ShopGoodwill.com Seems Like a Failed Business Strategy

[goldrushfinds]

How in the world is ShopGoodwill.com a viable approach for the company. They don't seem to know what the heck they are doing. I looked up current auctions of men's clothing, organized by ending soonest. Of the first 30 items, only 1 had a bid. That's 29 listings they wasted their time on. They are trying to auction off things that would never sell by auction on Ebay. This company is hideously managed. There I said it. 

[motionsykness]

I know You are not talking about Denise Richards in Starship Troopers bc then it would take sometime before I can trust the words you keyed into existence anywhere 😂 😂 😂 

[farmalljr]

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@goldrushfinds wrote:

How in the world is ShopGoodwill.com a viable approach for the company. They don't seem to know what the heck they are doing. I looked up current auctions of men's clothing, organized by ending soonest. Of the first 30 items, only 1 had a bid. That's 29 listings they wasted their time on. They are trying to auction off things that would never sell by auction on Ebay. This company is hideously managed. There I said it. 

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Lets look at some real facts here. Clothing is an over saturated category EVERYWHERE. Though I will say even in clothing and used accessories, Goodwill certainly has a knack for getting more for them then they are worth.

Every category there, there are NO deals. Everyone willingly overpays for everything sold, and the shipping and handling costs are WAY higher there then they are on almost any other website. It's not just a few categories, it's ALL categories on shop goodwill. But they DO have willing buyers all the time. If something does not sell the first time, they will rerun it in auction a few times. At some point they may bundle it to get rid of it with other items. 

This is something for the cry baby sellers on THIS platform to think about. If people are willing to overpay for dirty junk on goodwill's site, why do you think your stuff on this site will not sell? Goodwill's model works fine. They make more money from selling online then they EVER did selling in store. Period. People come to eBay expecting a deal, not the "deal" the seller thinks they are offering. Sellers at Goodwill work well in the model the platform created. Sellers here don't work well with the platform that was created. The platform creates the selling environment. Ebay created their environment. You can either work with it or buck against it. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Sometimes there's the "oh it's for charity" mindset that comes into play with what buyers on GW online will pay as well.

They only list stuff for a certain # of times before it goes back to the store if it doesn't sell as well. In store you can tell on the tag whether it's been through the online store without selling.

As others have mentioned their care with packaging leaves  a lot to be desired as do their handling & shipping prices.

I only buy stuff online that I can pick up from my local GW instead of having it shipped. At least I know then it may get into my hands in one piece, although that's not always certain either.

[goldrushfinds]

"The category you have selected as an example of inadequacies of ShopGoodwill is not really a good example.  Most buyers of clothing would want to try on a garment before buying.  Maybe that's the reason for the sparse bidding patterns.  And, on eBay, used clothing is one of the most saturated categories.  Maybe the shoppers prefer to shop there, greater selection? And aren't clothing items listed there in the upper price range? 

ShopGoodwill has been around for quite a few years so evidently GW sees it as a viable enterprise.  Not sure why you are concerned about their viability.  Maybe just idle curiosity? "

OK, then why do they list clothing at all. They list all kinds of clothing items that are worth almost nothing and have a dismal sell through rate. What a colossal waste of time. Thats what I mean by them being a poorly managed company. 

[femmefan1946]

If we accept that Goodwill has a primary mission of training unskilled workers in data entry. (And describing. And packaging.)

And that eBay has a steep learning curve.

Then the listings will always be awful, because the workers are not yet good at the work.

And when they do get good, they can move on to more lucrative jobs.

And are replaced by new trainees.

Using an expensive courier instead of USPS may mean they have a special deal with FedEx, one that gives the courier charitable tax deductions.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

As well as Goodwill sites which are serving Goodwills in multiple parts of the country, there are Goodwill sites serving only one of the Goodwill regional sites.

The level of marketing and financial savvy varies widely among the Goodwill companies as does their online presence.

Goodwill of Northern New England maintains its own online presence as well as sells on Ebay. They have stores, buy the pound warehouse outlets and other ways of selling merchandise. They do very well and provide adequate funding for the good works they provide.

ShopGoodwill.com has discovered, over the years, that they can price above what Ebay sellers are willing to pay them, and make more for their causes than if they offered Ebay sellers an opportunity to make a profit reselling their merchandise. And their customers have learned to bid close to when an auction closes.

[goldrushfinds]

So their mission is to train people in how to poorly run a business? Why not run a very professional business with high standards and thereby maybe give these people a chance to develop skills usable in the real world. On top of the fact that  most items are over priced and never sell, is the fact that the listings are mostly terrible. Their photos are atrocious and poorly presented. Also, at least in my area, the people working the stores do not have any disability. I am not upset with Goodwill for hurting reseller oportunities, but rather how they handle things that were donated to them. Way more of their donations are going to landfill than needs to be, due to poor selling practices. They are getting to be almost a monopoly and that is never a good thing. 

[goldrushfinds]

How do you know they make more selling online than in their stores, and is this mostly due to how poorly the stores are run. 

[farmalljr]

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@goldrushfinds wrote:

How do you know they make more selling online than in their stores, and is this mostly due to how poorly the stores are run. 

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How do you know they are not?

I read the news. I pay attention to articles when they are published. Goodwill makes more money selling the donations online then they do in store. Period. The online platform makes them lots of money. 

In the same way, a given item will sell for more on eBay because of the audience it brings as opposed to selling something in a local store. Absent the articles, its common sense. 

Poorly run stores? that's on purpose. Local stores here move little clothing, because no idiot is going to pay 6 bucks for a dirty, smelly, ragged out T-shirt when you can buy new at walmart for about the same price. While local stores in my region have "tag" sales weekly, it still moves very little clothing. These stores exist as a place to take in donations (that anything of value never sees the floor). 

[chapeau-noir]

I've shopped for myself at thrifts, notably Goodwill, for my own clothing most of my life, so I've seen changes over that period of time at least regionally.

Clothing shopping is popular in my region (Evergreen), with a new generation discovering thrift shopping, but Goodwill for years has funneled its better labels into its boutique locations and later on, online, which has caused problems for in-person shopping - this is something that's accelerating, particularly since a number of local Goodwills have their own presence on eBay and Etsy. The Seattle area Goodwills, for instance, were early into the online sales market (Silicon Swamp) .

Many items are circulated between online and store display - there's not, as far as I've been able to tell, any exclusivity. If they don't sell online, they'll sell locally. There's no shortage of buyers.