Goodwill, what’s going on? The popular thrift chain is selling a used plastic ham container as if nobody would notice. Beyond being grossed out, one shopper and her many viewers on TikTok are disappointed by the high price tag.
Thrift store giants like Goodwill and the Salvation Army have been called out across social media in recent years as the prices of their goods go up while the quality of the items decreases (thanks to over-consumerism and fast fashion).
There are several factors influencing the uptick in prices, including rising operations costs and an increase in thrifting’s popularity, especially among environmentally conscious people, driving prices up alongside the demand, Yahoo Finance reported in an article aptly titled, “How Goodwill Is Becoming More Expensive Than Walmart and Target.”
For as much as thrift stores are meant to provide affordable goods to low-income people, many seem to have lost this core value. Shoppers have complained that they could buy a new item at Walmart or Target for the same price (or less) as a secondhand item in the thrift store.
TikToker Aliyah Lauren (@aliyahlauren98) proved this right in a viral video with nearly half a million views. In the clip, she shows a plastic container with a red lid marked at $1.99. That’s more or about the same as you’d pay at a dollar store.
If the small plastic container looks familiar, it’s because you’ve likely passed by it, or even bought it, at the grocery store. Get this: it’s a used Hillshire Farm container—what they sell deli meat in.
The container even has an expiration date from 2016 on it.
“I’m not paying $2 if I don’t get the turkey with it,” Aliyah Lauren says in the clip.
“Looks like there may be some remnants in there,” one commenter pointed out.
If you look closely, there are seemingly two small chunks of food stuck to the inside of the container. So not only is the item overpriced, it’s also dirty.
At this point, a person would be better off spending the $5 to buy the ham or turkey from the grocery store and keeping the plastic container afterward.
“Goodwill you’ll try selling anything,” Aliyah Lauren added in the caption.
This isn’t the first time the thrift retailer has been called out for being overpriced. One woman said she was too broke to shop at Goodwill after finding a pair of sweatpants marked for $8. Another said she found items priced higher than the original label and scrapbook paper being sold for a whopping $50.
The secondhand retailer pricing things higher than their label isn’t new. Another person found a pair of Banana Republic pants selling for $50 at Goodwill while the original tag was marked at $30, and a different shopper saw a $9 Zara shirt priced at $20.
@aliyahlauren98 Goodwill you'll try selling anything 👏🏼😂 #goodwillstores #goodwillshopping #secondhandshopping #sellingtrash ♬ original sound – Aliyah Lauren
Aliyah Lauren’s video is nearing half a million views and has hundreds of comments as of Thursday afternoon.
“Thrift stores lately are out of their damn minds,” the top comment read.
“honestly, that should be $.59. Not a penny anymore. And that’s being generous,” a person wrote.
“TWO DOLLARS?? as in eight quarters???? two hundred pennies????” a viewer said, flabbergasted.
The Daily Dot reached out to Aliyah Lauren for comment via Instagram direct message and to Goodwill via email.
