Thrift stores in Kuala Lumpur

If you like the hunt, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur is worth a wander: 11 second-hand and charity shops are mapped here. 1 of them are charity shops and 10 are independent second-hand stores, so Kuala Lumpur gives you both flavours of thrifting in one trip.

This guide covers every thrift store we could verify in and around Kuala Lumpur (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Buy And Sell (BST) and 2nd STREET, plus Kedai Perabot Terpakai — each with its own personality, which is half the fun. If a shop's missing from Kuala Lumpur's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet — the scene is bigger than any single dataset.

The Kuala Lumpur thrift lineup

11 mapped within about 40 km:

What the map tells us about thrifting in Kuala Lumpur

4 of the 11 shops list their opening hours, which is unusually helpful for Kuala Lumpur — thrift stores are notorious for surprise closures. Still, call ahead if you're making a special trip to Kuala Lumpur; volunteer-run shops sometimes close early on quiet days.

The Kuala Lumpur thrift circuit

The efficient Kuala Lumpur thrifting route strings these together: Buy And Sell (BST), 2nd STREET, Kedai Perabot Terpakai, Kedai Amal Aman Palestin on Jalan Putra 6, Wonder Bundle, Kedai Kaki Lelong on 67, 2nd STREET on 12 Jalan Bandar 19, and Jalan Jalan Japan on 1 Shamelin Mall Jalan Wangsa Perdana 1 — 11 shops, one logical loop, no backtracking. 3 more are listed below.

Thrifting tips for Kuala Lumpur

A few things worth knowing before you work through Kuala Lumpur's thrift stores:

• Don't ignore the kids' section at Buy And Sell (BST). Kids outgrow everything in months, so the children's racks are full of barely-worn quality. Even without kids, the small furniture is great for small spaces.
• Inspect electronics in the store at 2nd STREET. Plug it in before you pay. Most thrift shops sell electronics as-is, and a cheap record player can be an expensive paperweight.
• Cash still talks. Some small shops prefer cash and a few will deal a little on big items if you're paying cash. Worth having some on you.
• Bring a tape measure. The perfect sideboard is useless if it won't fit through your door. Tape measure in the bag, every trip.

Good to know

We searched about 40 km around Kuala Lumpur — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to for a thrifting run. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new shop in Kuala Lumpur can take a while to appear. If you spot one of the 11 that's closed, or a great shop we missed, the fix is to update the map itself — that's where this guide reads from.

Prices at Kuala Lumpur's thrift stores are set by each shop and change constantly, so we don't list them. As a rough rule, charity shops are the cheapest, independents sit in the middle, and anything labelled vintage costs more everywhere — Kuala Lumpur included.