected]
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=midnightdesigns
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cl12w
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posted on September 27, 2000 01:45:13 AM
I was recently shopping at a second hand store for the rare, old books I love to read (and sell for big $$$). I came across a lovely old 1848 American Poetry book. Across the top front of the cover in black marker was written $1.99. I was so upset I took it straight to the manager! I found out that, yes, it was permanent marker, not that washable would have made meuch difference, and that the manager had put it there himself! I explained to him that he just took a book worth at LEAST $35.00 and turned it into fire-tinder! Of course, I bought it anyway for 20 cents, I do love to read that poetry! So yes, I would say something, because this man honestly didn't have a clue that marker (with which he'd marked everything that wasn't tied down) lowered the value!
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cl12w
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posted on September 27, 2000 01:52:45 AM
And another Goodwill complaint that has nothing to do with the question...my local Goodwill has 2 managers working who have recently discovered Ebay! Now, the good stuff never leaves the back room! I overheard one bragging to the other about how rich they're getting...and they don't pay for any of it! Isn't this illegal or something? Not to mention RUDE!
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flynn
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posted on September 27, 2000 03:37:29 AM
I doubt their using ebay is illegal, but Goodwill has their very own auction site, so I'm sure they are probably using that, but who knows maybe they are using ebay.
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yeager
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posted on September 27, 2000 04:05:31 AM
A pricing tag gun cost about $20.00, it's easy enough to use. A box of 1,000 tags costs about $5.00. I used to sell T-shirts at fleas, and never wrote with grease pancil on my things.
Why don't we start a campaign to write letters to these agencies. Or even better yet, their main offices. State your concerns about the store and your ideas about improving them. I think I will.
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kiki2
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posted on September 27, 2000 05:02:53 AM
Since I have been posting here at AW (over a year now) I have mentioned that I used to work at a Salvation Army Thrift Store. Pre-Ebay when we actually got NICE things! Back then we had constant complaints about the stapling of price tags onto the clothing. Not only because, no matter how easily you tried to remove the staple it was ruining the clothes and people were cutting themselves on the staples. I can't tell you how many bandaids I handed out (yes we kept a box up front!). Now, ten years later they are STILL stapling the tags onto the clothes and not the labels.
I have been to several Goodwill Stores where they use that dreaded marker. My local store doesnt, they put small sticky price tags which can easily be removed. There are handicapped people who work at the store but they do the cleaning or hang clothing. They DON'T price the merchandise. My biggest complaint will always be the high prices they put on things when they think they are collectible (never mind the huge chip or crack in the item). It doesn't help when the newspaper ran a big special article about Goodwill and the manager bragged about finding things to put on their Goodwill auction site and "knowing" when something is collectible and pricing it accordingly.
I doubt things change as long as eBay is a household word.
edited to add: I have also mentioned before that the Salvation Army store I used to work for has a huge signs on their doors that they will NOT take yard sale, estate sale and garage sale items as donations. Go figure!
[ edited by kiki2 on Sep 27, 2000 05:04 AM ]
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capotasto
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posted on September 27, 2000 05:33:31 AM
"These are just people doing the best they can under the circumstances."
No, it's managers who don't know, who don't care, who won't learn, and who won't teach the employees the right way to mark prices.
It's really the fault of the big honchos at the head offices of Goodwill and the other thrift shops. It almost seems that making money is not a consideration... if their shops destroy all their collectables in the process of pricing them, they really don't care.
I think a good solution would be for people to NOT donate anything of possible value to these junk stores. (If it's not junk when you donate it, they will be sure to turn it into junk with their grease pencils and staplers.)
Vinnie
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CoolTom-07
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posted on September 27, 2000 10:42:09 AM
I deal with a lot of paper and books. I have railed continously at one store which insists on writing the price in ink on the front of road maps. I also try to get them to put stickers on the BACK of the book, board game, etc. to no avail.
Another major peeve is the gorilla/samsonite treatment you get at the front counter:
Pottery is clanked against a glass countertop...
They FOLD comic books to put them in bags...
Even if they attempt to wrap things in paper, they then THROW the items into the bag, one atop another...
Needless to say, I insist on packing my own stuff.
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Brooklynguy-07
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posted on September 27, 2000 12:49:42 PM
FOR CRIPES SAKE people you're actually complaining about Goodwill junk!!!! Buy real merchanidise and quit whining.
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thriftysalez
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posted on September 27, 2000 04:13:58 PM
Hi Everyone!! I just love these topics that try to tell a store the best way to do something. How many of you have actually worked in a thrift store and had to deal with over 3000 new items to sort and price on a daily basis. Stapling is done in thrift stores and in regular retail stores, security tags put holes in clothing too, but I don't hear anyone telling the stores they shouldn't use those. We do not staple the labels because people for some reason cut the labels out and walk out of the store with the merchandise. Shoplifting is a major problem and in a thrift store even more, because a lot of people have the misguided notion that we get all of our donations for free. Excuse me, but 90% of the thrift stores out there pay for everything that is donated. They are in a contract with a charity to use their name for picking up donations. The charities are paid monthly, we have to keep a count of everything we bring in. So, yes everything you donate does go to a store, but that store is paying for it.
As for the grease pencils, any manager that won't listen to their customers request about where to put the marks shouldn't be in this field. I also had to learn about the fact that dealers come into our store to buy things, and have learned over the years where to put the price marks. Complain, complain, and always go to the top, there is always someone above the manager. Complain to their boss, and I guarantee that things will change.
Getting back to the staples, when you have a large amount of clothing to put out on a daily basis, you have to have a consistent place to staple, so that cashiers can tell when something has been tampered with. You can take staples out of clothing and not leave any marks, yes, there will be holes, but so small as to be insignificant. Go to an office supply place and get yourself a staple remover and I promise you that you will not even be able to tell that they were there.JMO!!
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CoolTom-07
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posted on September 27, 2000 04:16:10 PM
BROOKLYNGUY The last two things I bought at a thrift store was a Kay Finch planter for $1.75 (worth $60) and a book on belly dancing for $1 (worth $25). Sure sounds like real merchandise (or at least profits)to me. If the book had been defaced by writing on the cover, it would have had no value. That's why we are allowed to whine...
[ edited by Cooltom on Sep 27, 2000 04:19 PM ]
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vinjunk
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posted on September 27, 2000 04:38:04 PM
Just have to put some "Good" words in for the goodwill store I go to.......have gotten tons of items to sell....as well as things for myself. They do not "deface" anything and the people are super!
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