Megapaca: Goodwill on 'Roids

So I confess - I'm not usually a big shopper. I tend to wear the same clothes for years and keep them completely clean and awesome because I'm anal about my stuff like that.

However when I arrived in Guatemala, one of the first things that was pointed out to me was this store that 'is like Goodwill but AMAZING!' I've always found Goodwill to be hit or miss - you can find some cool tee shirts in there, but its so few and far between, its hardly worth it. So I was hesitant to believe such hype. I was so so wrong.

MEGAPACA! The world's most awesome shopping place ever. My first venture into Megapaca had me so overwhelmed - 'how can this be 24 cents?' and 'why are there H&M jackets here?' - I left with only one shirt that didn't really fit and I only wear it when I'm working on the coast. Yet, I returned a week or so later and with a clearer head, I dug through all the racks and racks of clothes, finding deal after deal.

Basically what happens is that Megapaca buys clothing from retailers and Goodwill by the pound, then resells everything for super cheap. I mean, think about it: they spend $2 on a pound of clothing that inclues 2 jeans and 5 t shirts. They can then sell one pair of jeans for $5 and already be up profits-wise. This is a fantastic deal for Megapaca and for the consumer (aka Gringos from the States!).

Here is a little taste of what I've bought down here in Megapaca -

The baseball shirts are both from the late 80s, which I guess if you went into Buffalo Exchange you'd pay atleast $5 for. The button up shirt would be around $30 in Urban Outfitters or H&M. And the jeans... best deal ever. They had the tags still on from Zumiez - normally around $40. The socks I don't know how much they would be normally but let's say about $10 for soccer socks and $2 for 'themed' regular socks. So a total of around $80 worth of clothes for only $13.50. Blows my mind.

Here are some other things to look at to compare Guate prices to States prices -

• Public Transportation - Seattle = $2.50 vs. Guate = $.15
  
• Big Mac Meal - Seattle = $4.59 vs. Guate = $4.12
  
• Movie Tickets - Seattle = $12.00 vs. Guate = $3.12
  
• Movie Popcorn - Seattle = $6.00 vs. Guate = $3.12
  
• Soccer Tickets - Seattle = $18 vs. Guate = $5
  
• Rent - Seattle - Seattle = $350 (not including internet/utl.) vs. Guate = $105 (including internet/utl.)
  
• Bottle Return (Beer Bottles) - Portland = $0.05 vs. Guate = $0.50
  
• Obnoxious Rave Green Sunglasses - San Francisco = $10.00 vs. Guate = $4.50

This list can go on for days. Things are cheaper here. I'm not saying that it makes Guatemala better than the USA but I'm saying its cheaper to live here. Especially with Megapaca in my life.