Three days a week, I watch the ebb and flow of discarded items get dropped off at the local Goodwill Store. From my perch on the treadmill at the gym, I have a ringside view of this $6.1 billion industry that takes in discarded items, slaps a price tag on them, and the re-sells it to people who wait in line for 30 minutes for the doors to open. But it wasn't until I inadvertently dropped off an item that was buried in a bag with other stuff, and went back to retrieve it, that the sticker shock of the mini-fridge I donated for free wasn't worth it.
The bottom line? We're all estate sales, garage sales, or yard sales in the making. Or, Goodwill inventory contributors.
A little musical backup from the great David Stoddard on this one.
