GOODWILL has been slammed by shoppers after selling $59.99 Amazon Prime “mystery boxes”.
The charity store chain came under fire for ripping off customers, with some claiming these boxes are “full of junk”.
Goodwill has been slammed by shoppers after selling $59.99 Amazon Prime “mystery boxes”[/caption]
One undisclosed Goodwill store has been taken to task for selling Amazon Prime mystery boxes for $59.99.
These boxes contain a variety of items sold by third-party sellers, where the specific contents are unknown to the buyer until they open it.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
As an example of what you’d get in a box, one shopper opened one up on TikTok, revealing that she scored several great items.
The creator, called Maddie, unboxed some of the most “random stuff”, including face masks, an electric toothbrush head and two lightbubs.
She also got a pair of gardening shears, a silver heart necklace and an inflatable dragon costume.
But the item that got her attention the most was a 24 pack of LaCroix unflavored sparkling water, which Maddie dubbed “the worst flavor”.
At Walmart, you can score this product for $26.99, while Costco sells a 24 pack for $11.39.
Walmart also offers two Oral-B electric toothbrush heads for $16.90, and Costco sells a 10 pack for $54.99.
In the end, Maddie was left unsure if the price for the mystery box was worth it.
UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS
But many are unhappy with how then retail giant is invading the nonprofit store, especially at that high price point.
Many took to the social media platform Reddit to complain about the cost.
One person wrote in the comments of the thread: “Let me make sure I’m understanding this correctly.
“I could give Amazon $60.00 for something that I absolutely 100% know for sure that I definitely need OR: I could buy this.”
Valuable thrifting finds revealed
Here are some of the best thrift store finds:
- Tiffany & Co. earrings that sold for $0.34 and are valued at $430
- American Girl doll that sold for $5.99 and is valued at $300
- Bionicle toy that sold for $14.95 and is valued at $18.101
- Gold record plaque for DJ Quik’s 1992 album Way 2 Fonky that sold for @20 and is valued at $200
- Rothy’s brand Sugared Berry pointed-toe flats that sold for $155 retail and are valued at $250
Another user lashed out: “My local Goodwill is now an option for Amazon returns.
“Not for the nice stuff (like a Tonie figure), but they offered it for a bulky, low-value item (paper towels, because they shipped a smaller package than I’d ordered).
“So there’s a good chance these boxes are just full of the junk people want to return to Amazon, with Goodwill paying some minimal fee to Amazon for the right to resell and Amazon saving all the costs associated with shipping, sorting and processing low-value returns.”
GOODWILL SLAMMED
Goodwill came under intense scrutiny, with some labeling the mystery box move as a “grift”.
The comment claimed: “Whatever it is I bet it’s the same thing in every box and GW knows that.
“They opened one and saw it was worth $50. So they added $9.99 for the thrill of it.
“Stupid grift. Just open the s**t you got for free and sell it for the right price.”
Another person accused Goodwill of taking anything “good” out of the boxes beforehand.
They claimed: “Even if they were half the price I would not trust Greedwill to have not rummaged through the boxes and removed anything good for their website first.”
It is important to note that this accusation does not come from a verified or official source.
But after all of this, there was someone defending Goodwill for the boxes.
They reminded everyone that Goodwill is not misleading customers, and they know that buying a box is a gamble before they do.
The comment said: “Of course, this is most likely a ripoff, as with most things Goodwill however, technically the description is accurate – it is an Amazon box, and whatever is in there is a mystery as it’s sealed.
“Would not surprise me if they received some empty boxes in a donation and came up with a brilliant idea to get rid of some junk.”
The US Sun has reached out to Goodwill for a comment on the sale of the boxes, but did not hear back right away.
The location of the Goodwill seen selling them is not clear.
One undisclosed Goodwill store has been taken to task for selling Amazon Prime mystery boxes for $59.99[/caption]
