This morning, I met up with a bunch of other moms and bloggers down at the Goodwill Outlet in New Castle. A Goodwill Outlet?? I know! That’s what I thought–the stuff at Goodwill is so cheap, how can there be an outlet. There is!
First, this was my first time there, but one of my local friends is an experienced “thrifter” and has been there before. She gave us several good tips prior to going, including leaving the kiddos at home, but I couldn’t adhere to that one. We had 17y of mulch delivered this morning, so I couldn’t leave hubby with the kids too. So off we went.
The items are just laid out in these huge shallow, waist-high bins on wheels. It’s very loosely organized into hard goods and soft goods. After you make your selections, you pay per lb, anywhere from $0.59 to $1.59 per lb, I think. We arrived for the opening at 9, and at 9:30, they round everyone up, and you have to “stand behind the red line” which is painted on the floor. Then they wheel out all the blue bins on wheels, and wheel in a whole new set–an entirely new set of merchandise to sort through! It was at this point, though, that I realized how competitive this “thrifting” can be. I had Brian, my 3-year-old, pushing my shopping cart (he wanted to) and we were evaluating items together. I was teaching him how we don’t purchase things that are broken or don’t have all their parts. Well, once the new bins were out and we got the ‘bell’ that we could go out again, Brian spotted a Tonka truck. It was one of those older ones that is still metal. He didn’t care, he just saw a yellow construction truck and in our house, that is gold!
Well, this jerk practically ran over my 3-year-old to get to that truck before he did. I wasn’t in the mood to challenge him on it, I let it go. But even Brian noticed his lack of manners by saying “Mommy, that is not nice. He did not take turns.” I guess all is fair in love and thrifting. That guy was a real piece of work. Later I was standing next to him sorting through some items and he was talking about some of them like he was being interviewed for Pickers or Storage Wars. Whatever. Takes all kinds, I guess. You can tell by the way some people are evaluating things (and how much stuff they are purchasing) that they are only in this for resale of the items. You can make money without being rude, so I’m not knocking all of them, just the one guy.
Click to visit the Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County for all the information you need to visit.
I ended up only searching through things for about 90 minutes. Lots of my group stayed longer, but I had the boys with me. You definitely have to be in the mood to hunt & search for items. In the end, we ended up with: one Thomas toy that squirts water, a Lightning McQueen car, another toy truck that is similar in styling to a mushroom truck (boxy) and the back opens, a blue & white plaid cotton scarf for me; a very cute, like-new AE hoodie sweatshirt for me; a Hot Wheels t-shirt with a Monster Truck on it for the boys, a pair of The Children’s Place camo shorts for boys, a white sweater for me, and a boys Osh Kosh winter coat (brand new) and a tan & white knit top (Jones NY) for me……….all for…………$7.16. My friends that I went with all did well too, averaging under $1 per item, easily!
Some of the things I put back: an all orange Vera Bradley bag-cute but needed to be washed, a Squidward doll (he’s on SpongeBob) that was new with tags, and several other items of boys clothing–all brand name and in decent condition, I just didn’t think the sizes would work.
I would definitely recommend going if this is your type of thing. Like I said, you have to be in the mood for a hunt, but you never know what you’ll find. You could score big, you could go home empty handed, much like if you hunt down yard sales and garage sales. Be prepared to deal with jerks who are only in there to possibly make money and don’t care if they mow down 3-year-olds in the process. Next time I try it, I will go on a weekday instead of a Saturday. The prices are definitely right!
Building on my friend Janis’ advice: Wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Just tuck your money or credit card (yes, they take them) into your pocket and lock your purse in car so that you have both hands free. Ask when you arrive what time they will be doing the bin changes. I brought rubber gloves, many people were wearing them and many weren’t, up to you. And leave the kids at home if you can!
