[US] Goodwill

Astrobricks · February 5

I thought I’d start this thread since I suggested it :)

Found a bunch of Brickheadz for $3 at the Goodwill on Lyndale in Bloomington. I left maybe a dozen.

Tkatt · February 5

I'll assume links to interesting items from the auction site will be ok in this thread. Here's one I've been watching.
https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/48693254
I'm curious if the person who donated the sets in this auction had any idea what they giving away.

Astrobricks · February 6

Tkatt said:

I'll assume links to interesting items from the auction site will be ok in this thread. Here's one I've been watching.
https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/48693254
I'm curious if the person who donated the sets in this auction had any idea what they giving away.

OMG, I think I just peed a little :P

prevere · February 6

That lot probably went unsold for $10 at a garage sale.

Mr_Cross · February 6

Wow!

nerzhin · February 13

I noticed a lot of chinese fakes in their minifigure auctions....no feedback system, so no way to know if that is a reoccurring problem with the goodwill auctions. no returns either.

Tkatt · February 13

Finding off brand bricks and figures is common in those auctions. It is also common to find weird toys, crayons, candy wrappers, dog hair, coins, nerf darts, and random trash. Goodwill doesn't do much to clean up the donated items at all. Study the pictures closely and bid accordingly. Also plan on washing and sterilizing just about anything you get from them.

77ncaachamps · February 14

I second @Tkatt. I purchased a couple over the years and a few were not for the squeamish or germaphobic.

prevere · February 14

I've got some great stuff and not so great stuff.

Great - awesome boxed monorail for a good price

Not so great - metroliner that ended up being glued (and that wasn't mentioned)

77ncaachamps · February 14

prevere said:

I've got some great stuff and not so great stuff.

Great - awesome boxed monorail for a good price

Not so great - metroliner that ended up being glued (and that wasn't mentioned)

That is good for you. Sorry about the glued set.

I had some glued sets from Goodwill, but the glue they used was the water based kind that they separated in sorting and probably in transit.

Especially with Goodwill auctions: caveat emptor.

KingAlanI · February 14

I once applied for a job at a different thrift shop that entailed listing the more valuable donated items online. Goodwill appears to be doing something similar. This would presumably usually keep the good stuff out of the stores.

Astrobricks · February 14

KingAlanI said:

I once applied for a job at a different thrift shop that entailed listing the more valuable donated items online. Goodwill appears to be doing something similar. This would presumably usually keep the good stuff out of the stores.

Yes, but unfortunately it seems you can’t count on the “good stuff” being that good.

nerzhin · February 14

Tkatt said:

Finding off brand bricks and figures is common in those auctions. It is also common to find weird toys, crayons, candy wrappers, dog hair, coins, nerf darts, and random trash. Goodwill doesn't do much to clean up the donated items at all. Study the pictures closely and bid accordingly. Also plan on washing and sterilizing just about anything you get from them.

Good to know. Used to buy a lot of bulk lego on craigslist, before prices got way out of line, and got very used to cleaning what could only have been pubic hairs off of many, many lego elements

Switchfoot55 · February 14

Living near one of the main hubs of Good Will, I discovered several years ago through some volunteer work that all local donations are shipped to the main warehouse to be sorted and then shipped back out to local stores. Meaning, any donations given at location "A" would be shipped to the main warehouse, sorted, and redistributed to locations "B" - "Z".

I've not run across any Lego at local stores. Based on seeing the Ebay and ShopGoodWill listings for Lego from my area, I believe they pull ALL of the Lego from their donations and then sell them online to ensure maximum profits.

It's a bummer as I can't run across the gems others have mentioned finding at their local Lego stores. The upside is, if I were to win the bid on any of their online listings, I can pick up locally and avoid the absurd shipping fees they charge for their lots!

prevere · February 15

Absurd is putting it lightly.

SumoLego · February 15

prevere said:

Absurd is putting it lightly.

Absurd = Actual shipping + 200% markup to help pay all of the hosting and website fees.

SumoLego · February 15

I like that they don't bother taking the Target clearance stickers off the boxes.

prevere · February 15

I love the 2 pounds estimated shipping weight + fees for 10 minifigs.

Astrobricks · February 15

Switchfoot55 said:

Living near one of the main hubs of Good Will, I discovered several years ago through some volunteer work that all local donations are shipped to the main warehouse to be sorted and then shipped back out to local stores. Meaning, any donations given at location "A" would be shipped to the main warehouse, sorted, and redistributed to locations "B" - "Z".

