Out of the Closet

First time here and right when I walked in, it legit smelled like lemons everywhere. Most thrift stores just have this weird scent. The store is pretty well organized and the cashier is very friendly. Overall, the clothes are at a good price and was very impressed as my first time here

Awesome place, a touch pricier than some others in the area. However I was very satisfied!
Good selection for anyone. Not much more to say: check it out!

I bought a couch here for cheap that I love but the low rating is for the appalling customer service and lack of organization I experienced.
The day I bought the couch everyone was great and polite. I asked if they could keep the couch until evening the following day, no problem. I asked about delivery, they arranged it, I assumed it was through them. Apparently not.
The next day I called to double check on the delivery. They said they knew nothing about that and they would only hold for exactly 24 hours so I would be losing the couch without a refund. I was naturally completely incensed. Every time I explained what had happened the day before I was told that «it wasn’t their problem» and that they «didn’t want to hear a lecture». I have worked in customer service all my life and the way they spoke to me is something I would fire a person over. They didn’t seem to understand that losing a decent chunk of money after I was told waiting wouldn’t be a problem is extremely upsetting. Eventually, after the person was done being a condescending jerk, I convinced them to make an exception. They gave me a number for someone who could deliver it for over twice what I had been quoted the day before.
Customer service is shitty, don’t trust anything they tell you. Go elsewhere.

There are several thrift stores along University yet «Out of the Closet» is probably the best.
As all thrift stores are forever changing their inventory it seems the clothes here are better overall so less sorting through rubbish for gems.
Love that on select items there are colored tags for:
green tags for 30 percent off
blue tags 50 percent off
orange tags for $ 1
Proceeds go toward prevention, treatment, & finding a cure for HIV. Free prophylactics at check out. As Iggy Pop sang «Search & Destroy» so here you can «Seek & Enjoy» your recycled gems!

Me encanta este lugar. Está bien mantenido y la mercaderia está en buen estado. Se pueden encontrar remeras muy interesantes y a buen precio (especialmente los Sabados que ponen un precio fijo muy barato para todo). En cuanto a productos distinto de ropa, depende mucho de la suerte. La único malo es que se nota que las cosas que les llegan las disgregan en multiples ventas, incrementando los precios y la posibilidad de no adquirir algo con todos sus accesorios. Los libros tienen buenos precios aunque no suelen ser útiles (muy viejos o irrelevantes). Los muebles están a buen precio pero no siempre hay variedad (no es como la ropa que siempre encuentro algo).

I’m liking this store more and more. They have the color tag system that automatically discounts items. Plus their regular shoes are $ 5 flat. No tax on anything and employees are always friendly inside. Easy to use area to test electronics. Plus random sales on certain categories of clothes.

Not a good place to donate. The people are super unfriendly and the tax receipt computer doesn’t sent receipts reliably. Go to goodwill.

The furniture is nice, the clothes are O.K. but I’ve never found anything here.
If you want a one stop shop to donate your goods I recommend going elsewhere. Their rules for what they take or not are very arbitrary, and they go through your stuff to pick out the things they want or not. It turns one donation trip into two, and now that Savers is gone and Goodwill is annoying to get to, it makes donation here a hassle.

Just went to drop off some donations. It was super easy– there is a garage around the side and they just took the clothes I had without any questions. Would recommend for anyone looking to clean some space up in their closet.

They have great 3 dollar sales on all clothing once a month. I always find great unique items. Parking is good too.

I like this place. I stopped by when I was walking back from Savers. Not that much stuff as it’s a small place (I don’t bother looking at clothes or shoes) but I did spend some time thinking about a couple pieces of furniture ($ 25 – 60 for desks/​dressers, $ 10 chairs). Staff leaves you alone, which I like.
The kitchen stuff looked kind of gross though. Nasty kettle and some busted french pressers. Would come back to look for home décor.

Totally unreliable pick up service. My gf and I were moving and made an appointment with them to pick up our furniture two weeks out. They changed the date of pickup without even notifying us. We werent even in town on the new date and weren’t told til the last minute. Kind of threw a wrench in the entire move. Very passé about the whole thing on the phone.

Best prices out of any thrift store I’ve been to such as goodwill, savers, thrift town, and Salvation Army. You can find sometimes high end brands. New things and really nice. It’s all about the hunt. Great customer service. The managers are cool and the employees are sweet.

