Bex Scott shares her adventure thrifting at the Goodwill Impact Centre blue bins in Calgary, Alberta. The Goodwill outlet bins are where items like clothing, small home decor, fabric, toys, and similar items go to be upcycled if they don’t sell or can’t be used in the store. Bex explains what her very first visit was like, the treasures she found, the bin etiquette, and tips for other thrifters wanting to visit the bins themselves.
Bex Scott shares her adventure thrifting at the Goodwill Impact Centre blue bins in Calgary, Alberta. The Goodwill outlet bins are where items like clothing, small home decor, fabric, toys, and similar donated things go to be upcycled if they don’t sell or can’t be used in the store. Bex explains what her very first visit was like, the treasures she found, the bin etiquette, and tips for other thrifters wanting to visit the bins themselves.
Admittedly nervous because she is a shy and introverted person, Bex visited the Calgary Goodwill bins on a hot Sunday during the Calgary Stampede which likely made her visit less crowded than it would otherwise be. She was initially afraid of confrontation over items but while each new bin wheeled out was immediately pillaged by eager thrifters, there is a code of conduct that Goodwill enforces. Bex talks about the vintage Cabbage Patch Kids, vintage fabric, World War Two DVDs, and other treasures she found during her visit. She details exactly what happens when new bins roll out, where to leave shopping carts, how to check out, and how items are priced. She also divulges that some Whatnot sellers get permission to live-sell right from the bins. This episode is a how-to guide for Goodwill bins and an absolute must for thrifters wanting their first visit to be a success.
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Transcript
Bex Scott: [00:00:02] Hey everybody, it's Bex Scott and welcome to the Pyrex With Bex podcast, where, you guessed it, I talk about vintage Pyrex, but also all things vintage housewares. I'll take you on my latest thrifting adventures, talk about reselling, chat with other enthusiasts about their collections, and learn about a bunch of really awesome items from the past. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you love listening to podcasts so you don't miss a beat.
Bex Scott: [00:00:31] Hey everybody, this is Bex Scott and you are listening to the Pyrex With Bex podcast. On today's episode, I wanted to talk to you guys about my adventure at the Goodwill bins. And for many resellers I know in the States, the bins are a common thing, they've been around for a while. And in Canada, at least where I live, the closest city to me is Calgary, and Calgary got the Goodwill bins in April of 2023, and I had never been to them. It's always been something that I wanted to do, but, to be honest, I've heard some stories about how savage it is and seen some videos, so I've been putting it off. It's also an hour away from me, so being able to just go and have somebody watch the kids isn't as easy as it used to be. So I finally decided to go. I went on a Sunday and it was a Sunday during the Calgary Stampede, so I'm pretty sure that helped. A lot of people were out at the Stampede. If you don't know what the Calgary Stampede is, it's like a big Western fair that happens every year.
Bex Scott: [00:01:48] It was also very hot that day, so there were a few things working in my favor. But I decided to go. And I want to give you guys a little bit of a background about what the bins are first. So the Goodwill bins are where all of the items, the clothing, everything that Goodwill sells, it doesn't sell in the retail stores so they bring it to their big warehouse and they put it in these big blue bins, and you have to go and you sort through everything in hopes of finding some treasure, which makes it really fun. So where I went in Calgary, you pay by the pound and it was $1.45 per pound of items. And it's very great if you're going for clothing. Clothing is relatively light. You can stuff a whole bag full of clothes and have it be super cheap, but if you're going for hard goods, it can get a little more expensive faster than it would with clothes. So most of it is the bins full of just the random stuff that didn't sell. And then there's the other part of the store that is furniture like lamps, large decor, and that's all priced individually. So that isn't by the pound. You have to just pick it up and pay what they've labelled it as.
Bex Scott: [00:03:19] So I pulled up to the Goodwill bins. I was honestly very nervous. I wanted to bring somebody to go with me, but didn't have anybody that was available. So I'm a very introverted, shy person. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to get my elbows out or get into a confrontation with somebody over something amazing. Luckily, I didn't have to. So you walk in and you see just rows and rows of these huge blue bins, and I walked up to a few of them. It's mostly clothes on one side. I was looking through some things, and I saw this group of people at the back, and I honestly must have looked like I'd walked into the strangest situation I've ever seen because I stopped and I was staring at all these people that were just standing around in a rectangle. No idea what they were doing. And then I realized they were waiting for the next bin to roll in. So there's these yellow rectangles on the floor, and you line up at the designated yellow location marks. You're shoulder to shoulder with these people, and they roll the bin in between you and the person who rolls it out, they say you have to wait until - I think there's three bins to a row - you have to wait till all three bins are there. You have to have your hands above the bin. You can't touch anything in it. And once the last bin is rolled into your row, they say you can go and everybody just goes nuts. They dive in, clothes are flying everywhere, like you're hitting people's elbows. You're just hoping to find something that's in this bin.
