Goodwill Hawaii

Went this morning while on vacation. The ones (outlets, clearance centers, surplus stores, etc.) I prefer sell items by the pound (usually $ 1.69 for everything except glassware). This store sells each item for a specific price so it was a bit more difficult to look for good deals.
Anyhoo … I found a Dian Von Furstenberg overnight bag in EXCELLENT condition for $ 4! I was not thrilled about paying for each item individually, but there were tons of toys for kids and some great books.
When new bins are brought out a whistle is blown and everyone has to go over near the registers to wait until the new bins are out. It’s a bit strange, but … whatever.
I’d go again if I was in the area, but I wouldn’t break any plans to go. There is a little time lot, but it was packed so we found parking on the street.

If you’re up to fighting off barbaric scavengers for a cup or even a shoe then come on down. On any given day, you will find 10 – 20 regular customers fighting for every bit of merchandise they can get to turn a profit. Yes, these are your regular swap meet vendors. Don’t even waste your time going there to get a good deal because you don’t have a chance. I wish the state of hawaii and the IRS would get after these people because they should be paying taxes!!!

I’m so torn about this place. We have been here twice, and it has saved money. We were able to get nice Hawaii shirts in March and a great pair of pink Vans. Today, I was so frustrated looking for shorts and a bathing suit. The sizes were all marked incorrectly making it nearly impossible to find any shorts. Kids sizes inside of women’s large. The bathing suits, well is it okay to say dried crotch juice on Unilocal

Quite an experience. Arriving clueless, the large warehouse environment with table sized plastic bins full of leftover goods took me a bit to figure out. Stuff not sold at primary Goodwill stores finds its way here at greatly reduced rates. These items are added to the floor (via the plastic bins) every hour. The customer-​scavengers follow a wait and attack process by queuing behind a chained area watching for the go signal from the employees at the prescribed time (hourly on the half hour). Many then look to resell their newly captured treasures at local swap meets and flea markets.

One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
Me: «You bought a broken vacuum in excellent condition at Goodwill Industries for $ 5.00!!! Why? It was broken!!»
Vacuum Cleaner Specialist: «It was a $ 200 Hoover Windtunnel. The belt was broken. A new belt cost $ 12.00. Total cost $ 17.00. I sold it on Craigslist for $ 50.00.»
Me: «That was a beautiful original watercolor in frame that you bought that for $ 5.00 at Goodwill Industries!!!»
Art Specialist: «I knew exactly who the artist was. I sold it at a collector show for $ 300.00.»
Me: «Where did you find that golf ball with the square grooves?»
Sports Collector Specialist: «At Goodwill Industries in one of the bins. I bought it for a dollar and I sold it on Ebay for $ 100.00.»
Me: «How can you sell all those designer shoes and handbags so cheap?»
Brand Name Specialist: «You have to be fast but I found them in the bins at Goodwill Industries. I try to sell at a fair price so that people comeback and keep buying from me. I know I can find more things everyday.»
Me: «You bought first edition Red Book — Guide to U.S. Coins for a dollar?»
Book Collector: «I knew exactly what it was when I saw it at Goodwill Industries. I sold it to a coin collector for $ 350.00.»
Me: «I wish I had your Beatles 1966, ST2553 Yesterday and Today unpeeled butcher cover.»
The Record Specialist: «It was in a bunch of old Beatles and Elvis albums in the a bin at Goodwill Industries. There were some nice Beatles Veejay 45 sleeves in the bin too… JEALOUS??»
Gf: «Why in the world did you buy that old Mexican blanket at Goodwill Industries? $ 1.50 for that blanket! Pabo! [1]»
Me: «Guess what honey. I sold the blanket on Ebay for $ 55.00!!»
[1] Pabo is idiot in Korean.
Goodwill Industries opens at 9:00 A.M. Monday thru Saturday. Not sure about Sunday hours. There is a reason that there is a line of people anxiously waiting to get into the store.
When the store opens, it is dog eat dog and every man for himself. No such thing as ladies first here.
The people look ordinary but they really aren’t. About 20% of the people standing in line are specialist that are very good at their craft. You see the same characters standing in line and rummaging through things every single day.
Some are nice but then some aren’t. You have to choose your friends wisely here.
You will be surprised what you will sometimes find in the bins at Goodwill Industries so don’t judge.

There is something very gratifying about finding a $ 1.50 blanket that you sell for $ 55.00.
Gf: «What was the name of the stupid lady that bought the blanket anyway? The world should know!!»
Lady that bought the blanket: For sale: Vintage hand woven, Mexican saltillo serape blanket — $ 110.00. [2]
[2] It is my guess that another stupid lady bought the blanket for $ 100.00.

