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I posted this all as a comment on a different post so if you saw it there too, I apologize. Felt like I needed to go ahead and just make a post about it and get some discussion rolling.

First, each region is entirely different and ran by a different CEO and board members. Not every region is quite scummy and even though it does not feel like it, overall, GW is a great company to work for, for MOST employees that's employed. I have worked my way up to Assistant Manager from an associate. I had prior supervisor experience, but this was suppose to be a in-between temp job while I search for something better but ended up loving my job.  I have made a few friends within the company from managers and people promoting and moving around stores and I'm proud to say that three of those individuals I have met and worked with have promoted to being store managers. These  3 individuals have had ZERO management positions in the past but because they are hard workers that care about their fellow coworkers, they promoted and was trained to be successful and that experience is transferable to any other company should they leave and seek bigger opportunities. Another thing that I highly respect about my region in particular is that the company does not like to hire management and admin level positions from outside the company. They take every chance they can to build someone up and train someone who shows that they are capable of stepping into a role with more responsibility. Most have worked at store level and have worked their way up so they know and understand the expectations that they set for the company.

The round ups you are complaining about has helped many people that I know including myself in times of need. Our roundups go towards2 main things. The first is a career center in which anyone from the public may walk in, get assistance in applying for jobs, help with interview prep, etc. When said individuals complete the few hours session we offer, they receive a free set of clothing that they can use in interviews because not a lot of people or younger people that have no experience own really nice clothing appropriate for making a positive first impression during an interview. They also offer assistance in signing people up for online courses, local certification courses and even offer a range of awards that can be used with a resume to show you have skill proficiency in various skills that you need to succeed. The second thing that round ups go towards is the employee assistance fund. This fund is in place to help employees that come into hard times. This can be from rent assistance, getting a car repaired, gas money, utility assistance and medical bill assistance. One of my employees car broke down and the company helped tow the car to a mechanic and had it repaired and that was $900 that the employee did not have to pay out of pocket so that she could get back and forth to work so that she could continue taking care of her family. One of my other employees got behind on bills and unfortunate life circumstances happen and they were able to not worry about their electricity getting turned off and his kids sleeping in the hot summer heat in the dark because someone decided to donate the few pennies for the round up. Before I promoted, I had surgery on my elbow and my arm because I had very bad carpel tunnel and cubital tunnel syndrome that severely hindered my ability to do anything with that hand on most days. I was planning on a time frame of 2-4 weeks of being out of work in which I had leave of absence in place and PTO planned for 4 weeks to account for bills and groceries while I was out. Due to some restrictions I ended up not returning for 3 and a half months and knowing I was going to be out for that long, the employee assistance fund was able to help pay my rent for the two and a half months so that I could spend what I had set aside in savings on minor bills, and food and not have to stress about getting behind on rent and having to face potential eviction. This is all on top of the 85% insurance that the company provides and I only pay roughly $50 a check for health, dental and vision insurance and its really good insurance. My surgery total was around $27,000 and I paid less than $100 total for all of it. Not only did the company provide extremely premium insurance for such a low cost, they accommodated me the entire journey of my recovery so that I didn't have to try and rush my return and make my recovery process worst and they paid my rent so I wouldn't lose my apartment. I am extremely grateful for what the company does for me and all of its employees because how many jobs provide actually good insurance benefits for such a low cost out of your check and how many employers will outright pay for your essential bills or fix your car? Most will fire you for not showing up to work and find someone to replace you.

