Goodwill Store

Just came here for the first time! First off, people are right about the spanish women. I swear these ladies have nothing else to do besides stay at this warehouse ALL day long! They act like zoo animals too. I got there around 10 am and all those ladies already had their carts filled and covered with blankets along the side and sitting hanging out like they were at home-​waiting for the workers to bring out the new bins…
I ignored and went down the isle to begin picking. This place was pretty ratchet, i must say. Everything is mixed together… from dirty underwear to ripped socks and stained bed skirts and nice j. crew sweaters and vintage tops. Its weird and i dont understand why it cant be sorted! Anyways besides being grossed out by accidently mistaking old undies for tops a few times i started to hit the gems!
Now im a frequent thrifter, i am an online seller and sell things from the 90s, sometimes early 2k— I definately found what i was looking for. I was here for about an hour but couldnt stay any longer because one arm hurt from sifting through bins and the other hurt from holding all the clothes! The check out lady was so sweet and helpful, and i ended up paying only $ 15 for 2 massive bags of clothing. Wowie! What a deal!
Going here was an experience and is a cheap spot to hit once a month. Ill be back in a few weeks to see what other treasures i can find!

Hadn’t been here in two years so I thought I’d see if it changed any. NO– and management is worse. Not even the security guard can control the out of control greedy women there. While I was there a fight broke out with a screaming match — I knew it was time to leave. So don’t waste your time unless you want to get pushed, stepped on and deal with the rudest people grabbing armfuls of dirty outdated clothing. You’ll do much better at a Goodwill store where the clothing is sorted through (no soiled underwear) and hung up nicely where you look at it and purchase like a human being.

This is the best Goodwill ever. Be prepared to get dirty and trampled in order to emerge with the haul of a lifetime. The fun part is that you are rewarded for the effort you put in. Because there’s treasures in those piles waiting to be found!

The older ladies who are there almost everyday are WILD ANIMALS. They will push and run you over for the stuff.

I’m leaving this review after reading all the negative ones because that simply wasn’t my experience. I only went once, and it was about 4 – 5 years ago. It was late afternoon, and I believe a weekday. I’ve been wanting to go back, but maybe things have changed for the worse based upon what I’m reading.
But… that being said, I remember nothing of waiting mobs, rushing to bins, nasty women (hispanic or otherwise!) I also remember the clothing being pretty decent, although OF COURSE you dig for the jewels. That’s the point of this place, and for me was the fun of it. The time I went I remember I spent about two hours digging around, putting things in my cart, weighing and debating, changing my mind and putting stuff back.
For those who don’t know, this is the Goodwill store that other Goodwills send their old stock to. I saw a few postings here that talked about dropping off donations to this place, and that may very well be the case, but the purpose of this place is to get rid of what couldn’t sell elsewhere. (I was originally told about it by a clerk at a «regular» Goodwill store who recommended it as a place to get some bargains. The regular stores mark the tags of things so they know how long they’ve had it, and they send their old stuff to this place to make room for the new.)
My haul was cheap. I don’t remember HOW cheap, but it was CHEAP… I felt like a bargain-​hunting goddess when I walked out. I am right now wearing a pair of jeans from there that I always get compliments on. Not a brand name that I know of, but definitely the type of jeans that would go for $ 60-​$ 80. I also got several purses and makeup bags that I still use and enjoy. Got two vintage dresses, with union labels, even. I don’t wear them that much, but they make me feel oh-​so-​hipster when I do. (I hate how overpriced things are at vintage stores). If I remember, I also got 1 – 2 sweaters, a men’s suit jacket (they had lots of that type of thing, and I got it for my tween son– it kills me to pay the typical $ 200 for a jacket because he just tosses them on the floor of his room). I know I got other things… a couple cute women’s tees, backpacks for my kids, etc. I remember taking everything out at home and taking a photo to email to mom to show my haul. After laying everything out on the couch, I couldn’t get it all in one shot.
Anyhow, maybe I’ll try to go again soon and I can post an update on how the experience goes now… but, from that past experience, it’s a recommend (and over the years I’ve told many people about how cool it was).
Yes, the actual physical place is depressing– big, dark, concrete floor, and only a bunch of bins or those shallow tables that hold stuff (like the purses). That didn’t bother me. I’ve been in much worse places in my life! I didn’t have gloves or hand sanitizer, but the sanitizer is a smart tip.

