This rating is based on customer reviews, inventory size, pricing, and service quality
Recent reviews give East Village Thrift Shop in New York, NY a 77/100: generally positive but uneven. Shoppers praise friendly staff, donations accepted, frequent restocks, and a big, affordable selection (often fast‑fashion, some vintage). Common complaints: cramped aisles, clutter, mildew/strong fragrance, variable quality, and occasional overpricing. Finding gems takes time; only one fitting room can mean a wait. Service is usually helpful, yet some cite confusing return terms and two serious conduct concerns with an employee—issues that warrant attention.
East Village Thrift Shop in New York is the kind of place that makes you walk in for “just a quick look” and then somehow walk out forty minutes later holding things you did not know you needed but now cannot live without. The selection is surprisingly good, especially for a shop that does not take itself too seriously. You can find everything from genuinely cool vintage pieces to the kind of weird little items that make thrifting fun in the first place.
The prices are fair for the neighborhood, which in the East Village is basically a small miracle. You are not paying luxury boutique prices for secondhand finds, and you can actually walk out feeling like you scored something instead of feeling lightly robbed. The staff also deserves credit for being helpful without hovering, which is exactly the balance you want when you are digging through racks like a determined raccoon on a mission.
Is everything perfectly organized? No. Will you occasionally have to dig a little? Absolutely. But that is part of the charm. This is a thrift shop, not a museum, and the slightly chaotic vibe is what makes finding a great piece feel like winning a small lottery.
Overall, East Village Thrift Shop delivers exactly what it should: fun, affordable, and genuinely interesting thrifting in one of the most entertaining neighborhoods in the city. If you like a little attitude with your shopping and a lot of personality in your finds, this place easily earns five stars.
I recommend this store they have great things very clean and organize and great prices the manager always helping and he’s very friendly. I’ll bring my friends over to check the store
Loved this place for the generally low prices, until the other night. Saw this employee’s phone screen while I was looking at clothes behind him. He was scrolling through a website for “adult material” with several women nearby. And he was sitting in this spot the entire time I was there right next to the fitting room with just a curtain. So nothing is stopping him from peeking in the side opening if no one is around. And since he was just sitting there and not cleaning up or hanging things, I assume he’s probably related to management or something, who was in the next room organizing. Doing this at home is one thing, but in a public place and on the job and around women, is just weird and objectively nasty. It’s also literally *illegal* to look at it where the public can see it, and it’s *illegal* to at work where colleagues or customers can see it. Definitely not comfortable shopping here anymore and it definitely isn’t safe for women with this man around.
GREAT Find, heaps of secret jems if you have the time to look through the stock. Reasonable prices. From Australia and best one I have been too. Thank you!! In love with this pieces.
Large selection of clothes but very steep prices for a thrift store. Most pieces are from fast-fashion brands—they start at $15 and go upwards. Hard pass!
Great place in the neighborhood to drop off donations of clothes and housewares. Love that it’s locally owned and not owned by a major corporation like Goodwill, which I’ve heard controversies about for their employment practices. The owners and workers are so friendly. Definitely support this local community thrift store! :)
prices are low but the quality of the inventory is too. mostly fast fashion and mid range pieces with a lot of pilling, stains or holes. the store is messy and smells like a wet basement. it's a skip for me as someone who is a regular thrifter
Here’s a longer, polished version without unnecessary complexity:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The East Village Thrift Shop is a fantastic spot for anyone who loves secondhand shopping and discovering unique items. The store has a carefully curated selection of vintage clothing, accessories, shoes, and home decor. Everything is well-organized, which makes browsing easy and enjoyable.
The prices are fair, especially for the quality of what’s on offer. I found a vintage leather jacket and some timeless accessories during my last visit, and both were in great condition. The turnover seems frequent, so there’s always something new to discover.
The staff are approachable and helpful without being intrusive, which creates a welcoming, laid-back atmosphere. Shopping here feels like a treasure hunt, and it’s clear the team takes pride in offering pieces that are stylish and unique.
Beyond being a fun shopping experience, it’s a great way to support sustainable fashion and give pre-loved items a new home. If you’re in the area or just love thrifting, the East Village Thrift Shop is absolutely worth a visit.
Also, you can find Soviet antiques too??
I am visiting New York and bought a selection of dresses for an event. Before purchasing, I specifically asked if these items were returnable. He said yes, just return within 5 days. I came back to return some of the dresses less than 20 minutes later, and he says "sorry, store credit only". He did NOT say that to me when I purchased and there were no signs posted anywhere. If you are only offering store credit, then there should be dressing rooms to try on the clothing first. Fair prices and a good selection of clothing otherwise.
I was expecting vintage clothing, but hardly anything here is over 10 years old, which is fine, just not my style. The prices are very fair and they do have a discount rack out front.
This is an amazing thrift store in East Village, with a lot of great and vintage stuff. I found a lot of cute pieces for a reasonable price.
The atmosphere of this thrift store is great.
