One of the largest thrift chains in America, with over 330 stores, is Savers/Value Village. Both stores operate under the same company, although having different names. If you’re located in the Pacific Northwest or Canada you know them as Value Village, and everywhere else in the states its called Savers. If you’ve ever been out thrifting, you probably have stepped into a Savers or Value Village. Odds are, you’ve probably even purchased something from them. Savers/Value Village sports a healthy message of donating large portions of their profits to charity, and being a socially responsible company, but unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Unlike some other “non-profit” thrift stores, Savers/Value Village is a “FOR-profit” company. Their main objective is to make money and return money to the shareholders. It may seem somewhat contradictory that a thrift store is a “for-profit” company. Especially a thrift store that markets itself as being a charity. In 2019, the Attorney General of Washington charged Savers/Value Village with what basically boils down to deception and acting as a fake charity.

In 2019, Savers/Value Village posted over $2 BILLION in annual revenue. You read that right. A thrift store makes $2 BILLION dollars every year. How is this even possible? Well, the answer will only make you hate Savers/Value Village even more.

Savers/Value Village purchases their goods from other non-profits. They source their items from over 7,000 other non-profit companies. Non-profits ask their volunteers and staff to collect massive amounts of goods that Savers/Value Village then sorts through and resells. One company report showed that they paid around 170 Million for these goods. Now let’s do some mental math here. If the company makes $1 Billion dollars annually, then that 170 Million they paid for the goods is 17% of the revenue. This leaves 83% for profit and payouts. Savers/Value Village cost of goods is 17% of their revenue. That’s an absolutely insane markup, and one that any business would love to have. That’s about a 588% markup off of mostly donated goods to non-profits.  Prices are even continuing to rise at Savers/Value Village, which means they are increasing prices to make more profit.

Now that’s not even the worst of it. Savers/Value Village has also been proven to lie about their charity status and use tactics that are intentionally deceiving to customers and donators. Savers/Value Village urges their consumers and donors to believe that all types of donations and purchases benefit charity, which creates the impression that the company is a non-profit or charity. How did Savers/Value Village respond to these claims? They claimed free speech and the First amendment.

At the end of the day, Savers/Value Village is just another thrift store company that profits off the goodwill of buyers and donators. They make shoppers believe that they are supporting a good cause, where the only thing they are supporting is the exorbitant paycheck of their CEO’s. What can we do about it? Well the least we can do is let people know that this company is not what it presents itself to be. Savers/Value Village is not the first company to do this and will not be the last. Even Goodwill is starting to trend down this path, and they are an actual non-profit company.

What do you think we should do? What are your thoughts on Savers/Value Village? Let us know in the comments.