Buffalo Exchange

I tried to return a sweater that I bought the night before. I didn’t have the physical receipt but had a photo of it. The photo was very clear, with the bar code and everything. The sweater also had the tags still attached. The employee that attended to me was incredibly rude and lacked good customer service. She would not exchange the item even when I offered to go home and print a photo of the receipt and bring it back so they could have a physical copy of it. She kept saying no and saying there was nothing she could do. This was incredibly frustrating especially considering this is a used clothing store. At the very least I would have expected her to “buy back” the item to keep a customer happy. The good news is I called another buffalo exchange to see if they would do it and they happily did. I understand people have bad days, but the way this employee made me feel and inconvenienced me is unacceptable. I have lived in SF for 10 years now and will never shop at this buffalo exchange again. I will also advise others not to shop at buffalo exchange.

Don’t even bother coming to sale to them, they’re “overstocked” on jeans and everything else gets passed I guess there’s a certain style they look for understandable, but even the things they take neither the store amount of cash amount is worth it. I was so irritated I just took whatever to get out the store and serve my purpose for going but it’s a complete waste of time. Literally

The manager in that store is so hard to work with if your selling. Most of your items get passed even if its high quality. “We don't buy these brands” but have the worst dirty stank clothes in there makes no sense

Very special shout-out to Benji (hope I spelled that correctly) who actually found some missing AirPod Pros I had thought I lost that was in the pockets of one of my jackets and actually returned back to me! They meticulously went through two moving boxes full of clothes. Although only one item was taken in, I really appreciate the warmth, thoughtfulness and even helping me reload my items back into my boxes. Sometimes the selling process at consignment stores can be so cold but I really appreciate Benji’s warmth today and it really stuck out compared to any experience I’ve had at Crossroads. ♥️ PS i also ended up buying two items - they have some nicer things on the rack than usual. Definitely worth revisiting if you haven’t gone in awhile to see what things they do take in!

Never go here, I’d rather throw my clothes away. Not knowledgeable at all, argued with me about features on the clothing not knowing the difference between stain and purpose style of the item. Sarcastic snotty ass attitude. Never come here again

Young and vibrant pieces of choice! Found several interesting stuffs!

Smaller location of the two SF stores. Friendly staff. Easy parking in front of the store. Scan QR code to sell/join virtual waitlist (Nov 2024)

Came here after brunch to check out the stuff. They clothes are not cheap like goodwill but you also have to remember some of the brands are very expensive at original pricing. There was a lot of people there, you can look through the clothes pretty fast. I was able to find one top that I love really fast. I also found 2 mens sweaters for my partner. There are dressing rooms in the back you can use to try on clothes. They accept returns within 5 days of purchase with receipt and all tags still on the clothing. Make sure you bring a tote bag or you will have to pay $2.50 for one.

buffalo exchange was awesome to sell with! highly recommend coming here than waiting only told to be no at crossroads! the buyer reassured everyone that their queue was lagging a bit behind due to short staffing, but they told it like it is! if youre last in line, you may not have your stuff that would like to be sold looked at today i went on sunday before closing and they bought half the shoes i brought in at a reasonable price since it took me nearly a year to unload them on fb marketplace they will also let you know if they will under pay you, and give you a fair offer for what you have i do think they should train their staff to be a bit more knowledgeable as to what their policy is!

Buffalo Exchange is an OG in the thrift game. With multiple locations, they tend to be quite picky when buying, but I sometimes wonder if it's who you know as some of the selections on the racks are less than stellar. Like some of the labels are not unique nor the clothes interesting. They do occasionally have a few pieces worth to look at but insanely priced imho. Regardless, my friend and I walked by and she wanted to browse, so I walked in with her. The funky smell instantly hit me and I put my mask up. Also, way too many people inside which drove my anxiety up, so I bailed on my friend and told her I will wait for her outside. She came out 10 minutes later with nada so we all know how that went. Next!!!

Service is horrible, I had employees and customers being super invasive of space. Not one excuse me and a handful of employees reaching across my face as i tried to shop. Granted the space is small but any experienced shopper shows courtesy. There's a total lack of that in this store. I walked in and we out with minutes.

