Shopgoodwill robs consumers.
1) the postings dont mention all the flaws, nor do the photos show the flaws. As there is a zero return policys, consumers have no recourse if products are covered in human excrement, filthy, broken, damaged or FAKE.
Most items are obviously fakes or inauthentic.
2) its not an auction. Its bid manipulation and thievery.
For example- a consumer bids $151 on a pair of 14k opal earrings. Bidding has 48 hours to go. The first bid is automatic to the starting price of $49.
No one or thing bids. There is 1 minute left. Score! Right?
Wrong. The bidding will all of a sudden go up to $150 and that is what you now must pay for the item.
Another example of bid manipulation: a wooden bowl with turquoise has a starting bid of $39. The consumer bids $56. The same item is $150 on eBay and other resellers.
19 hours left of bidding. No one else bids. With 60 seconds left, the bid is now $57. All bids are now blocked.
Plus the ads cover up the bid now button. The consumer lost the auction in the last minute with no recourse. If shopgoodwill thinks that the bidding is not above the value, some ethereal bidder (or AI or a simple algorithm) will bid $1 over the highest bid and no human wins. The item gets reposted until?
Some items may not even exist to be sold.
3) shipping fees. For one piece of art, with NO glass, the shipping was 3 times the cost of the piece. Shipping fees are ridiculous. And sometimes they use usps, they use whatever sender they want.
If the item is broken, the consumer has send pictures. But the pictures phones take are too big for their system. Thus, photos must be shrunk or converted to pdfs. The seller ignores the first request and the consumer must resubmit the photos.
And it is the right of shop goodwill to do anything- or not.
4)no customer service. Shop goodwill has an F rating on BBB. Shopgoodwill does not respond to complaints on BBB. Consumers
Have zero recourse through BBB.
5)As there is no customer service and no returns and the bidding is manipulated by shopgoodwill, shopping on shopgoodwill is like flushing money down the toilet and hoping that the septic system will regurgitate clean bills.
6) filters dont work.
If the consumer wants to bid on one location only, the filter does not stay. The consumer may think that they are bidding on a local item that they can pick up. Alas, its not the case, as the filter vanishes. The consumer may be bidding on something with a shipping fee of $60 and the item is 1,000 miles away.
If the consumer wants to keep their account, they have to pay for the item. They can then Donate the item back, and shopgoodwill can sell it again.
7) after 4 weeks of using the site, I was robbed in every way listed. My money is flushed down the toilet and gone forever in the septic system. Oh- I mean it is at shop goodwill!
Dont use the site.
Seriously.
Prices are the same as any online site- but most of those sites have some kind of customer support.
Shop goodwill is the evil site that everyone says that they are.
Stay away. Please, I implore you.

I have never seen such RIDICULOUS shipping charges. If it wasn't for the good and fair stores on Goodwill (GW) auctions, I think GW auctions online would be out of business. I find it hard to think anyone would tolerate the overcharging if all stores were doing this.

Example: Buttons: Good size lot of buttons in Nebraska but not so big they couldn't fit into a large envelope or super small box. The actual weight listed, 2 pounds. Shipping weight listed, 27 POUNDS! See picture.

I recently won an auction from the GW in South Carolina. Looking at the picture, I knew it could fit into a 14" x14" x14" and there was nothing fragile. They were charging almost $40.00 to ship. I inquired about it, and they said no way it would fit in a 14" cubed, but as a courtesy, they would give me a one time discount to $25.00. The box arrived in a 20" x 20" x 20" and only took up 8" of floor space inside the box. The rest was brown paper they put in the box. This means they were charging me for 12" of air x 12" of air x 12" of air...actually more space designated to air than to product. Really? ‍

I don't mind paying fair shipping, but this is in no way near fair. I mostly ignore the auctions from these locations, but I still find it frustrating. I spend my valuable time looking to see if I want to bid, then I go to estimate shipping, and realize it's a quack store. My time wasted. The overcharging impacts combined shipping dramatically as well because you can't exceed 20 pounds. So if you have a lot that weighs two pounds and another weighs two pounds (think buttons) they can't be combined if their shipping weights exceed 20 pounds. Two lots of buttons = 54 pounds. Am I the only that sees there is something really wrong with this?.

