Fashion Exchange

Buying wise — pretty crowded racks but not a lot of shoppers so plenty of room to look around.
The saleslady said they buy selectively and was she right: she passed on all the clothes I brought in including barely worn brand names like Mango and Banana Republic. Don’t even try to bring pants here to sell since she said no one ever buys pants.

ZERO stars is what this joke of a consignment store really deserves.
Honestly, I wouldn’t write a review if I didn’t just have such a horrible experience at this place. I came in with a couple bags of really nice stuff, name brand designer clothes, 5 or 6 items still with tags on it — never worn from places like Sacks and Neiman Marcus.
The place is around the corner from me and so even despite the overall terrible reviews I figured why not at lest see what they offered. It couldn’t hurt right? WRONG
The Asian lady behind the counter was super rude to me the moment I walked in, not even looking at me patiently waiting by the side of the counter for at least 5 or 6 minutes. When she finally did get around to getting over to me, before even looking at what I brought in she said «we only buy fashionable clothes». Ok cool, I think that’s exactly the shit I brought in — I thought to myself.
Acting as if it was the BIGGEST goddamn chore in the world she took 2 items out of my first bag and said «no — this no good. Good Will down the street.» Really lady? Really? Are you kidding me? You didn’t even take a look at what I brought in.
Tell me my shit sucks AFTER you actually look at it. How about that?
Now, I don’t want to call her racist b/​c I can’t be positive of what was going on in her head but I will tell you that she was a lot more cheery and nicer to the Asian girl that was standing behind me. I watched as I collected my bags before leaving and she was really nice to this girl, smiling and actually looked at what she brought in. She then ended up paying her $ 100 for a pair of shoes and 2 crappy shirts that were definitely below the level of pretty much everything I’d brought in.
At the end of the day I know it’s their store and they have the right to pick and choose what they buy and what they reject, but feeling like I was being immediately judged the moment I walked in the store and that my clothes weren’t even going to be legitimately considered because I’m not Asian was super strange and didn’t sit right with me.
Just wanted to share my experience. This is what mine was and I’d be interested to hear if anyone had anything similar happen to them.

The prices are too high for what they are.
The sales people are not friendly.
As others have stated, I found they paid me almost nothing for top and barely worn (or unworn) designer merchandise. Bad memories were attached to the clothes, so I was anxious to get rid of them, but I’d never do it again.
You’re way better off on eBay.

Down the street from UCSF so… what can you expect? A whole lot of clothes that were REALLY CHEAP new and are now used. We’re talking Jessica Simpson shoes. Banana Republic is «high end» — mostly in the super-​small sizes that fit 22-​year old Asian med students from the stores they shop at when they’ve saved up $ 50 for the sales.

Sold some cast offs here because I lived close to this place and was moving. I usually consign the clothes I don’t want at Cris because I mostly have middle to higher end items and I don’t want $ 2-​$ 3 for each item especially when I paid $ 250 for an item. Of course I didn’t take my best stuff here. Elderly Russian owner looked through my stuff and bought some items, but not everything… She complained that some of my stuff was really old and used even the Gucci pumps that she took. She was eyeing my pucci flats, but ultimately passed because they were too used. She did take all my true religion jeans that I think is so dated, but not my Joe’s Jeans. It was a little irritating that she kept on telling me my stuff was so old and used. I think she would’ve taken my designer stuff right away if it was in great condition. I finally told her that I only brought in the stuff that consignment stores won’t take because they offer more money so I’m not going to bring you my best stuff because it’s already sold. I say come here as a last resort to sell. Of course pay back is minimal, I probably got less than $ 20 for those Gucci pumps.
Probably the best strategy if you have higher end clothes is to first take it a consignment shop like Cris and if she doesn’t want it or it doesn’t sell, take it to Crossroads (they tend to think of themselves to be more on trend, but people who work there are hipsters), then take the clothes here. I think being crossroads rejects won’t affect being able to sell here since the look of the clothes are so different. Crossroads has more of a young hipster vibe where they think they’re on trend. This place is just dated and gaudy… Lots of sparkles and cheap looking 80s velour suits,
The Russian lady owner is really ballsy and no nonsense. A young guy ran out and stole something from her store while she was with me and she ran after him and retrieved the item. I said wow you’re brave, he could’ve been dangerous. The item was probably priced at under $ 10. She said it’s my store and it’s like my baby. I didn’t even think about it. I got to admire that in a lady.
The Good Will is down the street if you want to get rid off all the stuff she won’t take.
Would not shop here or even browse, not my type of place…

Came into the shop and poked around a bit. I did find a fairly high end leather jacket but the clothing offerings were not particularly good. I saw all of the designer handbags and i asked if they buy… as most people have commented, «They buy very selectively» which I took to mean almost never. I looked at a Louis and a Prada taking a mental note of the shrink wrap on the handles and asked where the bags came from…“Consignment” she said. And it all came together. This is a fake bag business. Period. The bags are pretty decent fakes, real leather and overall good quality, but fake none the less. Matters to some and not to others.
Just go in knowing it’s all fake.

