Goodwill NYNJ Store & Donation Center — Local services in New York

I am starting this review with some negatives but I it's a five star at the end. I am a trans person with limited resources and have shopped at 14th, 25th, Brooklyn and a store in the 80's for a few years. Each time I was gawked at, treated horrendously and even had managers sales peeps make crude jokes at my expense. I decided to never to shop at Goodwill anywhere again because of these experiences.

By chance a few days ago I was in Brooklyn and as I was passing the store the window grabbed my attention. I needed something to wear for a party over the weekend. I thought "what the hell maybe this time will be different" and IT WAS.

There was a white guy near the entrance who greeted me and asked how my day was. I asked where women's dresses were and instead of pointing walked me over and asked if I need help finding something.

At first I didn't but then realized I was overwhelmed by the choices. I grabbed a few to try on, saw the guy again and asked if he could help me choose. A kind woman let me into a dressing room. The guy stayed in the area and gave honest comments about the dresses.

I went in for one dress and bought five of the ones I tried on. I asked his name and I should have written it down. I have no idea what he does in the store but he deserves a raise, a bonus or something, I have never been treated so kindly.

To whoever reads these the store has never looked cleaner, organized or had some many cool pieces,. Thank you for making at least one of your stores feel inclusive and welcoming. I can't wait to stop in again.

5 stars for Goodwill on...

I spent nearly three hours thrifting at this Goodwill. Tried on about 25 pairs of jeans and finally found 9 I really liked. The associates on the floor were relatively helpful, but the experience completely soured once I got to the register.

The cashier, Davita G., had a dismissive attitude from the start. When I presented my Goodwill key card, she said “we don’t do that anymore” and looked up my account by phone number. Oddly, she claimed I “wasn’t in the system”, yet somehow managed to spell my uncommon name correctly and confirm my last initial. I could be wrong but It felt like she just wanted credit for a new sign-up or something. She also mentioned they “can’t tell you your points balance”, which made no sense. Why not?

Then came the jeans issue. Two pairs didn’t have barcodes, even though they had the correct color-coded tags. Instead of finding a way to ring them up or match them to the other seven pairs (which were all similarly priced), she flat-out refused to sell them — and wouldn’t even let me place them on hold. She told me they’d need to be “repriced” and I’d just have to come back and “search the racks” again. That’s BEYOND RIDICULOUS after hours of effort.

To top it off, she rounded up my purchase WITHOUT my permission. Normally, I’d be happy to donate, but her attitude made that decision for me and it wasn’t a yes.

I love thrifting and usually enjoy Goodwill, but this store’s customer service at checkout was unacceptable. It’s a shame, because the rest of the staff on the...

Lots of women’s clothing options, small men’s section, and a very small kids section. Large section of dishes, mostly plates and cups. I’ve been going here for years and in recent months, the line is always VERY long. On my last two visits in the past few months, the cashiers rounded up my purchase without asking me. This is not ok!! When does the fitting room close? They closed it at 5:45 the other day and the store closes at 7.

Updated 5/30/25: this location now has toys, games, and housewares! It’s generally clean for a thrift store that is really packed these days. The prices seem to have gone up again and women’s tops are $8.99, and a lot of items are specifically priced to be higher. I understand, but some seem priced very high. I have 2 issues recently, 1) employees seem to be evaluated on the round up and one cashier was openly talking about just rounding up for people because they had just received feedback on their low number of round ups. It’s just a penny but it’s disingenuous and questionable to evaluate employees on this. 2) I’m very confused by the new rewards system. It seems to be down at this location, or the employees haven’t been trained on this, even though there are many signs at the cash register for it. I’m able to give my phone number at other NYC locations but I was told this isn’t possible at the Livingston location? I would like my...