I have two theories of why the handful of GWs are not willing to budge. Theory #1 is they are just to lazy to make an adjustment and they don't care because it's not their money it's yours and mine. Theory #2 is they get flat rate shipping from Fed Ex up to a certain size box with 20 pounds or less, so if they charge "public" prices, but get a flat rate or big discounted rate for shipping, there's an incentive to use oversized boxes and oversized weights. The bigger the box, the bigger the difference between public rates and their rates. Great way to make tons of money from those willing to line their pockets. Either way, it's a HORRIBLE representation of what the company name stands for and completely unfair to the good stores.

At one time, GW-Easter Seals MN had two molds listed. I'm pretty sure they were plastic and about 3-4" tall COMBINED and about 12" long by 8" wide. If I remember right, the actual weight was 2 pounds. They had shipping weight of over 100 pounds.

Same location in MN: I recently inquired about shipping on another auction with them, asking if they could do something about the ridiculous price, but I just got gas lit. They said it was the carrier's published rates. Of course it is! If I go to Fedex and get an estimate for something weighing 60 pounds in a 20x20x20 box, totally disregarding actual weights and measures, it will come up very expensive. What was I saying about how to line their pockets?...hmmm

Some of the GWs are great with their shipping, and I don't think they should get lost among the yuks. For example, GW of Central & Southern Indiana deserves five stars for their customer service, and Willamette too is more than fair with their shipping. So thank you to those that do a great job and support legitimate goodwill. I will continue to support you guys!

I am leaving this at one star because I made efforts to contact corporate GW and DMs with no success.

I was so excited to find shopgoodwill, being a lover of thrifting. I've been getting back in the swing of selling vintage after a 5 year hiatus. The first week I was on there, I was bidding and winning auctions like crazy. I was super excited, ok? I was up to date on making all my payments. No issues. Then my whole family was hit with COVID for the first time. Myself, my husband, and my two daughters.

I'm a high risk individual, due to my recent Lupus/Autoimmune diagnoses. For over a week, I could not function. I was in excruciating pain and on the cusp of needing to go to the hospital due to complications and severe symptoms.

Luckily, I made it through. Over a week had passed when I could finally somewhat function. I immediately logged onto Shopgoodwill. I paid everything that I could right then, and reached out to sellers to let them know what happened so I could get everything squared away. Mind you, this was the first day I wasn't running a 103 degree fever after a week. I was as proactive and professional as possible, given the circumstances.

It was horrible timing, but it was real, and I did everything I could to make it right as quickly as possible. It wasn't something I could have predicted, or did intentionally.

They suspended my account the day after I made my payments. After a total of a week and a half of signing up, following my 8 day bout of being incapacitated with covid and lupus.

I sent a very sincere letter to support and was 100% transparent and honest with them about my situation. Their response was automated and cold with a hard no. Saying that due to "account history" and a link to their terms and conditions, my account was permanently suspended.

I followed up letting them know that I sell online as a full time job, and have never been kicked off a platform and respect each ones rules. I let them know I understand the need for rules, but occasionally there is some grey area based on honest, life situations that happen. I let them know that I would love to continue buying on shopgoodwill as a "bulk-ish" buyer and there would never be any further infractions. I requested if I could speak to someone else or have my email forwarded to someone else to review. *Crickets*.

I'm so disappointed and bummed out. It was honest to god something unpredictable, that I had no control over, and they ban hammered me for being incredibly sick with a virus that caused a pandemic. No human emotion or compassion for a first time "mistake". It wasn't even really a mistake. I was literally unable to move. But, yeah.

Considering goodwill is all about "helping people", you think they would have a little humanity when a customer is pleading their case and a chance to show that I'm a stand up buyer.

Brick and mortar goodwills have been going downhill for a hot minute, and based on all the reviews for shopgoodwill.com, they aren't doing a very good job here either.

Aside from my personal crappy experience, I have read about them rigging auctions, price gauging on shipping and handling, receiving broken items with no accountability, and overall just ripping people off. With items people have GIVEN them. Goodwill is hardly a charity. It's just a big front for a greedy corporation that doesn't want to pay taxes.

Save your time, money and energy and find different auction sites, thrift stores, garage sales; literally anything except goodwill.

