Goodwill Industries of NWNC review: Work environment

I am a former employee at a Goodwill store in North West North Carolina. I worked for Goodwill for two years before i resigned last month in August. I believe that the consumer should know what they are paying for when they buy from goodwill. My job as a Lead Associate which is like a manager, i was in charge of the back in the donations department. I would accept the donations, sort threw them and price what would go out onto the floor. Occasionally we do get in donations that are very valuable and collectables. These items go to Goodwills online e- commerce store, which is a bidding site similar to ebay. However the problem here is some of the people that work in the donations department are not experienced in authentication. What is happening is they are pricing knockoff coach purses for example at pretty much full retail price. I personally have come across several items that were not authentic but are getting up price as if they were. whenever we get name brand products in donations we are told to up price them. So basically if a pair of Nike shoes came in that sold for $80 retail we are told to put at least to put $40 on them.In the last couple of years Goodwill has continued to raise there prices to where its matching the same as major retail stores such as Marshalls, TJMax and so on. In some cases Dollar store donations would come in that only cost $1 we were told to price them at at least $2-3. I never did this because i took the time to get to know my customers and what they liked. It didn't sit right with me to over charge. I also made sure i would put quality items on the shelves without price gauging. I stick to the standard of would i buy this, i don't want to put anything on the shelves that would be a insult to the customer. Goodwill is taking advantage of the consumer. It used to be that families that struggled or people who were in need could come to shop at Goodwill for all there needs because it was affordable. Now it has gotten so out of control that many people have stooped coming in and shop at our stores. I have had the opportunity to work at two seperate Goodwill locations and i can confirm that this is going on in all there stores. We have quotas we are supposed to meet each day. Each department has there own quota to meet. If we continue to make our daily goal at the end of each quarter we get a bonus. Also something else consumers should be aware of is that the majority of the employees in the back working donations pick and choose what they want from the donations. So in turn that's taking away from the customer. And to add to that it's against company policy to steal and take any donations. Its grounds for immediate termination.I have plenty of other stories and incidents that occur on a daily basis that are either illegal or violation of company or consumer rights. So many of the donations we get are thrown away into the trash without even getting sorted threw. And less then 1/8 of the revenue goes to the community. All the programs that Goodwill has or say they have are all funded by grants. So when customers are getting rung up at the register they are asked if they would like to round up to help support our job program/career center. But that is not where the extra money is going. Its all profit. As of this year certain Goodwill's are no longer hiring individuals with felonies or misdemeanor on there records. Goodwill is supposed to be a second chance company and now they have done away with that aspect of one of there programs. Goodwill discriminates against the disabled especially the mental disabled people. I should know because i was one of them. I would like my complaint or story to be shared to spread awareness on just who Goodwill really is and what they stand for. The customers are being taken advantage of and lied to. If you would like to contact me for further information please feel free. I hope this gets posted and someone takes a real good look at some of these issues i mentioned in this article.