By Summer Taylor
Staff Writer

With the skyrocketing price of clothing nowadays, secondhand shopping has become a huge part of society, especially for Gen Z. A popular place to get these hand me downs is “The Bins”.

The Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette are an affordable and innovative way to build your closet and find stunning home decor. Whether it’s old, new, brand name, or from Shein, there’s something for everyone. 

The Oregon territories offer four of these outlets, with locations in Portland, Milwaukie, Salem, Hillsboro and additionally one store in Vancouver, Washington. Each location is open seven days a week and no matter where you go, you can expect a hoard of people looking for vintage treasures. The Goodwill outlet located in Milwaukie off of Ochoco Street is a massive building with square footage ranging between 11,000-22,000 square feet. Milwaukie is a larger location that offers 158 blue bins for people to dig through as they choose, but the other four locations offer 110.

Shoppers browsing the bins at the Milwaukie outlet. Photos by Summer Taylor

Donations are either dropped off on site or come from other retail stores around the territory before being donated to the bins. Last year, 200 million pounds of clothing were collected from 58 different drop off sites in the Columbia Willamette territory. 

Many people bring disposable gloves, but others go bare-handed and hope for the best. Lux Travis, a 16 year old junior in high school, says that his favorite part about thrifting is being able to find new clothes for his fashion. 

“I don’t really like shopping first hand because of the price, so secondhand shopping is really good,” he said. Travis regularly goes to different Goodwills, saying, “This is my second time going here but I’ve found some good stuff, it’s 50/50 chances at the bins.”

Clothing isn’t the only positive attribute to the bins, however; an 18 year old student from Lewis & Clark College, Sapphire Lee, says that the first time she came to the Milwaukie outlet, she found a bedside table for her dorm room. She thrifts regularly and loves to find decor pieces, even commenting about the prices being driven up in the last few years.

“There are a lot of resellers and I think that’s kind of what drove up the prices too. I remember when I was a kid it was like an affordable thing and we would always go thrifting.” said Lee.

The energy at the bins isn’t for the weak, with a constantly packed and busy warehouse. It’s hard to secure yourself a spot when new tables arrive. Everyone crowds around new tables, which some people call the “spawn point”, and when an employee positions the last one, it turns into chaos. People dig, shove, yank, throw, and pile their findings into their carts with the hopes that what they found will be perfect for them. 

People searching through the bins for a new find.

It’s not just teenagers that go to the bins, though. People of all ages enjoy thrifting. According to the public relations manager of the industry, Hayley Platt, 52; “Age groups are all across the board.” 

“The clientele, the age is much lower. It used to be people between 40 and 65 that shop at the outlets, and for a lot of people that’s their business,” she said “We see a lot of the same people on a regular basis. But the trend is much younger now. The age group is teenagers to mid 20’s and that really says a lot about your generation, it’s really in tune with shopping sustainably.” 

An example of one of these businesses comes from Peter Clark, a 15 year old, who runs his own reselling business. “I find a lot of stuff and sometimes I sell it, or sometimes I wear it and then sell it,” he said. “If I buy it for like 3 dollars, I sell it for 15, sometimes more if it’s a better brand.”

Hayley Platt says that the Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette offers more than just second hand clothing: they offer amenities to help people find jobs. 

“It doesn’t matter what your needs are, we help you find a job. We help with your resume, and we can help you get hooked up with employers in the area. We host hiring events and job fairs and have people who are trained to help, it doesn’t cost you a dime. We also have our career center with instructors who help teach computer classes, and we also teach ESL classes to employees and community members. The instructors have their masters degree and teach English as a second language, again, for free. Last year we helped connect 8,000 people to jobs just in our territory alone.” she said.

Sign posted by front doors of the Milwaukie outlet stating prices per pound.

 For people seeking a budget friendly shopping spree, the Goodwill bins are worth checking out for those who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Who knows, there might be a next statement piece, a bedside table, or a new career. Even for those just looking for a side hustle, the bins have it all.