Savers — Local services in Alameda

I went there for the ribbon cutting before 10am on opening day. Terrible terrible terrible. I understand it’s their first day but jeez, used pants are going for $13 a pop. Saw a SHIEN dress for $20. Another woman found jeans that she says goes for $50 brand new at her store for $99.99. All their t-shirts regardless of quality are $8.49. Not even the Redwood City Savers is this pricey. I’m used to getting my shirts for $3.49 and my jeans for $5.49 in a more affluent area of the bay, which is so ironic.

I checked the bags they had in their luxury area, and all were fake. A red Prada bag was there for $80 when the tag said “made in China” and had zero Prada embellishments on it. The coach bags had their logos falling off and they were charging $140 for one small Coach bag I know they sell at the outlets brand new for $99. When I brought up the fake merchandise to one of the employees, all he did was shrug. I also brought this up with the manager and he didn’t care.

Among other things, NONE of the coupons worked and will not work for the first WEEK. They don’t put this notice ANYWHERE except when you’re finally checking out, which is very “gotcha”. They also sent an email encouraging people to show up on the first day to get a free reusable bag. That was also a lie and they had no good explanation for the false advertising. If we had known, we would’ve brought our own bag.

Thrift stores exist to help their customers save money. Yet a lot of what I saw here today is the opposite. Most things were pricier than the brand new/full price versions, and the fact that they know that their “luxury items” are fake but won’t remove them… This Savers screams “sketchy”.

The Alameda Savers is already starting off on the wrong foot on day one. I think I’ll continue spending my gas money going visiting the Savers in Redwood City and Dublin instead of revisiting this new store close to home.

If you’re looking for good deals on clothes, drive a little further to South Shore and go to Ross or TJ Maxx. At least their items are brand new and cheaper in price. 🙄

Edit 1/8/24: I went back because I’m cleaning out my apartment to start the new year fresh. Went to donate folding chairs and I was immediately told “we don’t take chairs”. I told the guy they were folding chairs, and another person came out and said they’d take them because they “weren’t standard chairs”. However the first dude even told me “well this isn’t a recycling center”. No shit?? The chairs were still usable, not broken. If they were broken I’d dump them. Jeez, I swear every time I come here it’s just one bad experience after another. I only came here because it was the nearest thrift store I could just donate whatever at. Why did I...

In the end, this was a terrible experience: after finding a few clothing items we thought might work, I went up to Nelly, the sales associate who had been very enthusiastically greeting everyone coming in (as well as shouting about the pizza that had just arrived for the employees' pizza party). She was also helping people checking out so I asked her if there were fitting rooms. When she said no, I asked about their return policy. She very assertively answered "14 days with the tags on". Hence we decided to purchase the clothes we had found and try them on at home. The next day, we tried to return one item and were told that they don't do returns, only exchanges. Nelly was there and told us she had said "no returns, only exchanges", but that is 100% false. A colleague of hers claimed she was the manager and told us she "believed Nelly". We did not get her name but the way she was speaking to the customers certainly didn't reflect the attitude of a manager. Disappointing as we like doing our part to reduce-reuse-recycle. Will be disputing the charge for that one item, and won't be back nor recommend...

I’ve been shopping at Savers for a long time, but the prices have gotten out of control. This is supposed to be a thrift store, yet I’m seeing furniture marked for $799.99 and kids’ items priced like they’re brand new. It doesn’t make sense.

Whoever is in charge of pricing clearly needs to be changed, because they’re putting retail-level prices on donated goods. Many people shop at Savers because they need affordable options, not to pay boutique prices for secondhand items.

It’s really disappointing because Savers used to be a place to find deals and support a good cause. Now it feels like the focus is only on squeezing as much money as possible out of every item. Unless pricing improves, I don’t see myself coming...