Free Geek

Unique thrift store dealing ONLY with computer items and electronics. Very knowledgeable staff who seem to be all volunteer. For sure most were younger than 40 something. We had been here several times before when we needed to update our computer systems and needed some place to gift our old stuff. The idea that you can volunteer somewhere and learn how to do computer tech work, well, if that's not unique I don't know the meaning of the word. Our visit this time wasn't to donate, literally because when you bring old equipment, don't bring your junk and you should bring at least a $10 bill to donate with the goods. What we needed this time were screws. Yup. Screws. Particular kinds that fit together a hard drive and another unit. The manufacturers must have figured out they save all kinds of money if they just omit the screws. Free Geek got us out of a bind with time and they kept me from having to go to commercial electronics store, like Be-- B-y and navigate their system just to find out that we would be paying outrageous price for four screws. Instead, we had a likable guy Chad. He was cordial, but not overly so. Uniquely professional. He was able to go in the back and find the exact thing we wanted. He wasn't going to charge us, so we donated a few dollars and were on our way. Highly recommend, especially if you need a computer and can donate your time for one, as well as find a geek society to hang with. If I were younger, I know I'd have been a regular. It's definitely a haven for those who want to learn Ubuntu and other OS's besides Gates's OS. Love the concept. Like the People and the shop's pretty cool, too.

When my girlfriend and i arrived we were greeted with warm smiles and good mornings. We told the front desk that we wanted to do the orientation and we were handed the correct paperwork to fill out. We were then given a tour of the facility and it was clean and all the employees and volunteers had their safetly gear on and were eager to answer questions when asked. The facility itself was very clean and organized. They had signs explaining where and what everything was and located. Even had different colored tape on the floor to help guide a person. They accept donations and even have specially trained employees that will wipe any hard drives from computers brought in. Breakroom for employees and volunteers was spacious and inviting. There is an area that was available for open use of computers that you can sign up to use. The company also has a little incentive for the volunteers. Every 24 hours spent volunteering you have the option to get a free laptop or desktop computer. They offer classes to help anyone in the community learn their computer. Over all we enjoyed our tour and look forward to our volunteer time.

A magnificent store with friendly and knowledgeable staff and volunteers. I was greeted by someone who looked like RMS, and I bought a motherboard for a very reasonable price. It feels great to support people passionate about open-source software and about making technology accessible for all. Next time I am in Portland, I'll be sure to stop by again!

Super fast and easy! Dropped off a broken laptop and phone that I needed to get rid of. If they refurbish it and are able to give it to someone who needs it, excellent. If they aren't and it gets recycled, still great that it's being disposed of safely. I made sure to factory reset both devices before donating them, but they also assured me that they also wipe each device clean of personal data as well. Thanks for providing a great service y'all!