Goodwill

I LOVE this goodwill! While it is a small selection, they always get such stylish stuff (probably because all of the college kids getting rid of their clothes or something?) I have gotten so many great pieces from here. Going to miss this place once I graduate, as I’ve become quite a regular here. The only thing I’d say is that it would be great if they were able to remodel and expand. This place deserves to have a bigger space, especially since there are only 2 dressing rooms. Other than that, great place to shop and super nice employees!

perhaps the most inaccessible Goodwill in Seattle? It’s tiny tiny tiny, and they still manage to cram it to the point that browsing clothes is as nightmarish and difficult as you could possibly never hope for. I was tempted to be one of «those people» who just takes 30 items and distributes them to an entirely different rack just so I was able to actually see what I’m potentially buying without having to take them individually off the rack one by one and eye them. I can’t tell you how the customer service is as I didn’t buy anything… because I couldn’t really see browse properly and decide if I wanted to buy said thing. Overall, a lousy experience and a firm reminder why I only visit the University District once every couple years. Everything is headache inducing.

They have a lot of stuff but the problem is that the location is so small. It’s very frustrating trying to look through the clothes racks. The aisles are extremely close together so you can’t pass by someone to get from one end of the other. The clothes are jam packed onto the racks and you can barely move them to look through the racks. The prices are pretty good but overall it’s just a frustrating experience.

Whenever I finish shopping at Goodwill, I need a cup of coffee and a high-​five.
Because sometimes you go to the grocery store. And sometimes you go to Goodwill. And life hands you a banana and a vintage t-​shirt you never plan to wear until you say to your friend, «I picked out this particular existential crisis because it goes well with my furniture.»
And now you’re in real trouble and not because you can’t find that banana.
There are four sides to life: business, investment, personal, and Goodwill.
And that’s how I feel about Goodwill. Thanks Dr. Phil.
Decent 3 outta 5

I always try to go to this Goodwill with a good attitude, but always have to leave pretty quickly. It’s pretty small, and picked through by UW students, so it’s usually hit-​or-​miss. I find the atmosphere of the store stressful. I think it’s a combination of the loud music and tightly-​packed racks of clothing; it’s overwhelming. The hangers of clothing are so jam-​packed onto the racks that it’s hard to browse through; I actually cut my finger on one of the plastic hangers yesterday while trying to look at a sweater without knocking it onto the floor.
While I appreciate thrift shopping for a good value, the prices here (if not on colored tag special) are comparable to new items available on clearance at places like Target or Old Navy, which makes me less likely to buy a used item that I know will wear out faster. I usually take a quick look at the clothing but unless it’s a sweater I can put on over my clothes, or it’s something I KNOW will fit, I’m unlikely to wait for one of the only two dressing rooms. Prices are especially high in the «fashion forward» area. I saw a pair of interesting shoes there (giraffe-​print flats) that were in my size, but they were like $ 15, as opposed to the Airwalk flats I’ve been wearing for the past couple of months that were $ 10 at Payless…
Sometimes the staff here are nice, but more often they seem stressed out.
The housewares selection is small and it smelled awful so I wasn’t able to browse there for long. My girlfriend has had some luck here though; for example, yesterday she found some shoes that happened to be on pink tag special for $ 5. So I don’t hate the store, but it’s very much a «your experiences may vary» situation.

I really love shopping at Goodwill! Since this one is based so close to the college, it’s easy to find tons of great clothes. It’s definitely smaller than many Goodwills. Also, it’s important to note there’s no furniture (aside from small items) or baby clothing. All of these are located near U Village at the small Goodwill over there.
Because so many people shop here, prices seem to be inflated a decent amount. It’s great to go on weekends when they have tag sales.

I’ve visited a few times. It’s smaller than other Goodwill locations yet their prices are on the high side. Last time I was there I found a long sleeve Land’s End top for $ 4.99 and a purple Lucky brandy shirt for $ 4.99.
Prices of used jeans are on the high side though they do have a good selection like 7 for Mankind and American Eagle. I did not buy any jeans at this location. There are more shoes and bags on the upper level. Overall their prices seem too high for students on a low budget.
Their dressing rooms suck. There are only two of them available and every time I have shopped here the wait is too long. Customers are limited to five items yet many people end up trying on 30 to 50 items in quantities of 5 so you are left standing… and standing… and standing.
Cashiers are friendly and fast. No complaints there.
I don’t go out of my way to stop by but if I’m in the area on the Ave… I may stop by again.