Please donate + shop Out of the Closet first, because they really ARE a non-​profit who gives their proceeds to a real charity (90% goes to the HIV –related cause). Then, if you can’t find what you want, be kind to the Earth — buy recycled from the for-​profit Savers (that’s right, Savers is really a billion dollar FOR PROFIT; they donate like 1% to Epilepsy Foundation. But hey, at least it is recycling!)
MANAGER: PLEASE consider CLOSING the front door because the fitting area is FREEZING and I feel like I am going to get pnemonia everytime I change in there. :(

I was trying to purchase some items from there this pm But experienced a horrible customer service experience for the staff (the female cashier) and the manager (a neared old man with a glasses) Basically I was trying shoes there and I lost my own pair of boots… I asked her if they had seen a boots in the shoe area. The cashier looked at me with a long cold face and standed still behind the counter and asked me –DO U KNOW WHAT TIME? !!! She did not try to help me to look for it .told me to check everywhere. The worst thing she told me was it was my responsibility to take care of my own stuff. Which I did not ask for whose responsibility at first !!! I just needed some help in the store. she called The manager came after a while, he showed up with a resemble attitude! just ignored me and talked with the cashier and did not even ask me anything about what happened, only told me that it was not their responsibility … !
…I didn’t ask them to be responsible for anything at then, just hoped they could help me to look around for my boots and there must be other staff working around .it could be nice if they could communicate with each other. Until I asked that if they could ask someone else maybe in charge of the show area to have a check. They still did nothing just standed there. He eventually told me that that staff went for a lunch break, and will not be back for an hour.
Well, anyone in this situation could sense their major attitude and unfriendliness. I could not afford another hour to wait for nothing in result I guessed and left.
Next time if u go shopping there Be aware of your own stuff because if u lost anything in the store, no one ‘s responsibility but yours only!

Great selection of used books.
Not so great selection of clothing. I’ve never purchased any clothing here. I highly recommend going to Savers instead.

In the past, I remember leaving Out of the Closet wishing that I had donated my used goods somewhere else, and today was no exception. I’ve had a couple of bags of clothes, shoes, and sheets in my trunk for a while now, and promised myself that I’d donate them this weekend. In the midst of University Ave traffic, I decided to stop here and drop off the clothes.
They have easy street parking next to the drop-​off zone for their shop, and even a driveway that you can pull into for a moment, which makes it easy to drop off items.
However, things went south as soon as I walked up and said «Hello, I have a few things to donate.» The person asked me to wait, and looked in each bag. The attitude seemed like they were very suspicious, bordering on disapproving.
After deeming that my gently used goods passed inspection, they finally said «fine», and took the bags away. I had to ask for a receipt, and then walk into the garage to fill out a form on a computer. I’m not expecting people to fall over themselves with thank yous and gratitude when I bring in donations, but I do appreciate politeness.
I had two more bags in the trunk of my car, but I’m taking them somewhere else, I don’t need the attitude. And, I’m glad I did, because when I got home, I found out that I didn’t get emailed the receipt, either!

I do not understand any of the reviews below me.
I’m a guy, currently wearing the shirt I bought here. If you are a dude, this place is a treasure trove. Things I found include Gap long sleeve shirts, Banana Republic Button downs that I know go for $ 40, and comfortable designer jeans. I spent maybe $ 30 here, if that. If you are a neurotic thrifter and you want that thrifter style, you might not find it here. If you want cheap clothing from places you’d probably shop anyways, come on down.
The cause is also amazing, so if I buy too much who cares! It goes to a good cause, and I can console myself with that. Bring a friend, make a day of it. All I’ve learned from these reviews is thrifters are picky.

For a second hand place, this is better than most, certainly an improvement over typically stinky Goodwill stores. And being in a relatively upscale part of Berkeley, their stuff is mostly pretty nice, especially the furniture.
But for the most part, it’s mostly stuff I don’t want. Clothes in charity stores rarely fit me, and I have too much stuff as it is. But if you were to choose a charity store to visit, this would be a good choice (as would be the one by Lake Merritt).

This was my first time here. I always pass this place on a weekly basis since I am in Berkeley quite often. The store looks a lot bigger from the outside than it is on the inside. Everything inside is organized by shoes, clothing & sizes. Books and electronics are on the far corner and household decorative items are on the back wall. Bigger furniture and what not are on the left side as you walk in.
It was as clean as can be for being a thrift store. The staff seemed like they hated their job there but who can blame them right? I was able to find some Jewish books for my daughter for $ 0.50 a piece and in total ended up spending $ 2.50 on a several books which I was very pleased about. Overall this place could use a deep carpet cleaning, happier staff, & work a little more on organization. Parking is available on the side, some metered some not.
Definitely great finds here if you come at the right time and the right day — aka lucky day

I shopped here a couple time. I think the price is reasonable but the service sucks.
There’s this cute black hair lady work at the register that is really bad at customer service.
After I tried on some clothes and ready to pay, she ask me to go hang all the clothes that I don’t want back where I got it. I was confused at first, I thought she was just joking.
Then I realized that she was being a «B**tch»…
I just walked off the store and not planning to shop there ever again.