Pak Ratz Thrift Shop — Local services in Marquette

originally, years ago I had given this place a nice 5 stars because they hadn't started their greed run like every other consignment shop in Marquette other than St Vinny's and the Salvation Army, but in the last couple of years their prices on stuff they've RECEIVED FOR FREE from donors just like you and me have SOARED. My barometer for greed is simple: the price of used books. Whereupon before, they were $1 to $3 for an old dogeared hardcover, now they're upwards of $5 to $15. That's ridiculous. Oh and they've been trying to sell an INVICTA for $120 for over a year now and thats just not gonna happen. I get it, they wanna get the most bang for their buck, but the thing is, there IS no "buck" when the items are donated, at least not where cost of stock is concerned.

You're NOT eBay. You're NOT Amazon. You're a midrange resale shop in a midrange town and charging $50 for a used pair of shoes that cost $75 ten years ago is bad business and sooner or later, that shizz is gonna come back to bite ya in the buttocks.

The people that work there are nice, however, and it's probably not their fault business ethics are deteriorated to the point of non-existence, but I give them another 3 to 5 years before they price themselves outta business and all the people who could've benefitted from the proceeds will be SOL again.

For real tho... look up 'Invicta' watches and realize they're the joke of the watch world and nobody would buy one for $20 anymore. For some reason, that just bugs the living...

Pak Ratz has a steady stream of decent items. My recent finds have included cool clothes for my 3rd grade granddaughter who hit a growth spurt, work out clothes for myself, dishes for camp that match some there and are ok to freeze or microwave. I also got a lovely lined, linen skirt for summer and perfectly fitting, white denim, Levi's capri jeans. Perfect price for our short summers and my messy activities. I love to see what is on the tee shirt...

I know proceeds of this place go to the women's shelter, and that's wonderful, but there's alot to be said. Prices are extremely high for donated goods. Comparison of ebay listings. Everything they get is FREE. Items should not be $50/$100+. The employees are also hit or miss. The older lady working there asked me for who and what I was buying clothes for considering I was buying XS and that clearly wasn't my size....