Been buying on SGW.com since it's inception. I've seen A LOT of questionable things:
1) SHILL BIDDING: For sure SGW has employees (plural!) bidding in all their high dollar categories, driving prices up to unrealistic ending price. I see this especially in any category that has possible Precious Metals (Gold, Platinum mostly) in them like the Jewelry main category. Yesterday a bidder by the name "M... D" was bidding up all Precious Metal Rings, Gold and Platinum Rings only. Silver seem to be left alone, unless it is a heavy lot and thus worth more. I'm sure the "Employees" change their bidding name to make sure the customer (or Company) doesn't see/ show any pattern or Shill bidding. For Jewelry items made of Gold or Platinum, the bidder (like "M... D") places a bid approximately 20-25% above the current Metling Price of the specific precious metal. It's unrealistic unless the Item bid on was an Antique/ Vintage item, that has more intrinsic value to it. It's EVERY gold or platinum item that gets this kind of crazy, unreal bid. Bottomline, SGW.com doesn't want their Precious Metals selling for less, equal, or just over the current Melt Price of said precious metal. I have a suspicion that if an Item doesn't get a bid above that 20-25% Melt Price, and thus naturally the SGW.com "Employee" wins the auction (like "M... D")- they have arrangements with third party Jewelers whom they sell the better items to OR they have a relationship with a Precious Metal Refinery to just melt the Gold and Platinum pieces. Maximize Profit is SGW.com's #1 Strategy. In a way you can't hate them, but you can the game.
2) MISSING ITEMS: I've had so far six shipments from SGW.com come missing "strategic" pieces in the Lots I buy. Pieces that I have personally identified thru their pictures to be of the most value. Where it goes, I don't know. All I know is that someone within the SGW.com organization whom actually touches that Item (Lot) must have lifted (taken) the most valuable item in the Lot. And when you try to bring up the missing item in the Lot, all you get is closed doors. "No partial refund given", "Contents are not inventoried, thus not guaranteed"... Read the fine print. They're getting good covering their butt.
3) SEEDING: They seed their Lots. Like Jewelry Lots. SGW.com will put ONE nice (worth value) item in a pile of lesser valued items, just to drive up the Pricing, thru the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), and implication that more "nice items" are in the Lot. This thus drives up the price of the Lot to an unrealistic value. Unrealistic Value = Not Current Market Price. Just be cautious of this practice, it happens. Tricky sales tactic.
4) SHIPPING: Prices have come down a bit from the early days when they were Totally outrageous. The "Handling Fees", well, they got you on those. Nothing you can do, it's random and different per "store" that lists the Items. You just have to take it if you really want the Item. It's really the inconvenience of their Shipping Practices that bother me. I am currently waiting for FIVE Items I won, and paid right after the end of the auction, to ship. Today is the six day without Shipping my items, all five I bought on the same day, different stores. I have no clue as to what is going on with this, they mentioned they were short staffed, which I understand, but if GoodWill is all about "Job Creation", then HIRE MORE PEOPLE. Follow your mission statement GoodWill corporate.
The delay in shipment is also beginning to make me wonder if ALL the items I bought will be shipped to me in full, as I purchased them. I've had enough of the missing (high value) items.
5) CANCELLED LISTINGS: Yes, if one of SGW.com's stores makes a Big Mistake and lists an item grossly incorrectly, they will Cancel the listing, even if there were previous bidders. They own the site, they own the goods being listed- they do what they want, in order to maximize profits. It's just what they do.

I could go on forever. SGW.com is an Auction site. Not all Auction sites are fully legit, if you have any experience with them. SGW.com is out to maximize profit, and thus the practices above. Just know this before you hit the "Submit" button on that SGW.com Auction you wanted to bid on. It's really up to you.
And Yes, I still shop on SGW.com. I just know that to do through experience on the site. When I shop at SGW.com, I just know that I have to deal with their B. S. in order to get what I want. I spend less of my money there, each month.
Cheers All!

I brought this game once I put in it say unreadable I will be returning it cuss I wanted to get an NCAA game for cheap but never no more

Where Do I Start? Purchased Items Buy it now, And they wont let me Pay said somebody Else Won even though they show me as High i Bidder. Contacted customer support Many Many Many Times, Same Lame answer, Say they can see I won but not sure why I cant pay for it, But didnt offer to let me Pay over the Phone. I Forwarded all my notification from auctioneer that I won and they told me that they are not sure why it says that, that somebody else bought the Items, Even though in their correspondence to me they say they can see I purchased it. Items are being sold Buy it now and when you immediately click, it says it is already sold. Even their Descriptions are strange. Tried to escalate out of their Jurisdiction Was Told by Julie that she would take it up with California, She then called me on my cell phone asked me to send all my info, thought I was getting somewhere, and she calls me back with the same Lame Replies. Oh did I mention she works at Same Goodwill. Tried getting Help from Main Office, No Response No Help. I have two Auctions in my Open Orders Still that they wont let me Pay or Help me to get them Paid for. And They Went in and Removed Two Out of my Open Orders, What the? They Show 0 bids on their closed Auctions. SHADY SHADY Inside Selling Maybe, I am not sure, but dont expect to get any logical Answers from them they talk in Circles. They tried to explain to me how buy it nows work, I have been buying on shop goodwill since it started, so I am full aware how they Work! This is not a one time Occurance with them It has happened Many Times with me, and I have friends who shop here too and have had the same thing Occur. Would Love to Hear from anyone Else Having this issue with Them. Maybe it will solve the problem if other people complain. Below is part of the replies from them. And I am pretty sure I will get blocked from trying to bid on anymore of their auctions. So Buyer Beware.

