The Top 5 Reasons Halloween Starts at Goodwill

There's a lot of talk this Halloween season about the impact of supply chain shortages on inventory, especially in regard to home and yard decorations. I'm glad to report that Goodwill, thanks to community donations, has an ample supply.

Because we understand families depend on us to make this creative holiday accessible and affordable, our retail team works throughout the year to gather clothing, accessories, home decor and other items our shoppers want during the fall months. We also understand our ability to help people overcome barriers to independence is directly related to sales in our stores - and that Halloween is effectively our largest annual fundraiser. It's a win-win situation.

But why should you (or anyone) think of Goodwill first when planning a spooktacular Halloween? Let's count it down...

When creating the perfect costume or crafting something special for your home variety is key. That's one of the reasons why we began carrying new goods to supplement our donated goods.

There are some items essential to Halloween - for instance, make up - that either can't or shouldn't be donated. New goods fill that gap by offering shoppers gloves and hosiery, wigs, fake blood, pirate hooks, steampunk goggles, feather boas, tattoo sleeves and much more.

And, because we know no October front porch is complete without a little spooky, we supplement our home decoration offerings with door covers, fright tape, spider webs and light up eyeballs, just to name a few things.

Those days of only getting a portion of your costume at Goodwill are no more. You need a witch's broom or a pirate's eye patch? Yes, we stock those. How about a Luau coconut top? Yes, that too.

There's no need to go anywhere else. Goodwill is your one-stop Halloween shopping trip. Bring the kids along and make it a fun family activity.

When you want to be different than everyone else at the Halloween party, you want to start and end your search at Goodwill. When you want your house to stand out in the neighborhood, you want to start and end your shopping at Goodwill.

Our retail team prepares for Halloween throughout the year, setting aside donations that would make perfect Halloween costumes. Dark evening gowns, for instance, make excellent witch costumes. Finish the look easily with some pointy black shoes. Grab a white shirt as the foundation of your vampire or pirate costume, then walk over to new goods for those accessories. Boots and hats make a cowboy, glitz and frills make a princess. These are the types of things we watch for year-round and set aside for Halloween.

Because donations are our key ingredient, you never know what you'll find when you shop in our stores. You can come in with one costume idea and find this one fabulous thing that inspires you to go in a completely different direction.

This variety and one-of-a-kind possibilities make Goodwill the best and easiest part of Halloween preparations.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be a super crafty person to decorate and dress for Halloween. Especially when it comes to the latter, it only needs to look really good for a day or two.

What you may need to be, however, is a list maker. Creating and carrying a list of all the various pieces that will be needed to create the perfect costume or centerpiece can be very helpful. Not only will it help you to avoid splurge purchases, but will help you know when you've found all your necessary pieces.

Because Goodwill has been in the Halloween realm a very long time, there are many resources that can help you create affordable costumes and home decor. We have a few on our Halloween Headquarters page, along with item lists for some of our most popular costumes.

And while you're out there searching for the perfect leather jacket or flapper pearls, don't forget to grab the weekly mission and snap a few pictures as part of Costume Quest 2021. There are drawings each week for a $25 gift certificate and one grand prize drawing for a $50 gift certificate.

If you follow us on social media (and you should follow us on social media), you've probably seen or will soon see some graphics that compare the price of our new goods with similar items found in traditional retail stores. The bottom line is you can take a lot of stress off your wallet by shopping at Goodwill.

And while you could go buy a new pair of black pants and paint them to look like a skeleton, why would you want to do that? Chances are you aren't going to walk around very often with painted-on bones. Eventually, if you don't donate them to Goodwill, you'll toss the pants out and add the landfill. A much better option is to purchase pants and give them a second life, then donate them back to Goodwill for a third.

Not only will you help save the environment, but you'll save yourself somewhere between $10 and $50, depending on the cost of those new pants. Now you can afford some additional paint to DIY some more bones on thrifted shoes and a shirt. You're welcome!

And even if you are the type of person who wears the same vampire get-up each year, we can help with your annual blood supply.

This may be last on our list, but it is far from least. Our mission is the purpose behind everything else we do.

Goodwill truly depends on strong Halloween sales to support our mission, which is to advance the wellbeing of those experiencing barriers to independence. Halloween is, by nearly any measure, our nonprofit's largest annual fundraiser.

Goodwill helps people from all walks of life. We help young and elderly, military veterans and reintegrating citizens. We help those who need additional skills to land a new job or promotion. We offer a host of services for those challenged by a disability, and provide the extra supports needed for some to live and work independently. We offer contract manufacturing, assembly and packaging services to meet the needs of area businesses while providing job seekers with transferable skills and work experience.

So, when you shop at Goodwill this Halloween season, you'll find incredible value, unique looks and everything you need to complete your vision. And, best of all, you'll be making a positive impact in your community by creating jobs and other opportunities.

We say it a lot, but it always bears repeating: 88 cents of every dollar we receive is reinvested in our mission.