Goodwill

Ah, still a NO STAR kinda place. Ranked the lowest in ALL of the thrift stores I visit.
Just went back in yesterday… and low and behold, I had the absolute pleasure of being checkout out by someone who I presume was high as a kite on who knows what. She had an angry demeanor about her as if I and THE WHOLE WORLD owed her something… (which we DON’T). Without a smile, a greeting, or anything… she rung up my items (all breakables) and then printed my receipt without so much as a bag handed to me. I guess I also have to do your job as a checker considering it must be too hard for you to handle! I also had to ask for paper to wrap my items in as they would surely break on the way home. She basically threw a stack at me and then proceeded to help another customer as if I wasn’t even there.
WOW goodwill! Just WOW. I almost thought about not leaving a review considering this person was clearly fresh out of rehab or probably on community service… but considering I was still wrapping my items as she declared she was going out for a smoke break, I figured it would be worth saying something. I can’t say every person who works there acts like this, but this person was clearly unqualified for even the most basic of tasks and clearly has a HUGE chip on her shoulder. It’s sad really, and unfortunate that the shop is taking on such a liability by hiring rude and inconsiderate employees. I will take another 6 month hiatus from this hell hole and save myself the possibility of interacting with strung out junkies on the job.
BEWARE! This place never gets better.

I love when the Alameda Goodwill store has their 50% off apparel sale! There are a lot of hidden gems there. I just spent $ 20 and got two pairs of designer pants, a tank top, a NWT top, a pair of like new heels and 2 pairs of new socks. Sure beats spending $$$ on new items.
Sure parking is limited but its on an island so you can bike, walk or ride the bus there if you are a local.
BTW there is only one dressing room not two like the review above says. Customer service is a gamble, sometimes they joke and smile while other times I feel like I just made them miss their break time by coming up to the register. Overall I enjoy coming to this store and will keep coming back!

I’m not a fan of goodwill so imagine my surprise when I found a location that was easy to find, clean, well organized, as well as staff that was very pleasant. I’m only giving this review four stars due to the fact that I had to park at a nearby laundromat that had warning signs to not park in their facility unless I was using their services. I would assume that next time around their lot would be open but If it’s not that just goes to show that many people are interested in the treasures they will find at this goodwill. I’m not patient enough to dig through thrift stores to find clothing but on my way out I took a quick glance and everything was organized very neatly by color and style which If I was looking for clothes would have found incredibly sweet. The store wasn’t huge but they had a fair share of housewares. I was searching for frames and art and was very impressed. I’ve never found so many pieces of art in a thrift shop that made my jaw drop. It must have been my lucky day! By the time I was ready to walk out I found three beautiful items and my experience was better than shopping at the dollar tree when my grand total came to $ 2.97. I have discovered a gem and will continue to search the treasures of this shop.

Terrible location with horrible parking lot. Mostly a bunch of arrogant locals (majority being racist caucasians)

Meh selection, mostly clothes, and the people who staff the donation side aren’t grateful at all for your stuff no matter what you bring. They won’t help you unload and barely speak to you if you ask where they’d like you to put donations or let them know when a box contains breakables as you watch them heave other boxes into bins without a care. If there were an alternative place to take my things on the island I would. The Goodwill I used to frequent back in Aurora, IL was amazing!!! I don’t know what the deal is with this place.

Love the selection of stuff, better quality. Cost a little bit more but better selection. They do have some color tag sales at 50 percent off which when you find are worth it cause that’s usually a good deal! I like this place!

Well, Here’s my story. I went in this morning to look for Jewelry and I found a (regular) customer helping himself to the Jewelry case with out anyone there to supervise and he was putting rings and other jewelry he thought was valuable into his nasty mouth in between coughing and wheezing. I watched him put each item into his mouth and biting it and when he pull it away form his mouth a sting of silva was stretched from his mouth to the item. AND he put it back into the case. While laughing and talking with the «manager» of how he sold some things he bought from there the other day. Disgusting, gross, gnarly. I almost threw up in my mouth. I go there a lot and bought jewelry there dozen of times. After what I saw, I decided to call later and speak to the manager about it. She laughed and expressed a lack of caring. Then acted like she didn’t understand english towards the end of our conversation. DISGUSTING!!!

