Finding the Best Thrift Stores in Portland: Top 10 For 2022 - The Portlandist (2024)

Given the region’s penchant for both funky fashion and environmental sustainability, it’s no surprise that Portland is home to dozens of thrift stores and vintage shops. Not only does buying used clothing, housewares and other goods allow consumers to save cash and score unique finds, but it also prevents perfectly functional items from meeting an untimely demise in a local landfill.

However, some thrift stores offer better merchandise quality and selection than others, so to avoid wasting time sifting through subpar castoffs, consult our list of the 10 best thrift stores in Portland for 2022. You’re sure to discover your next gem on a visit to one of these prime resale establishments.

The Best Thrift Stores in Portland Oregon

Below is our picks for the top 10 best Thrift Stores in Portland Oregon. To snap directly to a specific location, please click the corresponding link in the list below.

  1. Rerun
  2. The Rebuilding Center
  3. Goodwill Outlet (The Bins)
  4. William Temple House Thrift Store
  5. Seams to Fit
  6. Buffalo Exchange
  7. Crossroads Trading Company
  8. CAT Thrift Store
  9. Village Merchants

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10. Rerun

Finding the Best Thrift Stores in Portland: Top 10 For 2022 - The Portlandist (1)

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Launched in 2005, the owners of Rerun see the shop as more than just a place where consumers can purchase gently used and vintage clothes, accessories, books, furniture, records and other items; they consider it an essential part of the fabric of the community. Toward that end, the shop frequently hosts community events and free children’s activities and offers a 10 percent discount to local teachers. Rerun has also played an outsize role in the lives of some of its customers; its website describes how the shop has helped reunite a pair of octogenarian childhood friends, sold a senior yearbook to an elderly customer to replace the copy she lost in a devastating fire and provided countless neighborhood children with their first bicycles.

For the average customer, Rerun offers an excellent selection of reasonably-priced used furniture, clothing and books, and the 2,000 square-foot shop is a welcoming environment for both treasure-hunting and meeting like-minded members of the community.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-683-3786
707 NE Fremont St Portland, Oregon 97212

9. The Rebuilding Center

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This massive 30,000 square foot store should be the first stop for Portlanders planning to do a home improvement project on the cheap. The shop sells all manner of donated and reclaimed—but still functional—building and renovation materials, including sinks, tubs, toilets, lighting, windows, doors, appliances, trim and tile. Many of the items have been salvaged from deconstructed and renovated historic homes in the city, while others are overstock and excess materials donated by local business partners.

The ReBuilding Center considers itself primarily a climate justice nonprofit organization working to reduce waste and consumption and prevent usable items from clogging landfills. At the same time, the center strives to make reuse and home repair accessible for all people regardless of their budgets, with inventory priced at 40 to 90 percent off its retail value.

In addition to accepting donations and selling home improvement supplies, the store offers hands-on instructional classes to help area youth develop building and repair skills. Community members can also volunteer to support the organization’s mission, with opportunities ranging from class assistance to preparing materials for resale in the shop.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-331-9291
3625 N Mississippi Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97227

8. Goodwill Outlet (The Bins)

Finding the Best Thrift Stores in Portland: Top 10 For 2022 - The Portlandist (3)

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Any thrift shopper worth their salt has been to a Goodwill store, but only the truly dedicated have set foot into a Goodwill Outlet, colloquially referred to as “The Bins” for the massive blue rolling containers of clothing and other goods that customers must dig through in search of treasures at these rapid liquidation centers.

Because Goodwill in the Portland market receives more donations than any other area of the country—including massive metros like New York and Los Angeles—the organization has far more goods than it can possibly sell in its traditional thrift stores, which is where the outlet centers enter the picture. Portland has five Goodwill Outlets, but the highest-volume location is “The Bins” in Milwaukie. With the exception of furniture, books and glassware, product is priced by the pound for quick sale: $1.69 a pound, with the price dropping to $.99 per pound for purchases of 25 pounds or more. Paperback books are $1.29, hardcover books are $2.49 and glassware is a steal at just $.69 a pound.

Most of the items at The Bins are castoffs from traditional Goodwill stores; items that fail to sell after four weeks are moved along to the outlets. Each container remains on the sales floor only briefly, giving ambitious shoppers just minutes to sift through the contents before the bin is whisked away to the back room to be sorted and removed from the site, often for sale to Third World countries for pennies on the pound.

As a result, finding items of value at The Bins is largely a combination of luck and good timing, as well as the willingness to sift through tons of junk for the occasional treasure, which might include new or gently-used clothing, shoes, vintage dinnerware, unused party and craft supplies and antique books. If you enjoy the thrill of the hunt, you’ll love The Bins.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-548-4922
5950 NE 122nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97230

7.William Temple House Thrift Store

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Located in the city’s Nob Hill shopping district, William Temple House Thrift Store offers your typical thrift-store selection of used clothing, housewares, books and furniture, all in good condition and priced to sell. The store runs monthly discount sales with color-coded tags, and shoppers get the added value of knowing their purchases are going to support low-cost counseling and other social services at William Temple House. The nonprofit organization began in 1965 as a community counseling center and has since provided food, clothing, furniture and other essential items to thousands of individuals and families throughout the region.

Email | Instagram | Web |503-222-3328
2230 NW Glisan Street, Portland, Oregon 97210

6. Uplifted Boutique & Makers Market

Finding the Best Thrift Stores in Portland: Top 10 For 2022 - The Portlandist (5)

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Uplifted Boutique is more than just a consignment shop—it’s a complete experience. Owner Judi Martin launched the business to help her manage her grief in the wake of her father’s death from brain cancer, and her stated mission is to spread joy in the community and provide space for local artists and makers to market their creations. In addition to the store, the site houses a theater that hosts live variety shows with local performers as well as a museum with Martin’s own collection of 1970s-era paper dolls, which are framed and on display for visitors to enjoy.

