If what you see on the shelves at the thrift store is the good stuff, then what gets donated and doesn’t make the cut?
Below are 15 solid examples.
#15. There’s a story there somewhere.
Not something I’ve found particularly but something very strange. Every month and a half or so, a man would come by right before we closed and would donate a single blank cd. Every single time. My coworkers and I would always put it in and see if anything was on it. There never was.
#14. The extra stuff inside.
A grinder with weed still in it, and somehow a suitcase full of dildos made it onto the floor and was brought to our attention by an elderly lady who was wanting to purchase the suitcase but didnt want “the extra stuff inside”.
I still think a customer had to have somehow snuck a bag of dildos in and dumped them there since anything going to the floor is opened and sprayed with disinfectant, plus it was heavy so it definitely wouldve been opened if it arrived that way. Either way it made for an interesting day at work.
Edit: I forgot to add money! We were allowed to keep any money we found, usually it was the occasional few bucks in a purse someone forgot. Other times it could be big bills or one lady locked out and found a stash of around $2000 in two dollar bills in a trinket box.
#13. A get out of jail free card.
We’ve had some nipple clamps on a chain, a rampant rabbit with car charger, a jug in the shape of a tit and a book with a hole in it that you stick your dick in for a novelty puppet show.
Oh and there was also a mobile phone with a bunch of photos of a local policeman wearing his girlfriend’s underwear. I securely deleted those. He owes me a get out of jail free card for that.
#12. I look fantastic in it.
I found a full Tommy lee jones Two face suit. I look fan tastic in it. Only $15
Here it is in all its glory.
Edit: thank you all for the self confidence boost!
#11. A human skull.
A classmate of mine found a human skull that was donated. It still had reminents of human on it. They reported it to the police and turns out it was part of an active murder investigation 1 state over.
#10. That’s not sand.
I was a receiving and loading lead at a thrift store for a few years. We had this guy that cleaned out storage units for a living and then he’d dump whatever he couldn’t flip with us for a tax slip.
He pulls up and we’re going through it all. Pretty nice stuff, looked like it was an estate sale. We get it all unloaded and then we start snooping through to see what needs to get brought to where and we find this green glass vase filled with sand.
I started pouring the sand out into the trash so we could figure if the vase was worth using
“That’s not sand”
Somehow we ended up with an unmarked, full urn.
#9. I’ve seen it all.
Ah something I can contribute to. In college I was one of the people that directly sorted donations.
I’ve seen it all, vibrators, boxes of dildos, a nunchuk collection to name a few. On more than one occasion have we found large amounts of money stashed away in hollowed out books, usually $1000+ in new bills.
The one story that sticks out the most was this middle aged man who consistently came on Saturday evenings to donate used underwear. Bags and bags of men’s used underwear, for almost 3 months straight, then suddenly he just stopped.
#8. So much nope.
When I was about sixteen I worked at goodwill for about 6 months. There was this old homeless man who used to try and sneak inside to sleep and stuff like that. Everyday he’d get kicked out pretty quick by one of my female coworkers. After about a month of working there with her, the homeless man came up to the counter she was working at, gave her a target bag filled with rocks, and left. We open the bag and find a doll underneath about a layer of rocks. It was so friggin creepy. The doll looked exactly like her. We flipped it over and the back had her FULL NAME sewn into it. She quit about a couple days later because she was worried about that homeless man coming back to the store.
#7. Defaced by a complete lunatic.
One time, someone donated a book (some country singer’s autobiography I believe) that had been massively defaced by a complete lunatic.
That’s not a great description, but fortunately I took pictures:
Utterly fucking insane. I didn’t meet the donor because I was at lunch at the time, but my coworker said they seemed completely normal.
#6. A good read.
Used journals… Highlights include someone recounting the time they bit someone, and a tale of an explosive funeral. They make for a good read, but why wouldn’t you throw them out?
#5. Unwanted gifts.
I worked in donations. In the same day we got a pickled baby tiger shark and a coin purse made from a kangaroo scrotum.
Edit: for everyone wondering how I knew, it still had the original tag on it. Me and my co-workers were guessing it was an unwanted gift someone felt bad about throwing away.
It was not the same person that donated the shark.
Who knew my most upvoted comment would be about kangaroo balls?
#4. Cool job for a while.
Someone donated an entire trash bag full of dirty diapers.
Sex toys. Lots of sex toys. Some older, and more naive, workers actually priced them and put them in the sales floor.
An old electronic chessboard that was somehow worth $2000+
Some rich old lady came in and donated a ziplock bag full of gold and platinum jewelry – it was real.
Huge beanie baby collections. Guess someone finally figured out after 20 years that they weren’t a solid investment. It’s something you hear about but I never really saw before.
Maybe not the strangest but you actually do find some cool old shit people think is worthless. Cool job for a while.
EDIT: drinking some beers now. Ask a former Goodwill employee anything!
#3. Investigation warranted.
My aunt’s a cop and had to go investigate a donated hand grenade.
Edit: People keep asking if this happened in ______ city, so apparently it’s super common in America. For the record, keep it classy, San Diego.
#2. The Big Red Dog
A high school diploma still in its leather case. We were selling it for $1.39.
Also a porn movie inside a Clifford the Big Red Dog DVD case.
#1. Lobotomy tools.
I was sorting out some donated items and come across an unusual set of tools. Through some research, we discovered that it was a full transorbital lobotomy tool set. It got donated to a local university for display. Apparently, a vintage set in good condition can sell for around $1,000.
It’s high time I took another look around!
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