The Thrifty Hippy

This place is AWESOME! I left with this cute green sweater and skirt set and it is just loaded with fantastic stuff: D

Lots of unique finds at great prices. More importantly, it adds that dose of funky flair that keeps Petaluma cool.

Love this place. It’s a hidden treasure with lots of hidden treasures. Came in looking for tea cups for a tea party and not only did I find everything I needed for a great price (a whole set) but found more things that I just fell in love with. The salesperson was so nice and very helpful. The back room with the children’s clothing is fabulous. Overall, I will definitely be coming back. They have a new returning costumer.

I will never again support this business. Sam, the owner, is completely rude. The couple of times that I have been in the store he was condescending and spoke to me as if I was a child. I bought a vintage looking butane lighter (that was actually new) and when I brought it back to him after it didn’t work, he claimed that he had warned me that it wouldn’t work and that he «thought I collected them.» He had never warned me about the lighter possibly not working, and I had never mentioned that I planned on not using the lighter. Not to mention the store is a complete rip-​off. $ 14 for a used tshirt? No thanks! The owner needs to adjust his prices, along with his customer service skills.

Told Sam I would write up a review for this place asap! This store is a gold mine filled with so many intricate and amazing items for affordable prices! Coming from SF, this place was the best I’ve found in the bay area.
Sam even gave me a discount in the end and was super friendly! Totally going back here again. Thanks again you guys!

ONLY APPLIES TO RECORD PORTION: Well, again I came in to see what was going on. Same «Sale», same insulting prices. … I will say this strongly to the owner. Bruce Springsteen records dont go for more than a few bucks ANYWHERE, even at Aomeba, unless they are promo. …
Now to address the high priced records on the wall that are non negotiable. U2 Unforgettable Fire doenst go for more than 8 bucks in any record store. Van Halen Diver Down is not worth more than 6 bucks. Be kind to the vinyl community and lower your prices and make some new collectors happy. Be that store that Petaluma vinyl collectors will spend all their money on you. Trust, they will!!! You might be surprised on your profits. I edited my old review to apply to vinyl only. Peace out

This review is about the record section only. The records are insanely overpriced, both very common «Goodwill type» stuff (i.e. 60’s comedy albums, George Benson, Cat Stevens, etc., for up to $ 28), as well as stuff that the owner deems rare ($ 60 to a $ 100 or more, price «not negotiable.»). The owner is kind of hard to figure out. He lays a pretty heavy pseudo hippy «schtick» on you when you walk in, assuring you that prices are «negotiable,» maybe a back-​handed apology for the high prices. Also, he’s not very knowledgeable about music (musical genres are haphazardly organized and poorly priced, irrespective of everything being overpriced). He seems to price things based upon Ebay prices rather than «fair value.» When I questioned him about his high prices, his fall back position was that «someone will eventually pay his price.» He told me that he had a woman customer who will buy all of the Beatles stuff he can get, regardless of the price he charges.
However, my main gripe with this guy is that, with a little bit more knowledge about music and «fair» prices, he could provide a service to the Petaluma community. When my two sons were teenagers in Petaluma, they could explore music and records «on a budget» at the Vinyl Planet. They could buy Graham Parker, Blondie, Sparks, etc. for under $ 5. It would be nice if Petaluma had a store like this. This guy is missing a great opportunity.

This is a great Thrift store and Sam was very helpful. Tell him what you need if you don’t see it, as he has stuff in other places. I needed a kitchen table and chairs for my son’s first apartment, and told him the price range, and woohoo, there he found one.
Anything you need, you can find there for good prices.
Have fun shopping!

One kick –ass real family –owned business at last. Yippee. ! Seriously the selection of clothing and older (I’m older) stuff is staggering… We are talking Moody blues, Dark-​side, etc. etc.
Courteous helpful staff available it’s a great find !

Fun thrift store. Sam is a cool dude. Lots of records, furniture and other randomness, Worth the stop.

I’ve been in here many times and have a bought a few LP’s and a turntable I fixed up for a client. The selection, quality and merchandising is great and in my opinion reasonably priced. My wife even likes it and she hates thrift stores!
The best part of this place however is that Sam the proprietor is a great guy and seems to really enjoy doing it. The free kids clothes room is over the top in a good way. As an old guy who’s been in the secondhand business myself I’ve learned a few lessons from Sam. It’s OK to make money, have fun and be a good guy all at the same time.
Thanks for being there.

