Hah, I just dropped a frame off at GW!

Over the past year thrift store finds have been mostly cookbooks and a couple high-end CD players.
The lone cycling exception to that was a bag of Suntour ARX stuff for $10.
The conjecture about the back room has merit; I've checked back on donations to find they that didn't make it out to the showroom.

+1 I have another addiction for vintage stereo gear. I picked up a set of 1970s Bose 901s, a set of Mackey monitors and most recently a late 1970s Yamaha receiver, with nice wood case. Kept the receiver, the rest moved to new homes.

i like finding deals, they don't have to be bikes. Musical instruments, clothing, electronics, books, tools or whatever. Looking for just bikes is too discouraging. Sold a cookbook last year for $250. That was sweet.

Our Goodwill and Salvation Army stores are insanely greedy. I quit looking in them on a regular basis a long time ago. Having said that, I have found some bargains other than bikes, such as a Ryobi sliding miter saw for $40, a really nice almost new Ilco key machine for $400, which was half price.

I drive for a LTL trucking company , when I did the Seattle route I sometimes went to the main GW warehouse, and still on occasion go to local stores. Much of what is donated gets redistributed to meet local demands as most donations come from middle and upper class areas. I think a lot of donated bicycles end up going to 3rd world countries through various organizations.