Just got a almost new Louis Vuitton speedy for $ 300. Wow it came with the Box dustbag and receipt form Saks 5^th! Over $ 700
Love it love it!!!

Came to sell with brands from J. Crew, Gap, Madewell, plus other quality, though not «Juicy» designers. They looked at clothing tags rather than styles. In a place that sells sequenced party hats, I guess what’s «fashionable» is purely subjective. 2 stars instead of 1 for the 40% cash back from retail price on the spot. Other thrifting places that I have experienced often do 35%.
Note:
–Stuffed & cluttered
–NO Gap, Old Navy, Forever 21, etc. allowed
–Time to re-​vamp what they identify as trendy
–These people need to become more familiar with the designers that actually create clothing for high-​end companies
I went straight over to Haight street and was able to sell ²⁄₃ of my stuff.

I shop and resale at varies second hand shops in the bay area, including the fashion exchange in a diffent location.
This area is a fun spot so I decided to pop in and shop.
There was boat loads of very cheap new apparela that looked very Stripper like and knock off designer handbags. There were a few pretty nice real Designer handbags if that is what you seek.
There were two employees a women and a man, I got the stare down but not one word was said as I said hello. I searched hard to find a hidden treasure they had a few nice pieces of ajewelry but way expensive.
If you need stripper or dance wear they have alot
I would say if you need very dated designer for a party and dont need help of any kind. The sales person/​buyer didnt know several designers I inquired about. as a store that buyes fashion from the public one would think they would know there labels and designers.
Very disapointed.

If we can describe the Clement area in oceanography terms, this would be the Marianas Trench.
Pretty abyssal folks here, they got a bunch of out-​dated luxe stuff that are overly –priced. The same goes for their mixed selection of reals, faux dos and obvious knock-​offs that you kind of want to discern how the heck is that a hundred bucks!
Obviously the place is deserted, as I can sum it up, an abyss for Yuppies, and a haven for the outlandish, out-​moded.
Even if I just came in to look around, my intuition tells me to run for your life if you accidentally drop by here.

So, I came here with my Crossroads rejects, expecting that they would take the high end but not as trendy stuff. The middle age asian woman wasn’t super knowledgeable, and wanted everything super new looking even if it was Max Mara or Armani.
Anyways, my big problem with this place is she rang up everything as $ 7. I’m not kidding: 6 items all at $ 7 each.
1. DVF navajo dress
2. REALLY old Tory Burch white polo
3. Elie Tahari silk tank
4. OLD black juicy couture terry pants
5. Some pink cashmere cardigan
6. Something else… I forget
Total $ 42… I got $ 16. I think if I went into the store… those items would NOT BE PRICED at $ 7 each. So in that regard– it’s a total rip off. At least Crossroads had a receipt with a whole range of prices.
Would I come here again? Maybe right before a trip to Goodwill– but don’t expect a ton of cash.

Too bad negative stars isn’t a Unilocal feature. This place has horrible, out of date «designer» clothes which are ridiculously overpriced especially considering they’re not even good knock-​offs, it smells pretty gross, and the staff was incredible unfriendly.
Never again.

Awful, rude service. I brought in two bags full of clothes, many that still had tags on them and the lady wouldn’t even greet me. She quickly flipped through and rudely said «I pass on all» and then walked away. So rude.
I think this sad store just can’t afford to buy more clothes.

I’m only writing this review to warn other harmless, innocent, blueberry-​bubble-​tea-​drinkers NOT to go in here or you will be told you need to «be careful» and commanded to put your drink on their counter. I wasn’t greeted with a hello, hi, how are you, SMILE even, NOTHING. Well, besides that wonderful scolding for coming in with a completely covered tea drink from down the street. So, Fashion Exchange, you are bummed. because for all YOU know, I was going to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars at your store but now you’ll never get it. Brush up on your customer service skills, please.

I decided to come here today to sell clothes. I usually go to Crossroads or Buffalo Exchange but figured I’d take what didn’t sell to here.
This place stops buying at 6 pm so I made sure to get here before than. There was no wait or anything and it took about a half hour for the buyer to go through all my clothes. The buyers at this location are not young or trendy hipsters, they are middle aged women. In fact, they the both kept giving each other advice on my clothes (what would sell or not which was interesting to hear.).
Ended up selling a good chunk (maybe 15 items or so) and walked out with $ 66 in cash.
One thing I noticed though, when they calculate how much the retail value of the item will be they key in lower than what they will actually sell it for (i.e I noticed a top would sell for $ 7+ but on the receipt they calculated my earnings off of, they rang up $ 2−3…)
I would never actually buy anything from this store but I am glad they bought what did not sell at the other consignment stores.

