The organization is too picky-and-choosy about their donations. Especially when you consider many donors are clearing the estates of a departed loved one. (Seriously, does anybody donate to a thrift store for fun?). Alpha Thrift is the most visible and possibly largest thrift store in Santa Barbara. If you are the big dog in town, and can afford to mark up prices at a thrift store, then you can sort your own goddamn input. read more

We have two Alpha Thrift stores in Santa Barbara area, this one has an upstairs. Upstairs there's kid clothing, workout attire, as well as sport items. We found some great items here, including instruments and shoes in good condition. We came here to see what they had and left quite content with our purchases. Good prices, the parking lot spaces are limited but there's usually parking on the side too. read more

See all

Horrible selection and terrible prices. Its definitely one of those thrift stores where they search up anything and everything so if its remotely decent brand you pay eBay prices, which kind of disqualifies it to be called a thrift store to me. I guess I would call it a second hand store with terrible selection and organization. Electronics and the mens sections are where it particularly lacks. read more

Very disappointing. This store used to be so good. I brought my mom here after a few years and it really went down hill. Prices are OUTRAGEOUS. More than retail. read more

Alpha Thrift Store - Overpriced clothing more than retail - Thrift Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Not only do i find the best clothes here, i have found some incredible nic-nacs and books here too. Everything is pretty organized. Clothes organized by size and item type. They have an upstairs with kids clothes and sports outfits. Santa Barbra had the best thrifting near the coast! I go thrifting all through California and SB is where it is at for finding good items at reasonable prices read more

Alpha Thrift Store - Thrift Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

See all

Way overpriced. This is a THRIFT store. Pair of shoes for $80.00?!?! A baseball cap with anti-theft devices because it is $14.00? Yeah, the key word in the business name is thrift. Walmart is cheaper. read more

I'm not a thrift store girlie, but when you have an hour to kill and you're not from the area, why not? I made my way through the store, glancing at weathered dresses, shoes, and purses, but nothing really caught my eye. My partner suggested stopping by the register, as that's where the higher end items would most likely be. One side had a bunch of knick knacks that were hard to distinct, but as I turned the corner, I grew more familiar with the brand behind the glass. For $40, I was able to snag a pair of Tom Ford sunglasses that originally retail for over $400! As far as authenticity goes, I would do a bit of research &/or risk taking a gamble. Mine are hopefully the real deal, but I also found a fake Hermes scarf that was selling for $150, so be cautious! read more

Will not be returning! I have been driving up once a month for the last several months. They have many things missing price tags so of course they won't sell them. Also saw many over priced items that have been there for months on end. They need to have daily sales and get rid of old inventory. Also the staff was not helpful and rather rude. Very overpriced read more

I always find great items at this store. Today, I had a horrible experience! I was being followed by a man in the store. He brushed up against me, and grunted! I said, "Hey!" I walked away, but then noticed he was across the store staring. Where I moved, he moved! In a nut shell, I was afraid to pass him, plus my friend was elsewhere shopping. I told the front clerk, and she said the man had been removed earlier that day for harassment. HELLO!! The clerk said she'd talk to the manager. His reply was for me to call the police, and that he's watching the cameras! WTH! My friend finally confronted him. She asked him what was he doing. The guy was obviously mental, and started making threats! I ended up calling 911, and after about 15 min the manager decided he'd call. Granted the staff members were an excellent source of comfort, and asked was I okay. I'm just angry that management didn't ask him to leave when I first reported him! Especially since he had already been removed, and they knew he was a problem. What troubles me, is that there are older unsuspecting women shopping, and they are easy targets! If you read this, just beware of a young hispanic male, maybe 5'7, chubby, about 25-30, wearing a black beanie, with a large backpack! I believe he has facial hair. He's dangerous, and I felt very scared. Be safe! Watch your surroundings! read more

