Buffalo Exchange

I’ve cooled off from Buffalo Exchange for a bit due to a personal preference that you may or may not care about.
BE has always struck me as environmentally and ethically savvy. Aside from the obvious recycling of clothing, they don’t use plastic bags, and let you donate 5 cents to a charity. You’ll see other forms of ethical outreach — like Coats for Cubs, where donated real fur coats are used as bedding for injured and orphaned animals. So awesome, right?
So when I showed up to BE to do some shopping and was greeted by three fox pelts on a mannequin — the kinds with heads and feet attached — I was a little thrown and pretty disappointed.
The employees are still awesome, and clearly they don’t make the corporate policy on selling fur. So I sent off an email to BE HQ asking what their policy is, encouraging them to get with the 90s and use their mannequins for something less contrary to their ethical outreach. It’s been a couple months with no response.
I get that a lot of thrift stores sell fur, but only one thrift store chain does Coats for Cubs. If BE’s corporate policy focuses on dollas over ethics, is Coats for Cubs just a publicity stunt?

Today was the first time I had walk in Buffalo Exchange. I was cleaning out my closet and had a lot of clothes that I didn’t want any more. So I figured I donated. I started to Google and came across this. I said why not give it a try. To be honest I was disappointed. Everything I took was rejected. The employee made me feel uncomfortable. Never again will I bother with this place. At the end I ended donating everything

Great low key place find great clothes.

Really terribly experience at this store. Have exchanged many times before. This time I went in to sell a couple of jackets. While doing this Leslie found a couple of little ants on one of my coats. At that moment Leslie said that she will have to stop the transaction there. I totally was ok with that and understood the circumstances (after leaving I googled and found out the ants where from keeping my dry open cat food bag in my jacket closet). I stepped away from the counter to put the rest of coats back in bag. Leslie immediately ran over and told me I had to leave the store now with the coats and could not put them back in the bag. When I explained what I was doing she got very a nasty attitude until I was able to get outside. When I walked back in (leaving coats outside) to tell her that she completely embarrassed me and her reaction was uncalled for you she told me that I embarrassed myself. Leslie should not be working with the public !!!

I’ve waited, after 3 different trips over the course of a year (different seasons) of trying to sell stuff here. This is BY FAR the worst buffalo exchange in NYC. I used to take my stuff to the one in Chelsea when I lived there. Awesome! Marc Jacobs heels — sure! I used to live in bushwick and took stuff to the one in Williamsburg, hand painted boyfriend jeans — sure! I moved to Astoria and this store (and *most of the staff) have 0 taste or style or brains. They wouldn’t know a brand name or quality piece if it came up and came on– nevermind. Anyway, after this trip — i really don’t plan on stepping foot back in this place. I should have said «no thanks I’ll wait for the next buyer» when I saw a pint sized lumberjack fake-​nice dude take over for the lovely plus-​size lady with some style + sense that would have gave me the time of day. This GUY: No thank you to a Calvin Klein COLLECTION jacket? Yes please to a tacky black leopard H&M dress my mom bought me on sale. Honestly? Never worn men’s Levis — no thank you. Really? I thought that was part of the Hipster Ten Commandpants? But a polyester dress with pit stains that my Mormon friend gave me. They ate it up¿ This place needs to revaluate the humans they let have the purchasing power. After this fellow sent me home with the same three bags of stuff I came with, I was repacking it into the bags and a customer who was shopping in the store came up to me and asked me about a piece I was putting away. If that’s not missing your target market, idk what is. Even the Asian girl who was helping the euro trash couple with 6 trash bags full of stuff (trying to sell her bra/​underwear sets) was peaking over my shoulder at the stuff I was taking back home with me. Seriously? I contemplated asking her to take another look at it, but figured I should leave proudly with my 21 $ before I lost my shhh. As someone who went to college for Fashion Design and Marketing and is CFDA certified in Technical Design, worked various retail jobs before becoming an ecommerce marketing manager and textile designer — I can safely say this place has about as much ~style as all the Astoria «actors» and «actresses» they cater to. Really wish that the Greek bakery (with the creepy old guys who sit and drink coffee and oogle women who walk by) that closed down the block was opening in this storefront just so this hello hole could close. And that’s saying a lot because I didn’t think I could hate a place more than that bakery. Looks like I’ll be setting up an online store to sell clothing from now on — from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the inspiration. LESSON LEARNED– Never again! *Oh but that really skinny tall chick is pretty cool, like your style when you’re walking down Ditmars. None of the above is about you. That’s all. Thank you for your time.

