Anybody here use goodwill to get preps?

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Modus Operandi, Oct 6, 2019.


  1. I want sure if many people on here use Goodwill to get prep supplies. There is an auction program on it that allows you to bid for items. I have used it to get gear for my family so that if they show up with only the clothes on their back, I can outfit them with gear and the basics (blankets, oil lamps, camping gear, etc). I had a M65 field jacket with liner that went for $20.09, I had bid 20.01 and someone sniped me, lol. Frustrating, but fair. It's a decent site for finding unusal supplies.
     
    Gator 45/70 and Zimmy like this.
  2. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Goodwill around here has junk that flea markets wouldn't touch, so no.
     
  3. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    Around here, St. Vinny's, Salvation Army and Goodwill are filled with mostly crap that kids are dumping out of the parents houses after they passed. Stuff from the 60 and 70s. nearly worn out boots and shoes. Clothes not suitable for SHTF except for winter jackets that are put out in October and gone by November.

    Your local area might be better, but mostly great if you are moving out of your parents house and into your first place .. you can furnish your house and kitchen for a few hundred dollars if you don't mind non-matching.

    Garage and estate sales seem to be better options to me. Best auction I ever went to was an estate auction of a prepper. It was heaven.
     
    SB21, Yard Dart, Gator 45/70 and 2 others like this.
  4. Thunder5Ranch

    Thunder5Ranch Monkey+++

    GW and the SA are hit and miss but I got a dozen old wool US stamped blankets from GW a while back for $12 for the lot. LOL old pretty green and once fumigated and washed twice just to be safe :) They made a great addition to the cabin and reserves.
     
    Lancer, Gator 45/70, Zimmy and 2 others like this.
  5. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    You could look up "Thrift Store" or "Resale" in your AO and find shops that may be better than GoodWill. Most of these also benefit your local charities.

    We've found that GoodWill, over the last several years, has also gotten a little pricey for the quality of merchandise that they offer.
     
    SB21, Gator 45/70, Oddcaliber and 3 others like this.
  6. RouteClearance

    RouteClearance Monkey+++

    All the Goodwill's and other thrift store in my AO either sell useless brick a brack or a large amount of women's clothing. I go there to buy men's jeans if they have them in my size.

    Instead, of any kind of thrift store that is predominately women clothing oriented, try antique stores instead. Those are the places that sell the ol' timmey stuff that was used on a daily basis decades ago without the modern day conveniences of electricity, plumbing, and running water.
     
    SB21, Lancer, Gator 45/70 and 2 others like this.
  7. Ura-Ki

    Ura-Ki Grampa Monkey

    Out here, GW/SA kinda sucks for this sort of thing, but back home, WOW, I was always filling the car with goodies I found! New ( Old) 2 burner gas Coleman stove that works, several gas lamps, wool blankets, nice winter weight jackets and ski bibs. 3 perfectly good sets of tire chains, a decent little 'letric chain saw for limbing and little work. A really nice M-88 LBV vest, a Nice M-56 Vest, several Mid 70's to mid 80's Field Jackets with Wubbies, good Space blankets, tons of cheap but good clothes. Lots and lots of goodies!
    Around here, it's all mid level junk, Lots of Hispanic folks, so clothing options kind of suck ( Don't fit) and much of the Good Stuff folks are selling on line instead of donating!
     
    SB21, Zimmy, HK_User and 2 others like this.
  8. Oddcaliber

    Oddcaliber Monkey+++

    I have better luck at flea market and antique shops. Always seem to find stuff for me.
     
    SB21, Zimmy, HK_User and 3 others like this.
  9. sdr

    sdr Monkey++

    Last item I picked up at gw was a pair of military intermediate cold weather boots. Brand new with tags for $25. I will stop by every few months if I have time to kill just to see but they have changed over the years. My favor places are auction houses. I couldn't begin to list the stuff I've found. Best is when nobody knows what it is worth.
     
    Zimmy, HK_User, Ura-Ki and 2 others like this.
  10. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Like @Thunder5Ranch it is hit or miss here but there are no clothes that are junk because they won't accept them.
    So, yeah, I have gotten some really good deals from there. I got a 100% wool army blanket recently and my wife just came home with a brand new rucksack (a day pack). She goes all the time to snoop around for deals. I am constantly buying heavyweight cotton T-shirts from there to use as work shirts around the property. They might cost $3-$4 each and are good enough for work. The wife makes wine and last month came home with a HUGE bottle, a carboy, I would guess it is 6 gallons, she paid a couple of bucks. I am also constantly looking there for old military fatigues like DSUs, BDUs, Multi-cam to use as work clothes especially for the woods but one doesn't see many of them...
     
    Zimmy, HK_User, Ura-Ki and 1 other person like this.
  11. HK_User

    HK_User A Productive Monkey is a Happy Monkey

    When I was young we shopped at the GW drop off box at the corner by the School.
     
    mysterymet, Oddcaliber, Zimmy and 2 others like this.
  12. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    Funny,I just returned from a local flea market I call Lil Mexico
    Picked up a couple of flatheads for 50 cents each.
    Could of bought some spiffy roach killing boots with toes 6''long or better?
    GW? I've mostly dropped off the wifes thinning out the closet cloths...For a tax write off is that still allowed?
    2K max or it used to be?
     
    Witch Doctor 01, HK_User and Ura-Ki like this.
  13. Lancer

    Lancer TANSTAFL! Site Supporter+++

    yup.
    I found real US Army wool blankets circa N. Korea, a few M65s with liners, a couple ponchos, all sorts of camping gear, and my ultimate prize: A Dillon 1050. The latter was in a booze box, a dozen or more pieces, with all the dies missing. I could deal with that at $50...
     
  14. Zimmy

    Zimmy Wait, I'm not ready!

    Thanks for the info. The online auctions didn't have anything I was interested in in the first 10 pages but I'm sure checking occasionally might pay off
     
  15. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Not been in GW in a while , but find a few things once in a while . Mostly junk the last few times , may be why I haven't been back in a while .
     
    Gator 45/70 and HK_User like this.
  16. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Thrift shops are a good way to make prepping funds go further...I have my favourites, and some of them also have food bank products at reasonable prices, which allows my prepping budget to go further for the things that require hard cash, and aren't available at a discount.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    Hot damn...how did I ever miss that one! :ROFLMAO:
     
  17. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    For the last few months have gotten. All my clothes at GW. I’ve dropped so much weight. And still have another 50 or so to go.

    Nice Clothes and with the old fart discount very good price point...
     
    Gator 45/70, HK_User and chelloveck like this.
  18. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    It's hit and miss around here. I've found a few sets of (silent) wooden crutches, and barrels full of noisy aluminum ones. Lamp shades for $1, quality kitchen knives for a quarter, and out of style sport coats (with real pockets) for $5, and occasionally really high dollar leather jackets for $6. (Never in my size.)

    You have to sort the wheat from the chaff, so I at least make a hot lap of the stores weekly.
     
  19. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    I check mine as time allows. I have one local store that seems to get the left over medical care items for some reason. Picked up boxes of sealed 4x4 bandages splints and other items on a hit and miss basis. Also find a lot of how too books that everyone seem to not care about cause its on line.... for now
     
  20. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    All of my Hurricane oil lamps were found at the two thrift stores in town. Didn't pay more than $5 for each of them.
     
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7