Bex Scott: [00:05:03] And one of the suggestions on their website is that you wear gloves. I thought about this before I went, but then I forgot to bring them. But I 100% understand why you need to wear gloves. Because the stuff in there is not clean. It's dusty, it's dirty, and you can feel it after when you leave. Your hands are grimy, but everything can be washed, totally fine. But there's people in there that are wearing gloves, sorting through things. It's a great idea. So if you're going to go to the bins, make sure you bring your gloves. So next thing, you can use a shopping cart, but you can't have your shopping cart by the bins in the aisles at all. So everybody leaves their shopping carts on the side walls. They're just lined up in rows and rows and rows, and a lot of them have people waiting by them so that things aren't taken out of the carts. There's a rule that if it's in a cart, somebody claimed it. So a lot of people push their carts to the side and they pull from the bins, and then they go dump it in their cart and they go back. They have these little wheelie baskets that you can bring. So that's what I tried to do. I originally went in without a basket and then my hands were all full. I realized that's why you need a shopping cart. So you just keep going until you're done. And at the end, you go up and they have this massive scale on the floor.
Bex Scott: [00:06:28] You either roll your little cart up to the scale and they weigh it for you, or you dump everything into this shopping cart that is on the scale as well. So I ended up getting, I think it was $15 of things. And for $15, I got a full set of World War Two DVDs. What else did I get? Two Cabbage Patch Kids, vintage ones. My kids were not happy about those because they terrify them. I got a little dress for my daughter. I got a Roots hoodie, brand new. What else? What else? Oh, I got a huge pile of vintage fabric. Now I'm blanking on what I got. Oh, a box set of Playmobile. There was one tiny little piece missing, but that was a great find. And there were a few other things I got. So most of it was for my kids or my family. Not a lot of stuff that I could resell there, but there were a ton of dishes like pots and pans, clear Pyrex. If you need housewares like that, stuff for your kitchen, it is definitely the place to go. Oh yeah, I got a pot for camping. That was another one that was pretty heavy, so that bumped my price up quite a bit. Clothing there, there's a lot of like underwear in there that you have to sort through. A lot of the clothes are not in the greatest shape, but if you're looking for something really cheap and affordable for your family, great place to go for that.
Bex Scott: [00:08:05] Handbags, tons of handbags and backpacks, if you have the time to sort through them there's definitely some stuff that you could get in there to resell or even just to use for yourself. Toys for kids. This was the most exciting part for me. I think that they had some really great toys for kids. Some of the parts may be missing, but once again, if you dig through you can find some great toys, either to resell or for your kids to play with. And then the home decor. I was really surprised at the amount of picture frames and posters and paintings that they had, so that was a really great deal. And then just little decor pieces. And I think maybe because I went on a Sunday, they didn't have as much there as they would during the week. So my next trip would be definitely to go during the week, probably when it is more busy, unfortunately, and see the difference between a weekend thrift and a weekday thrift.
Bex Scott: [00:09:10] So one of the most shocking parts of the bins for me was the age range that was there. I'm 35 and I felt ancient. I swear I walked into, it looked like a high school dance. Like these kids, it was all guys, they were probably like 13 or 14 years old. I felt kind of like I was trying to hang out with my son's group of friends. It looked like they were professionals. They stood on that line, they rotated kind of through the bins like robots, all in a little, a gaggle of 14-year-old boys, and they would stand on the yellow lines, waiting all on their phones, heads down. Looked like they were, I don't know if they're resellers. They were all on TikTok or something. And right when the bins would come out, their little hands were in there so fast and I was watching what they were pulling out, and it was all like the really trendy clothes. So I have a feeling they were buying clothes for themselves, which is super cool because that's something that I would have done when I was their age. And of course, I go home and I told my son about this. He's not, he wasn't that interested in it. One day I'll get him to go with me because it's fun. But that was the most shocking part of the bins for me was just all these young kids standing there getting great deals, like, good for you guys. But I felt really old and I was like, am I? Am I too old to be doing this? But I did learn a few things from them. They were pulling out some pretty cool hoodies and shirts and jeans. So I'll see, likely they're not there during the week. It was a really fun thing to do. I can see how you could stay there for a full day and just stand there looking for stuff. I think next time I will definitely try to make it a full-day event, just because you need that much time to be able to sort and then pay for everything and go home after that.
