Learned a lot about GW just reading the above info...I am finding less and less at the closest one...and even less at the more distant ones I have gone to lately...shelves still have some of the same things for several weeks now....think I will try church sponsored thrift shops or there is a St Vincent DePaul thrift shop in a nearby town....anyone ever visit one of those? Just can't find any bargains these days.....and yes, I have seen some behavior at the store that leads me to believe these people are reselling what they are buying.....

Actually they ARE a non-profit - just happen to spend $50 million+ on executive salaries. From Wikipedia --

"Goodwill Industries International Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities. In addition, Goodwill Industries may hire veterans, individuals that lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges. Goodwill is funded by a massive network of retail thrift stores which operate as nonprofits as well. Goodwill's answer to its profit status is "As a unique hybrid called a social enterprise, we defy traditional distinctions. Instead of a single bottom line of profit, we hold ourselves accountable to a triple bottom line of people, planet, and performance."[3]"

I would MUCH rather go to small local thrift shops, where you know where the money goes to and there are no overpaid executives. Plus I HATE fighting other people for "goodies."

you can shop Goodwill on line too....

Goodwill Industries is not for profit. So the least you will save when shopping there is any state and local sales taxes. Here's Wikipedia's definition of them:
Goodwill Industries International Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities. In addition, Goodwill Industries may hire veterans, individuals that lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges. Goodwill is funded by a massive network of retail thrift stores which operate as nonprofits as well. Goodwill's answer to its profit status is "As a unique hybrid called a social enterprise, we defy traditional distinctions. Instead of a single bottom line of profit, we hold ourselves accountable to a triple bottom line of people, planet, and performance."[3]

Goodwill operates as a network of 165 independent, community-based organizations in Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, the United States, Canada and 8 other countries.[4] In 2011, Goodwills collectively earned more than $4 billion, and used 82 percent of that revenue to provide employment, training and support services to more than 4.2 million individuals.[5][6]

Any world-wide non-profit organization that boasts 82% of earnings going to support their mission, not outrageous salaries and expenses for executive, is okay in my book.

My sister works at a GW and she says if items are still in the original packaging and not been opened, they will normally go to the outlet stores. The managers are usually the ones who have a price chart the rest of the store goes by.

Wow...Thanks again for all the information on the outlet stores. My daughter knows someone who has gone there and is trying to get info from her also. We already figured it wasn't going to be a place to take kids. I can't wait to hunt for the bargains!...lol

Again thanks for all your replies.

It is a terrible place to take kids unless you are looking for a specific item and they are old enough to keep from getting trampled. My DGDs and I spent a half hour in there one day and got silk flowers for them to make little fairies. Since you weigh things they were CHEAP for a ton of them.

We have an outlet store in Sacramento, CA. It is a huge store with a ton of tables with stuff on them. In my opinion it's mostly junk and it is all sold by the pound. It looks like stuff that was rejected buy their retail stores and instead of taking it to the landfill they are trying to sell some of it.

It looks that way most of the time but I have found some pretty good stuff there.