A woman dropped off an Anthropologie dress at Goodwill, only for it to end up on Goodwill’s online bidding site instead of in-store.
@madfit77, a TikTok content creator who recently got married, had an extra, never-worn wedding dress from Anthropologie. Out of kindness, she decided to donate the dress, hoping that it would “make someone’s day.”
Then a commenter tried to find the dress: “OMG this would’ve been perfectttt! I just called to see when they were putting this on the floor to go buy and they said they are sending it out to shop good will because it is a nice dress- I COULD CRY,” they wrote.
That’s when @madfit77 realized that the dress she posted in her TikTok video with 615,000 views was getting “auctioned” off by Goodwill. “OH NO!!! I didn’t even know they could do that, wow,” she said.
Goodwill—overpriced?
Goodwill started its e-commerce website, shopgoodwill.com, in 1999. Since then, it’s evolved and shifted, functioning similarly to Mercari and eBay in 2025. In recent history, many shoppers have noticed a large amount of high-quality items funneling to shopgoodwill.com. Additionally, huge price increases on leftover items.
Customers have had major issues with the platform since it became a bigger staple of Goodwill’s overall business model. This isn’t the first time that Goodwill has auctioned off high-priced items to the detriment of in-person shoppers.
We’ve reported on previous incidents where bags and other items got auctioned off before customers coming into Goodwill stores can touch them. In California, a woman found a luxury bag in a store, only for it to get ripped away and sold online for $27.
Other TikTok users theorize that all of the items inside of Goodwill’s “showcases” are fake luxury products, leaving employees to sell the real ones off online.
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Prices have also made many Goodwill shoppers abandon the company entirely. A recent story documented Nike joggers at an Oregon location listed for $39.99, a minimal price difference overall.
How does shopgoodwill.com work?
Based on previous accounts, employees at Goodwill locations are instructed to “look out” for high-ticket items. Once one gets donated, they set it aside to send to shopgoodwill.com. They’ve instructed people interested in these particular items to go bid for them on their website.
They sell designer goods from pretty much every upscale store, which functionally empties Goodwills across the country.
@madfit77 #thrift #donate ♬ A Couple Minutes – Olivia Dean
Despite the frustration, @madfit77 is still happy
Despite the fact that @madfit77 wanted her dress to hit the floor, she’s still happy with her wedding day. She didn’t end up wearing the Anthropologie dress on her wedding day. It lowered the sentimental value and made it a more practical donation.
Still, she expressed some frustration at the fact that her donation wasn’t going to a woman in her area and was instead getting bid on online.
Many commenters advised her to donate to local thrift shops in the future and to avoid Goodwill, complimenting her on her “beautiful intentions” despite the undesired result.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Goodwill and @madfit77 for comment.
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