This entry refers to a departed business — a business that has closed or left town. Information here is mostly for historical reference.

"The Goodwill Central Coast’s The Bargain Barn recently moved to 1566 Moffett St. in Salinas after four decades in Santa Cruz.

Unlike Goodwill stores, where all items have price tags, outlet stores move merchandise quickly, selling everything (except furniture) by the pound. The Salinas outlet store will sell its merchandise for $1.79 a pound..."

- The Californian, July 20, 2017

Though technically called the "Bargain Outlet", the Bargain Barn is actually a warehouse/barn/hangar type structure behind the Goodwill processing plant. After processing the donations and distributing the higher-quality items to Goodwill stores in the area, the dregs of the donations come here. Linens, clothing and other cloth items go in large bins on the right, and all the other goods go on the left, roughly separated by electronics, household items, toys and records.

Prices

Cloth items are sold by the pound, whereas the smaller (non-cloth) items are sold by volume. Clothing is $1.25 per pound (minimum $1.25); other goods are $5 for a paper bagful. However, the bag has to be leveled off at the top, and stuff sticking out too much costs extra, and if you only fill half a bag, you still have to pay $5.

Some specific items are specially priced. Furniture items, bikes, exercise equipment and children's items are now a steep $10 a piece. Stereo equipment, electronics, pictures and frames will all set you back $5, as will up to 5 records or up to 5 golf clubs.

Quality of Goods

The quality of items is highly variable. Most items sent here have some flaw (usually small, but sometimes large) such as a tear, stain, broken piece, lots of wear, incomplete (like a game missing some of the pieces), or whatever. Often such items can easily be fixed or mended. Frequently you may find missing pieces you need in another part of the barn, and the pieces were simply separated accidentally in the processing phase.

Some items are sent to the bargain barn after they have "expired" at a regular goodwill (meaning that the item didn't sell and was thus removed and sent bck for processing). These items tend to be higher in quality.

However, the bargain barn is for people who like to get their hands dirty, since that will inevitably happen. Sometimes treasures abound; other times you really have to get in there and dig.

Related Links

• Thrift Stores
• Retail

Comments

2010-11-17 12:38:29   I bought my Navy fighter ejection seat here some years ago. $10. Definitely a hard to find item but you NEVER know what will appear. Found a bottle of gold leaf this year...conveniently fit into my $5 bag with room for much more. —166.205.137.142

2011-04-27 13:19:23   why don't we have one in san jose ca —75.36.158.172

2011-08-24 16:24:10   AMAZING FOR FINDING VINYLS and books. Fill a bag full for so cheap. I've found a few cool clothing items here before, but its mostly about the records and books. —99.39.233.246

2013-08-21 23:10:08   I've found some really fantastic items at Bargain Barn over years, usually great quality/excellent shape. Skates, leather, fuzzies, fabric, shoes. —24.130.187.231