I began shopping at Goodwill stores in 2016 to satisfy my jigsaw puzzle hobby.
In comparing the 10 Goodwill locations that I shop at, the positives of the Aurora location on Mesa Lane is that the store is large, well-lit, mostly clean and organized, great store layout (clothes in front-half, housewares in back-half), nice wide aisles (wide enough to fit two shopping carts side-by-side), and pleasant employess. And of course, prices that can't be beat. Parking lot is good size and easily navigatable.
As I said, mostly clean and well-organized. Just the sewing and gift wrap area seem to be a chronic disaster. Toys are messy too, but that is expected after all when you mix toys and young children.
Downside... of my four shopping visits at this store, I have purchased 15 jigsaw puzzles, of which 7 were bad (missing pieces) and 8 were good. If I buy four or five puzzles, and one is bad, then I just deal with it. But on my last trip here in January 2017, of the four puzzles I purchased, all four were bad (missing pieces). I was definitely annoyed. I took all four puzzles back to the store and the store manager offered me a one-time courtesy in-store credit. I understand that Goodwill's policy is As-Is, but all the puzzles being bad was unacceptable. The manager was nice and didn't give me a hard time.
So, from my experience, I do not feel confident buying puzzles or games from this location, BUT... I have found some lovely decorative knick-knacks (Japanese soup bowl and sake bottle, and planting pots for houseplants). Note: I have never browsed through the clothes, so I cannot make any statements regarding clothing.
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Rant: I understand that some donation items are mishandled and damaged during sorting at the store level, but much of the damaged and defective merchandise comes from donors. I know from experience working at a resale store that people seem to think it is acceptable to dump their garbage at a resale store and let the store deal with it. By dumping your unusable and unsellable items at a resale store, you are costing the store excessive dumpster fees. The more a store pays in dumpster fees, the less money there is to support the charity and help people in the community.
Before donating, ask yourself, "is this something I would give to a family member or friend?" Or better yet, ask the store what they do and do not aceept.
Here is a very fitting sermon that I would like to pass on. There are three people that donate items to the poor. The first person donates beautiful items that he/she could be using theirself. The second person donates shabby yet clean items. The third person donates junk. Each person dies and is taken to his/her room in the afterlife. The first person's room is filled with beautiful items similar to the items he/she donated. The second person is taken to his/her room filled with shabby yet clean items similar to what he/she donated. The third person is taken to his/her room.... and you know the rest.
Please be mindful of what you donate. read more