I’m only giving this review based on an ATROCIOUS woman I met there. Usually the members are nice there, with the occasional «excuse me» and «Sorry, sir“s. But this time was the absolute worst experience I have ever had there, and i’m an avid thrifter there. I gave another review on this place, five stars or something… Anyway.
So I was sifting through the clothing and digging deep into the clothing to pull the pile to another bin, because I like to do things in order and make sure I’ve got everything, right? You kind of have to pull out the clothes because theres a ton of clothing to sift through, this ain’t Barneys. This woman is working beside me. Peace and harmony. Or so I think.
She looks up at me and yells, «Can’t you see that I’m TRYING to get through these clothes? If you keep pulling them out of my sight I can’t see anything I might want to get! I can’t believe people these days!» She’s not even whispering. The people at the next bins look over at her. Me, slightly red-​faced, says sorry to her and I keep sifting through the clothing. At least say «Excuse me».
I try and pull the clothing out slowly, not throwing it in order to avoid further upsetting this woman.
I eye a pair of jeans and I make a grab for it, but before I can touch it, a claw goes swish right out of the sky and snatches the jeans. It’s the woman again. Holding on to the jeans, she starts yelling at me again. This time, her volume increases tenfold, and the whole entire goodwill store can hear her. My cheeks turn a tomato red as the whole store gets to hear about my faults.
«I HAVE TOLD YOU THREE TIMES NOT TO THROW THE CLOTHING AROUND! THREE TIMES. I KNOW you were raised better then this! If you keep on going on like this, I will personally go complain to those goodwill workers here about your rude and unacceptable behavior! You CANNOT throw things around like this! Were you raised in a barn?»
After going on like this for a good ten minutes, I’ve had enough. I had to leash up my self control and slowly walk away. My blood pressure has been raised to its boiling point because:
1) She commented on my throwing stuff around. Okay, I’ve stopped throwing stuff around since you *cough* nicely asked last time. I have put time and effort into trying to do what you have asked me, and its not even necessary. You do the same thing. Everyone does. You KINDA HAVE TO LOOK THROUGH EVERYTHING???
2) Yelled at me at TOP VOLUME in front of the whole store. This isn’t a reality show. It’s not funny. If you have business to discuss with other shoppers, do it in private, low-​key conversation. Or at talking volume. I don’t care. Just don’t broadcast it to the world, okay?
3) Continued grumbling on about me to other shoppers, causing more damage. I put up with everything she’s said to me and had to say sorry multiple times and she keels on going? Hello, ma’am, this business is done. It is immature to keep going on about it and inconveniencing other shoppers. You are not at a gossiping beauty parlor. You are disrupting fellow shoppers with your repetitious drivel. MOVE ON.
4) Grabbed a pair of jeans out of my grasp she obviously knew I was heading for? That’s the most immature thing I have ever seen.
5) Had the audacity to INSULT MY PARENTS? and HOW I WAS RAISED… «I know you were raised better than this!» She has absolutely NO BUSINESS talking about my parents! Making assumptions like this doesn’t make sense and is furthermore insulting. This was probably the thing that made me most angry. Wouldn’t you?
6) and gave me the stank eye for the rest of the time I was shopping. CAN we have a little peace and understanding here? What’s done is done. No need to go all never-​forget-​this moment on me here. I said sorry. You screamed at me in front of the entire store. End of story.
But it’s not the end of the story. What she did was absolutely unacceptable and this is why i am giving this review 1 star.

