Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity ReStore - Manville NJ — Local services in Manville

Rating a 5 overall because I haven’t had a bad experience. In fact, I left some shelves from a hutch i purchased and thankfully two (business) days later the workers immediately knew when I asked and grabbed them (with my info thankfully tagged on it). I was very happy with that. These are a few things I wish this store had, not knocking it, but comparing to other habitat stores (which also are much larger).

More stock. Goes without saying. I sometimes visit 3X a week when I’m on the hunt for something and find day to day things hardly move. But also this is second hand and large purchases…of course it doesn’t move. Sold items don’t get removed and replaced with new items. I won’t knock the review because this is HIGHLY location dependent, and they’re doing the best with what they have (I guarantee they don’t have space in the back to put sold items)- but man, I wish they could remove sold items and put new stock there. I don’t want to see stuff I missed out on, I want to see what’s still available. More floor space specifically dedicated to kitchen tables and shelves/ hutches. I am biased however- these are the items I’m after. I understand they’re branching out into clothing…but honestly, the space should be reclaimed. I’ve browsed it a few times as an avid goodwill shopper and I’ve come to the consensus that they don’t have enough space to be impactful with clothing. I’d rather they donate it to the community, and free that space up for something else. I would not be opposed to something more community based like local business’ items (candles, art, heck even branded habitat for humanity t shirts/totes/fanny packs, etc). But the beauty of a goodwill is that 99% won’t be your size or taste but that 1% is. With habitat only dedicating a corner- you can’t possibly overcome those odds.

That’s pretty much it, and like I said- my list is just me nitpicking. I’ve found many of the people at the desk are the least helpful, but all the workers in the back and on the floor are wonderful and do their best to keep the store running...

Price gouging at a thrift store is insane. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good deals here, but it is outweighed by the dirtiness and the rude employees. No, I’m not talking about the special-needs ones, I applaud them for what they are doing for that community. When I walked in, I noticed a sign that said green tags are 50% off and orange tags are 75% off, in the home goods section there were two buckets, (shown in photos) One had a green tag that said four dollars and the other had a tag that said two dollars. The four dollar bucket was full of laptop bags (Which I really needed) And the two dollar bucket was full of softer material bags. It made sense that they would be 4 and 2 dollars. When I walked up to the register there was one more customer in front of me, another woman that was not even in line came from the other side and went straight to the cashier without waiting in line. The cashier looked at us as if she knew what the woman had just done, but it seemed like they were friends so she allowed the transaction to proceed… rude and unprofessional, but whatever. When it got to my turn in line, I placed the bag on the counter and asked “if the bucket this was in says…” I was immediately cut off by the cashier and told “no”. She called over another worker who said “oh this is a really nice brand (it wasn’t… it was just the best condition bag in the bucket).”It’s got to be more” (before I wrote this review, I looked up the exact bag online and they sell used for $5 to $10). She then took the bag to the back to look it up and THEN priced it based on what she found. Not caring to look at what I was talking about, repricing items based on condition AFTER a customer shows interest, not honoring the color discount, rude employee at the counter, And overpriced items that are clearly dirty and worn beyond their value are the reasons I will not be coming back here to...

What scammers. I found a weighted running vest underneath a bunch of stuff, that had 1/4 of the weights and looked like it had been sitting there for weeks. It didn’t have a price so I politely asked how much the item cost. The rude woman snatched it from me and said it was a workers who mistakenly left it. I guess she notices things certain employees will like and pretends they were “left there”. The item had been on the shelf for weeks and it wasn’t Shawn’s. What a joke. AFTER 12 YEARS I WILL NEVER GO BACK AND I SUGGEST YOU DO THE SAME

EDIT (IN RESPONSE TO OWNER): 1. No, it wasn’t one of your special needs employees which had been left there for weeks. I shop in your store almost daily. That vest was not there for 2 weeks. I would have purchased it way before. The shape it was in showed it had not been properly worn in months (most likely years.) The deep creases, dirt, dust, missing weights and weights falling out of pockets, loose straps, to go with the overall condition on such a thick material doesn’t happen in days, not even weeks of sitting inside an inclosed store. That vest was a heavy duty, workout/running vest. With all due respect, why would your worker be wearing this vest to work? It makes no sense, and it is beyond obvious that you wanted it for yourself.

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