‘Empty wine bottle 7 dollars’: People are exposing the prices at Goodwill, and they’re allegedly worse than some retail stores

A video circulating on Reddit appears to show a series of price tags at Goodwill locations that users say are shockingly high for donated secondhand items. The post, shared in the subreddit r/trashy, has drawn significant attention, with many commenters expressing frustration over what they describe as unreasonable pricing at a nonprofit organization.

The video compiles several clips of items found at Goodwill stores, with price tags that some users argue rival or exceed what the same items would cost brand new. Among the examples shown are an empty bottle of Côte des Roses wine priced at $7, a bottle that, according to commenters, can be purchased full at grocery stores for roughly $10 to $15, and a pinecone with a $1.99 Goodwill price sticker on it.

“Empty wine bottle 7 dollars! That’s wild!” a woman is seen saying in one of the clips featured in the video. Other items shown in the video include an empty Mt. Olive pickle jar priced at $2.09, a used plastic spatula for $3, a turtle shell tagged at $9.99, a plastic craft bin listed at $50, and an electric bass guitar with a $499.99 price sticker.

Goodwill’s pricing practices have drawn growing criticism in recent years

Some commenters suggested that public awareness of Goodwill’s pricing is only now catching up to a longer-running trend, with one user writing that people are “just now waking up to the f***ing scam that is Goodwill,” questioning how the organization qualifies as a nonprofit.

One commenter described a series of changes at their local Goodwill over recent years, including the removal of paper wrapping for breakables, the end of half-price ticket color days, and a no-return policy. “Goodwill is a capitalist corporation masquerading as a charity,” they wrote, adding that they would no longer shop or donate there. This kind of experience is not isolated, as a dad shopping at Goodwill for cheap kids’ clothing found a 50-cent sticker hiding under a $6.99 price tag.

Not everyone in the thread shared that view, however. One commenter pushed back, arguing that critics misunderstand Goodwill’s purpose: “So you seriously don’t understand that Goodwill is not there to provide cheap s**t as a charity; they are there to sell donated s**t at the highest price to fund their charity.” They added in a separate reply that Goodwill’s model is primarily focused on worker training and that sales revenue is reportedly used to fund job placement programs.

Another commenter disputed that framing, saying, “No they’re there to sell stuff for cheap. That’s the whole point. And they didn’t use to be this way. Their stuff actually used to be cheap. It’s how we survived when I was poor as a kid. Now they jack prices, even though they get all their products for the same cost as they always did. Which is to say, for free.”

One commenter noted that the pricing concern is allegedly not limited to Goodwill, claiming that the Salvation Army has also raised its prices. “Went to Salvation Army yesterday, which is usually pretty good, NOPE, not anymore, their prices were ridiculous,” they wrote.

Several commenters pointed out that Goodwill reportedly pulls more valuable items from the sales floor to list them online at higher prices, with one suggesting that what remains in stores is “just the leftovers that they haven’t sent to head office to auction off online.”

Another shared that they once found a Martin acoustic guitar at Goodwill for $100, a deal they described as a rare exception, but acknowledged that such finds would likely no longer reach the sales floor. “Now it would be yanked out and sold at auction/online,” they wrote.

Goodwill has not publicly responded to the claims made in the Reddit thread. Pricing frustrations aside, shoppers have also reported stranger issues at Goodwill, including a Pennsylvania woman who found her own donated items back on the racks.