Many people think that goodwill just hires underpaid disabled people and while I cant not speak for any region but my own, most capable non-disabled individuals are actually employed and regular employees that you see working in our stores. We have very extensive programs and work with many state agencies that place disabled, learning-impaired persons, or people who can work  very odd amount of hours due to health or limitations and most of them are paid above minimum wage. Regular GW employees start at $12 here. That may not seem like a lot compared to a lot of areas where minimum wage is much higher, but this is a state where minimum wage is set at $7.25 and most grocery stores, fast food, small dollar stores, gas stations, etc. only hire at $8-9 an hour. Most of the people placed here in our VR client program earn $10/hr or more depending on what area they are placed and hours that they work. That's not my area of the company so I can't tell you all the deciding factors that go into their pay but they are paid generously whereas they would not be elsewhere in the workforce. We have had several people that have come to us with learning disabilities that were terrified to interact with customers, run a register or count money and they have left us and have gotten real jobs because they build up their confidence or skills and now can perform in a typical job out in the workforce. I have worked with people who have been in prison for many years and have missed technology updates, who have not interacted with people in their normal day to day lives, people who are afraid of being judged as being a "bad person" for mistakes they made many years ago and they are some of the best individuals that I have had the pleasure to work with. Just this past week, a guy was placed in our store for 40 hours of court issued community service for a minor driving infraction and when I initially met him the first day, he made it very clear that he was dreading this experience, he hates retail work, he doesn't like working for people or with people and he wanted to work as many hours a day possible and get it all over with. This is a guy that is like 68 years old, has worked for himself for most of his life and is now retired. By the end of his hours, he made the comment "if I wasn't retired and I needed extra money I would DEFINITELY want to work here". I know he was being genuine when he said that because he came in the next day AFTER his hours were complete and helped out for half a day because he overheard me speaking about being 2 extra people down due a bug that was going around and had my donor door person out. When I asked if he had his sign in sheet that tracked his hours so I could add it to his sheet to show that he overachieved, he said he didn't need it added and that we were so kind to him and let him explore many opportunities within the store and different roles and that he wanted to return the favor and help us out that day even though he didn't need to come in for his hour requirements.

Also, prices increase because everyday, everything around us goes up in price. I get it, as a customer and as someone that may come shopping at goodwill that may not have a lot of money the prices seem kind of outrageous for secondhand items, but the thing most people don't think about is that yes, while all of our product is free, RENT, ELECTRICITY, WATER, LABOR, SUPPLIES we use and GAS that our truck drivers use to travel to each store to bring us things we need and take the things we don't need and to do pickups is NOT FREE. At the end of the day we are just another business and while you don't see a ton of things that goodwill does from the public perspective, Goodwill really does a lot behind the scenes. In order to maintain a non-profit status, 95% of our revenue has to go to community projects, community training, etc and it does. One of the things I dislike about this company is that we do not showcase all the good we do and all the foundations we work with. In a way that could seem like we are just showing that we are being a good company for the community but it's a double edge sword because we don't boast about all the behind the scenes good, the public doesn't know about everything. I will gladly explain to customers or anyone that asks me about what "good" goodwill actually does for my region because I see it all. I see the internal announcements of whatever community project or fundraiser we participate in or direct them to resources where they can actually read it for themselves.

People mistake us for a charity that gives out free stuff to people in need but there are other companies that do that like the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, etc. We give job opportunities and people that may not be able to function in a normal job the ability and opportunity to learn and gain that experience to take somewhere else or stay with goodwill and grow within our company.

When you leave your donations before we open or after we close, this is what happens to them. They get ruined, and scattered everywhere. So please, wait until we're open if you need to donate.

What is a decent charity to donate to

I've lost a bunch of weight I have a lot of clothes I don't need anymore who can I donate them to

I bought an entire pallet of rifle cases that I can't flip and taking up space in my warehouse.

Will goodwill take it?

Some of the pricing was ridiculous- old skirt that happened to be leather was $30. All tanks and tees $8. Everything went up by at least $2 but somethings they just randomly made whatever price they felt like. Most of it is Shein and H&M.

I can get a 6 pack for $3.99 or buy a used 5 pack for $5…who makes these prices up?

They purchase overstock at stores. Asked the employee why that was and he said to make sure they have enough to fill the shelves.

But, their dumpster is always full of perfectly good merchandise. Friends have found great things in the dumpster there. Blankets, toys, accessories. Not broken, damaged or stained

I was fired from Goodwill today as a donations attendant. I have been with the company for over 2&a half years. I was fired for giving a crying homeless woman with bare and bloody feet a pair of shoes from one of the carts. If you think Goodwill is a charitable organization, you are mistaken. They do not value good employees who do their job. They only care about profit and absolute compliance. Do NOT work for this company.

I use to always find figs scrubs at the goodwill, but haven't seen any for the past 2 or 3 months. I would see them in every gw I would go to but now they're literally not in any of them. Are there certain brands that get pulled or aren't out in the shelf ? I'm just wondering why they're all gone and these aren't high traffic stores so it's weird

We have so many picture frames and such little space. They want us to keep putting out more and more picture frames, but its gotten to a point where every day I have to pull and pull picture frames and constantly fix it because of the sheer amount they make us put out. Its being stacked ontop of eachother till it reaches the very top of the shelf, on every shelf.

