Alpha Thrift Store

This is the worst thrift store ever! Their prices are ridiculous and their donation appointments are horrendous! I scheduled a pick up, letting them know ahead of time I had over 100 boxes of antiques, jewelry, books and other such knickknacks. We scheduled a day for them to come (they wouldn’t give me a time) and once they got here they decided that it wasn’t worth it to take anything since they had other stops to make!!!
What was the point of making an appointment if they were just going to leave for another persons house? Also they should tell you ahead of time the things they won’t except just in case you have 50 BOXES OF JUST THAT THING!!!
Never shopping or donating with them again.

The prices seem too high for me, but the store is pretty organized.

Yeah, I agree with the other Unilocalers, this place is expensive, relatively speaking. Women’s t-​shirts for $ 10 (uh, aren’t new t-​shirts at the Gap about $ 10?) and overpriced clothing. Not super bargains for the frugal. But you are helping a good cause so that’s gotta be worth something!

This place is WAY over-​priced, especially since they get all their merchandise for free and are supposedly trying to help low-​income people. I saw dresses there for $ 20-​$ 60 even for the average brands, and cashmere sweaters starting at $ 20 and going as high as $ 90 in one case. C’mon Alpha! We’re trying to buy clothes to get jobs and better our lives. What’s YOUr goal?

Super expensive 2^nd 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.

Went here looking for a vanity and a rocking chair. Found the rocking chair for $ 22.50. They have a decent selection of furniture both in the side room on the left and upstairs in the loft.

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.

This is a great thrift store because it is styled to combine the more modern sort methods of like items: ladies sweaters r w/​ladies sweaters & categories r well defined along w/​the dig & find type of thrifting in what was once called a junk store. @Alpha I am often surprised! Staff is nice/​helpful & customers r friendly 2!

I can occasionally find something here worth purchasing. The selection isnt bad at all. However, the pricing is out of control.

This place is ridiculously high priced! I feel like these people who price items they got for free, time traveled from the year 2099 and just so happen to land a pricing job at this thrift store. Crazy! Yes they have nice stuff and the place is very organized. All they need to do now is change their name to «Alpha Ripped You Off Store»! I wish people wouldn’t donate to them, instead donate to another thrift store who deserves it more!

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.

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.

What happened to the Alpha at Kellog? Now all of the clothes are just massed together, supposedly by size, but you can find any size in any section. Before it was worth paying higher prices because it was so organized: tee shirts and blouses separate from each other and by color with prints in their own section. Now it is just completely random. Who wants to have to go through racks and racks to find something. Might as well go to a cheaper place if it takes so much effort. That store used to be nice but now the clothes arrangement is a disaster. They have made the clothes into a permanent Halloween situation. Grim.

Actually I wish I could give them no star… they deserve it.
Employees are dumb as rocks and don’t seem to care about anything but pricing items above value.
Very few deals going on in this place and the pricing is outrageous… far above most retail.
The parking lot is often a total nightmare as well-​the boys in the back will often rope it off so you have to back out onto Milpas street blindly.
They are a ripoff to be avoided.

I am an avid thrift store shopper and I have lived in this area quite a while. The thrift stores used to be places where you could find great deals but for some reason the people who manage Alpha have jacked up the prices on nearly everything. And they do not negotiate even when it would benefit them in terms of selling in mass. I don’t know how they figure out the prices for things but they obviously don’t have a clue and they don’t care. The upside is sometimes you might find a deal because they don’t know what something is worth but for the most part they over price everything! For example, there is a soft top beginners surfboard in the store right now that costs $ 75 at Costco. They want $ 350 for it! told them about this and showed them on my phone but they said that its what people are willing to pay. If this was true then why has that board been there for over a month? This is one reason why things that would normally move fast never do like art work, records, collectibles… its the same stuff every time I go in because they aren’t priced to move.

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 2^nd hand realestate — right down the street from Santa Barbaras best hole in the wall Mexican restaurants.

Not that cheap of a thrift store, but they have sales that are occasionally worth the money. Very limited parking.