The workers are friendly, and I consistently find cool pieces. The clothing can be a bit pricey in comparison to other thrift stores.

Great experience. Friendly staff. Great prices. Easy exchange. Quick service. Parking out front.

This is a shout out to the person working the selling counter last night around 6-7pm. They had line control and even spoke up to the customers who wouldnt sit and wait in line to hold their spot. Even though they didn't buy my stuff I was appreciative of how professional they were. Thanks!

I have made a few good finds at this store, and definitely think it is worth a visit as a buyer. However, I'm pretty frustrated at the moment because I just got home to Oakland and found a safety device (ink and glass) still attached to one of the two shirts I bought. Arghhhhhh.

I've sold here several times now. Just brought in a large bag of Christmas and birthday gifts I've never worn. Crystal helped me out. She is always so friendly and pleasant whenever I come in to sell. I noticed that a few ladies ahead of me brought in a ton of things and I could see that what they had that they were clothes that were out of season or not on trend. One woman brought her clothes crumpled up in a garbage bag. And then they got annoyed that their items weren't taken. It's not the employee--they're just doing their job. I always go on their website to see what they're currently looking for because it changes with the season and with what's in style. This time, almost everything I brought in was taken and I ended up getting a nice amount of cash and trade credit. I thought you had to choose one or the other, but Crystal was nice enough to inform me that I could split it when she saw that I was going back and forth between cash or trade.

Called and spoke with the manager Crystal. She was so rude abrupt. During the call as I was trying to say something, she wouldn't even listen and would begin speaking to someone else at the store. It was frustrating to say the least. Don't ever do business with this company.

It's a hidden gem. Like to find a steal? Buffalo Exchange is the place to go. I've been going to Buffalo and Crossroads frequently to declutter my closet. For every 3-5 items I sell I like to find myself a new piece here to trade it with my store credit that I just earned by selling my clothes. It's a great way to get decrease your wardrobe and really be intentional with your clothing choices. You own less and things you buy here are second hand which means you help the environment as well as fighting fast fashion. Most things you find here are in really great condition and you'd be surprised how many nice brands you find for a fraction of its original store price.

Would have to say don't waste your time coming here to sell your clothes. There was only one person doing the clothes to buy and ringing people up while 2 other coworkers are doing nothing but taking and yet had to wait almost an hour with only one other person in front of me to sell this. It was an elderly woman who had to wait as long. Then when it was finally time for me for them to look at my clothes, all of a sudden, there's two people and continue to talk about what they need to do with the store instead of actually helping me and I only had five pairs of jeans, Would never go there again. Not what I call customer service.

DO NOT SELL HERE OR SHOP HERE! RUDE condescending employees especially the white workers! They buy NEW clothes but if you dont have the receipts they will deny you theres nothing in fine writing that says that it just says "we buy new, used, vintage clothes!" i noticed that each buyer is different some are nice(younger ones) and some are just rude (older/white) i encourage you not to support this place and also has a really repulsive smell and very dirty!

I have long been a fan of thrift stores. Buying recycled fashion is cool. Normally thrift stores require searching through a lot to find a gem. This Buffalo Exchange has a lot of nice threads so less searching is required. Picked up a nice long sleeve shirt here to rock during the near perfect weather San Franciscan Indian Summer. It was very busy w/ lots of younger folks the afternoon was here. Staff was friendly. There is are fitting rooms to try on before purchasing. The first Buffalo Exchange I went to was in Boulder, CO in 2001. Not sure where they started yet know there are several branches scattered throughout the US.