Bex Scott: [00:11:14] And I don't know if you guys watch any of the Whatnot sellers from the bins, but there are people who sell live from the bins. I would love to do this. They go there, they stay all day, they pull items, and then they stand in a corner and they sell live. So I feel like if you're able to do that, that is 100% the way to make money from reselling at the bins instead of going home, sorting through everything, washing it, if you do that, and selling it and listing it online. I don't know if they would allow that. I know that these sellers get permission from Goodwill to stand there and sell right in their facilities, but it's pretty fun to watch. So check out on Whatnot some of the really great sellers that do it live from the bins, you can get amazing deals and a lot of them do it in bulk so you can buy bundles of t-shirts from them, or bundles of jeans right there while they're still at Goodwill. So I would love to know if any of you have been to the bins yourselves. What was your experience? Let me know your stories. I'm definitely going to be going back again and hopefully finding some great stuff to resell, and I will keep you updated on my next trip. Thanks, everybody! Feel free to follow me on Instagram at @PyrexWithBex.
Bex Scott: [00:00:02] Hey everybody, it's Bex Scott and welcome to the Pyrex With Bex podcast, where, you guessed it, I talk about vintage Pyrex, but also all things vintage housewares. I'll take you on my latest thrifting adventures, talk about reselling, chat with other enthusiasts about their collections, and learn about a bunch of really awesome items from the past. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you love listening to podcasts so you don't miss a beat.
Bex Scott: [00:00:31] Hey everybody, this is Bex Scott and you are listening to the Pyrex With Bex podcast. On today's episode, I wanted to talk to you guys about my adventure at the Goodwill bins. And for many resellers I know in the States, the bins are a common thing, they've been around for a while. And in Canada, at least where I live, the closest city to me is Calgary, and Calgary got the Goodwill bins in April of 2023, and I had never been to them. It's always been something that I wanted to do, but, to be honest, I've heard some stories about how savage it is and seen some videos, so I've been putting it off. It's also an hour away from me, so being able to just go and have somebody watch the kids isn't as easy as it used to be. So I finally decided to go. I went on a Sunday and it was a Sunday during the Calgary Stampede, so I'm pretty sure that helped. A lot of people were out at the Stampede. If you don't know what the Calgary Stampede is, it's like a big Western fair that happens every year.
Bex Scott: [00:01:48] It was also very hot that day, so there were a few things working in my favor. But I decided to go. And I want to give you guys a little bit of a background about what the bins are first. So the Goodwill bins are where all of the items, the clothing, everything that Goodwill sells, it doesn't sell in the retail stores so they bring it to their big warehouse and they put it in these big blue bins, and you have to go and you sort through everything in hopes of finding some treasure, which makes it really fun. So where I went in Calgary, you pay by the pound and it was $1.45 per pound of items. And it's very great if you're going for clothing. Clothing is relatively light. You can stuff a whole bag full of clothes and have it be super cheap, but if you're going for hard goods, it can get a little more expensive faster than it would with clothes. So most of it is the bins full of just the random stuff that didn't sell. And then there's the other part of the store that is furniture like lamps, large decor, and that's all priced individually. So that isn't by the pound. You have to just pick it up and pay what they've labelled it as.
Bex Scott: [00:03:19] So I pulled up to the Goodwill bins. I was honestly very nervous. I wanted to bring somebody to go with me, but didn't have anybody that was available. So I'm a very introverted, shy person. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to get my elbows out or get into a confrontation with somebody over something amazing. Luckily, I didn't have to. So you walk in and you see just rows and rows of these huge blue bins, and I walked up to a few of them. It's mostly clothes on one side. I was looking through some things, and I saw this group of people at the back, and I honestly must have looked like I'd walked into the strangest situation I've ever seen because I stopped and I was staring at all these people that were just standing around in a rectangle. No idea what they were doing. And then I realized they were waiting for the next bin to roll in. So there's these yellow rectangles on the floor, and you line up at the designated yellow location marks. You're shoulder to shoulder with these people, and they roll the bin in between you and the person who rolls it out, they say you have to wait until - I think there's three bins to a row - you have to wait till all three bins are there. You have to have your hands above the bin. You can't touch anything in it. And once the last bin is rolled into your row, they say you can go and everybody just goes nuts. They dive in, clothes are flying everywhere, like you're hitting people's elbows. You're just hoping to find something that's in this bin.
Bex Scott: [00:05:03] And one of the suggestions on their website is that you wear gloves. I thought about this before I went, but then I forgot to bring them. But I 100% understand why you need to wear gloves. Because the stuff in there is not clean. It's dusty, it's dirty, and you can feel it after when you leave. Your hands are grimy, but everything can be washed, totally fine. But there's people in there that are wearing gloves, sorting through things. It's a great idea. So if you're going to go to the bins, make sure you bring your gloves. So next thing, you can use a shopping cart, but you can't have your shopping cart by the bins in the aisles at all. So everybody leaves their shopping carts on the side walls. They're just lined up in rows and rows and rows, and a lot of them have people waiting by them so that things aren't taken out of the carts. There's a rule that if it's in a cart, somebody claimed it. So a lot of people push their carts to the side and they pull from the bins, and then they go dump it in their cart and they go back. They have these little wheelie baskets that you can bring. So that's what I tried to do. I originally went in without a basket and then my hands were all full. I realized that's why you need a shopping cart. So you just keep going until you're done. And at the end, you go up and they have this massive scale on the floor.
