Goodwill Thrift Store
Tightens Return Policy

While book scouting in a Goodwill thrift store today I encountered their new tightened return policy for the first time.

I was only vaguely aware that the thrift chain had made a policy change.

Since I haven't been doing very many returns lately I wasn't familiar with them.

You see, I'm an avid participant in risk free scouting and I had to return about a dozen books today to my best thrift store only to have more than half of them rejected.

So if you ever plan to return anything to Goodwill again then you'd better learn the new rules to avoid a major amount of frustration. I haven't seen a similar problem with Salvation Army thrift stores yet.

Risk Free Book Scouting

I practice a form of book scouting that enables me to aggressively purchase inventory without fear of taking a loss on firewood.

It's a win-win for me as well as the Goodwill thrift store I frequent because I buy lots of books I wouldn't ordinarily buy if I were afraid of losing money on them.

I can buy books that look valuable even if they fail to scan or don't have an ISBN. I'm not even afraid of getting stuck with an uncorrected proof copy because I know I can return it.

After I get home I research the unscanned books and if they don't have any value, I simply return them to local thrift stores within the 10-day grace period and receive a full refund.

In this way, I can buy to my hearts content, keep only the very best purchases, and return any firewood I may have collected. Heads I win, tails I don't lose!

New Management and Business Policy

However, my Goodwill thrift store has thrown a wrinkle into mix that I just learned today.

In the past, to return books all I had to do was bring them back to the store along with a receipt showing proof of purchase.

That was no problem because I purchase so many books that I always have piles of receipts lying around. But that's all changed now.

Under the new policy every book has a "product ID" that's printed on the receipt next to the item description. The product ID is picked up off the price tag that's stuck on the book. When I do a return, I have to bring the EXACT receipt I got when I made my original purchase.

So the clerk accepting the return has to match the product ID on the price tag of the book to the one printed on the receipt. If they don't match, they won't allow the return and I end up with a bunch of thrift store rejects.

Rules for Making Money Online

Obviously, the Goodwill thrift store has had problems with dishonest customers returning merchandise past the money-back guarantee period. That's not fair.

This new policy ensures that only merchandise returned within policy guidelines is accepted.

It makes perfect sense and if I weren't out of town the past few months I would have known about the policy change before embarrassing myself at the cash register today.

From now on, we all need to keep meticulous track of our receipts to remain in compliance with store policy. And the best thrift stores allow up to 14-days to return merchandise instead of 10. It's not a major inconvenience, but it is a bit of a nuisance. That's what happens when a dishonest few game the system and make it difficult for the rest of us.

Are Buying and Selling Online Marketplace Venues Still Viable for Risk Free Scouting?

I sell used books because it's the most lucrative income opportunity I've ever found that can be easily run from home.

Finding enough old and second hand books to sell is easy because there are plenty of Goodwill thrift store locations that have inventory to spare.

Can someone really make money online selling nothing but books? I do it every single day.

In addition, thousands of small sellers just like me are legitimately making money online, each of whom sell hundreds of old books every month while simultaneously building an unlimited passive income stream.

But if you're going to earn a living with books in this market you need to keep up with the rules of the game if you want to build a successful enterprise.

Good hunting.

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