Excellent goodwill, always find something awesome, and they have a Halloween costume section and a vintage section. It’s a tough one to beat! Thanks goodwill!

Really great Goodwill. Come in the summer when there’s not that many college students around University of Washington, and you’ll find some really really cute clothes, especially in the XS/​S/​M range.
Lots of Forever21, H&M, Hollister, Banana Republic, Gap, etc all for as low as $ 1.29.
A treasure trove if you are size S.

Went here for the first time yesterday. Said it’s not a half-​price books anymore. But it is the nicest Goodwill I’ve been to. As other reviewers have mentioned the racks are packed. Good color organization though. Men’s department seemed a little small. Downstairs housewares was a little messy. You could hardly see the coffee cups because there were so many. I’ll go back if I’m in the area.

This Goodwill feels like a second home. The highlight of the store is definitely the staff. Employees are always quick to answer a question or show you a funny thing that’s come in that day. I’ve found a solid portion of my wardrobe at this Goodwill and at really reasonable prices. Some of my favorite finds come from the vintage section, which is very cheap compared to Red Light or other nearby vintage stores.
I love shopping here because the prices are consistently lower than Buffalo Exchange when many of the items are comparable. I have seen really high quality stuff like Chrome, Timbuk2, and Alchemy Goods bags for really cheap, and stuff from Lululemon, Free People, and Anthropologie regularly. I have also found awesome vintage Pyrex bowls and super super cheap art supplies.
There are occasions where a price seems a bit off, but when you’re pricing items from literally every other store that exists, I get that sometimes you’ll miss a stain or not be familiar enough with a brand to price it accurately. That’s when you ask a staff member and if they agree the price is a mistake, they will work with you.
Their annual designer accessory sale is the main place I’ve amassed my giant and unnecessary collection of vintage Dooney and Bourke and Coach purses. It happens every March and has some really cool stuff.
Overall, a great store with great staff and amazing deals.

BEST USED CLOTHING SHOP ON THE AVE! don’t waste your time going into buffalo exchange or crossroads because their stuff is way overpriced compared to this awesome goodwill. Every thing in the store is really cheap and they have some quality stuff. There’s a Udub tee shirt and apparel section in case you don’t feel like spending 30 dollars for a tee shirt at the book store which I thought was awesome, I got a Washington Nike wind breaker for 12 dollars because on Saturdays green tags are half off. I got a stack of 6 tee shirts for 15 dollars, half of them are printed on American apparel tees which is a huge plus. Lastly I got a brand new rucksack for 12 dollars. You have to come to this store they have such a huge selection, I saw things like Steve Madden heels for 7 dollars and true religion jeans for 50 bucks; this is not your typical goodwill, best one I’ve ever been too!

Forget something at home?
You can probably get it here for cheap.
Too bad they don’t have a textbooks section.

Wait, what?!? $ 20 for a used shirt?!? The prices here are unexpectedly high. I came in with a friend, attracted by their ostensible «pink tag» sale. The pink tag merchandise had been picked over, though, and was nowhere to be found.
I thought Goodwill was about offering reasonable prices to the local community. This isn’t supposed to be an elite thrift store.
The selection is also quite lacking. Things seem to have been heavily picked over by local students and others. It’s also a small store, as you’d expect on the cramped Ave. Venture out to another location and you’ll find much more of interest.
Lastly, I must express my concern with the low wages Goodwill pays to many of its employees nationwide. There was a special in 2014 about this. Management suggests that a job is better than nothing. That’s a specious and irresponsible argument. Support other thrift stores, which can grow and hire away some of these employees. That will force Goodwill to change their policies or go out of business.

