Budget: Even Goodwill has an Outlet store and Half-off Sales
Usually one Saturday a month, all the Goodwills have a half-off sale on everything except pink tag (new) items. Well, except for the Goodwill outlet store but they’re so cheap anyways. This month, the sale happened on July 15th. Most times they won’t tell you in advance but if you drive by on a Friday, you can usually see if the following Saturday is a sale day. They will post a sign. Of course they always have half off one color all week but the sale day it’s all the colors. If you can’t make it on a sale day, Tuesdays and Wednesdays is 20% off for seniors age 55+. So one of the few senior discounts I actually qualify for.
Worth a mention: this week they are running a Dress Your Pet Contest from July 1-July 31in Facebook and Instagram. Winner gets $100. Details here.
So this month I got some cookbooks. I also got a teapot that sits on it’s own cup for $3.50 and a camera tripod for $4. Normally I’d check out the clothes and shoes but not this time. I noticed people with trucks head straight to the furniture section.
Goodwill Outlet Store
This place is totally different than all the other Goodwill stores. Everything is sold by weight. Not only that, everything is dumped into these giant blue trays on wheels and you have to dig through to find something you might like. Needless to say, clothes survive this treatment pretty well; glassware, not so much.
- $1.49 a lb Textiles: clothes, purses, shoes, linens fall into this category.
- $0.89 a lb Hard goods stuff
- $0.29 a lb Glassware, porcelain (it’s no wonder, most of it gets broken within a day of being here
- $0.25 each for books, dvds, cds, etc
- furniture and other stuff: price as marked
It gets pretty intense in there sometimes. They will bring in a new row, bringing in the huge covered bins. No one is allowed to touch them until all 6 of them are out. People crowd around like ants. Anticipation increases. As the final one rolls out, the shoppers are packed against each other surging forward.
Quickly the workers grab the sheets off and dash out of the way, as the shoppers descend like locusts. The click click as their hands fumble frantically through the goods to find the new treasure surely buried beneath fills the room. If you’ve got what you needed, it’s actually a good time to check out because for those few frantic minutes no one is in line at the cash register.
The selection ranges. It can be the supercheap junk no one wanted at the regular Goodwill or the superexpensive stuff that people didn’t want to pop for. I got a gorgeous red suit with tags here once. For clothes, it seems like it’s easier to find small and mediums as well as kid’s clothes. Silk is cheap because it’s lightweight. Denim is heavy so costs more. Lot of bedroom linens. My mom got a nice quilt that was obviously not store-made. Check everything — seams can be ripped, porcelain is often cracked and pieces can be missing off of things. But if you’re observant and have a good eye, there is a lot here.
This week I found a nice Tignanello leather purse for under a dollar (as it weighed less than a pound) and a leather briefcase for $3.99. I always go into the glassware to see if I can find anything unbroken that needs rescuing. Last time I got a crystal glass for about a dime. Great bargains but you have to dig, have patience and check everything twice. It’s definitely not for everyone.
Where do you go to find great bargains?
References:
Regular Goodwill Stores Various locations around Tucson Goodwill Outlet 1830 E Irvington Rd Tucson, AZ 85714
The following books that I snagged at Good Will are Amazon links below.
If I got the hardback and there is a softback or paperback also available, I’ll list the one I got and the cheaper one too. I could not find “Essentials for One or Two”, Everyday Chicken or Everyday Pasta, all 3 published in the UK, on Amazon.
disclaimer: I signed up as an Amazon associate. I should get a percentage back if anybody buys anything at Amazon through my links. (They don't decide if they accept you until they look at your site after a first purchase. I haven't been accepted yet but I hope to be.) Books are 4.5% but other things vary from 0-10%. I am thinking of doing a monthly income report like I saw at a couple of budget blogs but haven't decided yet. I think Amazon requires the following text but I'm not sure as I've looked at different sites and some sites have their disclaimer in their own words. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”