Goodwill Bins in Iowa

"Not your "normal" goodwill this place is unsorted goods dumped into bins and is super cheap! $1.69 per pound!! Every so often they call out over the intercom they are placing new bins and people crowd around them to rummage the good stuff they provide reusable bags just grab one and fill it up. They have scales all around to weigh your loot. You can also fill a cart and they will weigh it up like that minus the tare weight of the cart. Come early and make a day of it! JUST DONT FORGET TO BRING GLOVES THEY ARE REQUIRED!! SOME ITEMS IN BINS ARE SHARP! I found a tape dispenser for packing tape and have used one as a saw once! Be careful and watch for others digging for gold ! It gets crazy!!! While I was there today a guy got minecraft for Xbox one for free because it didn't weigh on the scale and I said to the checkout person to place it on the scale with the next person's items! You never know what you will find here! I got a Pizza Hut cartop sign at the one in Fort Worth Texas for less than 5 bucks and swapped it for a large pizza!!! Today I got a black light flashlight with dead batteries that worked! They have amazon returns!!! 2 bucks for all that stuff below, I wonder what lego set that is!!! 😂"

"I absolutely love hunting through the bins at goodwill outlet, I could spend all day here! It's not a typical goodwill - at goodwill outlets, you dig though huge blue bins with random items inside. These bins are rotated every hour or so. Gloves are required for safety so bring your own (or you can buy a new pair of gloves there for $1.99). Items are sold by weight so ignore any prices that may still be on the items in the bins (the only individually priced items are the really big bulky/furniture items near the back corner of the store). Items are sold at $1.49/pound; paperback books are 25 cents each and hardcover books are 50 cents each. There are a lot of regulars that go here (you can tell by how organized/prepared they seem to be) but as long as you follow the rules (don't take things from other people's carts, don't touch the covered freshly rotated bins until the sheet is taken off by an employee, wear your gloves) you won't have any issues! It's dirty but it's TONS of fun looking for treasure and getting clothes for the lowest prices possible!"

"Staff working counter were very friendly and willing to help answer questions about how the process worked there with regard to new bins coming out approximately every 30 minutes. Gloves are required to be worn at all times and I wish all goodwill bins required this. If you forgot to bring gloves new ones are available by cashier. When check out cashier asked if we had fun and enjoyed ourselves which was the first time I’ve ever been asked that at a bins store and this was my 5th different bins store I’ve been too and this was my first time going to the Cedar Rapids bins store. I posted 14 pics to show what place looks like. This store was not the largest in size but also not the smallest I’ve been too. This store was the friendliest bins store I’ve been to with regard to friendly staff working the cashier area."

"Today was my first time here. I did not know what an outlet store for Goodwill would entail. It was different because you have to wear work gloves in order to pick through the merchandise in bins. They charge by the pound, a tad less than $2 per pound of clothes. I found a pair of jeans in my size with the tags still on them (which of course will still be washed before they are worn). There are dishes, books, pots and pans, curling irons, crock pots, purses, and I saw a knitting machine that was very tempting. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The inside of the building is not very clean, but that is to be expected because of people tearing through items quickly and leaving wrappings and boxes on the floor. Before you leave, they weigh the cart with the clothes in it, and you can put it in a bag if you like, which are on the way out of the store. The yard is very well-kept and the building looks nice from the outside."

"Please do your research before coming here and leaving a negative review. That vast majority of negative reviews are from people who are expecting some sort of retail store. If you don’t know what the outlet is, probably should stick to the store. Yep, can be very chaotic especially when the new carts are rolled out. If you don’t like the chaos, you can still find great stuff that people overlook all the time in the carts that are older. I am into clothing and would never dare put my hand in the hard goods l, but if that’s what you’re looking for, make sure to wear gloves. I have seen many times where glass has been broken and down at the bottom. If you’re a reseller, this is really the place you need to be. The retail stores are way too expensive and I find just as many good items as I do in the retail store for a fraction of the price. Last trip I walked out of there with 95 items and paid $82. At any one of the retail stores my price would’ve been over $400. While it can be a little chaotic, I’ve never experienced anyone grabbing things out of other peoples hands like many of these reviews have stated. I think that’s a bit of an over exaggeration. I will point out one particular person who seems to be there every day and is shady as the day is long. He actually tried walking off with my cart before I hunted him down and made it very clear that wasn’t going to happen. This guy is a complete jerk and I think pretty much lives at the Goodwill outlet. Anyone who is a regular surely knows who I am referring to. This person needs to be banned."

