Hunting for bargains in Berkeley
Julie D provides an excellent guide to thrift stores on University Avenue on TownMe:
So you think you found some sweet deals at Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads? Well, I don’t want to say you’re wrong or anything, or that these buy-sell-trade stores might not be worth the pretty penny you’ve been spending. I’ll just say that I much prefer the unexpected capture of a hidden treasure from a thrift store.
Luckily enough, a majority of the thrift stores in Berkeley are located around the same place. An epic day of thrift shopping begins and ends simply on University Avenue. The most important thing to remember is that this outing quickly morphs into a hunt, so a thrift-shopper must be ready to stalk in tall blades of grass for a good amount of time otherwise the venture will be fruitless.
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Whenever times are booming, the thrift stores become a vital resource for those of us below the poverty line. When times get a little rough, wealthier people tend to descend upon them in what are essentially needless cathartic acts of self-reassurance that they can still drink the lion’s share of *something*. I don’t mean to discourage anyone from going and enjoying those fine, fine instruments of re-use but I would like to discourage going with a gratuitously predatory attitude. Stick to Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads, please, if you are just in it for fun or for a discount on stuff that still commands a premium price on the used market. Simultaneously, if you are ditching old stuff please very much consider giving it to the thrift stores rather than going through the hassle of getting a few bucks from buyers at the fancier exchanges. Of course, if you are ditching something definitely fancy (e.g., with non-trivial re-sale value on e-bay) then the for-profit exchanges are the right place; ditching something of use-value with not much market value – take it to the thrifts).
Thanks,
-t