Right near the BART station, open really good hours when others are closed. Excellent selection for a small place and prices were very reasonable unlike some Berkeley/Cal clothing stores. read more

I went in here looking for casual clothes. When you walk in, all you see is Cal logo stuff, but upstairs is a bunch of everydway wear t-shirts, sweaters, jackets, etc. Kinda reminds me of Urban Oufitters. The prices are very affordable especially in the sale racks. No returns or exchanges on sale items. I bought myself a long corduroy zip up jacket. I doubt I'll see anyone with the same exact one. Yay! read more

This is for people who are looking for T-shirt Orgy. It is downstairs to Bear basics, but other than sharing a similar cash register, is a totally different store. Funny shirts - threadless style, rockband shirts, comic shirts, political shirts, bay area shirts. Anything loud and silkscreenable will be here. read more

I'm so glad I grew out of the slogan t-shirt phase, but bear basics has every Cal apparel option I crave. I can always find something to give to someone in here (especially cute collegiates). read more

This place ROCKS!!! Lots of great CAL gear and the best thing about the Orgy is the basement level of the store. This is where you'll find "Hyphy" bay area gear to nature inspired t-shirts with wolves howling at the moon. A great place to spend about an hour just laughing at the funny shirts. Definitely worth the stop to check it out. read more

Cal. Berkeley. UC Berkeley. This place has so much attraction that foreigners, tourists, international students, and more constantly bring traffic to the campus as well as the town. Naturally a college town, Berkeley sells itself as a brand; there are an enormous amount of different Cal gear, memorabilia, apparel, and souvenirs shops from the intersection of Bancroft and Telegraph and spread throughout. Therefore, finding cheap Cal gear became a priority of mine. Although the prices in T-Shirt Orgy-Bear Basics are relatively similar to Neds and Bancroft Clothing, they have most of the Cal gear I need. Their store consist of 3 floors. The top floor has women's clothing. The middle floor, which is where customers enter from, is where they sell Cal Gear. Lastly, the bottom floor is the T-shirt Orgy floor, with many different t-shirts from Political to music, to celebrities, to cartoons, you name it and they will mostly have it. The Cal Gear floor have different types of sweatshirts at good prices. The prices are relative to their quality; ie, a $20 hoodie will be then and not that comfy versus a $60 jansport branded hoodie with great quality and cotton. Same goes for the shirts; they have cal images and logos on brand shirts from Gildan to American Apparel. In terms of variety of styles and different logos, Bear Basics gets the job done. Prices may varies to their sales and the quality of the gear being sold- however, they offer a variety to appeal to the customer's taste. They also sell New Era Cal caps with different styles and logos- so many that it has its own wall! This is probably one of the places I stop by when I buy souvenirs for family members, friends, and relatives. read more

Ugh. I hate having to check in my bag before I go into a store. Their selection of Berkeley clothes are good, and I once found a super cute dress on the 2nd floor though. read more

One of the best collection of hilarious novelty t-shirts I've ever seen! The staff if present and friendly but not pushy and overbearing like a lot of the stores in this city! The basement is worth a look for sure! read more

A lot of cute, funny, and cool t-shirts, as well as a fairly large selection of trendy women's clothing. Good prices.

Lots of fun t-shirts but long lines to buy anything. Need more (and friendlier) staff

I've been here a few times, and usually they have the same type of stuff. The prices are okay, but the staff leaves more to be desired. I came in looking for a UC Berkeley Mom shirt to replace one that my mother-in-law had lost. Hers was nice and embroidered, we got it here a few years ago. When I went in today, I could only find embroider dad shirts, all of the mom shirts were crappy iron-ons. I asked one employee, and he couldn't look away from his cell phone for more than two seconds to tell me that what they had was what they had. Never mind the fact that he didn't even know where I was looking. I would hope that a store in Berkeley would not have such sexist undertones, but what can you do. I guess it's run by the man. read more

Downstairs is Cal college gear galore but upstairs is the best eclectic mix of women's clothing from the ultra girly to the alternative and punk. read more

When I first saw T-Shirt Orgy, I thought to myself t-shirt heaven, and that was what I saw when I first entered this store. The store is filled with all kind of t-shirts, but I think they would push more sales if they did a buy 2 get 1 free promotion of some sort. Paying $18+ for a t-shirt is pretty expensive if you buy a few, but this place is pretty awesome. read more

