Hotbins — Local services in Tampa

Short version: Hobbits is.a hot mess! I'd heard of other Hotbins stores, all followed by a sigh....now I know why! Detailed version: First, they are across Busch Blvd from Busch Gardens,, easy to find.. Went on a Friday (new inventory & highest $ day) about 11am (1 hour after they opened). Parking was not adequate to say the least. Cars were parked on the streets around the parking lot! I was able to park in the parking lot as the earliest bids were starting to leave with their finds. I remember thinking that it must be more organized than I'd heard. Otherwise, that many people wouldn't be able to seek, find, and cash out with the crowd in less than an hour! I was SO wrong! I walk in and see about 20 bins with people swarming all of them. So I start looking through the first bin of hundreds of miscellaneous items-some in clear bags, some still in taped boxes, and some with no cover (already?!?) So I decide in my mind that they just let the customers open them to save time and money...wrong again. My friend says to me "I don't think we're supposed to be opening the boxes." I looked again for any signs to confirm...nope. So I told him my logic and started opening more...3 more open boxes later, they make announcement to not open any boxes. If interested, take boxes to rea of store and allow an employee to open them. AND- if you want to open more than 4, you wait in that line, get 4 opened, then go to end of Line for the next 4! How should I know if interested until I see what it is? 95% of the items were still in taped boxes, only 1nof 10 had a picture or written description of item...? Only then did I realize they intend for you to use a phone qr and barcode scanner to read about what is inside! duh About that time my other friend comes back from his walkabout and tells us that the line ending just 15 ft from the door wrapped all the way around the inside perimeter of store! (2 1/2 walls). I decided that even if my phone didn't die scanning, and I didn't need to have boxes opened-there was nothing worth waiting in that line for! I do want to go back, maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday when hopefully I can put eyes on what is left and find a bargain! Tuesday early afternoon sounds like it might be a good time for crowd reduction! It's worth seeing for a good laugh. If you go, wear comfortable shoes...

I went on a Wednesday on purpose to verify the quality of the products offered the last day of the week. The store was almost empty and the packages were ripped off and damaged. I would not recommend to go on that day of the week. Although I bought three things you are basically buying blind. On the other hand, at the end of the store, you could see all the packages that they were going to put on sale on Friday, and although the boxes look very big and attractive, when you get closer to see the detail, they are discarded products, in poor condition, or old. For example, 2024 calendars. I know that on social networks they post pictures of people with iPads, laptops, etc, but judging by what I could see, it seems more a question of winning the lottery than finding good or cheap prices regularly. Unless you are in the area, I don't recommend making even a 20-minute drive to visit the store at all. A very disappointing Check the pics of what I bought. I hope this helps.

Update after Hotbins answer: The way the store looked like had nothing to do with store concept. It's about offering good quality products in good condition at all times. I went during Wednesday morning and the store was a mess. I do not suggest going on Wednesdays. I don't know if the quality is different on other days. Maybe the experience is different. Not sure. If you allow me the suggestion, Hotbins should offer an organized and tidy experience every day. Some products at 2 bucks, in the way they were displayed, were too expensive. Some of them looked disgusting. There are other stores that offer all their products at 1.25 and they look great. I understand that sometimes people behave in an inappropriate way, but you can always do things to make the products look better. I hope it helps you offer a...

After reading some of the reviews, I thought I'd leave a public disclaimer about these types of stores to settle the confusion... Yes, this is more of a scavenger hunt meets the opening of the toy store scene from "Jingle all the Way" than "traditional" shopping. -Yes, most things are in unmarked boxes that you can collect and bring to an associate and they will open it for you. If you do not want it, they will tape it back shut and re-bin it. -Yes, some items are missing pieces. For this you can thank either thank Amazon, the original person who returned this item (possibly because it was missing pieces), or the ding dong who was trying to rip the box open in the bin to see what it was and pieces fell out. -These items, for the most part ARE RETURNS to Amazon. Amazon typically doesn't resell the returns back from the web store (they do sometimes). Instead, they pile up the returned products on pallets and sell the pallets wholesale to independent distributors. Hence, stores like Hot Bins appear....... TAH-DAH! Yes, they occasionally will get "high end" items. Let's be real. These folks are running a business. Would you sell a BOSE speaker on a Wednesday for two dollars? Would you sell a hoverboard for ten dollars? If you said yes to either of those, you probably should stick to NOT owning a business. In conclusion, I hope I helped put things in better perspective and understanding for anyone unfamiliar with the Bin Store Concept. Also, I hoped to not have offended anyone (it's REALLY easy to do these days). I do recommend wearing latex gloves as ALOT of people are touching everything in those bins. I have personally gotten sick from one of these stores. Stay safe, Happy Holidays, and Be...