Shopping Discussion

Value Village: Are the prices too high?

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Deal Expert
Feb 24, 2007
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Shoppersbeermart wrote: First I apologize if this has been talked about already. I did a search and couldn't find a thread.

What are your thoughts on Value Village? Do you shop there? Did you used to?

It's a thrift store but the prices on some items are just strangely expensive. Don't they get their items mostly donated to them?

Books - Books with a cover price over I believe $10.00 are priced at 4.99. Pretty much any hardcover book will have a cover price over $10. So 4.99 a book is very high. 3.99 for a DVD?... Walmart has hundreds of Brand New DVDs for 5.00 in their bargain bins. I am not a parent but I hear horror stories over the prices of baby clothes and toys. Another problem is that many of their items are scracthed or damaged and some of the clothes have an unwashable stink.

I have found some good bargains there, but usually shake my head.
Must be related to the cost of high wages they pay to their floor staff.
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Nov 6, 2010
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eldiablo wrote: Must be related to the cost of high wages they pay to their floor staff.
Damn why wasn't I notified? I was paid minimum wage to do such horrible work :razz:
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Feb 24, 2007
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hdom wrote: There are many threads made to let other rfders know VV is not the best choice for their for charity donations but you can only do so much.
We have donated (and still do) all our clothes and furniture to the Salvation Army. I agree, Value Village is definitely not the best choice for donations.
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Aug 4, 2014
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uber_shnitz wrote: I worked there about 8 months 2 years ago during the school year so I know a bit. I was the drop-off guy actually. But to answer some of your question, the stuff they pick up from the bins is brought in a truck by the Canadian Diabetes association which is dropped directly to the sorting center at the back so I can't comment on how much, but on average I'd say the trucks have more volume in terms of clothing (probably 70/30).

When people drop off stuff, I would only do a superficial inspection aka I wouldn't really check, but I was allowed to refuse items we specifically said we didn't take (there was a sign outside but people never read it). Otherwise, the only things I filtered were things that were obviously too bad to sell and I've seen a LOT of junk be dropped off...plates/containers with food stuck to them, dirty/rusted appliances, couches where everything was falling off, used heath products, the list goes on and on so I as an employee had a certain leeway in terms of deciding what was thrown away vs what made it to the sorting center.

And to be honest, I don't agree with your assessment. My experience with VV if anything showed me that more people than not treat VV as a dump for the stuff they don't want more than them trying to help any charity (the charity is just a "bonus" to make them feel better about them throwing stuff out every month). Literally, there's donation hours on the front door which aren't unreasonable yet every morning I would come and it would be a garbage dump in front of the door.
I think it is wrong that people dump stuff that should be taken to the dump. They just want to avoid dump fees or it is too inconvenient for them to take it to the dump because of the operating hours. They don't want to be caught dumping garbage at the locked gate. I wonder how many people donate furniture and clothes with bedbugs in them?
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SteveRoss wrote: I think it is wrong that people dump stuff that should be taken to the dump. They just want to avoid dump fees or it is too inconvenient for them to take it to the dump because of the operating hours. They don't want to be caught dumping garbage at the locked gate. I wonder how many people donate furniture and clothes with bedbugs in them?
This would happen very often (especially on weekends). We're not allowed to accept certain items such as mattresses and we often don't accept couches (unless it's in really good condition) for the bedbugs reason but this is a localized decision so many stores probably do carry these types of items. We also weren't allowed to accept heavy electronics such as TVs and appliances because we had no electronics recycling program. People would get around that by dumping these kinds of products overnight in front of the donations door so in the morning we would have to deal with it regardless.

I'd say in my experience these types of "dump donators" are probably close to 30% of the people I would meet while working there.

While the other 70% weren't dumping garbage, I still got the distinct vibe they cared little for where their donations ended up and just wanted an easy outlet for their consumerist behavior, but that's just my opinion/observation. I'd often see the same people come in and drop off clothing every week or two because they bought new ones and wanted to get rid of the "old untrendy" stuff. That being said, I can assert that people just wanted to dump stuff because for example, say TVs, when I would tell them we don't sell those and have no recycling program, I would also direct them to a Future Shop or Staples right down the street (like ~5min drive) that did have a recycling program and most people didn't even want to make the trip...yeah "charity" huh :lol:
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Oct 22, 2007
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savercanuck91 wrote: I still check out Value Village to see if I can score on some old Pentium-era (90s-2000s) desktops. Definitely worth it for just $10-15.
I`ve found better computers beside the curb. Even $10 is too much to pay for a p4.
Newbie
Jul 16, 2014
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, ON
I've found that Value Village is the worst of the major thrift store chains for pricing. When I first started going there in the mid to late 90s this wasn't the case. Salvation Army is the only chain where I'll bother looking at the clothes any more. Goodwill uses a colour coding system that isn't explained anywhere. At the end of the aisle there will be a sign saying "$5.99 and up" and it's the colours of the tags that determine the "and up", but apparently they prefer to keep you in the dark about the actual price until you get to the checkout.
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Aren't these places meant for the poor and needy?
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uber_shnitz wrote: This would happen very often (especially on weekends). We're not allowed to accept certain items such as mattresses and we often don't accept couches (unless it's in really good condition) for the bedbugs reason but this is a localized decision so many stores probably do carry these types of items.
I`m surprised you guys would even take couches or any upholstered furniture... Technically they would have to be retagged WRT to the upholstered and stuffed articles act. Come to think of this, stuffed animals, and bedding with filling materials (like comforters) would be fall under that legislation. Did the mattress police (aka TSSA inspectors) ever visit your location ?
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FutureCEO wrote: Aren't these places meant for the poor and needy?
Why would you think that ?
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Ottomaddox wrote: Why would you think that ?
I always assumed that they primarily sell donated clothing and the like. I thought their business model was geared towards servicing the poor and needy in our society that unfortunately cannot afford to purchase brand new items.