I've not run across any Lego at local stores. Based on seeing the Ebay and ShopGoodWill listings for Lego from my area, I believe they pull ALL of the Lego from their donations and then sell them online to ensure maximum profits.

It's a bummer as I can't run across the gems others have mentioned finding at their local Lego stores. The upside is, if I were to win the bid on any of their online listings, I can pick up locally and avoid the absurd shipping fees they charge for their lots!

I guess it’s a YMMV situation.

pharmjod · February 16

Everything at Goodwill is a ymmv, which is why I'm baffled a thread was created for it. I thought the brag thread covered thrift store finds.

Astrobricks · February 16

pharmjod said:

Everything at Goodwill is a ymmv, which is why I'm baffled a thread was created for it. I thought the brag thread covered thrift store finds.

Personally, I forget to check the brag thread very often, and Goodwill talk was kind of sidetracking the Target thread for a while there.

Tkatt · February 16

I bought a Chirrut Imwe #75524 today at Goodwill. They had several Jyn Ersos as well.
They were marked at $6.99 and $4.99. Thursdays are half price kids stuff day so I got it for $3.50.
@pharmjod- I would put this the brag thread, but I feel like it is more of a confession since I'm not really proud of myself for buying it.

pharmjod · February 16

That made me laugh. Thanks ;)

SumoLego · February 16

Tkatt said:

@pharmjod- I would put this the brag thread, but I feel like it is more of a confession since I'm not really proud of myself for buying it.

Just put on a baseball cap, sunglasses and a hoodie. Nobody will know it's you. (Even if you're online.)

Astrobricks · February 16

Tkatt said:

I bought a Chirrut Imwe #75524 today at Goodwill. They had several Jyn Ersos as well.
They were marked at $6.99 and $4.99. Thursdays are half price kids stuff day so I got it for $3.50.
@pharmjod- I would put this the brag thread, but I feel like it is more of a confession since I'm not really proud of myself for buying it.

Yeah, I looked at those same ones and decided to pass. No more constraction unless I really want it.

That’s another problem with the brag thread; I would only brag about finding stuff I really want at a great price. That leaves out stuff that others might be interested in.

KingAlanI · February 17

I avoid constraction even heavily discounted because I'm looking to part out and many constraction sets have unusual parts that don't go well with other things.

pharmjod · February 17

Several of them are pretty cool looking when built and actually fun to build. It is a completely different experience from traditional LEGO though. Admittedly they have grown on me.

CaptainRogers · February 18

Found 1 copy each of #41594 Captain Armando Salazar for $1.99 and #75524 Chirrut Imwe for $5.99 today. Both had Target clearance stickers.

romdam · February 19

The Seattle Goodwill used to sell on ebay. Not sure if they still do. One time I added up all the "pound" lot auctions in a day. It was like woo pounds. I always wondered why people in Seattle didn' like Lego, lol.

romdam · February 19

Oh, they do still sell on ebay. 272 pounds worth of Lego just at the Seattle Goodwill. I'm assuming that's were everything gets sent

Switchfoot55 · February 19

^That's where I am @romdam. I've always wondered the same thing!?

On nearly a weekly basis, at least one lot they're selling has a partial/complete modular.

Astrobricks · February 19

romdam said:

The Seattle Goodwill used to sell on ebay. Not sure if they still do. One time I added up all the "pound" lot auctions in a day. It was like woo pounds. I always wondered why people in Seattle didn' like Lego, lol.

How much is woo pounds?

stet · February 19

Astrobricks said:

How much is woo pounds?

I bet they are selling for wee dollars.

Tkatt · June 3

An opportunity for an old set. #725-3 Town Plan by Samsonite. I'm having a hard time telling what it's worth, only a few are listed on Bricklink. But this looks complete and seems to be in ok shape. It's gone above what I'd pay for it, but perhaps someone on here wants it more.

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/53274246

SumoLego · June 3

Astrobricks said:

romdam said:

It was like woo pounds.

How much is woo pounds?

It's Ric Flair's personal currency. The number of 'o's indicates the value. We should all try to be Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!inaires.

jmeninno · June 3

I didn't know Naitch was here! WOOOOOO!

[US] Goodwill

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