Salvation Army Balmoral

I first ventured into this store a few weeks ago. I walked out with a few items. It’s a small store, that has clothing, furniture, toys (not a big selection when I was in). I’ve given 3 stars for the moment. We inspected a product that was behind your counter. It was dusty, and very broken. The lady aimed to sell it to us, however… that item should have gone into the bin! you placed it back on the shelf — shame on you!

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the number of good reviews for this place. How can anyone go back to this store and stomach the prices? Every single other Salvation Army store in the country (not to mention the Hospice and Red Cross shops) reasonably price their items because they were donated to them — not Dominion Road. I’ve never in my life seen such expensive homewares and furnishings at a shop like this. If you’re willing to pay for donated goods, that’s fine, but bargain hunters should avoid this place like the plague. The other Sallies stores (including one about 2kms up the road) are better stocked and the hospice and Red Cross are better charities to give your money to.

Salvation Army shops can be much of a muchness; a lot of them don’t tend to have much of their own identity, perhaps a result of having to have similar signage and pricing policies. However, this branch obviously has a good manager, as it does seem to have a bit more character. There is a super friendly woman who works here, who treats everyone like they’re an old friend; I think some people go here just to chat with her.
This isn’t a big store, so only ever has a small range of furniture, (mostly small bookcases and tables) but usually has good jewellery, homeware stuff, pictures and quite a few clothes.

Nothing like a bit of treasure hunting through the Salvation Army store. The stock ranges from amazing antiques to broken McDonald Toys from the 1980s. Can be really good entertainment to come here with a friend or two, and just find funny stuff to show each other. It can also be a practical place to shop, say if you have just moved into a new flat and you need a coffee table or a set of drawers. One lucky find, a found a set of old Frank Miller comics, in reasonably good condition, which only cost me like $ 5. That’s $ 5 to a good cause, and an afternoon of entertainment for me.

This is one of the better Salvation Army shops in Auckland that I’ve been to, and I’m not just saying it because it’s by far the closest to my house. They have more plaid shirts here than I’ve managed to find anywhere else. And let’s be honest, any boy going to a second-​hand shop is probably there for plaid shirts.
Apart from the clothes though, this place also does a good line in old-​fashioned household stuff and hilariously naff books, which I’ve never actually bought but will usually have a snigger at. Also like most Salvation Army shops, this is a good cheap source of picture frames — just buy one of the faded kitsch prints they have, take it out of the frame and replace it with your own picture. Far cheaper than buying an actual frame from an actual framer.

I love this place. It’s where I take my «quality used goods» or whatever they call it on their ads. Invariably I am distracted by something to buy so I think it’s a win-​win situation. And my husband can’t even really disagree because it’s mere dollars of retail therapy after all and it’s for a good cause!
So this place is pretty well stocked; I guess it’s the socio-​economics of its surroundings, yup the shopping here is good. There’s books, furniture (more than you usually find at Sally stores), china, bric’a’brac (such a great word/​s), shoes, household goods, a lot of junk and a lot of clothes. Maybe because I know it so well I find it easy to shop here but even if you don’t it’s all laid out well.
The staff are really nice, just beware if you reserve something from the window display — the right arm does not always know what the other limbs are doing!

This place has long been one of my favorite places to pick up clothes, shoes and books. The latter is especially well represented here, with a constantly changing fully stocked selection at really good prices — ranging from a dollar for paperbacks to, at most, ten dollars for a hardback. They also offer regular half price specials on different items, which are advertised on a blackboard out the front. The staff are always friendly and helpful, happy to put aside an item if you request it. They also kept an eye out for the last book in a series I had been reading, and rang me when it came in. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting a good bargain, while also helping out a charity.