Am I mistaken?
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May 28, 2012
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Fakeman wrote: I've found that Value Village is the worst of the major thrift store chains for pricing. When I first started going there in the mid to late 90s this wasn't the case. Salvation Army is the only chain where I'll bother looking at the clothes any more. Goodwill uses a colour coding system that isn't explained anywhere. At the end of the aisle there will be a sign saying "$5.99 and up" and it's the colours of the tags that determine the "and up", but apparently they prefer to keep you in the dark about the actual price until you get to the checkout.
I wonder if the colour coding pertains to what day it was processed? So the older ones in the cycle are cheaper?

I'm on the call list for donations for a couple of these charities and it's getting flipping annoying how many times they call. I've told them on occasion to take me off the list, but they are still calling. For some bizarre reason, I've been more tolerant of them than regular telemarketers.

Prices were never really good there...it was only the really esoteric brand names that you got good deals. As soon as there was a 'Gap' or 'Lululemon' logo on it, think 50% off new or sale price at the actual store.
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Oct 29, 2009
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I go to check out old brand name shirts and blazers, they have some interesting pieces sometimes. I've seen some authentic givenchy, YSL's, Ralph Lauren purple labels before. P.S please let me know if you see any old IBM keyboards!
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Ottomaddox wrote: I`m surprised you guys would even take couches or any upholstered furniture... Technically they would have to be retagged WRT to the upholstered and stuffed articles act. Come to think of this, stuffed animals, and bedding with filling materials (like comforters) would be fall under that legislation. Did the mattress police (aka TSSA inspectors) ever visit your location ?
As far as I know no. I was just given a list of things I don't accept and mattresses/couches were featured on that list along with large electronics/appliances and health products and whatnot.
FutureCEO wrote: I always assumed that they primarily sell donated clothing and the like. I thought their business model was geared towards servicing the poor and needy in our society that unfortunately cannot afford to purchase brand new items.

Am I mistaken?
Based on my observations, you're not wrong no, but I've seen people who seem pretty well off buy things off VV; I guess the same type of crowds who buy things off kijiji.
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Jul 16, 2014
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Mars2012 wrote: I wonder if the colour coding pertains to what day it was processed? So the older ones in the cycle are cheaper?
I believe it's just a dollar value scale but I could be mistaken. There are only so many colours to cycle through so using it to represent shelf time would present some issues I think. The "tags" they use are the plastic things normally used to attach a paper tag to clothing, in a few different colours.

I just don't like that they don't explain the system on their signs. IMO customers should be able to tell the price of an item without the help of staff.
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Fakeman wrote: I believe it's just a dollar value scale but I could be mistaken. There are only so many colours to cycle through so using it to represent shelf time would present some issues I think. The "tags" they use are the plastic things normally used to attach a paper tag to clothing, in a few different colours.

I just don't like that they don't explain the system on their signs. IMO customers should be able to tell the price of an item without the help of staff.
VV uses colored pricing tags to denote the date they were processed (well week). They operated I think on a 6 color rotation and then the cycle began anew. Any items left from the previous cycle were gathered and shipped to Africa or some other place I can't recall.
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FutureCEO wrote: I always assumed that they primarily sell donated clothing and the like. I thought their business model was geared towards servicing the poor and needy in our society that unfortunately cannot afford to purchase brand new items.

Am I mistaken?
I'm sure this was the original intention of thift shops 75 years ago, but these days, they are just another store. In fact, the poor and needy could probably do better at Goodwill/Sally Ann/garage sales/Kijiji/CL/freecycle/fullcircle rather than VV.
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For profit. Greater Demand = Higher price.
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Jun 9, 2007
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Soulboy wrote: I go to check out old brand name shirts and blazers, they have some interesting pieces sometimes. I've seen some authentic givenchy, YSL's, Ralph Lauren purple labels before. P.S please let me know if you see any old IBM keyboards!
I'm on the hunt for a Model M also :) .
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Jul 16, 2014
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uber_shnitz wrote: VV uses colored pricing tags to denote the date they were processed (well week). They operated I think on a 6 color rotation and then the cycle began anew. Any items left from the previous cycle were gathered and shipped to Africa or some other place I can't recall.
Maybe that is the case at Goodwill then too and that's the basis for their pricing, but either way it's annoying how they have no indication of the exact prices for clothing items. If a customer thinks an item is worth $5.99 but not $7.99, they shouldn't have to hold up the line (and possibly embarrass themselves for looking cheap) by making that call at checkout time.

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