Today, I’m sharing with you my favourite places to opshop/thrift shop. If you live in Auckland and want to know where I usually get my thrift hauls then continue on with this post.

If you’ve been following my blog or Instagram for some time, you would’ve noticed my love for thrifting/opshopping. I love it so much and I’ve shared a lot of thrift hauls here on the blog.

I often get asked where I usually go thrifting and I always tell people where I go but I thought I’d put them all in one post to make it easier. I’ve also shared my thrifting/opshopping tips over here.

If thrifting can be a job, this would be one of my dream jobs. I love finding bargains so much and sharing my thrift hauls was one of the first things I’ve done when I started blogging on good old Tumblr. I posted my first thrift haul on my blog 5 years ago but I’ve been doing it for over 10 years.

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I have a lot of places to share so here we go:

1. HOSPICE NORTH SHORE SHOPS

I live in North Shore, Auckland so most of the thrift stores I go to are here. My absolute #1 go-to thrift shops are always the Hospice shops. I have 3 of their shops that I go to the most.

Ellice Road Warehouse and Clearance Shop

Where do I even begin about this amazing place. This is the top of my list because it is big and is close to my heart. I used to volunteer once a week in this Hospice shop when I was a Uni student. It’s located at 60 Ellice Road, Glenfield and you won’t miss it because it’s now bright pink.

There is the main shop at the front which you can see in the photos above BUT there is also a clearance centre at the back which has all the furniture, appliances and dump bins of clothing and books.

The photos above are inside the clearance centre and it has all sorts of things. It can be messy and dusty but you can find some gems in there. Some people are surprised when I tell them that I actually go through those bins of clothing but I do and I don’t mind doing it at all. You’ll need to spend a bit of time sorting but I come home with loads for cheap.

The clearance centre at the back has either fill a small bag for $3, fill a big bag for $20 or a box for $10. I usually go for the small bag and I shove as much as I can in there. It can be a mixture of clothes, books and bric a brac as long as it fits the bag.

These are just some of my big amazing hauls from this Hospice shop. Some are quite old and back when I was a volunteer but I’ve truly found amazing pieces in there that I still have now.

From clothing, books, shoes and accessories, I’ve found so many items there for such a cheap price. If you want to see some of my hauls specifically from this Hospice shop click the numbers: One, Two, Three, Four. I highly recommend checking this out.

Link Drive Hospice Shop

This Hospice shop is in 27 Link Drive, Wairau Park. It’s beside a Korean restaurant and behind the Asian foodcourt. It’s small but I think they have a good book selection. The clothes are a hit and miss but I’ve been lucky because I’ve gone there a couple of times when they were having a half price sale. They had a bin of $1 jeans one time and I got the Cheap Monday pair (that my mum now has). My most recent find from there was this BCBG Max Azria Blazer for less than $10.

Takapuna Hospice Shop

This shop is by Parkway Arcade in Takapuna basically right by the big carpark where the Sunday flea market is. I live in the area so I always check this one out. The prices are a lot higher but you can find better brands. I’ve found a pair of Karen Walker sunglasses in there, good knitwear and even Beau Coops leather boots.

There are 10 Hospice North Shore shops in Auckland and I only go to these three but I’ve heard the Browns Bay/Milford shop are good too. The proceeds go to palliative care of people in need so I never feel guilty of buying so much in any of their shops.

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2. THE MEMORY SHOP

Also in Takapuna is The Memory Shop at the corner of Lake Road and Byron. My partner used to work close by and I’d usually stop by here to check what they have. It’s a small store but have good brands and the aircon is on full blast which was great in summer. They have the nicest changing rooms too.

I wondered why it’s called The Memory Shop until I learnt that proceeds go to Alzheimers Auckland.

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3. SALVATION ARMY

This one is the Salvation Army Family Store in Glenfield. It’s tucked behind a set of shops but if you’re in Glenfield Mall, it’s by the car park. I’ve found this store to have really good prices compared as there aren’t too many branded stuff.

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4. VINNIES

This shop is actually located opposite the Hospice North Shore Ellice Road Warehouse so you basically hit two birds in one trip. This shop is a lot smaller though but a little bit cheaper than the Hospice and they always have nice china/glassware. They seem to have a lot of brand new items with tags too that stores just send in bulk.

This one is for St Vincent de Paul charity.

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5. SPCA OPSHOP

I don’t go to this thrift shop as often as the others because it’s out the way at 231 Hinemoa St, Birkenhead but we got Turbo from the SPCA so I like to support them. It’s a tiny store but I still managed to find good pieces. I got my Brian Lichtenberg HOMIES t-shirt there for $5 and I wear it at home so much because it’s so comfy.

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These two shops below are not charity shops but they still sell second-hand clothing and I call them thrift stores too because it’s easier.

6. SAVEMART

I go to the one in Northcote which is behind the shops and close to the library. SaveMart is like The Warehouse of second hand clothing. It is HUGE. It used to give me a headache when I’m there because it is so big and I always feel the need to go through each aisle. I can spend 3 hours in there. There is so much to see that it can be overwhelming but if you’re patient, you’re bound to find a few pieces.

I only go to SaveMart once or twice a year but when I do, I usually buy a lot and I’ve had some big hauls in the past. They have good brands but they are not as cheap as the charity shops.

Despite the price of most things, I’ve found absolute gems in SaveMart including my beloved Kenzo dress. I’ve posted three hauls from SaveMart on my blog: One, Two and Three.

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7. RECYCLE BOUTIQUE

Last but not the least is Recycle Boutique which is in Darby Street in the city. There is also one in Newmarket but I usually go to one in the city because I can check it out after work.

Recycle Boutique has a great selection of items and mostly branded. They have a specific section on designer clothing too. I’ve been going to the city store since I was at Uni and the two photos above were hauls I posted in my old Tumblr blog. They have a great dress section so most of the clothing I’ve bought there are dresses. I still have the H&M polka dot dress on the left and I wore the strapless gold lace dress for my graduation on the right.

You can find brands like Topshop, RUBY, Zara and Karen Walker in the shop so I really love it. The prices can be really steep but they’re still a lot cheaper than buying them in the actual stores. I always just check for the quality if something is over $20. They do have a sale rack of $4.50 clothing every Wednesday or Thursday which is nice and I’ve found nice pieces from that rack too.

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There are so many other opshops in Auckland but the ones mentioned in this post are the ones I go to the most.

I hope you’ve found this post helpful and if you go check out on of these stores and leave empty-handed, don’t be discouraged. As I mentioned in my ‘Thrifting/Opshopping Tips‘ post, be patient and keep trying.

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