As a true Cal Golden Bear fan it hurts me to write this but the customer service at Bear Basics was terrible. Anja and Daniella treated me as if I purposely bought the wrong sizes for my nephews and nieces. I can't help this mistake but I shouldn't feel like I did something wrong. Their facial expression as I walked up to the checkout counter was not accompanied with a simple "hello." They simply didn't seem like they wanted to be there. After I returned with the right items, Anja looked at me as if I did something wrong and asked me, "are you sure these will fit?" Are you kidding me? I'm not some kid who should be talked down to like this. I said, "Well, I sure hope so." No response from Anja. Have a little compassion for your customers. When all was done, they didn't say anything to me. Even a simple goodbye would have been fine. At this point I should have just returned everything instead of giving them my business. Wow, just the worst customer service experience I've ever had. It's sad because I actually preferred Bear Basics over the Cal student store for its selection, their once stellar customer service, and Cal spirit. It's not the same here anymore - missing on all three fronts there. I'm definitely not coming back until they correct this. Going to the Cal student store from now on. read more

Look for all your BEAR necessities here. Customer service is a bit of a FLOP. And by flop I mean honest service but the enthusiasm is lost amongst the staff there. It's a bit quiet and we'll dead. read more

By far the best selection of Cal gear and other sweet hipster Ts in all of Berkeley. If you come to UCB you better visit the T shirt orgy!

It's really this place stopped selling double xl. T-shirts shrink and getting a double x for me insures my shirt wont shirt too much. I asked the cashier and he said that they stopped carrying them. Bummer I won't be going back. read more

I'm not really into all the Cal gear, but I love the t-shirt orgy shop they got going on down stairs! I never leave Berkeley without stopping by. They have a bunch of comical tees that are pretty clever.. If you're into band tees they have a decent selection for different genres..including on the sales racks and some posters too. The upstairs top floor also has some pretty good deals on more casual clothes. read more

Moved to Berkeley to start new as a grad student. Walking along Telegraph, see some Cal gear. Think hey why not, might as well show some school spirit. Bought a pair of blue and yellow striped socks, cute. $12. Go home, wear them for maybe a day, notice a large hole in one of them near the toes. You may be thinking "Hey, you wore them, anything is fair game." No. Maybe with a $3 pair of socks, but these socks were thick and expensive and quality. Took the socks and the receipt back to the store, but they wouldn't exchange me a new pair because I'd already worn the socks. I won't be shopping there again, with so many other stores around selling Cal gear. read more

I like to buy my East Bay shirts here because they're very unique and not like those repetitive ugly ones you see being sold at mall stands. Wide selection. Fun store. Steep prices. read more

Nice collection of Oakland and Berkeley stuff. Very cute women's shirts. Wish more men's pant designs available.

I wish I could give this place no stars. The customer service is obnoxious. All of the employees had a smug attitude about them. I had my three year old with me, and this chick Diana yelled at him for touching a t shirt. When I told her not to talk to my son that way, I was confronted by some guy who started screaming that he "didnt give a fuck about my son". I walked out of that place in tears. WILL NOT BE BACK. read more

The name fits the store! So much selection of Cal gear and Bay Area swag throughout the 3 floors that it will keep you searching for the perfect item to show off your Cali Pride! Prices here a tad on the expensive side, yet it is worth to splurge on unique apparel in the heart of Berkeley's Telegraph Ave. If you want a break from the promenade, stop in here and I assure you, you won't leave empty-handed. :) read more

this place is pretty great. i love how there are basically t-shirts of every kind. there's threadless, music, political, movies, comics, gaming..everything really! i noticed though that sometimes there are not a whole lot of smalls/mediums available. that kinda sucks, but honestly its not a problem for me, i end up cutting them up anyways. im guessing that the t-shirts are reasonably priced at 18 bucks, but sometimes you can find some pretty sweet stuff on the for-sale racks. that place is like...t-shirt heaven. read more

The good, the bad and the ugly: The good-there are some funny t-shirts downstairs, and some good Cal attire on main floor. The bad-there are NO CASH REFUNDS!...not happy when I found this out last week. Went downstairs to find another t-shirt to "buy", spent a fair amount of time, fortunately found a great tiger t-shirt at last minute, otherwise this would have been a very bad experience. Go Bears! P.S. There is no "ugly", couldn't come up with better title. :) read more