After doing check-​ins at Kohl’s, Office Max, and Pagano Hardware (all retail businesses at Southshore Center) in search of a table lamp without any success, I was about to give up. Kohl’s sell their table lamps online, Office Max only had desk lamps for the office and Pagano had an antique lamp going for about $ 300. My husband suggested the Goodwill, so we continue on our little venture to Goodwill.
Goodwill has plenty of clothing, dishes, vases, books, etc., but a limited selection on lamps. I did see one that looked somewhat decent. I asked one of the employees to help me bring it down to the table, so I can do an inspection. She wasn’t personable and really did not want to be bothered, as she was busy doing something else. Ooh, I guess I interrupted her.
The wood base had a fixture for a trio of night lights, except there was no lamp shade and the light switch was damaged… okay, nix it. I didn’t stay long to browse any further. I came in search for one item… no need to waste my time and my husband was waiting in our parked vehicle. In and out of there in less than 10 minutes.

My favorite spot to donate random unwanted items. Super nice people working here too!

We regularly donate to this location. The folks at the drop off and in the store are super friendly and helpful. Goodwill does good for our community — please donate and shop!

My place to donate shirts, pants and jackets that are in good shape. The Goodwill store is well organize and they have the collection area set-​up to take all of the donated items. Hopefully some of my Hawaiian shirts I donate go to a person who wants to feel the «Aloha Spirit» on the island of Alameda.
Inside the store they always have some interesting kitchens items and books. There have been some interesting men’s suits donated, wool suits from the 60“s. I wonder who donated that stack of Playboy magazines that now resides in my Man Cave. Just kidding…

On just about every holiday that falls on a Monday, the store will have a 50% off sale. Being in Alameda, there seems to be well to do donors. I went on President’s day and found numerous Nordstrom Boat shirts fresh with tags from the cleaners, Ralph Lauren Polos, Brooks Brothers, Hugo Boss shirts. I must have spent a total of $ 50 and came out with about $ 700 of gently used merchandise in great condition. If you know quality, you will «come up» on excellent deals here!

Hay Goodwill!
In a more urban area, going to thrift stores does not always yield the hip gems that everyone seems to fantasize about since that song came out– or the 90s happened (or both, depending on who you are). Usually Goodwills/​salvation army’s/etc are pretty «picked-​through» in more metropolitan areas where people of all walks of life have at least a slight sense of fashion or appearance that comes from being around other human beings. Of all the stores and Goodwills in the SF Bay area, the Alameda location, while very small, is one of the best.
Because it’s removed on the «Island» (of floating garbage), nowhere near a BART, only a certain number of people will have «picked-​through» this store at any given time. Also, because it’s in Alameda, there are oftentimes some very nice, quality housewares that people drop off after an estate sales at one of the many many nice, turn-​of-​the-​century homes.
A good spot to check for records (sometimes a lot, sometimes none), matching-​sets of dishes and whatnot, strange kitchen appliances, and random work-​shirts.
Their leather section is overpriced, they never seem to have many shoes (or maybe people just jump on those), and I don’t think I’ve ever seen non-​denim pants on the racks ever.
It may not be the best Goodwill EVER, but considering its location, and how crappy a lot of the other local stores are, it’s a must-​hit. Whether you’re actually a little broke and need some affordable stuff for life, or you’re just there to tell a story about how you got this cool [thing] at Goodwill, you stand to save a lot of money here – and who doesn’t love THAT?
My purchase: Antique marble rolling pin, matching parsley/​garlic salt table-​shakers, much needed light-​grey Arrow dress shirt, and a psychotic Argyle/​Plaid/​Paisley nightmare of a button-​down. Final Price: $ 20
If it sucks, come back! It’s Goodwill, and they restock all the time!