"This is the last chance for thrift items before they head to the landfill, and it’s such a smart concept. Everything here is sold by weight ($1.89 per pound), making it incredibly affordable if you shop for the right items. You’ll need to dig a bit, and I regret not bringing gloves. This is where unsold items from other stores go, so inventory changes often. We picked up shoes, bags, and some surprisingly decent home goods for next to nothing. The only negative here are the customers. Staff are now required to regularly remind people not to grab items out of other’s hands or their carts, each time new inventory goes out. If you enjoy treasure hunting or love a good deal, this place is worth checking out."

"I like this store, as other reviews have mentioned, it is chaotic and not like the Goodwill retail locations. Employees and other customers can be rude/aggressive but it’s part of the experience and I’ve never had any major problems. My two star review is based on my most recent visit. My items weighed 3lbs, I was planning on paying around $10. The cashier informed me that because my cart had a red bar, 6lbs would be added. I was aware that different carts had different weight added but never had such a noticeable difference. I purchased a few kids clothing items & children’s books and feel for the price, I could have easily gone to a regular Goodwill or garage sale/consignment store."

"It's like digging your way to a treasure or several treasures. Weight by the pound is such a convenience. And then the few items that they do have a set price on it's genius. Even if you go in there thinking you can find one thing and you don't find it, I promise you that you will find something that you like and love."

"My experience at this goodwill is as follows: as soon as I walked into the store, (with two family members) the cashier yelled "children should stay with you at all times", after that she was harassing me the whole time I was there. Why? Bcuz my kids were at the toy section the whole time with my family member and I was looking at things. My kids were not alone, they were with someone the whole time. Plus, they were behaving the whole time. This lady kept pushing at it, she told me to leave the store, can you guys believe she kicked me out of "goodwill"? Come on... she kicked me out of a second hand store!...I even told her to call the police if she wanted to. I didn't care bcuz I knew wasn't doing anything wrong. My sister was making fun of the fact that I was kicked out of a Goodwill.. it was not even a department store. (The lady that kicked me out by the way she dressed and her looks she identify herself as LESBIAN). After she kicked me out, my family was going to pay for some stuff and she called the manager. Management was in shock, they didn't tell me anything but I heard they asked her if she needed a break. I'm not exaggerating but she harrased me the whole time I was there because of my kids. I'm not sure what her problem was, so, lady at goodwill... if you read this, I still need answers as to what your problem was with me and my kids. After we left she walked behind us and locked the doors.. it was 8:00 pm and they close at 9:00 pm. I still go there once in a while, unfortunately she's still there."

"They usually do 50% off holiday items the day after the holiday. This year they decided they would just throw what Halloween stuff they had left in the trash compactor. They have the bins right next door but opted to throw that stuff in the landfill, instead. Also, they usually have tons of Christmas stuff in the bins around this time. Sounds like they decided they're not going to put stuff out until it is close to Christmas. So I'm sure a lot of Christmas stuff will be going in the landfill, also. And this isn't just what they do with holiday stuff. They do it with stuff all year long, because they don't want people to get a deal they would rather throw it in the landfill if they can't get full price which has gone up a lot. If you think about donating here you might want to think twice."

"Brought an item up to purchase and the woman working refused to sell it to us because there wasn't a sticker... how can you place an item out for sale and then when someone comes up to purchase it refuse the sale? Then the woman working basically insinuated that we had probably taken the price tag off to "get it for a cheaper price" Like, are you kidding me?? They also had Wal-Mart plastic dishes you can buy for .75 cents marked up to a $1.50 and they were dirty and stained. Goodwill at this location is not worth going to."

"Low end brands, smelled like a stereotypical dirty thrift store. Bulk pricing for clothes which is nice but it's at the absolute highest I'd pay for any of it ($4 tops $4.5 jeans/pants..). I had wanted to visit the outlet since I love the ones in Minneapolis and Denver but it's only open three days a week and so my mistake had driven down from Sioux Falls on a day they were closed. I might go back on a day the outlet is open but if it's anything like the main store it would be A HUGE disappointment and waste of time/money. My only hope lies in the fact that stuff for the outlet is also stuff shipped in from other stores that didn't sell because everything in there main store was dirty junk."

"I would rate higher, but they are hardly open ever. There hours change all the time? However they are open 5 days a week yes. But for people who work during the day it’s not practical. I miss coming here every Saturday with my mom, but we both work during the day so we cannot."

"I use to go there a couple times a week. I haven't had time to go lately, but this visit seemed like it was more rundown & worn out stuff. There were 7 single shoes that we searched hi & low for & never found. The bin of bags & purses were junk and should've been thrown away and never even put on the floor for sale. All the clothes seemed to be xxxl. Very disappointing!! I'm not in any big hurry to go back."

"Love this store!💯❤ I always find great things that I need! Prices are reasonable. Staff is great 👍 …"

"I bought glassware from here. It has stickers all over it, and none of the stickers will come off stop putting stickers on glassware come on now"