I’m only writing this review based upon donating things here. I love how it’s open on the weekends so I can drop things off if I’m too tired on a work day. If you’re looking at the main entrance there’s a door to the left that has donations written on it. I just rang the doorbell and Trevor, the manager opened the door. He was very friendly and nice. I just dropped off my carload of things… and I was given a tax deductible receipt. The receipt only listed how many bags of items I donated. it’s up to me to determine the value. I hope that most of the items I donated will be useful! I wasn’t sure what I could/​could not donate
And when I was looking for the entrance to donate… I walked into the main entrance for the store part. wow it looked crazy. you can buy clothes by the pound and people were holding like huge piles of clothes in their arms…

I honestly would just go for the experience alone. You’re definitely not finding the pick of the litter (no pun intended.) In fact, you’ll be lucky to find anything that is not ripped, stained, or even wearable. That’s because the ladies with the carts will basically run you over so they can have their own inventory at their thrift shops or weekend flea markets (seriously: go to a flea market around NYC, they are the same people… gotta love the turnover rate.)
Anyhow, if you are lucky or even more dilligent than the cart ladies, you can get some decent items. It’s worth the haul. But this makes other thrift stores around the area look like Nordstrom’s in comparasion.

I like to explore and see if there are any gems among the rough while going through the stuff at Goodwill. At the other locations in the city the clothes and other goods are sorted and arranged neatly for you to look through. Unlike most of the Goodwill locations in the city, the goods at the van dam st store are all in huge bins for you to sort through. While this might seem like a better idea, the problem arises when dozens of probable resellers are grabbing loads on loads of clothes without even sorting and putting them into their carts which they then sort for their liking. Essentially this causes most of the new items to be taken fast while ruining the shopping experience for the rest of us. I use the term probable resellers as these individuals (10+ look at the pictures or go a few times) are at this location daily doing the same thing because it is their job. On the bright side this location offers goods that resellers didn’t find or didn’t want for sale.
**Take note** You can compete with the resellers when new items are put out, line up and make a dash for new items grabbing the stuff before them.

Oh you MUST go here! Its a trip. They make everyone stand back, wheel out bins of junk, then WHIP the blankets off the tops.
And everyone rushes forth like wild dogs — looking for the best items.
Its the human race at their animal best.
And everything is sold by the pound. So you can get five pounds of sweaters for like 2 dollar somethin. etc.
Worth checking out.

I came here on a Sunday morning/​afternoon (they open at 12), and I arrived at around 12:10. I left at 12:25. The regulars were crowded at the front of the store, waiting anxiously for the workers to bring out new bins. My guess is that they had been here the day before and had already picked through these bins, so they were waiting for the new stock.
This group was something else. rude, snarky, and territorial, especially the Hispanic women. The workers are no better. Apparently there are rules and a standard operating procedure here. You can’t take shopping carts in between the bins, so you have to park it somewhere against the wall, which is apparently already cluttered with these veterans’ carts and covered with some identifying blankets to make sure no one takes their stuff. (?) Have these carts been here for a while? Apparently so. I don’t know how long they sit there. maybe these people stockpile day after day and check out once a week to avoid paying repeat sales taxes? I don’t know, but they sure as f*ck know what they’re doing.
To top it off, this place was CROWDED. It’s bad enough having to dig through bins but having a shitload of people fighting for the same space is enough to turn me off. I honestly didn’t even wait for the moment when the workers opened the new bins. I left shortly thereafter. The way these people were standing behind «the line» while the workers brought out the fresh meat was enough for me to imagine how Hunger Games-​ish this was about to become. (They herd everyone to the front and make everyone stand behind a line by the registers when they’re ready to bring out new bins).
This place is a lot closer to my house than Housing Works Buy the Bag, but at least they’re civil over there. And so, I hopped on the BQE and drove myself over there instead. I’ll maybe try this place again on a weekday afternoon, when it’s dead, and I don’t have to fight for some cheap clothes.

This place is a bit of a hike from Court Square, would take the 7 an extra couple stops next time. I was surprised there wasn’t as much stuff as I expected there to be being that it’s a warehouse. It was a little disappointing! Nevertheless, there were some good finds there — including a gently worn James Perse t shirt and a great record selection. Was pleasantly surprised at the student discount as well. This place is a great bargain.

