Goodwill Bins in St Paul

"I shopped at this location today and it was my first "Bins" experience. I read all the previous reviews, and it was a little concerning, but I wore gloves and brought a big bag with me, and I am glad that I did, because the carts were all being used, and you dig through some dirty or sharp things. Parking was easy, the store was busy, clean, and well-lit, and I felt very safe with a security guard at the door. People were moving quickly, but everyone was polite, calm, and respectful. The prices are really good and I found a bag of treasures. Travis helped me at the checkout and he was so kind and helpful. It was great, I will go back often."

"Honestly my first time going there wasn’t that bad.DONT LET THE BAD COMMENTS DISCOURAGE YOU!!i will say it might just depend on what time you go there I went around 4 and it wasn’t 2 crowded so I found lots of good clothes that fit my style (senior in highschool) but I will say MAKE SURE YOU BRING MASKS AND GLOVES AND YOUR OWN BAGS WHEN ITS TIME TO CHECKOUT!!(sorta like Aldi but you can’t buy bags you have to bring your own)When me and my friend went to checkout there wasn’t a line at all and everything costed 20.17$ altogether (2 jackets,3 pairs of jeans,2 tank tops, 1 shirt and one New York hat). ( her stuff was like 6.23$ I forgot what she got) luckily I had brought some Walmart bags so I didn’t have to carry the stuff I bought in my bare hands.Now as far as staff I didn’t have a problem at all and when me and my friend were about to leave there was this old lady that couldn’t find her keys so the employees went out of their way to go to her car in another parking lot to find them I wish I had got their names.Now I will say the place is dirty and they had flies everywhere but what do you expect at a place that sells used goods.Overall experience 10/10"

"Unless one is a thrift-to-resell type of person who doesn't mind digging through dirty and smelly piles of clothing, I suggest not spending any time here. I also suggest reading through the other reviews and not simply judging based on number of stars. The written reviews, even many of the five star ones, tell a story not apparent from the number of stars alone. As for myself, I've made very few purchases here over the years, but I have donated many times. It's the closest donation place to my house. Ten years ago, I could count on a pleasant-enough experience, but times have changed. Please know my review is an average of experiences over the last five years. I think that's a generous span of time to include in a review, plus I feel experiences over five years ago really aren't relevant anymore. Clothing has always been piled up in bins here for as long as I can remember. That means the fabric has no air flow between layers, which can lead to smells and especially mold. Why does Goodwill get away with stocking moldy product when it's a health hazard that wouldn't be allowed anywhere else? Just remember that the donation area is exposed to our outdoor environment, which is often humid, and that creates the potential for mold. By the way, there are other Goodwill locations that do hang up clothing items, which is crucial to keeping them dry and in good condition. Anyway, I have purchased the occasional small piece of furniture here, and had no problems. I, and I'm sure others, have an issue with one person in the donation area who is usually present. They definitely shouldn't be allowed to work in a public-facing position. They are definitely the most ill-mannered person I've interacted with in that their attitude doesn't stem from simply having a bad day. This is their usual state. The clothing I donate has always consisted of good quality, nice items, and my standard practice is to wash, dry, and then neatly fold them in bags or containers. Around that 5-years-ago time frame, the donation procedure was that the people working the donation area would take the containers from donors, and neatly stack them into the gaylords (that's honestly what they're called; no laughing. Look it up!). But years ago, that practice changed into the customer/donor doing the work of sorting the items and placing them into the correct gaylords while the employees stand back and direct. The ill-mannered employee manages to do this 'nothing-but-directing' task while rudely barking orders at donors. Today, I had an even worse experience with them. They were even more unpleasant than usual. I was placing my freshly washed, neatly folded clothing into the gaylord (I didn't know the practice had changed) and they grabbed my tote bag right out of my hand, and said with an unquestionably imperative and rude tone, "This is how to do it!" They overturned the bag of folded clothing, and picked up each piece, one after another, destroying the neat folds and throwing each clothing item onto the messy pile to match the state of everything else in there. The handle of my reusable bag got ripped with this action. Note to anyone intending to purchase any of my items; Sorry, I did my best to keep them neat and clean! I am also dismayed with the fact that Goodwill isn't actually a non-profit business. It just poses as one. I learned this just recently. After what I have learned about this business, I will do my best to donate my items to other, actually non-profit organizations. These organizations want clothing to be clean and neatly folded, and a few of them will even take the items right from my home address."

"Don’t let the bad reviews convince you not to come here! I thought that the employees were very nice, none were rude and did their jobs properly. There was even a security guard who made sure things were in order so no one was acting like animals. Obviously since this is the bins, people will be moving around trying to grab things, BUT that is the nature of the bins. Don’t expect the bins to be like going to a Goodwill store or Savers where things are organized/peaceful. At the bins people have things they are looking for (resellers) but that’s how it is. Just pay no mind to them and do your own thing. I do think if you want to find good items, you’d have to stay for at least 2hrs+. This is a treasure hunt!"