I will definitely check this place out again.
Good selection and some great pieces, but the whole shop stinks of mildew and all the clothes do too. It takes a couple washes to get the stink out. Worth it sometimes but not a pleasant shopping experience. At least it’s an actual THRIFT shop for this area, not a vintage mart.
This place has all their clothes donated and still has the decency to mark them up $30-40 without glancing at anything for stains and tears—so many of the clothes have very noticeable stains, holes and ripped up lining in the coats and the prices stay the same. The store is very dirty and they often spray really strong febreze all over the clothes (while people are in the store) so i had to leave because i couldn’t breathe. really tacky. Also, everything is packed so so tightly because they are given so many items but it makes it impossible to sift through.
This place has some magic. I’ve only been twice but both times the very first pair of jeans on the rack have been the exact right size and style that I’m looking for. And that’s saying something because I’m a size 12 woman and they were both men’s jeans. We went back after my first beloved pair got too worn out to be worn in public very often. First time I thought it was luck. Second time, it’s definitely magic.
You would need a lot of time and patience to go through the store. It is not the most organized store but there is a general idea where is everything. Prices are good. They only have 1 fit room.
The worker there (dark skin guy) felt the need to stand by me on his phone while I was trying on belts and did the same when I looked in the mens section (back). Like buddy I’m not pressed to rob a thrift store. Idk who would, to be honest. It’s very disorganized and dirty inside. I happened to have been the only black male shopper there. It be your own people..
Exactly the thrift store I was looking for. The prices are reasonable-- $6 for a shirt, $10-$12 for a dress, $15+ for a pair of jeans. Since this is a thrift store and not a vintage store, you will have to sift through a lot of clothing to find what you want. However, if you love the thrill of the hunt for cheap and unique pieces, this is the place for you!
The owner has great taste of clothes, decorations, glasses. The clothes are very stylish and in very good price. I’ll definitely come back again next time when I visit New York.
I came here with my friend visiting from Chicago and it was one of the more authentic thrifts we’ve been to. They have a large selection of items at very affordable prices. The staff are friendly and very helpful. There is a small changing room and it’s pretty busy. I will recommend you visit this store if you are just out for a real thrift experience.
The shop is cramped, unorganized, unlabelled and uninteresting. Everything is overpriced (I mean really overpriced) and you won't be able to find a full set of anything, not shoes, not earrings, not dishes. The front window's knick knacks makes it look more interesting than it is. Dude tried to sell me a child's craft bead bracelet for 7 dollars, and one of the earrings I found was a bunch of wire with a long string of hot glue attached (?) Disinfect anything you buy here too. Yuck!
I loved this thrift store!
My friend and I stopped in here this past Sunday (November 1st, 2020) and i’m glad we did. I found a green and navy blue flannel and a black cropped von dutch zip up hoodie. The flannel was $9.99 and the hoodie was $8.99. Considering that this is a thrift in the east village of manhattan that’s some GREAT pricing! It took me a good 20 minutes of walking around to realize how nicely decorated the place was. I especially love the ceiling. I know most people don’t choose their thrift based on decor and neither do I, but there’s something to be said about the vibe you get in different thrift stores and if that matters to you like it does to me, come support this store. All the workers were very friendly and made us feel welcome. My one and only complaint is that they bag with plastic bags. I totally should have brought a reusable bag with me but I forgot to. I was a little disappointed to walk out with a plastic bag but that’s really a minor issue considering you could bring your own bag. I’ll definitely be back! I’d be happy to update this review if next time I go I see they made the switch to a more eco-friendly bag option like paper bags. [edit: I went back on June 11th, 2021 and they were still using plastic bags.]
The prices for the clothes were a bit too high given their quality. The women’s tops are probably some of the more overpriced pieces, but they had good deals for men’s t-shirts (around $6), women’s jeans ($9-$11), and skirts ($9-10). They had a wide selection of books, but most of them were really dusty. Overall a cozy shop but it felt kind of suffocating because of a really strong fragrance they used to try to cover up the smell of the clothes.
A fabulous place indeed. I wandered in here last week and walked out with three items that are better than anything new I've bought recently. Quite a selection of leather belts, bags and pretty much everything. I love my "new" jacket, blouse, & belt. I am coming back again with an Ikea bag for a spree. You will definitely find some great names and spectacular bargains. Super kind staff too. Thank you!
Love the items, especially the dresses. They restock everyday. The price is okay as well, given that it's in the east village. I think they gave me a discount for being a first-timer. A lot of H&M and Loft, but there's more high end items if you have the time to browse their selection more thoroughly. Most of the clothes I saw were small to medium though, I hope they would have more variety in terms of sizing. Will be back!
I love this store. Has a great selection of clothing and books and other things for a really cheap price. Some thrift stores sell clothes at regular retail store price like H&M or Forever 21 butt this store I actually see real low thrift store prices. Definitely a place to visit if you enjoy thrifting.
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