Goodwill Sells $4 Million Worth of Donations Online Annually

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Goodwill Industries began selling donated clothing, home goods, books and more online seven years ago, and that operation has become a $4 million business, the SF Business Times reports. And that's without running their own e-Commerce website.

The charity sells 800 items a day through eBay—shoes, bags and jewelry are the biggest sellers. Using Amazon, the company sells 1,200 books and other media every day. All the money goes back into training hundreds of unemployed and homeless people, helping them learn skills so they can get jobs—many have already moved on to companies including UPS and online resellers such as LikeTwice.

Goodwill's own e-commerce business employs about 25 workers, many of whom were hired thanks to the training programs. And the company is working with two fellows at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business to learn how to grow they can grow e-Commerce even more. For an old school biz that sells folks' castoffs, Goodwill is adjusting to the digital age just fine.
· Goodwill Turns Charity into $4 Million e-Commerce Business [SF Biz Times]
· San Francisco Trashes 4,500+ Pounds of Clothes Every Hour [Racked SF]
· Goodwill Industries [Official Site]