Bex Scott: [00:06:28] You either roll your little cart up to the scale and they weigh it for you, or you dump everything into this shopping cart that is on the scale as well. So I ended up getting, I think it was $15 of things. And for $15, I got a full set of World War Two DVDs. What else did I get? Two Cabbage Patch Kids, vintage ones. My kids were not happy about those because they terrify them. I got a little dress for my daughter. I got a Roots hoodie, brand new. What else? What else? Oh, I got a huge pile of vintage fabric. Now I'm blanking on what I got. Oh, a box set of Playmobile. There was one tiny little piece missing, but that was a great find. And there were a few other things I got. So most of it was for my kids or my family. Not a lot of stuff that I could resell there, but there were a ton of dishes like pots and pans, clear Pyrex. If you need housewares like that, stuff for your kitchen, it is definitely the place to go. Oh yeah, I got a pot for camping. That was another one that was pretty heavy, so that bumped my price up quite a bit. Clothing there, there's a lot of like underwear in there that you have to sort through. A lot of the clothes are not in the greatest shape, but if you're looking for something really cheap and affordable for your family, great place to go for that.
Bex Scott: [00:08:05] Handbags, tons of handbags and backpacks, if you have the time to sort through them there's definitely some stuff that you could get in there to resell or even just to use for yourself. Toys for kids. This was the most exciting part for me. I think that they had some really great toys for kids. Some of the parts may be missing, but once again, if you dig through you can find some great toys, either to resell or for your kids to play with. And then the home decor. I was really surprised at the amount of picture frames and posters and paintings that they had, so that was a really great deal. And then just little decor pieces. And I think maybe because I went on a Sunday, they didn't have as much there as they would during the week. So my next trip would be definitely to go during the week, probably when it is more busy, unfortunately, and see the difference between a weekend thrift and a weekday thrift.
Bex Scott: [00:09:10] So one of the most shocking parts of the bins for me was the age range that was there. I'm 35 and I felt ancient. I swear I walked into, it looked like a high school dance. Like these kids, it was all guys, they were probably like 13 or 14 years old. I felt kind of like I was trying to hang out with my son's group of friends. It looked like they were professionals. They stood on that line, they rotated kind of through the bins like robots, all in a little, a gaggle of 14-year-old boys, and they would stand on the yellow lines, waiting all on their phones, heads down. Looked like they were, I don't know if they're resellers. They were all on TikTok or something. And right when the bins would come out, their little hands were in there so fast and I was watching what they were pulling out, and it was all like the really trendy clothes. So I have a feeling they were buying clothes for themselves, which is super cool because that's something that I would have done when I was their age. And of course, I go home and I told my son about this. He's not, he wasn't that interested in it. One day I'll get him to go with me because it's fun. But that was the most shocking part of the bins for me was just all these young kids standing there getting great deals, like, good for you guys. But I felt really old and I was like, am I? Am I too old to be doing this? But I did learn a few things from them. They were pulling out some pretty cool hoodies and shirts and jeans. So I'll see, likely they're not there during the week. It was a really fun thing to do. I can see how you could stay there for a full day and just stand there looking for stuff. I think next time I will definitely try to make it a full-day event, just because you need that much time to be able to sort and then pay for everything and go home after that.
Bex Scott: [00:11:14] And I don't know if you guys watch any of the Whatnot sellers from the bins, but there are people who sell live from the bins. I would love to do this. They go there, they stay all day, they pull items, and then they stand in a corner and they sell live. So I feel like if you're able to do that, that is 100% the way to make money from reselling at the bins instead of going home, sorting through everything, washing it, if you do that, and selling it and listing it online. I don't know if they would allow that. I know that these sellers get permission from Goodwill to stand there and sell right in their facilities, but it's pretty fun to watch. So check out on Whatnot some of the really great sellers that do it live from the bins, you can get amazing deals and a lot of them do it in bulk so you can buy bundles of t-shirts from them, or bundles of jeans right there while they're still at Goodwill. So I would love to know if any of you have been to the bins yourselves. What was your experience? Let me know your stories. I'm definitely going to be going back again and hopefully finding some great stuff to resell, and I will keep you updated on my next trip. Thanks, everybody! Feel free to follow me on Instagram at @PyrexWithBex.