# 20 Things to Buy at Goodwill to Resell
Goodwill gets a bad rap as picked over, but we’ve been pulling real money off those shelves for 27 years. The trick isn’t grabbing everything. It’s knowing which items carry hidden value. Here are 20 things worth a second look, with what we’ve actually sold a few of them for.
20 Goodwill finds to grab
- Sterling silverware. Look for the word sterling, not silver plated. A $10 set we thought was plated was actually sterling and sold for $1,000.
- Commercial kitchen gear. Fryers and restaurant equipment. A fryer that cost $225 sold for $6,600.
- Carpet shampooers. Name brands only. We bought machines at $35 apiece and sold them for $350 to $500 each.
- Solid wood furniture. Check for dovetail drawers and real wood joints, not particle board.
- Cast iron cookware. Older Griswold and Wagner pieces have a real collector market.
- Vintage Pyrex. Specific patterns and complete sets sell for far more than you’d think.
- Espresso machines. Brand names hold value, but always test before you commit on price.
- LEGO. Complete sets only. Loose bricks are a hassle; a complete set is gold.
- Designer bags. Coach and vintage Dooney. Learn to spot fakes before you buy.
- Vintage denim and band tees. The right brand and era has a waiting buyer.
- Film cameras. Older bodies and prime lenses. Photographers pay for specific glass.
- Vinyl records. First pressings and rare albums, not every record that looks old.
- Board games. Complete, ideally vintage. Missing pieces tank the value.
- Cordless tools. DeWalt, Milwaukee, Snap-On. Tradespeople replace these on a schedule.
- Small appliances. Test before you haggle. Plugging something in costs you leverage.
- Strollers. Quality brands hold value. Skip car seats for recall risk.
- Collectible mugs. Starbucks city mugs and Rae Dunn style lines have buyers.
- Sewing machines. Older mechanical models beat fragile digital ones.
- Typewriters. Vintage machines in working order sell to a niche that pays up.
- Home decor. Brass, mid-century pieces, and real wood. They photograph well and sell fast.
Before you buy anything
Run the sold listings first. Your money is made in the buy, so the goal is a price low enough that fees, shipping, and your time are already covered before the listing even goes up.