A place where you have to fight and get what you want. No kind of organizations of the bins and people. You have to fight with many Spanish woman that are there everyday and stay there all day. They don’t give opportunities for other that in need for clothes and etc. Once new clothes arrives on the bins, they would rush and grab as much in their car. It seems like they are resellers. When you complain to the security, they don’t care and their attitude is extremely rude and even get scream at. Even the staff is not friendly. Very stressful place…

Well, I got there about 1.5 hours before closing on a weekend. It wasn’t too busy and got less busy over time. I left 20 min before closing.
This is the kind of place where you cannot take off your coat or gloves, because someone will try to buy them. (Actually happened.) If you’re not really, actually poor, and if you’re into thrifting, I think it’s more of a novelty to see what it’s all about. If you can afford new clothes, I don’t see the benefit of going back more than once or twice in a year. There’s no organization, no mirrors, and it’s not easy to push your cart around. The carts have bad wheels, and other people also have carts and there isn’t space to maneuver. It is extremely cheap — sold by the pound — but that comes at the price of convenience, time, and quality. I think I got some decent stuff, but not everything worked out.
I will say that if you actually cannot afford new clothes and if even the clothes in the regular Goodwill stores are out of your price range, then this might be a really good option for you.

Not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to see some serious shoppers here. You should consider yourself a hardcore thrifter. Some of these ladies and gents come every day and have a system. Don’t be intimidated, they are very nice, but thrifting is their business– a lot of clothes are donated or sold back home.
I’ve found Altazurra, loft, CK, Michael kors, banana republic and other coveted brands here.
It is hit or miss, like others have stated, but that’s exactly what thrifting is. Those who have become used to walking in and out with a bag full of goodies have been spoiled by Beacon and other «thrift stores» masquerading their true low-​end consignment status.
Have fun and good luck. Best to go with a friend since there are no mirrors here. Hand sanitizer is recommended; the place is clean and doesn’t smell, but the amount of people touching all of the items is questionable.

Some people are craycray oh gosh
Don’t get me wrong, the stuff is dirt cheap and you can find affordable things. The downside of this place is that it’s a bit chaotic, especially when the new bins come out. There are a few Hispanic women that stink up the place with ill smelling food. Also, the weighing scales don’t seem to amount to the same weight as the scales at the cashier.
Otherwise, great place to go for hipsters or when running low on cash (;

This review is for those who love to thrift. I’m talking true-​blue hunters. If you don’t have patience, this place is not for you. It’s just a giant space with big blue bins of mountains of mixed up clothing, bedding, and house linens (sometimes intimates make their way in. :shudder:). I’ve found some really great pieces and at $ 1.69 a pound, it’s totally worth the time and effort.
Beware of their switch-​over times. I believe they do it every two hours — one of which was 2:00PM when I got there. It’s a scary mad dash even though the people running to the new bins at top speed have no idea what they’re grabbing. I suggest heading for the back of the room when that happens until the madness calms a bit. Gotta love a store that gets new inventory in every two hours. Also, I believe they provide gloves if you’re super germ-​y. But then again, if you are… what are you doing rummaging through people’s used stuff? Meh, either way — gloves.