Hello, I am showing this item is paid for by you.

Thank You

Goodwill North Central Texas
11/29/2021 05:46 PM

No it will not let me pay for either of the items I won, Look at my Open auctions Page, It has a Pay symbol and when I click to pay it will not let me Pay, and If its showing paid what method was used to Pay, because it is still showing open.

You
11/30/2021 09:23 AM

Please Help I have contacted you multiple times stating that your site will not let me pay for the items I purchased, if they are not payed for in 7 days, I loose them.

You
11/30/2021 12:35 PM

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Please respond with your name and department as is usually done on here, so I know who I am corresponding with. Thanks!

You
11/30/2021 01:00 PM

Hello,

I am trying to find out what happened... I have email SGW and they are looking in to it.

Goodwill North Central Texas
11/30/2021 01:23 PM

OK, Here is what I know so far...

On the "Buy it Now" items one you click on them to buy them you have to pay for them right then, if not someone else can come along and purchase them. When you go to pay it should come up and tell you the item is no longer available, you can then remove it from you orders...

I hope this info helps.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank You

Goodwill North Central Texas
11/30/2021 01:41 PM

I did go right over and try to pay for the items--every single time--although there is no disclaimer whatsoever showing the amendment on the buyitnow auction formats--Anywhere. Please reply back with your name and department, so I know who I have already tried to resolve this issue with. On with corporate soon and this is information they will also need to be able to assist me...

You
11/30/2021 02:29 PM

Hello,

My name is J and I am at Fort Worth Goodwill.

My Supervisor is B and you can reach her at

You Can also reach out again to *******@shopgoodwill. Com

Thank You

Goodwill North Central Texas
11/30/2021 03:15 PM

Thank you, Julie

You
12/03/2021 07:27 AM

Please let me pay for these items, I have won them, I just paid for your bracelet lot but it wont let me pay for the two I won. See Attached Photos. Please have the decency to respond, I have emailed you multiple times

You
12/03/2021 10:44 AM

Buy It Now Auction Listing:

An auction with the Buy It Now icon in the title means you can bypass the auction process and purchase the item immediately for the Buy It Now price specified in the listing.

To use the Buy It Now option, click on the Buy It Now icon in the item listing.

The Buy It Now option remains available throughout the duration of the auction unless or until the item current price exceeds the Buy Now price through the regular bidding process

Goodwill North Central Texas
12/03/2021 10:45 AM

A Buy It Now Non-Auction listing contains a single item at a fixed price.

To purchase the item for the price indicated in the listing, click on the Buy It Now icon in the item listing.

*Please note that Buy It Now Non-Auction listings cannot be combined with any other items for payment or shipping.

Buy It Now Non-Auction listings remain active until the item is paid for.

If you choose the Buy It Now option for a Buy It Now Non-Auction listing but do not complete payment for the item, the item will remain in your Open Orders available for payment unless or until the item is purchased by another shopper.

If you attempt to pay for a previously selected Buy It Now Non-Auction item that has subsequently been purchased by another shopper, you will receive a message stating that the item is no longer available.

You can delete any unpaid Buy It Now Non-Auction item from your Open Orders page by clicking on the Delete icon in the Action column to the right of the item listing.

Goodwill North Central Texas

Been shopping at Goodwill stores for a very long time, but the selection and quality of items in physical stores has gone way down. And it has to be that they cherry pick all the remotely good to fabulous things and put it on online auction, whether shopgoodwill or ebay. What you find in a store is what they don't consider 'good' or worthy of auction, or something decent they happened to miss when sorting.

That's my top complaint.

Some misc complaints I have: They dropped the student discount. They lowered the senior discount. They instead off a discount card where, I think you have to spend a whopping $500 to earn a measly $5 credit, which has to be one of the Worst discount card programs I've ever heard of. I won't do it. It's a slap in the face.