I usually can’t stand the smell of used clothing stores, but occassionally can’t resist getting a good deal if I am in one. I am, however, uncertain if the purse I bought as a present for someone else really is a true «Anna Sui» original. I should’ve read the reviews here before I got into this store, but nonetheless, the Anna Sui bag wasn’t expensive at all. There was a Dolce & G bag on display in the window that was cute, but didn’t think it was worth the price tag on it. Not really a store I’d keep in mind to return to, even if it is next to Schubert’s.

I stumbled upon this place while taking a stroll along Clement Street. Large variety of clothes and shoes all separated by color. You have to really dig and go through each rack to find the good stuff and the appropriate size. Shoes and handbags were minimal though. It is a rather small and packed store. I spied with my little eye a black «designer bag». It was priced at $ 50. Looking at it, it looked vintage yet with a dash of knock off. So I put the bag in the back of my mind and dug around some more. I found a shirt that I had seen at Bebe for $ 75 priced at $ 26. I definitely agree that most of the items here are overpriced. Especially for used items. My suggestion is to try and bargain with them. I overheard one of the ladies offering an item to a costumer at a discounted priced so thought to try and bargain with them. Got the bag for cheaper and walked out a happy camper.

I know this might sound weird but I stopped by on Sunday and I thought they had some really cute trendy stuff. Or at least they looked very stylish on the display. It’s a crowded small store with lots of junk but some of it is good! I am sure the TokiDoki bag I just bought was probably a fake but it’s so cute. I care, but I can’t spot a real or fake and it’s really hard to know if you ever buy a real one since there is no «real» store they sell out of.
My sister bought a hot maid’s costume there. We FINALLY found one for her, so that’s a relief. It took forever for her to pick one out and I hate shopping. There was a lot of stuff to look at. If I could fit into the skirt they had hanging I would buy it in a heartbeat! There were a lot of eye-​catching clothing, but of course a lot of items were not so great. That’s just like all stores. Some stuff is pretty expensive for what it is and some are not too bad. I don’t really care if they are what they say they are if the prices are realistic and it looks hot on me!
It was not a bad place to pass by and shop. I am sure we were one of their big spenders of the day. Hey I had to make a hasty decision since I leave in a few days. =P All in all they had some great items. Would I seek this place out? Nah… but still not bad.

I’ve made three visits to this shipwreck, and have a few interesting observations to share with you. I’ll let you decide if it’s a place you’d like to buy or sell your things.
1. Smells like sour milk. Always. Is there a rotting gallon of 2% somewhere yearning to be discovered?
2. Highest priced knockoffs in the city. This is only insulting because they will tell you it’s real. Coming from them to a girl with a small «handbag problem», who can sniff out a faux-​anything from a mile away, this is nonsense. Maybe the smell of faux is… sour milk! A-​Ha!
3. Excellent selection of clothing… for your Aunt Janice who loves paisley and tie-​dye. Not really sure what era they’re going for, but I think they missed the boat on this decade. If you’re going to a Back To The Future party, you could find the perfect getup here.
4. Although… my last visit interrupted the unloading of a giant box of True Religion fakes, complete with plastic shrink-​wrap. I shuddered at the wretched attempt at authenticity before asking, just for fun, if they were real. To which I was told «Oh, of course.»
If you can look beyond these slight issues and embrace the 80’s, wait, fuck that, DRY HUMP the 80’s again, you’re golden!
One star for the fact that they’re next to my favorite bakery, though.

When you have tried selling your stuff at Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange, and to random people on the street, whatever doesn’t sell, you should bring to Fashion Exchange. Why? Because they pride themselves on their «current» selection of clothing circa 1998. Want baggy colored denim in size 38? Perhaps a feathered boa adorned with gold sequins? Or do you want that incredibly obvious Coach handbag knock-​off? Ah, my friends… you are in luck! All that (and other ridiculously gaudy merchandise) is available here!
And their pricing and buyout method is SHADY. The buyer types the «retail price» into the calculator, but doesn’t tag the merchandise. You can’t expect me to believe that she will remember what to price each and every item afterwards! So what I think they do is they undervalue the merchandise, pay you out with a significantly lower amount, then tack on the price once the merchandise is put out on the floor.
Tsk, tsk. Not good business standards! But again, what can you expect from a place that considers Bebe Sport and Charter Club «high end»?!
This place gets one star for the concept of buying and selling used clothing, although they basically stole the whole idea from Crossroads Trading and Buffalo Exchange (even down to their payout slips!)…so I guess I really give this place Zero stars.
Unilocal– can we find a way to give zero?! Steer clear of this place, unless you want to inhale the toxic scent of decades old clothing and Walgreens perfume.