Berkeley Thrifting

Located between Milvia Street and Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley’s resident Goodwill store offers a wide selection of cheaply priced apparel. Clothing is organized by garment type and color, making it fairly easy to find basic staples like denim, dark winter coats, and light cotton button-downs. Top finds include colorful knit sweaters and a solid variety of $7 skirts, including, when last visited, a cute pleated model and black corduroy skirt.  

Pros/Cons: Goodwill is super affordable, but it can take a while to wade through pieces that seem more old-fashioned than retro chic.

Mars Vintage
2398 Telegraph Ave
Price Range: $10-60

Walk along the perpetually lively storefronts of Telegraph Avenue and it’s impossible to miss the two-story spectacle that is Mars Vintage. Mars’ collection of men’s and women’s clothing stays true to a vision of simultaneous contemporary eccentricity and old-style charm, offering up a variety of attire ranging from black leather miniskirts to white peasant blouses. Clothing is organized by garment type and decade, featuring a unique selection studded with gems like ‘50’s-era housewife dresses and bellbottom jeans from the flowerchild years of the 1970’s.

Pros/Cons: Mars is the perfect place to find a kitschy Halloween costume or a quirky cute outfit for a themed party.  But its high prices make it an impractical destination for casual shopping trips.

Buffalo Exchange
2585 Telegraph Ave
Price Range: $5-40

Quite a few blocks from campus down on Telegraph you’ll come across Buffalo Exchange: home to a variety of moderately priced and gently used clothing.  This store is great for finding street wear for an everyday look.  They have a great selection of T-shirts, shorts, blouses, dresses, and wearable shoes.

Pros/Cons: Buffalo Exchange can be very selective on which items they decide to buy, so be sure to bring high quality clothing to sell-back or else try to sell them elsewhere.

Jeremy’s
2967 College Ave
Price Range: $10-150

Finish up your ice cream cone from Ici’s and head across the street for some delightful shopping at Jeremy’s.  Walk in, and you’ll feel like you’re shopping at a boutique on Rodeo Drive until you see their 50-75% discounted prices. All of Jeremy’s clothes are new and bought from overstock in department stores such as Urban Outfitters and Nordstroms and slightly damaged goods from designers. This is a great place to find steals for cocktail dresses and jewelry.

Pros/Cons: Stay focused on the amazingly good deals that Jeremy’s has to offer and it’s easy to splurge on high quality designers. Jeremy’s also sells a lot of damaged items, so be sure to try everything on and check for imperfections before you buy.

Crossroads Trading Co.
2338 Shattuck Ave
$10-50

Here you’ll find a similar selection of used street wear to that of Buffalo Exchange.  Because it’s located down on Shattuck twenty minutes from campus, Crossroads tends to be less crowded than other thrift stores.  Crossroads keeps their store clean, orderly, and free of that must smell you can sometimes get at used clothing stores. This store is a good place for jeans, jackets, and tops.

Pros/Cons: Crossroads is the most lenient on buying used clothing, so definitely check out this store to trade in. Staff can be unfriendly, but overall, Crossroads is a pleasant place to shop with a great selection of used clothing with fair prices.