Don’t take much as it’s not ‘in style” when some items where very high name brands w their BF Exchange stickers still or tags still on them. They had never left my apartment or worn. The open toe shoes BGbG where not in style. They were immaculate. i have also
Started walking through the store,
Taking inventory as to the crap they take them what they discharge for me.
Then the larger lady manager asked memofmi pulled the tag buzzer off of it. Yea I sure did and I am trying to sell it back to you ???
Answer was for fun, goofy styles. They want barney’s tags on new merchandise but won’t pay for it. I sold them a beat up shit over nicer stuff lol. Suckers!!! Also went in last night to sell a never used $ 595 bag (leather w sticker saying price) — all I could walk alway with was 20 $. Don’t think so. !!!
Then the manager said once an item is turned
Away it cannot be brought back for consideration. Yet after 4 people turning my perfect Michael Cors
Someone finally bought them.
If you don’t get cash for your money take your stuff to a wonderful second hand store– they only accept drop-​offs. Do not buy. Unless your shopping at Buffalo or exchanging for store credit– I would drop off of even shop at the used store on ditmars –south side of street. Two or three doors from dunkin donuts

I’ll start by saying that before I went, I read the reviews. I followed the advice. I cleaned and meticulously sorted the clothes to include only brand name items and clothes that were new or had limited signs of wear. I checked my ego so I didn’t get offended if they didn’t take my things. But none of that prepared me for the awkwardness of someone else looking through your clothes and deeming them ‘not good enough’.
The girl working behind the counter was perfectly nice and explained that they focus on casual clothing. They assess the clothes and see if there’s anything they’re able to sell, price it on the spot and tell you what it will retail for. You can choose to be paid 50% of the items retail value in store credit or 30% in cash.
The assessment seemed pretty subjective to me and she was direct about the fact that they don’t sell a lot of dress clothes. That means the 16 pairs of pants, 3 suits, 12 dresses I brought in… Not interested. What about the casual dresses with the tags still on from BCBG and Banana Republic? Nope. Out of an entire basket full of clothing, they took two blouses (Michael Kohrs) and one purse (NY&Co). Out of the leftover items, they fit what they could into a crate behind the desk to donate to charity but once that’s filled for the day, you’re on your own to find somewhere else for your sad, unacceptable clothes to go.
I actually had two more bags in my car filled with J. Crew polos and Banana Republic men’s pants but I was so uncomfortable after the first bag I couldn’t bring myself to go through it again. I just drove down the street to the Ditmars Thrift Shop and dropped it all off.
Moral of the story: Seller be prepared. Unless your items are really on trend and have no visible signs of wear (seriously, not a speck) they probably won’t take them. In the end, I’m not sure all of the effort to clean, sort and transport the clothes was worth the $ 26.42 I made, though I suppose if I had taken store credit and I had a lot of free time to kill, it might have been.

The clothes are stylish and the place looks hip, but the problem is the «sell your clothes» part. The sweet girl from the counter looked over my clothes and she don’t want to sell them. She was being so picky with my clothes because she was looking for clothes that are fashionable and good condition. Oh pllleeeeaaaaassssseeee, my clothes are name brand from Versace to Calvin Klein and half of my clothes aren’t made from China. If you want to go cash for clothes, sell them at your own.

My experience was good. I brought in three large bags and they bought about half of it. The associates were very helpful and in fact, because one was in training, so I got to understand how they choose to buy or not– which made perfect sense. I left with a check for over a hundred and they donated the rest of my belongings for me.

If you are looking to sell or exchange your stuff this place is definetely not worth it, try ebay.
and if you re looking to buy, i found it not worth it either, old items and the price are still high.

Nice thrift store… You can exchange and get store credit which is cool;) the prices could be cheaper… The staff is great!!!
They take cash or credit…
The clothing styles are good… If you bring clothes for exchange it has to be the same season your in. Example: if its summer you have to bring summer clothes not winter… Which kinda sucks but makes sense…
Love it!

how obnoxious! who decides what they will buy? the gods!!! rather give to goodwill!