People expect for their belongings to get a second life. Alpha instead of lowering prices or having sales. They rather throw a lot stuff when it does not sale, I seen these happen lots of time. to lower or price items to sale they have adopted this practice. their enterprise is pure profit they do not invest on inventory all is free... Donate to other thrift shops in town with more transparency. read more

Prices are out of control. Thrift stores seem to forget they get all their stuff donated and sell prices sometimes higher than retail or almost at retail prices. Also they stop all promotions and discounts. I used to love to buy here but prices and attitude have make me go back go real retail stores where you get amazing deals, discounts and benefits like bringing back stuff that didn't work out or if you changed your mind. I recently bought an overpriced REI backpack and realized once at home that was falling apart in the inside. Well too bad, all sales are final. read more

Alpha Thrift Store - $700 !!! For a donated, outdated dress. Ridiculous - Thrift Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

I found some nice Nike sports bras, one looked new. Some of the things had tags on and were definitely brand new. A lot to see and pretty organized which I really liked! read more

Alpha Thrift Store - Alpha Thrift Store - Thrift Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

A very good thrift if you are after music CDs or Movie DVDs and Blu-Rays. Fair pricing ($1 CDs) and good volume (over 500 CDs my last trip to look through) I found 20 I wanted. There were a couple missing CDs in the cases, a few scratches that were excessive. I leave the missing ones open on the top shelf and let the thrift employees know. No sense in wasting other CD seekers time! Found a couple great movies as well, a successful visit! read more

Alpha Thrift Store - CD finds...... - Thrift Stores Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Review is for donation drop off- just take the car to the back and unload your stuff to the basket. When I tried to donate stuff to the goodwill on Milpas,was told I should take it to their downtown location-which seems pointless if they are supposedly a donation drop off too. read more

Prices were very high for what they had. Didn't buy much, just a blanket for packing furniture into the car.

Thrift store employees and management wouldn't let me buy something that was in my possession. While I was in position of the item another customer walked by and admired my item. This customer then went up to the front and told the cashier they wanted to pay for the item I had. I'm not sure how this was even allowed. All I can think of is the customer was a regular and the cashier was hooking him up despite the fact that another customer was going to purchase it. The manager sided with the cashier and told me whoever pays for the item 1st gets to have the item regardless of possession. This is such a shady and disrespectful practice. Beware of this thrift store and their shady management . Shame on them. read more

Pros: This thrift store has a small parking lot so you may be able to find a parking space off the street. There is also street parking nearby. They have appliances and a decent variety of stuff. Cons: Many things you'd want to buy are priced as if the store does not actually want to sell them. My friend (who took me here) says she comes here often and sees things languish for months and even sees the store stop taking in donations because they don't have room for everything. She and I both thought bringing down the prices would move stuff, allow them to take new donations in, and then sell that stuff too. $340 for a really dirty sofa you'd probably have to reupholster to use? $30 for a small animal terrarium with some damage to the lid (when there's currently one on CL the same size for $15 with no damage), or $70 for a computer... I don't know what kind of computer it is, but if it's already been donated to the thrift store there's no real chance it's worth anywhere near $70. Anyway, the high prices don't apply to 100% of everything in the store so you could definitely get lucky and find something here for a good deal. I bought a cute holiday dog collar with gold bells riveted on (high quality) for only $3. But in general the prices here are too high for me to make this any sort of regular stop when I'm looking for bargains. read more

See all

Good deals a s great finds. Picked up a ton a nice graphic tees, jackets and some vans. Can't wait to come back here our next time we visit Santa Barbara. read more

