Where to score the best thrift deals in Berkeley

Berkeley offers many options for thrifting with a wide range of basic items and specific or vintage items. We compared the affordability of seven thrift stores in the city.

Momoka Sasaki | Senior Staff

Thrift shopping can be an affordable, sustainable and accessible way of buying clothes. UC Berkeley is surrounded by various thrift stores, each with its own personality and specialty. Prices at the stores range widely. With a set list of common thrifted items, including Levi’s jeans, a graphic T-shirt, a collared shirt and converse, we compared the affordability of seven thrift stores.

Anastasia’s Vintage

Anastasia’s Vintage on Telegraph Avenue, a block away from campus, has a large selection with a wide variety of items, both in type and quality. The store carries a selection of new and used clothing, and racks are organized by trends, such as Y2K. There are separate women's and men’s stores, and the women’s store is considerably larger. The items we searched for cost an average of $21.80.

Goodwill

Goodwill on University Avenue is a smaller store. Most items are priced at a lower cost than the vintage stores. Because of its smaller selection, though, it may be harder to find specific items, but Goodwill is a good place to buy basics. The items we searched for cost an average of $7.38.

ThriftyCat

ThriftyCat on Martin Luther King Jr. Way is a small, curated thrift store. The front of the store and parking lot has bins and racks of $1 to $5 items. The store is organized into different themes such as street, western and rock. The store also has a section for business attire including blazers, collared shirts and other formal clothing. The prices are also in the lower range, but we still found items of all qualities. The items we searched for cost an average of $7.20.

Out of the Closet

Out of the Closet is a thrift store that raises money for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, or AHF. According to its website, 96 cents of every dollar goes to AHF’s HIV prevention and treatment services, and the store also hosts HIV testing services. The large store sits on the corner of University Avenue and California Street. The store is filled with long racks dedicated to specific items: formal shirts, business wear, graphic tees, dresses and more. It also has a selection of shoes, most of which were heels. Because of its volume of items, it is easy to find a specific item or brand. While it may take some searching, the store has a lot of hidden gems. Items are slightly more expensive than the other thrift stores, but still reasonably priced. The items we searched for cost an average of $10.75.

ReUSE

UC Berkeley’s campus thrift store is located on the first floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. The store has bins outside, encouraging students to donate their items. The store has sections for shirts, button-down shirts, dresses, skirts, pants, underwear and more. Most of the clothing is high quality and priced relatively cheap. The store also has tables of free items including books, chargers and stationery.

Paisley Vintage

Paisley Vintage is a small, curated thrift store on Bancroft Way near campus. The inside of the store feels the most similar to a boutique, with neat, clean sections for merchandise and color coded racks of t-shirts. It seems like a place to go when you need something general: Have a party coming up and need a specific colored shirt? Looking for a fun dress? However, Paisley Vintage lacks a range of sizes for some items. It is the most expensive store on our list, likely due to its highly curated selection, averaging prices of $30.

Crossroads

Crossroads Trading is a chain of thrift stores with locations across the United States. Its Berkeley location is much larger, cleaner, more organized and reasonably priced. The store is organized in sections but not curated, so it takes some level of digging to find specific items. They have clothing from good brands for reasonable prices, such as items from Dr. Martens, Vans and J. Crew. Crossroads is a slightly more upscale version of Goodwill. The items we searched for cost an average of $24.80.

Berkeley offers many options for thrifting and almost all the stores we went to had pieces we loved. Where you should go truly depends on what you are looking for, as many stores seem to have a specific niche they focus on. If you’re looking for something fun to do around the city, we recommend checking out all these places for yourself!

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