Slowly became one of my more frequented thrift shops in the City. One of my more recent experiences was scoring a Starter jacket for a really good price. Afterwards I have been coming back mostly as a vendor. Whenever I bring items here I am treated with respect by the outstanding cashier(s) and/or appraisers. One thing I am starting to notice is the clothing that is usually for sale is indicative of the location you're shopping at. So do keep that in mind when visiting any thrift shop in general. This particular location does have a good selection and an ever changing variety of styles suitable for most if not all potential customers. Overall this place is a great place to go if you're of African decent. While other places may or may not be overly enthused about your business I have not ran into that particular issue here. There are a lot of other stores in The City however up until this point Buffalo Exchange has valued not only me as a potential patron or vendor but has treated me in a respectful manner. I write these reviews based on my experience so that others will benefit from the experiences that I have. But always do your own research!

The service is sooo slow. The workers are always talking with each other or other customers and it slows down the selling process by a lot. I arrived to sell and there was 4 people ahead of me. It took over 40 mins for the lady to go thru one bag of clothes. 3 workers in the back not helping in the front to clear out the backup of people. The clothing section is mid and looks like they ordered half their clothes in bulk order from some cheap china store. Not all clothes are resell. There's a lot of cheap new fast fashion in this store and then they say the store is too full to buy good used clothes.

OMG! I am so surprised with all the negative reviews. I have been only twice now only as a buyer, so no seller experience on that end. I just have had the most positive experience here with all the associates but am super impressed with the manager at this location. He is solely a reason I will continue to shop at this location. I scored some amazing deals also! The manager I believe is Issac so kind, knowledgeable and super helpful. Took the time to go over how everything works and helped me understand the process. I just had to leave him a review. Being in the customer service industry I am SUPER into client and customer satisfaction and client experience. Isaac was phenomenal and I will continue to shop there. First visit I scored Burberry black pants, a beautiful Rebecca Minkoff sweater, cute overalls, Levi jean jacket all for about $100 STEAL! Second visit was this past Friday and I scored another pair of overalls, another Rebecca Minkoff sweater, BCBG hat, Paige jeans, two men's north face sweaters, woman's north face fleece, a beautiful satin black skirt and a cute top. A little over $200 but with it! I love this place. On a side note the music is always versatile and keeps me wanting to dance! From spice girls to brandy. Lastly I overheard a couple conversations with Issac and the associates and admire the positive vibes that are given. Super respectful and genuine. Only negative is working so close and spending money on good finds weekly.

The cashier girl who was working today Oct 26 racist. I came to get the alarm taken off bc I bought a used hat for my costume and she looks at me up and down and says idk if I can take it off bc I don't know if it was actually sold or not . Very bad service she didn't even try to help or look in the system to see that I actually bought this hat

Last time I came here I had a beyond wonderful experience with the store manager at the time, Issac. Recently my boyfriends car was broken into (Marina district, surprising!) and my store trade in card was taken along with some our other belongings. I explained the situation and showed the store employees the receipt with the transaction ID attached to my name/account, and they told me to come back in the store the next following day. They assured me since I had the transaction receipts from when I sold to them, they'd be able to look it up, I just had to come back the next day when the HR offices in Arizona were open and when the store manager was in office to help reach their accounting team for me. Well, I just drove 30 minutes from Burlingame to come here since I was assured that since I had everything on me, they'd be able to get the trade in card redeemed onto a new physical card. That was not the case. Today one of the other employees informed me that even though I have all the necessary documents for them to look up my transaction, they're unable (more like unwilling) to do anything about it. Wish I was told this yesterday, because not only did they waste an hour of commute for me, but also gas - complete disappointment. On their website they only have a brief policy regarding gift cards, which by the way, is different than trade in cards. Nothing on their website says that stolen trade in cards cannot be replaced. Giving 2 stars simply because the staff here (for the most part) is genuinely super kind, but I'm extremely disappointed at their communication from this experience. I would have had no issue if they told me from the beginning that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but not only did they assure me, they also wasted my time and hope. I had over $500 in the trade in card from when I moved out from my apartment and sold my clothes to them, and now I'm unsure if I would even recommend people to come here. Company also seems to be behind the time, I would think that by 2021 they would be able to have the store credit on file attached to the sellers account, or an e-copy of it since it's pretty ridiculous it's on a piece of card stock paper.