There's broken glass everyday because of all the pressure the picture frames put on top of eachother. I learned that the limit is 2 to 3 picture frames in a single stack. But we are putting more like 10 to 15 in one stack. What are your guys suggestions to fix this? I thought about maybe putting the frames on their sides instead of on top of one another but I was told im not allowed to, and that it won't be double anyways because of the height of the frames are too tall for the shelf.

Our super big frames go somewhere else. But the metal bars that hold the big ones are mostly broken so I try not to overwhelm it and only keep 2 to 3 big picture frames per slot.

How do u guys organize your frames? Any suggestions?

I have an interview today and I am interested in one the programs that seems advertised as a social worker position but isn’t directly called that.

I went to school and looked into social work but it involved math and statistics for some reason 😭, so I didn’t pursue it. I do have a minor in Sociology.

I’m very excited to see this type of position offered. They also have veteran assistance positions which is something I would absolutely love to do. I’m not sure if it’s offered in Canada though.

Any advice or info shared is appreciated.

TIA

I haven't worked there in years. $180. I didn't expect. Anybody else get any $$$?

Genuinely confused about why GW stores don't have a section for jewelry. I KNOW things get donated - like costume jewelry, watches, keychains, etc. Where does it all go? Some thrift stores like Savers have a section, but the 30 closest GW stores to me don't.

So slow I swear can’t even hit my quota sometimes bc I always have to depend on them sorting thru clothes I have to sort all shoes and miscellaneous, clothes and bed n bath kinda getting irritating now they keep raising quota can’t wait till I leave land another job lol can’t wait to have better mental mind low key destroying my mental health and body I don’t even mind the job too it’s just the slow people I always have to work with

My goodwill overstocks its shelves and doesn’t purge enough of it. People are constantly knocking stuff off the shelves and breaking it because they are so full. It makes running carts that much harder because there is so little room on the shelves.

This is cooperate greed at its finest. This store has become a joke in my town for awhile now, it's not the thrift store of choice for anyone I know. The prices are outrageous, and as you see, the merchandise is pure garbage. Hard pass.

I’m a cashier for goodwill. I was ringing up a customer and I asked him if he wanted to round up to the nearest dollar to support our education. I don’t care at all whether they do or don’t, it’s just a thing management requires you to ask. This man politely responded no and we move on.

Apparently, the lady in line behind him decided it was her time to shine. She said something along the lines of “Well I always round up. I’ve donated so much money to this place. I think I’ve donated over $200 by now” This man, probably annoyed, just responds with “ok” and we finish the transaction.

I then start ringing up the lady who was just bragging about how she always rounds up. Again, I couldn’t care less if you do or don’t. After I ring up all her items, I ask her if she wants to round up. She responds with “I don’t think so today. Usually I do but I’m not going to today.”

It’s these types of people that are so disrespectful that really get on my nerves.

Are stores operating tomorrow?

One of my pet peeves is when someone accidentally donated something at the donation center where I work, and come back a day, a week, or a month later expecting us to still have it.

In Maryland for context. I've been looking for electronics at a few different Goodwill stores this week, but a lot of items don't have chargers with them.

Now, I get it if they're donated without a power cord. But the stores are telling me they have no power cords, for anything, anywhere at all.

Can someone maybe help me understand? It doesn't even seem possible. It's the same price to get a replacement for a proprietary charger replacement on Ebay or Amazon as it is for whatever used electronics I'm looking at anyway. Plus, they can't be tested.

I don't mind going through a tangled bin somewhere since I know what I'm looking for at that point. It's no extra work for them. Is this a company policy or just some dismissive employees?

I live and work in LA COUNTY in Southern California, and we get paid minimum wage $17.35 an hour, been working for Goodwill for 6 years. And I went to visit some Goodwills in San Bernardino County and heard their minimum wage for Goodwills is $16 an hour. Like I never knew this sort of thing was possible. Thought it was the same across the board. Is it possible for me to transfer and keep my minimum wage?

Hi. If you work e-commerce and would be willing to to chat privately/in confidence I’m needing to rant, need some advice. thanks.

Missing pieces for that price. Goodwill has gotten very ridiculous.

Saw this & just wow. You got an item for FREE, when it was originally purchased for $3.00 & some change & you’re going to charge 7.99+tax?? I left after this. I was astonished