When you buy in store anymore, everything is as-is, all sales final. They used to allow for returns in some cases, ie if an electronic has an attached cord and it fails to work within a few days, they'd give money back at return. Then they changed it to in-store credit. Now however they don't do anything. One of the problems is, if the customer is expected to properly Test all items themselves, then Goodwill ought to make ie wall outlets more accessible. But they seem to have removed most power strip. And they do routinely put big items right in front of power outlets. So customers testing ie electronics is often a hassle. You, as a customer, should often come prepared with AA or AAA batteries just in case.

I particularly hate being asked to round up my purchase price. As I see it, Goodwill is a more a money making machine that hides behind a 501(c) but the jobs they provide don't pay diddly, and thrift retail training is not exactly career mobility. They're already making just Pure profit form donations. And they don't pay taxes. My buying anything is already helping them. Asking for even a cent more, I find comes off as underappreciative.

On the other hand, thrift stores like the Salvation Army have men's and women's shelters, food banks, drug and alcohol abuse programs, and so much more. They do more than Goodwill, but make a whole lot less money because, I think, they are focused on the needs of others. Goodwill, I believe, is focused only itself, it's constant expansion and profits, foremost. Consider how much money they must take in that they can afford to have locations that are nothing but drop-off and sorting facilities. We have several in my area. Salvation Army cannot afford even a semi tractor trailer item drop off location, in comparison (which I would occasionally see as a kid, but haven't in years).

I should almost never see at Goodwill ie torn clothing, worn out shoes with soles coming apart, etc etc. But I regularly do. They're so hyper focused on making a buck, they don't really inspect the merchandise they offer for sale. Customers deserve better.

I get treated better at other thrift stores than Goodwill. Salvation Army, for instance, their employees are friendlier in average. At Goodwill, their employees often look bored, overworked, or just don't have a moment to talk with you. If the check out line is backed up and only one register is open, Goodwill management usually doesn't notice. At other thrift stores I frequent, they're way more attentive to that.

Any way there's a certain kind of person what wants to compete for goods on auction. I am not one of them. Because the sold price is very often right at the end of what it's worth, ie retail value. There's no Value left in it to be called a bargain. Unfortunately I have to go elsewhere anymore to find a decent bargain.

I don't expect anything to change at Goodwill. In fact I think they're hurrying to do as much online sales as possible. It's very lucrative and efficient for them. It's not convenient for customers however. Do you know that Goodwill is the number one Exporter of goods to other countries, particularly clothing? Instead of discounting and selling it to people who need clothes, for instance in the US, they do not discount it, and it gets boxed in humongous shipping containers... and Sold. Your donations do not, as they claim, go to either outfitting the poor in the US. The object is to only make money. Frankly I don't think highly of Goodwill. They've dramatically changed over the years, and are resting on their laurels, ie how the public perceives them from a generation ago. They market themselves as if they're the same sort of company they were decades ago. They are not.

Customers have to look a Lot harder to find good items, in good condition, at a good price in Goodwill stores these days. Look elsewhere.

Scam auction
Goodwill for profit
Scam scam scam scam scam scamscamscamscamscamscamscam
Scam scam scam

I have recently become disabled and am no longer able to shop in person, so I decided to use the online site. I bid on an item from the Western and Northern Connecticut location on 5/6/21.
Order #*******
If you need further information, please contact the seller below:
Goodwill of Western and Northern Connecticut
Your payment was received 5/8/2021 2:50:20 PM PT
Your Stripe confirmation number is: ch_1Ioy2RJjZWhNnv5o4YUJCiQ8

Shipping Information
Order has not been shipped

Not only has my item NOT shipped yet over a week after I paid for it, they have not even responded to my messages! Each location is run independently and they converge online. Here is a list of the issues I have noticed in the last 2 weeks of bidding on items at ShopGoodwill:
1. Watch for exaggerated weights in shipping. For example, a decorative pot about 15" round weighed 7 pounds, it was entered at 49 pound shipping price. When I asked for the error to be corrected it was reduced to 39 pounds! So I did not bid on it. This is NOT an error, it is a scam.
2. Another item of clothing was less than a pound and was entered as 15 pounds for FedEx shipment, more than 3 times the cost of the item! When I requested it be changed to Priority Mail USPS, they made the change but INCREASED the handling fee! Basically, an organized rip off.
3. So I decided to ONLY shop the 1cent shipping on clothing. The result has been the complaint above.

Shop carefully, not all locations will do this but many are. I was told each location runs independently and the nice people at the Colorado location have been honest but many locations are in on the shipping scams.

Too many issues to count. Done...