I went twice to sale good condition designer boots. The first the guy offered me $300 but he said he didn't want to give me a low ball because he knows the good quality of the boots. So he said to comeback when the manager is in the store. I did a new appointment and showed up The manager was very rude and gave me a very low offer for 5 pairs of designer boots $38. I took my boots back. I said the manager was rude because instead of finishing with me. She was hopping to do different things while she kept me waiting. I will try Westland where I heard pay better and are more knowledgeable of quality. This is the photo of the boots.

BEWARE THIS PLACE IS A JOKE!!! I see what you did and if my closet wasn't so full with clothes, I would've taken them all back. I wasn't told the amount I was getting for my items until the end, but someone next to me was told what she was getting for each item they looked at. And in the end, IT WAS NOT WORTH IT. One thing, I'm not desperate for money. But you keep them and see how much you can get. YOU NEED THEM MORE THAN ME. I will never go back to this dirty, hole in the wall disgusting place because as I looked around, I was surprised how everything looked.

This place is a trash heap- so insanely overstocked, disorganized, with no sizes for men below a 34 waist. And oh God the layout is bad. Like talk about covid risks-there's so little space to walk you have no choice but to be right on top of complete strangers. Just go to the one on Haight.

i love this thrift store I've found at least like 4 true religions over there and I've only been like 5 times

Bad selection. Gal putting back clothes kept going right in front of where I was looking, pushing the clothes into the section I was browsing, all without saying excuse me. Bad customer service. The one on Haight is better, even though going to Haight sucks.

I like stopping in for a quick wait time to sell however the employees here are so rude, especially the white ones. They're extremely aggressive towards homeless people that come in wanting to buy and sell. Lastly I wanted to mention how they have many pieces from shein on their racks as well as other ugly fast fashion clothing items.

I stopped by to see if I could find any hoodies or jackets. Walking in I could tell this is a popular thrift store as it was full. Even though they have clothes for men I think this place is mostly intended for women.

Came in wanting to sell some clothes which were in good condition and were able to be sold to another person with no issues. They only accepted one piece of clothing out of 30 which is ridiculous as all the clothes were in very good condition. Also when I walked into the store I was not greeted at all and someone who came in after was helped before I was. Do not recommend this place at all you're better off selling on Depop.

The taste level was not great at this buffalo exchange. If you need and want to find a riped dirty tutu, or socks with pineapples and a stain, here would be your mecca. It would be the hot spot for the ugly xmas sweater or vest. Or if you decide you need a fez. For. Well whatever reason someone would need a fez for I suppose. The prices were good for San Francisco. But the taste level left much to be desired.

They do have some nice stuff in there that's priced decently reasonable but I've seen tones of shein clothing in there priced at $15-20 and the other day I saw a used wild fable target t shirt that you can buy brand new at target for 3dollars priced at $10. They really need to start pricing things fairly and stop trying to rip people off. Pricing a used 3 dollar t shirt for 10 is a bit cray cray to me.

It's a cool store, they are always stocked but I wish they had a bigger section for accessories.

Good selection and no one bothers you or hounds you while browsing. Found a great leather jacket at a great price and I wish I came here before I bought my backpack. They had several nice ones and a few brand new ones for much less than I paid a week ago. Live and learn

DON'T GO HERE! No wonder no one really sells their clothes here. The selling process is rigged 30% of what they are selling. They offered me 10$ FOR A BALENCIAGA SHIRT that retails for $500 and resells for $300-400. I get that I can prob resell it on my own but I would have been fine with $50-100. LMAO. None the less the employees act like they know how to authenticate items and knows how to price. Is a joke to be honest. Customer service was very grey and blend. I get why they have an overflow of items that don't sell.

I love this store. Always go there when I am in Vegas or any city there is in a Buffalo exchange!!

I went in the other day for the first time to sell some clothes. Luckily I didn't have to wait too long. But I must say, I expected them to take more clothes. From what they guy said, they like loose, casual clothes. Sorry, i work at a 9-5 where I have to dress like an adult. I saw this kid in front of me with 2 boxes of forever 21, skater clothes between him and his gf. They got like $200. But I who have actual brands and form fitting clothes, only got like $50. Maybe it's the location and I should have tried a different one. I ended up donating my good brand clothes to the Santa Rosa fire.

