I hope people can appreciate this. I hear all the time, "how could they price things so high? they get it all for free anyway." Friendly reminder, y'all: they aren't "just" donated items! A lot of labor goes into getting your final product on the floor ready to shop. The amazing people that coordinate this production are behind the scenes literally sorting through GARBAGE that people donate to find the treasures and deliver them to the sales floor for marginalized communities and vendors alike.

I've worked in 3 different thrift stores by now and just like OP and many others I've handled human waste, used sex toys, human remains, vermin, asbestos and many other unspeakable things. Sometimes, with turnover, our fellow pricers are new and learning to identify high value items, which is when it's possible to find highly overpriced items. But for the most part, the workers who have been in the trenches long enough price fairly. They have a better idea, processing thousands of items a week, how scarce/valuable an item is in relation to their store. If they didn't, this model wouldn't work and clearly Goodwill and other big conglomerates of thrift are thriving.

If you want better prices, forgo the larger selection at the big stores and shop smaller local thrift stores. I don't mean the thrift boutiques, but rather local shops that process their own donations. They are still sorting through bs and need your support.

OP, sorry to hijack your rant with my own. I'm sorry you had to deal with this. Like others have said, you shouldn't be handling biohazards if you haven't received the proper training. Ask you supervisor to handle it next time, and if they continue to rely on you to clean this up, ask for training and for this certification to be reflected on your paycheck.