Awesome location, awesome selection, prices are good to great, employees super helpful and sweet, looooove this place! It’s very well organized by color and size and my husband even found a two pairs of high quality leather shoes, one of which was made in Italy for Kenneth Cole Reaction. I love the large size of their dressing rooms too. Especially wonderful collection of skirts and purses — like any thrift shop, you have to be in the mood to hunt for good finds, but the friendliness of the staff and the attention to detail make it that much easier to treasure hunt. Highly recommend!

This Goodwill was awesome. It was clean, and there was lots of really good quality items. I felt like I was shopping a college student’s closet! :)

I’m usually a really big fan of Goodwill and thrift shops in general, but this particular Goodwill is nothing to write home about. A lot of the time the place is completely packed, and it’s hard to get a dressing room. The selection of housewares and the like is shamefully small. There is NO furniture section there that I can see… which is a lot of what I go to Goodwill for in the first place. And of course, there is the infamous non-​existent parking on the Ave.
You probably won’t be as disappointed as I am in this one if you go to Goodwill for clothes. They have a pretty good selection on those things, as well as the vintage section upstairs where I’ve found some pretty great stuff in the past. Prices are average for this type of store in this area.

Having completed my tour of all the Seattle city Goodwills, I think the U-​District store is on the lower end of the spectrum. There are definitely good finds there, so don’t be discouraged. I got a North Face jacket for $ 25, but found $ 7 in one of the pockets, so it was really an $ 18 jacket. Seriously, where else can you find gems like that?
Up side: clothes tend to be trendier, probably because they get donations from younger, college-​y people. Not nearly as crowded as Ballard or the ID location. Nice little curated vintage section upstairs. Nice staff.
Downside: U-​district parking, I couldn’t find a book section so it’s either non-​existant or not very big, and they have a smaller selection (since they have a smaller store).
Glad I checked it out, but I probably won’t visit it as often as I visit the ID or Ballard location.

This Goodwill is really great, I like the way it is a little smaller than a lot of Goodwills but still really put together and filled with things I like. I have found countless great things here including, but not limited to: a brand new Lafayette 148 sweater for $ 13 (originally $ 300), a current style of Born shoes for $ 6, two spools of alpaca yarn for $ 3 ($ 20 value), Dansko’s for $ 12. These are all things that if I were to find at Buffalo Exchange or Crossroads it would be at least twice the price if not more. These are great deals!
Their store does change around a couple of times a year but you have to understand that is to make the current season of clothes more visible to the customers, for example, in the winter they sweaters are on the ground floor because that is what people are looking for with they are cold. When I haven’t found an area I was looking for I have had no issue just asking where it has moved.
Something I really don’t like is their new Fashion Focus section, I hate the different levels of racks and the way that the skirts are really low to the ground and the strange shelves.

This Goodwill is legit. I would know because I’ve reviewed practically every thrift store in NYC (Goodwills included), and I really wish that more thrift stores in NYC had this store’s layout.
For starters, the store actually sorts clothing BY SIZE — 99% of the thrift stores are just a free-​for-​all when it comes to sizing: everything is thrown together. The tags on each item are clearly marked with the price, the color, and the SIZE, while a lot of the Goodwills in NYC just have a colored piece of plastic (the tag, without the paper part)
Along the same note, each category of clothing is clearly labeled: Women’s long sleeve, Women’s sweaters, Men’s Designer Clothes, etc. And here they even sort out the shoes by SIZE (Women’s size 7 and 7 ½, etc.) — I have rarely seen this at any thrift store, ever, so the labeling definitely makes thrift store shopping a LOT easier.
Also, this Goodwill has a LOUDSPEAKER (!) where the front cashier folks can make storewide announcements («All blue tags today are 50% off!») I’ve also rarely seen this in my thrift store lurkings, so this was pretty new to me!
Now onto the selection of clothing: I would say fairly decent, and the prices are pretty good too. Definitely saw a lot of items for under $ 10.00. I saw a lot of Banana Republic, Aeropostale, and Ann Taylor. The «designer» items section was unfortunately not that big, but the prices were okay ($ 25 or so). Although I don’t really know why bebe and H&M would be labeled as designer.
Anyway, this is a very good Goodwill for the organization alone. For any thrift store lovers, I recommend checking this Goodwill out.