Photo: damann (Shutterstock)
Ever wished you could browse your local Goodwill without actually going to your local Goodwill? Great news: You can. (Sort of.) Earlier this week, the nonprofit organization launched Goodwillfinds.com, a new website that lets you browse a selection donated items, buy your favorite finds, and have them shipped to you.
This isn’t the first-ever online Goodwill shop, but it is a pretty big change to the way the company works. Prior to this week, thrifters’ best bets for online Goodwill scores were to visit either ShopGoodwill.com or individual stores’ eBay and/or Amazon shops. But neither of these options offered a typical online shopping experience: ShopGoodwill.com is primarily an auction site, and multiple individual shops are less convenient to browse than a single site.
There are a few things to keep in mind about this new site, starting with the selection of products. All the stuff for sale on Goodwillfinds.com is donated, but it’s not like you can pick and choose from any item in any store across the country. Right now, there are about 100,000 items available on the site, mostly in the clothing category. (Good news for last-minute Halloween emergencies: At least at the time of writing, kids’ costumes appear to be quite well represented.) Over the course of the next few years, Goodwill hopes to increase the number of items to at least a million, if not more. Given that every item selected for sale on the website has to be inspected by workers first, it makes sense that the rollout will take some time.
Shipping may work differently than expected too, especially if you’re used to free Amazon Prime. Goodwill stores are located all over the U.S. and Goodwillfinds.com will be shipping out of a variety of locations, which means costs and options will vary. Finally, you should also know that the new website does not accept donations. (At least, not yet—the company does plan to eventually offer this service.) If you have stuff you need to donate, you’ll still have to drop it off at your local store.