See all

Absolutely the worst experience I have ever had any any retail store, Period! The cashier let someone buy something literally out of my hand that was very valuable and rare. The manager said it was theirs to sell to anyone that pays first no matter who is in possession of that item. I felt like I was robbed. I can't believe this happened. I would have never thought a store would treat their customers so poorly. 2 minutes ago Shady employees that lie and treat customers poorly. If you are the owner of the store reading this message Shame on you! I reviewed the store based on a poor experience. Instead of apologizing and getting down to the truth, The "owner" of Printed a fabricated story that was not true just to make me look bad and the store look good. Lies were printed and no apologies were made to me. Whoever Is ultimately in charge of the store needs to look at their management in a closer light. They would rather blame the customer than admit they did something wrong. I've never been treated so poorly and all my life and there is only management to blame. Customers, this is for you, if you enter the store You are entering into a establishment that does know the difference between right and wrong. The employees of this establishment would rather lie to cover their butts than admit any wrong doing. In most businesses this would be grounds for termination. Shame on everyone involved! read more

Loved this place. It was probably one of my favorite thrift stores in the area. It was well organized, clean, and had something for everyone in our group. I will definitely be back! read more

Honestly, I don't get the hate sometimes for these stores. You know what you're getting into. Also it's on you to have a way to tell if it works or not. Anyways, love coming here for super cheap electronics. It's great that prices are low for cables considering they go way higher online. I've gotten HDMI, DVI, Apple chargers, GameCube controllers, and even good monitors between $0.99 to $10, usually 50-90% lower than Amazon or the Apple Store. Also, getting glassware and Kitchen stuff is well priced here. I don't really shop for clothes here since I'm not that type of person, so I can't speak for that. read more

Way too expensive!! Items are donated so the prices should be more reasonable. It used to be a better thrift store until recently.

This was one of my favorite little thrift stores in the area. They've got some cool things. Lots of pyrex, they had lots of christmas lights and decorations. Tons of clothes. Lots of baby clothes. Lots of shoes. Prices varied, some things were decently priced and others were a tad expensive. It's definitely a treasure hunt in this place. read more

In my opinion these people should be ashamed of themselves. They are ridiculously over priced. My suggestion is go to a place like Ross dress for less. They have everything and more that Alpha thrift shop has for less money. Times are hard for a lot of people look to thrift shops to help them buy the things that they normally can't afford in a retail store. We want a good deal. All this merchandise is donated to them and they have gotten so extremely selfish. Especially the Milpas store. They had one cashier today and a long line. There are plenty of employees, It appears to be Hispanic. I hope they are paying them a decent wage with the ridiculous prices they are charging. I told a person that was there that their prices are extremely high and they said yes I know I hear that every day What are you guys doing with all this money that you're making? Hopefully you're not pocketing it. It's very hard to believe that Alpha thrift shop made it into Santa "Barbaras Best" in the Independent. Although I have to say they have pretty much the whole market in Santa Barbara when it comes to Thrift shops. They don't have much competition. Catholic Charities is a much better deal than Alpha. At least they have sales. Nothing at all was on sale at Alpha when I went. You guys need to do your research. You are charging a lot more for many items that you can get new at retail stores. ‍ read more

WAY OVER PRICED.... Terrible customer customer..... It's more like shopping retail with the HIGH prices they are asking for donated, used items. The Milpas store is the most outrageously priced. Is this really a thrift store? I don't think thrift is the word for this store!! I wonder what the board members are making $$$ And what they do for Alpha? I believe that the board members make GOOD MONEY. Does anybody know? Good question to ask. read more

Meh. First time I have been here in a while. I usually visit some of the other thrift shops in town so I thought I'd give Alpha Thrift a try. A lot of the clothing was basically at retail prices! Items marked $19, $20 and up. Ratty T-shirts around $7. Books were the only thing fairly priced. Fifty cents for paperbacks and $2 for hardcover. They had one section of books labeled "red line through the spine". They drew a thick red line down the spine of these books, totally defacing them. What a ridiculous gimmick. Not interested in coming back. read more

It has been quite an interesting place for me to get great stuff cheaply priced. I recommend anyone to try shopping with them from electronics to furniture . They even opens on weekends which makes it convenient to make it there . read more

