A thrift shopper was thrilled to find an unexpectedly valuable surprise at the local Goodwill Outlet store and took to Reddit to boast about their discovery.
After receiving their bin, the Redditor could not believe their eyes when they found an Xbox One just waiting for them.
"I straight up hit the Goodwill bin lottery today," they captioned the post in the r/ThriftStoreHauls subreddit. "I bought an Xbox One for $.69/lb."
With the Xbox One weighing in at around seven pounds, this thrifter was able to pick up the console for about $4.83. Since the gaming system typically retails around $300 new and still well over $100 used, they grabbed a bargain.
"And... It works?!" one stunned user asked. "Wow!!! Way to go!"
"It's on," the original poster replied. "It's updated. It's logged into Game Pass and it's downloading Fallen Order."
Goodwill Outlets don't operate like traditional Goodwill shops, where visitors can rummage through the rails or sift through shelves to find a bargain. Instead, Goodwill Outlets are often found in warehouse-like settings and have pre-prepared bins that shoppers can scour through and then purchase items by weight – rather than pricing things individually.
A few commenters on the Reddit post were not familiar with Goodwill Outlet stores, but the Xbox discovery might have just converted a few people.
"This sounds … amazing," one Redditor said.
Who knows why a perfectly good Xbox One was donated to Goodwill, but it's far better than it heading to landfill.
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is becoming an increasing concern. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, citing data from the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 report, Americans created 59 million tons of e-waste in 2019, of which only 17.4% was recycled.
Items might be thrown out because they can no longer receive updates, are faulty, or because there are simply newer, better versions available. But electronics contain valuable metals that could be recycled, reducing the need to mine or drill for new ones.
Furthermore, mercury is prevalent in electronic products. The e-waste report said that among the items thrown away in 2019 was an estimated 55 tons of the toxic metal, which has either been released or will be released into the environment soon.
Electronic items are typically housed in a plastic structure, and this material won't degrade in a landfill setting. They will therefore contribute to the production of methane, a planet-warming gas significantly more potent in terms of heating potential than carbon dioxide.
And that's not to mention lithium batteries, which not only contain valuable materials but can cause fires if not disposed of properly.
So not only did our Redditor grab an unexpected bargain, but they also helped to stop electronic waste from harming the environment by continuing to put all those resources that made the system to good use.
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