Before the lockdown I used to enjoy coming to this location (I believe the staff then was so much better). The racks would always be filled with high-quality clothes and some very eye-catching vintage items as well. But coming here post-lockdown I find the curation to be terrible. The current staff basically just take in clothes you can easily find from discount store house brands and sell them for twice the price you can get them new. Not to mention damaged items they sell for way more than they should. Doesn't anyone know how to price accordingly for these low-end brands/damaged goods? In short, the curation and pricing is disappointing.

I've been shopping at Buffalo Exchange for 35 years and have been happy to shop there- until now. This review applies to my experience shopping at the store on Valencia. The oder I encountered upon walking into the store was strong like musty mildew. It reminded me of Goodwill Stores. I know, from experience, that it's very hard to impossible to rid clothes of that oder no matter how many times you wash them. I shopped, I smelled the clothes. Many smelled musty like mildew. Buffalo never used to sell damaged clothes. Why did they start? I'll be shopping at WasteLand and never Buffalo if they continue selling damaged clothes.

They have very very cheap brands (forever 21 and shien should be thrown away or donated to charity, not sold), and the staff are rude and pressure you to buy things.

I went to sale several items including a pair of vintage Levi's and a Coach purse from last season. I was told their buyers wouldn't be interested in any of it. So I turned around and sold it all to Thread Up and PoshMark. Made over $250. Save your time and just sell your stuff online. You make more money and don't have to deal with the snobby salespeople at this location

The buyers here could definitely use more training, as my experiences have ranged from good to awful. There needs to be more consistency as to what they take and don't. (And if you're overstocked, just don't buy! Or make it clear exactly what it is you're looking for. Save us all hours of unnecessary waiting time.) My most recent experience was with a buyer named Tina, who didn't take a single piece from the 7 people ahead of me in line, despite the fact that each of them had several awesome, stylish/on-trend items in great condition. I've never seen this level of pickiness, so it had to have been that they were overstocked and thus, not in buying mode. Having had a couple good experiences here, I know what they take/pass on, so this was a strange experience. Also, Tina was COUGHING constantly into the air/clothes in front of her as she was examining. So gross. If you're sick, stay home!! I've done some browsing at this location as a buyer and recently, most of the stuff they've bought to resell are atrocious. Like...yikes. So many tacky, ripped, clearly shrunk-in-the-dryer items! This place is too hit or miss. If you're looking for higher quality items for a bargain, try Crossroads Trading instead!

I never really liked Buffalo Exchange that much, in any city I visit. The staff always seem a bit pretentious. I see trendy people bring in bags of clothing all the time and the staff only take like a handful of items. I know they have to sell the items on the floor, but still. A lot of times the staff at the counter aren't dressed that great either, so I really don't understand their methodology in what they pick. The selection here was okay, not super great. I saw a cute J. Crew dress for $28 (still a bit expensive for second hand). Lauren Conrad shirt for $10. H&M shirts for $10. I saw this cute Armani Exchange bag for $9.25 (it was half off from $18.50) but besides that, the bag selection was pretty meager.

DONT come here. If you are Asian and trying to sell clothes they will take your designer stuff and offer you less money than their white folks. I've seen it. They bought some garbage forever 21, santée ally clothes from this white girl and offered her way more money than my intermix, Kenzo and maje clothes. I just took all my clothes back.

Ladies who helped me were very nice however a full bag of nearly 50 items they only took like 5 items the ones that were brand new and still with tags each of those items were still over 20$ and I only got 16.01$ wtf all of the items were nearly brand new and never used how that happen .

Been coming here for years since it's the closest Buffalo to me. It's pretty frustratingly inconsistent what they will and will not buy; people bring in absolute garbage that gets bought up but anything with a name brand even if it's never been worn seems to not go. That's partially because the staff tends toward rich kids with grunge aesthetic, with a side of snooty. Best advice is to give it a go, never donate anything, and whatever they turn down take to another location where the staff is less bratty.