Fairly priced thrift store, bought a childrens shirt for $2, a purse for $6, a skirt for $5 and a CD for $1. There was a great collection of CD's, electronics, and shoes, so I would definitely recommend shopping for those! There is a fitting room. Good music was playing in the store! The lady who rung me out was very kind. Definitely recommend read more

The place has done some changes moving things around and has expanded a bit is very organized well kept clean hard working employees today as my wife and I stopped in it was cool until some woman's kid kept running around getting into things was not listening to her and the little brat was loud then a employee got on speaker to all parents please don't leave children unattended overall the place is looking good read more

Really nice neighborhood thrift store, I went in on the day of a 50% off everything sale and have found some really incredible​ things here to include items that were in impeccable condition. They have most of the bells and whistles of other thrift stores​ without the thrift​ store smell. Two small fitting rooms allow you to try on all your treasures but can get back​ up. Same with cashiers, but they always do their best to keep the line moving. The parking​ lot is small on the side and can be a pain in the but since its a one way if someone is blocking due to dropping off donations but there is plenty of street parking around the area. Good selection of clothing, shoes, odds, ​and ends, furniture, and much more. I also enjoy the fact that donation is really simple and most times will give you a donation form. Overall I check back in this thrift store often, never knowing what treasure I might find that day. read more

prices used to be reasonable. way over priced now. i recommend yard sales to get a decent price. 5-10.00 for a used pillow is ridiculous. it's all donated people. read more

As far as thrift stores go, this one really does have a decent layout and selection. I like the mezzanine level of kids stuff and electronics. The furniture room is a pretty good size but was a little under stocked this time around. This is a good place to stop if in the mood for a little second hand perusing. read more

Terrible, Terrible, Terrible. The prices are offensive. Too bad I did not take a photo of the unimpressive, faded red dress hanging on the wall for $119.99. $119.99!?!? What kind of turpentine-laced crack was someone smoking when they tagged these clothes? I don't get it! I mean, if you really want to provide charitable help to those in need, why try to rip people off? Why make me NOT spend my money here? I would love to think that someone from this store would read this chorus of reviews that all sing the same song: "your above retail prices for sub par clothes are stunningly insulting." But perhaps they cannot be bothered to care. That's a bad quality in a charity. read more

One of the first things I do when I'm traveling in a new place is inquire about the local thrift shops. Such a fun way to get an experience about the city/town. I walked away with a some useful items from this thrift shop: a handcrafted beaded bracelet, pair of Uggs, a bottle of room spray from England, a deck of cards. I found this thrift store to be clean and organized (shoes are ordered by color for example), the staff were helpful, and the prices were reasonable. read more

Good to great. A true old school thrift store!! You will love this place if you are in the mood for anything used. Prices are fair to great and location is prime 2nd hand realestate - right down the street from Santa Barbaras best hole in the wall Mexican restaurants. read more

Super expensive 2nd hand items. I don't think the owner is aware that you can actually purchase clothes for under $20 now days and we're talking about brand new garments. Highly overpriced for a generic items. read more

Great stuff!! Horrible customer service, if it's hot inside (AND IT IS) your out of luck! They will not go the extra mile just to turn on a fan. read more

HORRIBLE EMPLOYEES. I went in and had a basket full of not great but decently priced clothes, I heard the employees gossiping about how I was stupid for grabbing a LABELED item out of a section that was apparently not for sale anymore. The girl spoke in Spanish assuming I didn't speak it, but she accused me of being a thief. I dropped my items and walked out. The employees tailed me and my friend the entire time. So uncomfortable. read more

Constant cleaning! Nice staff. Good amount of new with tags. Good daily specials. Would return.

This is a really nice thrift shop. They have a lot of interesting things to check out, but also practical things to shop for. Around Halloween last year, they had a lot of inexpensive fun costumes and decor. They also usually have a great selection of Jewelry. They DO NOT have a public bathroom. At least that was what I was told when I was there. read more