Love the location, it’s right around the corner from the end of the N and Q lines, and surrounded by a ton of other places to check out.
Smaller than I expected, but packed with hidden gems. I didn’t find anything particularly hideous, so if you often have that problem when thrifting, check this location out. I made out with a jacket and a sweater for $ 30.
It was a successful trip and I’ll certainly be back more! The employees were nice which is definitely a plus :)

Worst experience ever. They don’t have a great selection and when you try selling your items they are extremely picky. Not worth the trip.

Came in with a friend a few weeks ago and we made off like bandits. I purchased 2 anthropologie dresses, a Topshop dress and 3 pieces of jewelry… all for $ 80, and all the items are beautiful. I will definitely return to buy more stuff soon. Heads up: They do not have plastic bags, so bring your own bag or you’ll have to buy one of their recyclable bags for $ 2 (I think it was). Also, they do not accept refunds; they do accept returns, but only for store credit.

Back in 19dickety doo (’98) I used to shop at Buffalo Exchange in Pacific Beach, California. The options were great for men’s surf wear but weak on dress clothes. It seems to me that the shops location has a direct reflection on the stores offerings. Not that difficult to figure out.
With five locations in NYC, two located in downtown Manhattan I imagine those stores are where the men’s dress clothes options are the best.
But in Astoria which is less affluent and more casual, the clothes reflect that difference, which is perfectly fine, different styles for different desires.
I found some great items priced so affordably I walked out totally satisfied spending $ 100 on what at a typical retailer would have run me a good $ 225.-$ 250.

A nice thrift shop if you’re not a fan of sifting through clothes at Salvation Army. The prices are not great, but they only carry name brand items. If your looking for a Gucci brand bag this place will have it.
The staff is a bit of a hit or miss. A friend needed to use the bathroom and one employee freaked out and just continued to knock on the door and tell him he needed to leave or the cops would be called. I was flabbergasted, he was just using the bathroom! He even threatened to open the door and «expose» him. Once my friend finished his business the guy huffed and let a female customer use the bathroom. Double standard? I think so.
Aside from that fiasco service at the counter is okay, but once you buy something you’re unable to get anything but store credit, even if it was within the same day.

LOVE Buffalo Exchange. They are very picky about what items they’ll buy from you (I’ve brought in several bags and they’ve only bought back a few things), but their clothing and accessories selection is MUCH better because of their choosiness. I’ve made a decent amount in store credit from what I’ve been able to sell.
Super cute collection of clothes, shoes, and accessories, and staff is very friendly. If they don’t take your items, you can usually leave them there to donate. If not, there’s a third store half a block away that you can donate at.
LOVE this place! One of my favorites.

Had my first Buffalo Exchange experience this weekend and it was what I expected but was a little bit disappointed. My friend and I had quite a bit of high end footwear and clothing which we were hoping to get a decent amount of cash for — but got less than expected.
Great staff and friendly service. Longer wait than I expected on Saturday morning — but granted, it does take time to sort through people’s items to evaluate desirability. Glad this location is open in Astoria, was easy to get to but parking was a bit of a pain.
Glad I had the experience and will definitely return, especially as I continue my spring cleaning. However, with the remainder of my high end and designer items — I think I’ll proceed with re-​selling on Poshmark or Ebay instead.

I’ve heard of Buffalo Exchange when I was in Boston, but I’ve never actually been to one. I stumbled across this location when I was in the Ditmars area and decided to pop in. They had quite a selection of goodies. I picked a few items to try on, but they didn’t fit that well on me. Still ended up with a Diesel jacket and Guess dress though for some really good prices.
The employees there were very friendly and helpful. It was my first time shopping there, so the cashier informed me they do not have shopping bags. So if you are planning a trip to a Buffalo Exchange, bring your own bag.
The prices there are REALLY good. They had an awesome Marc by Marc Jacobs crossbody bag for less than $ 100. It’s selling for over $ 250 on eBay! I regret not buying it. But at least now I know for the future to not let a good item like that get away again.
I will have to bring some stuff in to sell to see how that process works out for me.