Baffled Woman Finds $7 Empty Wine Bottle for Sale at Goodwill: 'Trash' - Newsweek

A dedicated thrift shopper has gone viral for showing off something she had never seen in a store before: "trash" on sale for a relatively high price.

Rebekah Gouger, 30, and from Tucson, Arizona, has a TikTok account dedicated to her thrift-store finds. She usually shares hidden gems: designer labels such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci for next to nothing. But a recent video has gone viral after she shared the moment she found something not-so-impressive in a Goodwill store: an empty wine bottle, on sale for $7.

Gouger told Newsweek: "I've seen empty bottles for sure but never being sold for as high as $7." Newsweek has contacted Goodwill multiple times for comment.

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In a clip to her account @bekathrifts on August 24, with over 77,000 likes, grant writer Gouger told the camera: "I've never seen Goodwill try to sell trash before, basically."

She then pulled an empty bottle of wine, with the label still attached, from the shelf, and turned it around to show the price. "Empty wine bottle, " Gouger said. "Seven dollars. That is wild."

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TikTok users were in shock, with one writing of Côte des Roses wine by Gérard Bertrand: "I bought the actual full bottle of that at CVS for $9."

"I used to find such great stuff for so cheap," another posted, while one commented: "I have about 7 empty wine bottles a week I could be a millionaire."

And as one wrote: "For $7 you should get the wine with it."

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Gouger, who loves thrifting, told Newsweek she had no idea her video would "resonate with so many people."

She added that the experience made her "question who is donating these items instead of taking them to recycle?"

Gouger said people have told her about finding empty pickle jars and even KFC buckets while out thrifting, and added: "Since posting this video, I will say I see so much more trash at so many different thrift stores that I just never noticed before, specifically the clay yogurt containers."

The global secondhand market, from thrift stores to online marketplaces such as Vinted, has risen rapidly in recent years, and in 2023, was estimated to be worth $197 billion, according to Statista.

In comparison, the market was estimated to be worth $141 billion in 2021, and by 2028, is projected to rise to $350 billion, Statista reports.

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Rachael O'Connor is a Newsweek Life & Trends reporter based in Leeds, U.K. Her focus is on reporting trends from across the internet and all corners of the world. Rachael joined Newsweek in 2024 from Metro.co.uk and previously worked for The Irish Post. She is a graduate of the University of Galway. Languages: English, Irish. You can get in touch with Rachael by emailing [email protected].

Rachael O'Connor is a Newsweek Life & Trends reporter based in Leeds, U.K. Her focus is on reporting trends from ...Read more