If I could give this place 0 stars I would! I recently graduated from UCB as a PhD and came back to get some paraphernalia. I picked up a shirt from the bottom of a stack because it was the right size, looked down and saw that the sensor had leaked all over my expansive new clothes and hands, right before an important meeting on Campus. I told the manager about this and she (Sandee the manager) insinuated that I was trying to steal this 10$ shirt and that it was my fault!!! She said "these sensors dont just explode on their own" and "if it was already leaking you should have seen it before you picked it up" and "the store is not at fault" I have never been treated in this fashion and she is hurting their business because I will never buy from there while she's still working there, and neither will my extensive alumni friends. Sandee should be fired for treating customers like thieves instead of taking responsibility for the store's unkept clothing! read more

GO BEARS! great place to buy gifts for friends and family. The upstairs section is pretty cool, but definitely wouldn't do all my shopping there, its pretty expensive for the sort of basic things they sell. the t-shirts are fun, some are a little tacky, like i wouldn't wear them myself, but they make funny gifts for family and friends. more comical than stylish, but a fun place to look around!! read more

The people who work here are RUDE. I'm not the first to comment on this either; there seems to be a continuing pattern of rudeness. They snapped at me to check my bag (while I was on my way to do that), snapped at a couple of kids who walked into the store (the frightened kids quickly turned and left with their mother), and gave me sass when i was checking out -- all in one visit. Not a single employee offered to help me either. I was wrong about a price on a sign (I hate when the cheaper price is touted first but then in the fine print it says under whatever conditions rather than saying the actual price big, upfront and center), but that doesn't mean that the person at the register--who, by the way, couldn't figure out if it was her lunch break, which wasted some of my time-- should respond to me in the bitchy under-her-breath tone that she did. If a customer is wrong or confused about something, don't make them feel stupid and unimportant, it's rude and insulting. (I happen to be a literate grad student with perfect vision, and I was told to learn to read.) It would be more appropriate to respond cheerfully and apologetically and politely offer help or clarification. Think twice before shopping here. There are lots and lots of places in the area to buy t-shirts, including local artists. read more

I've been shopping here since I was in high school (1998). I love this store! Especially the T-Shirt basement. As much as I love this place, I have to say that the customer service has gone downhill. Apperantly, stuck up snobs are what's cool now when it comes to customer service. Back in the day when I would first step foot in the store, I would get greated with a smile. I can't even remember the last time an employee greated me. I really hope management reads this. If you are reading managment, please, do your job and check your employees! They need to leave that Beverly Hills boutique employee attitude outside the store. read more

This place has been going downhill for awhile. I would visit this place every time I went to Berk and usually buy at least a couple shirts or more from them. Even though, the Cal store on Bancroft has a much wider selection with as good or better prices, I have been a regular here for years and tried to stay loyal. I believe, customer service is a very important aspect of any business but they seem to not adhere to this philosophy. The last time i went they forgot to remove the Ink Tags off of my clothes. I didnt realize this until I made it back to my house, almost an hour drive. I called to make them aware of my situation and to let them know that I would have to come back with a tagged item, including my reciept, to be properly de-tagged and they are treating me as if I should have been aware that the ink tag was left on garments. I would assume that if a security tag was left on someones clothes, that the security alarm would beep as I walked through the door. Of course this logic seems silly to the employees. The one guy I spoke with told me that I would be recieving a call from the manager, but as the days passed and I called back, I was told that the manager didn't want to deal with it and wouldn't get on the phone. I have since written an E-mail to the owner about this problem and after two weeks with no reply, I see that my business is not so important to them. From now on, I will do my shopping one block away at Bancroft's, and tell all whom I know about this turdhole. It's interesting, that in this troubled economy, Bear Basics has enough capital to shit on the paying customer. read more

Their product selection may be decent but their utter lack of responsibility with their customers' property is unacceptable!!! Saturday, three weekends ago, I checked my bag at the front desk according to store policy but was a in a rush and forgot it. Unfortunately I got sick Sunday and wasn't able to go back until Wednesday to claim my bag. When I went to the front desk, the store clerk said she couldn't find it and called the manager. The manager said that they had "put my bag out on Telegraph" although it contained my PASSPORT, cashmere sweater and Burberry coin case... When I asked her why she would do such a thing, she didn't even apologize and had the nerve to respond, "[they] had had bags for weeks without people coming to claim them", although my bag had only been there for half a week... She also lied and said she did not see my passport in the bag but it was definitely in there because, fortunately, someone turned it in to the police department later that week but my other items remain lost. The store doesn't even have a bag check policy. In fact, they just assume that "people who come in and forget their stuff are often tourists and don't come back to get it". Even so, throwing the stuff out onto TELEGRAPH isn't going to solve anything or get it back to their rightful owners because we all know that the homeless will just take it and sell it or something... I am never stepping foot inside this store again and, for all of you who do, make sure never to forget your belongings. read more