Every time I want to de-clutter my closet, my first thought is always to come here to sell my things. I've been to this location several times and the employees are always helpful and patient during the selling process. Today was a little bit different though. After selling some items, I was ready to cash my payment out. The cashier, Deandra, seem pretty distracted and was having a tough time counting money. Watching her count the bills, I automatically knew she had given me the wrong amount. I asked for the receipt to confirm before questioning and I was right. She was kindly apologetic and proceed to give the difference of change. I decided to purchase a jacket as well and after that transaction, I walked to my car and had noticed she did not take off the censor. Which then lead me to walk back to the store and ask her to remove it. It was quite aggravating to not only almost been given the wrong amount of money but also to have almost left the area with a censor still attached to my jacket. I wish I had a cashier who was a little more aware during both transactions. I'm hoping she was just having an off day or maybe she had just started at the job. Still would recommend this place for anyone trying to get some pocket change from selling items.

Do not come to this location go to the one on Haight St I don't know how they train their buyers but nothing was eye catching and over priced. What's worse is if you come here to sell your clothes. They price the items they take right in front of you the amount I got in cash was the same amount they priced for one of my jeans they took. They took around 5 items and I got $13 out of it. Their customer service for when dealing with an upset customer is awful they don't know how to handle customers and their concerns. Save your money and buy on mercari instead.

Tacky clothing, complete and utter waste of time, biased buying. I definitely wasn't expecting to sell every piece I brought, but only accepting 2 things out of 2 bags is crazy. I just took the 2 items back. No thanks. I see why I just donate my unwanted clothing, you never can gage what they want and they probably only buy if they like you. Spent more in gas than they offered, totally annoying!

Happy customer right here! It was awesome to visit this great store, great selection of clothes all types and kinds, my daughter was looking for some vintage shoes and we came to the right place we find shoes pants and many accessories also I want to give a special shout out to IVAN the cashier he was very nice and as soon as was looking at the jewelry he ask if I wanted to see something closer and also ask if I was doing ok while I was looking at other cloths god job IVAN

This place is poorly managed but has a great selection of clothes. They would benefit from developing an organization system for people wanting to sell clothes (i.e. maybe consider having people sign in so that you can attend to them in the order that they arrived). They might consider providing a bag check. There's very little room between clothing racks, so it's hard to move around people and their backpacks/purses/bags. Lastly, the staff here is friendly. However, there's a manager that's condescending to patrons and staff alike.

Crappy. As a seller, they don't know quality at all and pick the oddest pieces (and price terribly). Leather banana republic jacket they priced at $25, and a crappy suede hat they priced at $13... there's a $200 difference between their retail prices! As a buyer - beware! I bought two sweaters (without trying them on), and one had a hole that you'd only be able to notice if tried on (ripped out of a hardware ring). 5 day return policy and I didn't sus over it until after. Try everything on! Don't sell here - not worth the hassle.

The staff here is lovely, it's never too crowded, the selection (especially dresses!) are awesome. The clothing cycles enough that you could come back weekly with tons of fresh stock. Not super well curated but you expect that. My issue is with the dressing rooms. I don't, and would never, need targeted-gender dressing rooms, but the curtains in there are offensively lacking in privacy. Twice in the last few months I've seen a man staring at me through the inescapable 1-2" gap between the wall and the curtain, which you need to pass to get to the other rooms or the mirror access. The rooms themselves are so small you can't avoid hitting something or another, and the light weight and forced-inward-with-time fabric provides zero security. I don't use this term even remotely blithely, but I truly don't feel safe changing clothes in this establishment anymore. I can't imagine how someone with a more sensitive history or trigger experience must feel. This isn't a scenario of "tell a staff member if you feel creeped on!", it's an obvious and extremely simple fix of getting heavier/longer curtains, or providing small hooks on the wall to connect the fabric, preventing a gap, or replacing them with an alternative solution. Frankly I'm pretty amazed they haven't been changed in years. I won't shop here until the dressing room circumstances change, the last experience was enough.