Welcome to the latest edition of Living Sustainably, the Vallejo Community Issues Examiner series that highlights the people and events that are redefining what it means to live responsibly on planet Earth.
When the Salvation Army thrift store, several years ago, announced that it was closing its Tennessee St. Location (Vallejo), the reaction was swift and disheartening. The store's manager placed the announcement close to the register and for weeks, folks vented their disappointment. "Keep this fabulous store open" was the common hue and cry. And indeed it was fabulous! All clothing, handbags and shoes sold for one dollar each. (The rest of the inventory was a little bit more expensive).
Within a couple of years Goodwill followed suit with its Tennessee St. store, but reopened at its current Plaza Drive shopping center location. This store is almost a carbon copy of former one - similar merchandise displays, same pricing structure and frequency of monthly 'deal' days.
Borrowing EBay's playbook
We have since discovered that Goodwill has borrowed EBay's playbook and is now offering an online auction site - Shopgoodwill.com. All the familiar sections are there: The Going, Going, Gone picks, 'Buy It Now', New Today, Ending Today and Hot50Items. There are twenty-three categories of products and a search engine for finding an item by date, seller, description and price range. We didn't notice any way of setting up automatic product email alerts.
It's a different shopping experience
If you are the kind of thrift store shopper who likes to wade through a mountain of piled up seconds in a clothing bin for that great find, online thrifting may not be for you. But sometimes even the most diehard of thrift store junkies feels overwhelmed in a well-stocked store and may miss finding that deal, even if it's right under her nose.
Open 7X24, you can shop this online Goodwill shop at your own pace, eyeing as much or as little merchandise, culled from its many regional outlets, as your patience and time allows. We looked at the payment/shipping terms for a number of items and it appears that the only payment options are credit cards (Visa and MasterCard). This limitation may not sit well with shoppers who like the convenience of using PayPal currency. Shipping costs also appear to be higher, based on comparing a variety of items that typically appear on sites like EBay.
While it doesn't match the sheer volume of EBay inventory, Shopgoodwill's merchandise can certainly compete in the weird, wacky and wonderful department. Where else can you bid on a 40lb bag of jewelry parts for $25? Savvy craftspeople know that the value of the findings alone will more than cover the cost of shipping.
It's the thrill of the deal....Now online..
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