It has been a while since I’ve written on Unilocal about any business, whether good or bad. But, my experience at this Goodwill sucked of ‘elephantine proportions.’
First, although you can’t hustle the prices, you can (and have to) hustle the workers for a justifiable price. Basically, two months ago I scored a portfolio of some choice fine art silkscreen prints that had no price tag on them. Scoping the scenery, I noticed two workers… old Filipino lady… other young girl. I chose the young girl because I know she’ll give me a fair price and the Filipino lady is gonna jack it up. Racist, much? Maybe.
Case in point: Young girl gave me a legit price. Also, last week I spot a vintage Oxford/​Cambridge-​looking messenger bag. Something I’ve been aching to own since I was an undergraduate at generic-​state-​school-​USA. It’s priced at $ 35! Yesterday I go back thinking the price might have gone down. Nope. Only two people working, old Filipino lady and her Filipino doppelgänger. I ask doppelgänger if she’ll cut a few bucks off the price because the zipper is broken, she says, «I cannot because it is leather.» I ask, «Would you give me a discount if I was Filipino?»
She nods. True story.
I come back with $ 30. I pride myself on NEVER spending more than $ 10 on any given item at a thrift store/​yard sale/​antique faire. But, I need this bag. So, I talk to old Filipino lady about the zipper, she talks to doppelgänger. «Ok, I gib it to you for $ 29.99.» Awesome. But, of course… not without that grain of salt attached as she repeats under her breath with condescension, «$ 29.99.»
Dear shady ladies, just because something is leather doesn’t automatically make it Cinderella’s pumpkin coach. The leather bag doesn’t turn back into a cow, it just sits in the depths of your overpriced SECOND HAND items and collects dust. I’m glad that I scored what could possibly be some very expensive art prints, but I’m sad that you jacked me for $ 30. I will never… ever…step foot into this store again.
Sincerely,
Avid thrift shopper.

This is one of my favorite Goodwill stores. The staff is so helpful and nice. Besides being a drop-​off location and store, this store is small, well-​kept, quaint and very easy to get to by bus. I always find something great there.
One thing that is a problem, is that Goodwill has been raising its prices through the roof. Many times it is cheaper to go to TJ MAXX or Walmart to get better prices. I used to be able to get many things for $ 20, now it buys one pair of pants and one shirt (not new).
I wish Goodwill could re-​think their strategy and give consumers the deals they need in order to get by on their incomes, like they used to. After all, most of the items there are donated. I have donated to Goodwill for years and I shop there. So it is hard to have to pay $ 15 for a pair of used shoes.

If you have donations to make don’t bother going to this Goodwill. We donate items several times a year and I’ve repeatedly had poor experiences here. Case in point, I tried making some donations today and as I was pulling items out of my car a worker came out and literally wagged his finger at me and said «no, no, no.»
He and another worker proceeded to debate what items they would be willing to take or not take, and ultimately he told me I should try taking most of my items to the Oakland Goodwill because they would probably want them at that location but they did not want most of my items at the Alameda location.
Total waste of my time. Not to mention insulting behavior from the staff.

I had a pretty good experience here since my last visit. Lots of clothing here. They even have a rack full of leather jackets in every color. I was able to find some quality items and tried to not go crazy and buy everything I see.
They have two clean dressing rooms. They also have a mirror on the outside as well. Books and glassware in the back.
The parking lot is tiny and an accident hazard so maybe park on the street. Other than that, the service was very friendly and there’s lots of great finds here.

Being an experienced thrifter, I can tell you that this is the most overpriced Goodwill in the Bay Area! For example: I bought a fabulous Nine West leather coat at the San Leandro Thrift Town for $ 4.99. This Goodwill had a fabulous no name leather coat for $ 59. Black Chico’s skirt at SF Goodwill boutique (West Portal) was $ 5.99. Nearly identical Chico’s skirt at the Alameda Goodwill was $ 13.99! Whazz up?!
I f you think this place is a deal, do yourself a favor and hop on BART to the Civic Center exit in SF and check out the big a** Goodwill on Van Ness & Mission. See you there :)

goods look neatly stacked here. (maybe for ages) glassware looked faded.
there wasn’t much selection n the book section. most had no pricing. hardcovers seem to be 2.99, 3.99, softcover: 1.49, 2,.99…
read: «how to write funny’-add humor to every kind of writing» (2.99)
–maybe i can get more «funny» votes from the adivice within.
shopping notes:
–store looked clean
–clerks ok
–small parking lot full.
–books pricey compared to other thrifts.
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This Goodwill used to be all that and a bag of chips, but now it’s just a fun-​sized bag… of Sun Chips. Where did all the awesome stuff go?
Good to go to if you’re in the area, recovering from a food coma from Jim’s next door; bad any other time.