Goodwill Bins in South San Francisco

"Edit (months later): I came back to visit. The place has a whole new system now. 1.There are rolling industrial clothing hampers now that you can use as carts-this is a good thing. But you can't save your items in the cart while you wait outside for the bins to be replinished. This is good bc it means new people get to use the carts every time. BUT, it's also frustrating. This system does NOT exist at other outlet stores. At other outlet stores, it's a VERY SIMPLE SYSTEM. Your cart is your cart until you check out. You don't have to go outside and wait for bins to turn over. You don't have to make multiple purchases throughout the day bc you're forced to pay after one round of bins is over. If they rotate the bins every hour or so from 7 am to 3pm, that means you're potentially making 7 purchases throughout the day! But like I said, the only good part about this system is it forces people to not hoard 5+ carts all day. So I get it. 2. No more bulk selling 3. A LOT, and by a lot i mean BINS FULL of goodwill items from ARIZONA (why?). It seems like theres a new deal going on between AZ and SF Marine stores. But all that shipping seems bad for the ENVIRONMENT. 4. There are now bric-a-brac being sold out of huge boxes. Dig at your own risk bc there could be broken glass etc 5. According to staff, bric-a-brac are sold by the pound. This makes no sense AT ALL. It means a cup would cost more than it does at a regular goodwill store. A blanket (previously $2) would be $8+. A heavy duty pillow $6+. Not to complain, but do you want to sell the items or not? I highly suggest maintaining the old system where heavy items like linen, blankets, shoes, pillows etc have one low set price. 6. There is no bathroom. That means elders, children, sick people, hot sauce eaters, ppl prone to accidents, ppl experiencing medical incontinence or menstruating women are OUT OF LUCK. 7. There is no seating. If you are disabled or elderly GOOD LUCK 9. One register is right near the exit, which is also the entrance. If theres an emergency-GOOD LUCK 10. They open at 7 am now for everyone 11. They have a huge sign that says the close at 5pm. That's not true yet, they close at 3. And I'll assume it is not true until their google business page updates. 12. Waited about an hour for new bins. 13. Still wondering if they have shoes anymore Original Post: When does this place open? Like actually. Because it's definitely NOT the hours posted online (11 AM). Every time I come here, they open at a different time. I came at 11 and they'd been open for what looked like awhile, I came at 10:40 a different day, and they were already open. I came at 10:30 and they were open. This is okay...but if they open early and you come a few minutes after-then you're screwed because you'll have to wait 2-3 hours for the next rotation. And then that's it, because there are only 2 bin rotations a day. So essentially you've waisted your time even coming at all. On top of that, this is one of the most odd goodwill outlets ever. They have NO BATHROOMS (a very SF phenomenon) so goodluck if you have to go 1 or 2, are on your period, or just need to wash your hands from touching something disgusting. The business hours are short (most goodwill outlets are open at least 8 hours). They have sorters for the goodwill stores in the same building so you'll often just get their scraps. They also have people who buy in bulk on the left side when you enter, so they're often crossing over to the bins for new rotations and never waiting in line (they're probably part of the reason the staff opens early). They have no wares (almost every other goodwill outlet you'll go to has more than just clothing). There are no carts (they all get taken by the bulk buyers). The positives are that everything is cheap. You'll will find some cool things sometimes...especially on days the other side of the warehouse isn't sorting for the store locations. The shoes are only $3. The linen/blankets are $1 -$2. And once in awhile they'll put out bags."

"Couldn't find the entrance to shop on a Friday morning, no answer when called the phone # for this location, and the girl who answered their main number said yes this location is open today but she didn't know where the entrance is either. 12/20/22 Just wanted to update my review and raise the rating since my recent visit. Went last week and found lots of great items in the bins ... probably got 15 items and only spent $20! My friend who frequents here said buying a pallet is usually well worth it for the $40 cost, especially if you split it with a friend! I haven't tried it yet but will update when I do. Keep in mind they close at 3pm so get there early if you don't want to be rushed or need time deciding what to buy or throw back in."

"Greedwill is making it even harder to source secoundhand clothing in their stores. in the bay area every store is very messy now with stuff falling, toys blocking aisles and laying all over the place and the outlet(bins) have barley any clothes in them and they only rotate every 2 hours. and its very sad to see them changing things to maximize profit over their loyal customers. Im sure they will continue to find ways to keep hoarding anything they deem sellable online or at the racks but im sure most of their past customers will have to find other means to support themselves. Sad to see but im sure they dont care beacause they are making a lot of money"

"UPDATED HOURS & PRICES The current process is each person/group gets 2 min per bin and a beeping sound tells you when the 2 mins are over. There's about 12-14 bins to go through. At the end you can go back to any of the bins too. I'd recommend bringing someone else bc it's too hard to go through a bin in 2 mins by yourself. Also I recommend bringing gloves and your own bags since they don't provide any. They change out the bins after every group, so you'll get new stuff too! The whole process takes about an hour so be prepared to wait. Some people bring chairs. The people who work there are they're doing the best they can."