Great shop. Sam fulfilled a 15(?) year dream at a crazy good price. I’ve been looking for a midrange for my vintage ads l810 speakers to replace the damaged one. They are nary on impossible to find. A complete pair still costs a lot of money. My son was visiting town and saw them. Sam gave me a great price on the pair he sold me, I mean great. It was clear he knew how much they were worth (that’s his business after all) but sold them to me at a third of the average asking price. He even helped me get them to my car. By the way, in addition to having all types of cool vintage stuff, clothing, furniture, you name it, he always had good stereo equipment at great prices. The variety is pretty amazing but it’s not just a collection of junk. This type of operation is pretty rare these days. It’s well curated, varied and won’t break the bank. The only thing that bums me out is I now have to rebalance my surround sound because these speakers are performing way better than my old l810’s. Check it out!

Fantastic spot! Super nice, helpful owner that has really incredible pieces in there. Highly recommended !

The Thrifty Hippy is a MANDATORY stop for us in Petaluma. By far this is the coolest thrift store I have ever been in.
I have a feeling the owner knows he could charge much more for his merchandise, but he simply doesn’t. Additionally, there’s an entire room devoted to FREE kid’s stuff. During today’s visit, I saw an adorable young couple — in their 20s, the girl about 8 months pregnant — who were overwhelmed with emotion when they got to the counter with their selections and the owner told them there was no charge. They insisted on at least making a donation toward the cause. It was a sweet and touching exchange.
*sniffle*
I never, ever walk out of the this store without a treasure, and a good deal to boot. My favorite score so far was during my first visit when I found a bunch of blue cornflower CorningWare pieces. By buying the kit and kaboodle, I was offered a very nice price, no haggling required.
More recently, I fell in love with a big 1970s-​era metal tray — like the kind you would have eaten a TV dinner from — printed with a carved wood motif. It was magnificently tacky and it HAD to be mine. However, I felt it was priced too high (unusual in this store). When the owner saw how much I wanted it, he asked me what I thought would be a fair price. Being a terrible haggler, I was nervous to give him my number… then relieved and delighted when he gladly accepted. I know this is corny, but I feel that he’s pleased when he sees his stuff leave with someone who will give it a happy home!
Make this your first stop in Petaluma next time you’re thrifting/​antiquing in the area. Also, come in and donate children’s clothes and books as your kids outgrown them. Trust me, I’ve seen first-​hand that it’s a good thing.

Such dirty clothing. Not pleasant to try on. Eww.
Also, I think the furniture is overpriced. There are places downtown that sale refinished, pretty furniture for the same price.

Strolled in here with the husband looking for some vintage furniture. Didn’t find any furniture but left with 8 of some of my favorite vinyls from the 70s & 80s. They have the biggest selection of records I’ve ever seen and they were all somewhat organized. I was looking for something in particular and the store owner actually found what I was looking for pretty quickly. And since we bought 3 of their more collectible albums, we got the other 5 for only $ 1 each.
Great selection, reasonably priced, nice & friendly service. I’m a fan! I’ll be back! (BTW, they had Terminator I and II soundtracks on LP’s… who knew? Better yet… why?!!)

Loved my experience. Was looking for an out of the norm experience while thrifting and definitely found it a great store, and very vintage place. I love it so much!!!
Cool record collection. The owner is a total deadhead and really nice and is totally negotiable with prices great accidental find.
Plus free kids clothes. :)

This place is vintage magic. It’s like the trifecta of vintage stores — reasonable prices, quality merchandise, and so, so many cute dresses. I’ve even found some homemade vintage pieces here — and it really is kind of cool owning a piece of clothing that you can’t just go out and buy resale. I always get nice comments when I wear something that I bought here.
The owner is also a heck of a guy without the snobby elitist attitude that sometimes makes vintage shopping uncomfortable. He’s a real down-​to-​earth kind of person, and if that weren’t enough, he also offers free childrens’ clothing AND donates unsold clothing to community outreach programs that help the homeless.
The Thrifty Hippy is a great example of what business can be — friendly staff invested in their customers, and the community they are located in. You can trust me, for as long as the doors are open, I will be giving my patronage to this store.

I bookmarked this place ages ago and stumbled into it today without even realizing it. This store totally has that retro/​vintage vibe without the really high prices. I saw some cute things but didn’t end up buying anything. I did notice a section just dedicated to records/​cowboy boots and vintage clothing. They also had normal clothes and basic thrift store items.
This seems like a place to find tons of treasures, but sadly I didn’t find any today.

A jumble sale of just about anything. More interesting than a typical Salvation Army store. Smells better than a Salvation Army store, too.
I bought classic rock vinyl LPs for $ 3 each.