Goodwill Bins in Long Island City

"The ladies with the white bags on their waists do jump into the new bins, pull out what they consider gold, aka resellables, aka what they image other people want then put their scavenged wares into a shopping cart that lines the walls & covered with a blanket. Its end of times behavior. It’s animals crawling over each other for the crumb. There are arguments, some rough housing. It is easy to steal. Bring gloves, a shopping bag, & although most don’t wear masks, I recommend. There were plenty of nice blankets, handmade quilts, & lace table clothes when I went. It’s $2 something a pound for textiles"

"Hi Goodwill Management, does anyone in management ever address the issue at this goodwill bin? There is so many complaints about the staff and the horrible women who spend the day abusing all the other customers. I have read more than 25 complaints about those horrible women and the unprofessional staff and the question is why has the management of goodwill done nothing about this? I have been to the bins a few times and every time I have a bad experience with those horrible women and how the staff allows them to get away with nasty behavior. Why is this still happening and why hasn’t the management done anything about this issue? I have been to two other goodwill bins in other states and this NYC one is just the worst. Management keeps responding to the negative reviews but no action is taken. This is just an example of a poorly run business when there is a clear outcry by their customers for years and nothing has changed. Do better goodwill management do better… it’s 2025!"

"i love the bins!! i go pretty regularly and i always find some good stuff every time i go, people been saying how it’s aggressive and dirty and yada yada yada and yeah everything there is definitely not the cleanest and you can bring gloves if you really want but it’s not like filthy and its not like you’re gonna go home and immediately wear the clothes you find anyways so as long as you throughly wash it you’ll be fine!! from some who is super scared of bed bugs and things of the like once you get home, wash all the clothes immediately and in hot water if you can. i feel like anyone from nyc can handle the bins fine, they do have ladies that are regulars and shove stuff into to bags but i’ve found that they’ve never been aggressive to me and most of them are just trying to make ends meet, regardless of them grabbing a lot you’ll find good stuff anyways so you shouldn’t stress about it. i also think if you’re going to the bins it helps to have an idea of what kind of clothes you want beforehand (like a certain style) my first time there i didn’t really know what i was looking for and ending up taking home a bunch of stuff i didn’t wear, it’s also helps knowing how to sew at least a basic amount!! most of my sewing is just like resizing shirts and sweaters and it’s way easier than it sounds, you don’t even need a sewing machine to do that! just go in with a open mind and just mentally prepare yourself because it might get a little intense with all the yelling and people happy thrifting !! 😛"

"I found lots of great items! Go early and expect to spend at least 45 minutes there. At some point you may have to stand in line and wait about 25 minutes while they change out the bins and introduce new clothing. It goes without saying that a vast majority of the clothing is worn, dirty, and probably won’t be worthy of salvaging but if you’re patient and search thoroughly you can easily snatch up some gems. I got about 7 items which came out to 3 pounds and only paid $6. This is coming from a person who was very skeptical about being able to find anything."