I really think my friend set me up. I really do. I left everything up to her. Not only did she drop the ball on this one but she gave me the wrong address so I had to find my way here after I was already at the other one on Steinway. Originally we were talking about vintage shopping to refashion clothes. We were going to make new articles of clothing out of pieces that we saw. I was down… until I stepped in the door and saw like 30 bins full of clothes. My friend started piling things in the cart left & right. We immediately saw people queuing up like militant soldiers :/​I kept asking my friend about it and she didn’t really pay attention until the third time.
30 minutes in we were pulled off the floor. We stood on the sideline extra confused. Latina lady: «you’re behind me.» Me: «I know where I’m supposed to be. It’s not that serious, it’s $ 2 clothes –_​– bye.» There was no way for me to maneuver through this thick ass crowd so yes I’m standing on the side. A male worker, older guy, came over and said the same stupid thing that she said. I basically said the same thing. It’s not that serious, just give me my cart back, this is a waste of time… He tried to make it seem like he was helping me by saying that they were going to trample me. I reassured him that no one was and he tried to negate my reassurance by reiterating it again, like sir… listen to me, no one will knock me over. I throw them bows like Ludacris. Catch the train with me at Fulton street you’ll see how I get down. I’m 5’1 and you’re not going to just knock me over, it ain’t happenin’ captain.
My friend grabbed me after they decided to part like the Red Sea so we could step in. We stepped directly behind the first snippy heifer. An oldie basically told us how the «women» act when it comes to this thrifting life. How they basically push and fight for clothes. I’m not fighting for no damn clothes. Too old to be going to jail for dumb stuff. I was taken aback but not fully surprised though. NYC really brings out the ugly in a lot of people. Anyway the male coworker laid down the one rule three times, no running. *bang* the fake gun goes off (not really) and they dived in. Running and swooping up every article in the bins. I snapped a photo and Paul Blart mall cop followed me alllll the way around the corner to our cart to tell me no photos. My phone is in my back pocket by now… BYE ASHY! Too late, too bad, so sad. He told me to delete it. I looked at him and said okayyy bye ashy and grabbed my cart to make my way to the my friend. We decided to start in the back since they messed up the rotation of the bins. While walking, Paul Blart made an announcement about how we can’t take photos and some other dung. That’s nice.
I rummaged through most of the stuff and to me I didn’t leave with a lot. I saw panties quite a few time. I’m REALLY particular about that. I don’t mind clothes but my skivvies? Nah! I I don’t want my girl mixing with your girl (Seinfeld heads know what I mean)! I didn’t see any TAGS on them panties! I personally think that they have better glassware than anything. I grabbed some tea cups and saucers but put them back before checking out because they weren’t going to make it during my commute. *le sigh* you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t going to have high tea!
I weighed my pieces on the scales that they conveniently placed around the warehouse. My items, 5 pounds. My friends items I believe was 10 pounds but I do know our collective total was well under 24 pounds. At checkout my friends stuff was 18 pounds. How 10 pounds = 18 pounds I’ll never know. Mine was 11 pounds lol. Why are these broke ass scales on the floor if they can’t even give a ballpark range? Weighing and separating our pieces was a waste of life that I can never get back. We ended up putting it together since it was 29 pounds. What my friend found out is that they weigh in one pound increments. She realized it when she put her three bags on the scale to weigh them and they were three pounds. I threw in my cotton tie dye bag, no hardware other than the zipper. Extremely light weight and it weighed a pound. The bag wasn’t a pound. I’m assuming that’s the reason why the scales on the sales floor didn’t give a correct weight so they have been rendered useless by me. Not that it matters to anyone else lol.
What I paid was dirt cheap so whatever. Only thing I was really happy about was two scarves and a leather jacket that I may or may not be able to fit, a sweater and some HUGE teal and purple dress that I will be taking in to resize and revamp to something sexier. That dress looked crazy. Looked like a beautifully printed table cloth that transforms into a dress after you snatch it off the table. Can’t wait to sew it. Kinda disappointed I didn’t see anything else to refashion seeing as that was the SOLE purpose. I may come back. Months down the line. I need to recoup. Mama is drained!
PS don’t expect organization. Baby clothes with adult clothes and panties.

At a dollar a pound, this place can set you with a wardrobe for the cost of a happy meal. That, and you can soak in the greatest theater this side of Broadway; imagine hoards of greedy shoppers held behind a painted stripe by security and then released like marathoners to dive into buckets in pursuit of the hippest fashions from the mid 1990s.
From botique owners and hipsters, to squat old ladies and the homeless, this place is a true bastion of diversity and controlled chaos.

If you like to thrift dirty style; this place is for you. There is little furnature or electronics, this store us really for clothing.
They place massive amounts if clothing in waist high bins and its you vs. Hispanic mothers and a couple hipsters for everything that couldn’t be sold at other goodwills.
Men, not a ton for you. Women, bring the giant rolling suitcase.