There’s also a small children’s library, as well as a market where shoppers can browse crafts and jewelry created by area artisans as well as vintage and antique items. Even if you leave the shop without making a purchase, you’re sure to have acquired some additional joy from your visit.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-962-0911
5404 SE 72nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97206

5. Seams to Fit

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From its humble roots in 1999, Seams to Fit has expanded from a small storefront helmed by a single shopkeeper to a pair of fully-staffed outlets—one selling high-end and vintage women’s clothing and accessories, the other offering upscale consignment furniture with a modern flair. Seams to Fit was also designated a Certified B Corporation in 2016, reflecting its mission to address social and environmental problems by serving the community and preserving the environment, and is the only consignment store in the world to have earned this designation.

On the apparel side, Seams to Fit offers both online and in-person shopping in its Nob Hill showroom. The shop is highly selective in the items it purchases, ensuring the best possible shopping experience for its customers seeking top-quality goods in excellent condition. Recent finds include a pair of Prada black leather pumps for $199; a Valentino red silk strapless dress for $179; a pair of Rag and Bone skinny jeans for less than $35; and a gold-tone Michael Kors watch for less than $100.

At Seams to Fit Home, shoppers can discover one-of-a-kind and designer pieces like a gunmetal gray DellaRobbia sectional sofa with open chaise, a Yerra “Perspective” custom cowhide rug and a pair of vintage BRNO Chairs with custom moss green mohair upholstery. Though the prices aren’t cheap by any means, shopping at Seams to Fit home allows customers to give extended life to previously-enjoyed furniture while decorating their homes in distinctive styles that can’t be found at big-box discount stores.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-224-7884
2239 NW Raleigh Street, Portland, Oregon 97210

4.Buffalo Exchange

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The first Buffalo Exchange opened in Tucson, Arizona in 1974 and has since expanded to a chain of more than 40 stores across the U.S. The company is still operated by its founder, Swedish expat Kerstin Block, and each store offers its own unique mix of fashionable used clothing and accessories that caters primarily to the younger crowd.

In addition to promoting the sale of “recycled” clothing items, the store also runs a “Tokens for Bags” program that gives customers the opportunity to donate five cents to a charity of their choice instead of receiving a bag for their merchandise. Over the company’s history, Buffalo Exchange has raised nearly $1 million for thousands of local charities while preventing more than 17 million bags from ending up in landfills.

Though it doesn’t offer the same rock-bottom prices as a Goodwill or other more traditional thrift store, Buffalo Exchange still delivers solid deals on sought-after brands and on-trend styles. The company operates two stores in Portland: one in the Hawthorne shopping district and another downtown.

Email | Instagram | Web |520-622-2711
1420 SE 37th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97214

3. Crossroads Trading Company

Finding the Best Thrift Stores in Portland: Top 10 For 2022 - The Portlandist (8)

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Less than a block from Buffalo Exchange, you’ll find one of two Portland locations of Crossroads Trading Company (the other is the recently-opened shop at NW 23rd Avenue). Much like Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads specializes in lightly-used clothing and accessories aimed mainly at fashion-conscious younger shoppers. In addition to its high-quality selection, Crossroads touts the positive environmental impact of its business practices, noting that extending the use of a clothing item by a mere three months can result in a 5 to 10 percent reduction in its carbon, waste and water footprint and that quadrupling the use of a pair of jeans can save up to 75 percent of the water that would be required to manufacture a new pair.

Instead of selling donated goods like traditional thrift stores, Crossroads offers store credit to customers trading in their unwanted items, paying 50 percent of the price it expects to place on the item for resale. While you can occasionally find a vintage piece at Crossroads, it’s a reliable destination for popular current brands in the latest styles. For spring 2022, buyers can expect to find miniskirts, kitten heels, bold stripes, cutouts and moto jackets among the fashions on the racks at Crossroads.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-239-8099
3736 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97214

2. CAT Thrift Store

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Unlike many Portland-area thrift stores whose proceeds are directed toward social services and job programs for people, sales at the CAT Thrift Store benefit the community’s feline friends in Portland. The Raleigh Hills shop offers a wide selection of clothing, shoes, craft supplies, books, housewares, jewelry and accessories at extremely affordable prices, and customers have been known to score exciting unique and vintage finds at the shop on occasion.

The well-organized outlet is open daily for in-person browsing, and it also sells items on eBay for shoppers who prefer to make their purchases online. All sales directly support the Cat Adoption Team, which provides lifesaving care and loving forever homes for cats and kittens in need.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-208-3635
4838 SW Scholls Ferry Road, Portland, Oregon 97225

1. Village Merchants

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This quirky vintage and secondhand shop bills itself as “a store full of everything​ you never knew you needed.” Village Merchants is truly a treasure-hunter’s paradise, where merchandise changes from day to day and you’re almost always guaranteed to find reasonably-priced items that will delight and surprise you on the shelves. The modest space is crammed with vintage furniture, unique collectibles and knickknacks, books, linens and home décor, clothing and much more, and thanks to the ever-rotating inventory, it’s a different store each time you visit.

Email | Instagram | Web | 503-234-6343
4035 SE Division Street, Portland, Oregon 97202

Our Final Thoughts: The Best Thrift Stores in Portland Oregon

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