An eBay reseller says he confirmed something he’d suspected for a while—that a Goodwill store he frequents for items was retaining some of the donated items to sell on eBay.
TikTok creator Fisher Flips (@fisher_flips) posted the video documenting this discovery on Saturday, and it has gotten more than 45,000 views since. In it, the eBay reseller says he saw a massive amount of Lego bricks being donated to a Goodwill with which he’s familiar.
“I quickly went to an employee,” he says. “They got the manager. I’m like, ‘Hey, a person just dropped off all of these Lego. Can you price them quickly? I want to buy them, all right?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, hold on one second.’”
Are Goodwill workers setting aside the best finds for eBay?
However, he says he was then that those Legos weren’t going to be sold.
“I’m like, ‘What do you mean they’re not for sale?’ I go, ‘Someone just dropped them off. It’s a Goodwill store. They should be for sale, right? I want to buy them.’”
A manager reportedly then told him that “higher-end” items that are donated aren’t sold in the store and, “If it’s worthy enough for the online store, we put them aside.”
The creator charges that the online store, in this case, is eBay.
He goes on to complain, “It kind of pissed me off that a manager actually came out and just admitted that they cherry-pick and sell online. So, yeah, like I said, we all know this is going on, but it just kind of took me aback.”
He added, “There was probably $400 worth of Legos in there.”
There is a Goodwill Marketplace on eBay, and according to the profile, it’s affiliated with Goodwill Industries of South Central Wisconsin and has a 99.7 percent positive feedback rating with 35,000 items sold.
The Fisher Flips eBay page, by contrast, has sold about 8,600 items, albeit with 100 percent positive feedback.
@fisher_flips Goodwill cherry picking items to sell on ebay#fyp #ebay #ebaycommunity #poshmarkcommunity #thrifted #goodwill ♬ original sound – Fisher Flips
Commenters had thoughts.
“So that explains why I never see Legos,” said one.
Another noted, “That’s why I shop my local thrift stores over Goodwill.”
Someone else suggested, “Next time grab person donating & ASK them directly! Lady was dropping off really nice table/chairs in front of me so asked her if I could have as GW mark it $100+ easy! Lady was HAPPY to let me have.”
Finally, one commenter charged, “They also have buyers who give them kick back for holding stuff in back.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via eBay direct message and TikTok direct message as well as to Goodwill via email.
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