Didn’t like the fact that you had to dig thru bins, only walked away with a keychain for a dime. Needs more organization.

This is the Goodwill surplus store. Whatever they cannot sell at other stores, or excess donations comes here. This store has the cheapest prices of any other goodwill. It’s pretty much a warehouse with bins and you have to go digging through all of it with a bunch of shall we say…“interesting” characters. When this place was back behind Savers it was a steal. They moved locations and pretty much doubled or maybe even tripled their prices. Some stuff they want to charge you «new» prices for. This place is very dirty and dusty. Bring HAND SANITIZER. Some people wear masks in here. You used to be able to find great deals here. The last few times I stopped in there it was pretty much all junk.
the parking situation sucks. If you don’t get there when it first opens, plan on finding street parking. Be careful in Kalihi. Lots of tow away zones on the street.
The people working here can be like Nazis. They have whistles, so if you go into the wrong area they will blow it, and yell and scream. The same «regulars» frequent this place daily. Many of them will have teams that will scoop up the new stuff as it comes out and then sort through it later once it is in their possession. It is a Feeding Frenzy to say the least.

I thought Goodwill’s mission was not only to provide training for people but also to offer a good will bargain for items large and small. No real bargains here.
I went to 2 separate Goodwill locations to check out living room furniture. Looking for easily transportable living room. Maybe wicker…
One chair, $ 85. dollars. Frickin, what? «Oh, that’s because it’s koa.»
OK, great quality, no doubt. But you did get it for free, right?
And you’re selling it (or should be selling it) at an affordable price. That sucks a big one, Goodwill.
Beautiful complete set of woven living room furniture. TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. Fuck-​get-​about-​it! So this sale is for someone who needs it?
Nope. Someone who can afford it.
Thanks so much, «Good will.»

Parking lot: Private and it is very limited. Limit is 2 hours but you can park on the street or a few blocks away and walk but lets face it, no one wants to walk.
Hours: 9am-​6pm, best to go early in the morning to get spot at the parking lot.
Service: They are nice and are always smiling.
Prices: They all vary and all the price are posted on a big board up on the wall. Very cheap though.
Rules: You wait behind a line with a bunch of people and when they blow the whistle, go on and go crazy and alpha on those big blue bins.
I woke up 8am and got there about 930 am and Not much people was there just a fair amount. It was my first time and I dragged my boyfriend. He do not like these sort of stuff but he had fun throwing things around looking through the bins. I did not really know what to expect, I thought mad cows running for bins (although a few did lol), trash everywhere, stink, super hot, and everything is ugly. Boy was I wrong, we found really good items here today.
We found 1 HUGE brand new camping backpack, 3 new shot glasses, 1 vintage gold belt, 1 black belt, a cool bag, a large plastic storage bin, domino blocks, 100% vintage silk scarf, a set of 3 empanada makers, new pier 1 import bowl, made in japan makeup brush holder, and I think that’s about it. (I will post pictures of each items though). We spent a total of 1 ½ hour there and $ 22 dollars. Not bad to start our morning.
So here is the rule! Every 45 – 60 minutes they change two columns of the blue bins, they blow the whistle and people who are standing behind the line will all run like a pot of gold is somewhere in the bins HAHAH, believe me I have seen a few ran like wind. When it is time to change another 2 column, they will blow the whistle again and everyone has to fall back like soldiers LOL, or they can go to the check out OR go back in line again. They also provide their own version of a cart, its a gray bin on top of a shelf with wheels. You can stay as long as you want I guess but really, it is like P.E. for me. Blow the whistle, you run for the sake of your grade, for this, you run for the sake of… I do not know really but it was funny watching the older people run run run.
They also have an AC section called «Textile» which is where they sell the clothes, they did not have much when I went today and I prefer not to buy my clothes here only because it is $ 1.25 for 1. The more you buy the bigger your discount and meaning buying it at bulk prices. But really, in order to get your clothes drop down to $ 0.30 each would mean staying the whole day there and have at least $ 100 in hand maybe. I rather stick to my retail GW since they are $ 0.99 on sales day.
Overall, my boyfriend, the goodwill non-​believer wants to go and scavenge thru the bins at least twice a week and I’m supposed to be the GW nazi. If you live in town then it is easier for you to go but as for me, waking up 8AM, go to town, and drive back will make my purchases more expensive due to gas. But I will def come back here for random things and keep my wardrobe up to waipahu GW.