When I was a teenager, i'd come to futura for their awesome third floor stuff. they had some really underground stuff and cute and unique shirts. they were feminine and one-of-a-kind, no one at my high school had them. But futura's changed now, and i still can't capture all the good times and good finds that I remember back then. read more

Great shirts, awful customer service. She charged me $20 for a $12 sweater and called another worker to refund it, when he was refunding my sweater he punched it and started swearing, getting super angry. Like dude, chill... read more

meh. - They did have some nicely fitting tshirts with nice designs, but... - really disappointed with the sweatshirts. The ladies ones were trendy cuts or super expensive with way less selection than the men's, and the men's have the most unflattering fit I've ever seen - huuuge baggy arms and tight elastic at the bottom. Nice, if you're going for that look of the spoiled girl who turns into a blueberry in Willy Wonka. Hard to see how that looks good on a guy either. - very expensive! - some helpful employees, but also some who emitted that "we're angry you're here" vibe. I recommend Nor Cal Sports instead. For comparison they have: - Huge selection of tees and sweatshirts. - The fit on their sweatshirts is perfect! - Nice price! (Half as expensive as Bear Basics, for a better quality and fit shirt) - kind, helpful employees read more

Was visiting from out of state so stopped by to purchase some Cal gear for my kids. Later in the week, I realized that they forgot to take the sensor tag off one of the shirts. Since we were staying in SF, I called to find out how to get the sensor tag off and the clerk who answered said that I could take it to a certain clothing store (a national store but not easily found outside of California). I found one close to where we were staying in SF, but when I brought it there, they didn't use the same type sensor tag, so they couldn't remove it. Called the store back and the clerk said I could bring it back to Berkeley with my receipt and they could remove it. When I explained that I was staying in SF and would be leaving the next day, he recommended Rasputins Record Store because they are part of the same network, but he didn't know where the store was located in SF. I asked if he knew of any other store in case they couldn't do it or I couldn't find it, and he suggested that I "would have to do some research by calling other stores on my own" but he couldn't help. Fortunately, I was able to find Rasputins and they were very nice about it. Still, I think from now on I will purchase my Bear gear from a nationwide chain with better service - ex. Costco or Target. Not worth it to support a local business unless you actually live locally in this case. read more

As other reviews mention, bags are checked at the cash register. I suppose this is to prevent shoplifting. Ironically, I was shoplifted from as upon leaving the store, $35 was missing from my wallet. I will never give this establishment any business after this incident. Absolutely ridiculous. read more

Very dishonest business. I ordered a sweatshirt online and had to return it, for which I was charged $18.50 after they received it back. I read their return policy before sending back the sweatshirt, which does specify that customers are responsible for return shipping (which was $8 for FedEx). However, after they processed the return, I was charged an additional $10.50 for the shipping they originally paid to send the sweatshirt out to me. When I inquired about this, I was told it was "just company policy". How is it okay to charge someone almost $20 to return a sweatshirt? read more

I actually shop here a lot and love the clothes they have as I work on campus. However the supervisor Sandy may want to mystery shop her staff as her salesperson 'Anya' is racist. On a recent trip she made a point to follow me around the store. Then she checked my bags which is fine because that's policy and I HATE carrying them around the store. However only mine were checked and not other patrons even though it's a store policy. I also do not like being followed around the store especially since I shop there frequently and manage their Cal 1 payments. Maybe just a training needs to be done as not everyone that works there displays this type of customer service. read more

just want to let everyone know how i got ripped off from this store. i purchased a hooded sweatshirt for my son who is fairly small. the size was small, but he was not big enough for it. i just wanted to exchange (had bag, receipt, never been worn). not only did they not have any hooded sweatshirts, but nothing, i repeat absolutely nothing that would fit him between toddler and adult. of course the bitchy manager with the red hair and bad teeth), was super nasty and just pointed to the return policy. who the hell just does exchanges anymore, i couldnt even exchange it, except for maybe a beer cooler holder. i hope they go out of business. read more

Parking is the worst. But it is a fun shop to look for local gifts. It is great for people of all ages with a sense of humor. I enjoy all the Chem Puns. read more