Re the baled clothes: Those huge bales do go to third world countries. Goodwill does not ship them from what I was told by the gal's at our two Goodwill stores.
An importer buys them from all the Goodwill stores, has them loaded onto trilers (those trailers that semis pull), shipped by rail (when necessary) to wherever the shipping yards are in the USA (otherwise by trailer), ships them off to the third world countries where they are bought by person/businesses of interest, and resold.
As far as the prices - have not noticed that at out two stores. We have a couple of thrift stores in town we have been frequenting and their prices are decent. Will keep my eyes open for the changes. I have a hard time believing someone would buy the filing cabinet on e-bay and pay shipping unless it is a Pick-Up only status. I have not seen 'Goodwill' as a Sella on e-bay, but then I was not looking for them. Interesting.