Thrift stores in Santa Barbara
Thrift stores reward the patient. In Santa Barbara, California that patience currently stretches across 13 mapped shops — 9 of them are charity shops and 4 are independent second-hand stores, so Santa Barbara gives you both flavours of thrifting in one trip.
This guide covers every thrift store we could verify in and around Santa Barbara (within about 25 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Habitat for Humanity ReStore and UnityShoppe, plus Goodwill — each with its own personality, which is half the fun. If a shop's missing from Santa Barbara's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet — the scene is bigger than any single dataset.
The Santa Barbara thrift lineup
13 mapped within about 25 km:
Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Charity shop0.6 km from Santa Barbara
Habitat for Humanity ReStore — a charity shop, found on 400 State Street in Santa Barbara. Also worth knowing about Habitat for Humanity ReStore: it has a website with more detail.
400 State Street, Santa Barbara, 93101
UnityShoppe
Charity shop0.7 km from Santa Barbara
UnityShoppe is a charity shop on 1209 State Street, Santa Barbara. UnityShoppe also notes on the map: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
1209 State Street, Santa Barbara, 93101
Phone: +1-805-965-4122
Goodwill
Charity shop0.7 km from Santa Barbara
Goodwill is a charity shop on 302 West Carrillo Street, Santa Barbara. Goodwill also notes on the map: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
302 West Carrillo Street, Santa Barbara, 93101
Phone: +1 805-899-3807
Alpha Thrift Store
Charity shop1.3 km from Santa BarbaraRun by Alpha Resource Center
Alpha Thrift Store is a charity shop run by Alpha Resource Center on 700 North Milpas Street, Santa Barbara. Alpha Thrift Store also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as 10:00-17:45; it has a website with more detail.
700 North Milpas Street, Santa Barbara, 93101
Hours: 10:00-17:45
Miss Daisy's
Second-hand store5.0 km from Santa Barbara
Miss Daisy's — an independent second-hand store, found on 3845 State Street in Santa Barbara. Also worth knowing about Miss Daisy's: the map lists its hours as Mo,We-Su 11:00-17:00; Tu off; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
3845 State Street, Santa Barbara, 93105
Hours: Mo,We-Su 11:00-17:00; Tu off
Phone: +1 805-770-7715
Alpha Thrift Store
Second-hand store5.0 km from Santa Barbara
Alpha Thrift Store — an independent second-hand store.
The Salvation Army
Charity shop8.7 km from Santa Barbara
The Salvation Army is a charity shop on 4849 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara. The Salvation Army also notes on the map: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
4849 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, 93111
Phone: +1-805-964-8738
United Family Association Thrift Shoppe
Charity shop9.8 km from Santa Barbara
United Family Association Thrift Shoppe — a charity shop, found on 5156 Hollister Avenue in Santa Barbara. Also worth knowing about United Family Association Thrift Shoppe: the map lists its hours as Mo,We,Fr,Sa 10:00-18:30; Tu,Th 10:00-19:00; Su 10:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
5156 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, 93111
Hours: Mo,We,Fr,Sa 10:00-18:30; Tu,Th 10:00-19:00; Su 10:00-17:00
Phone: +1 805-964-9996
Alpha Thrift Store
Charity shop11.4 km from Santa Barbara
Alpha Thrift Store — a charity shop, found on 5624 Hollister Avenue in Goleta. Also worth knowing about Alpha Thrift Store: the map lists its hours as 10:00-17:45; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
5624 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, 93117
Hours: 10:00-17:45
Phone: +1-805-964-1123
Destined For Grace
Charity shop12.2 km from Santa Barbara
Destined For Grace — a charity shop, found on 5949 Hollister Avenue in Goleta. Also worth knowing about Destined For Grace: the map lists its hours as Mo,Su off; Tu-Sa 11:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
5949 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, 93117
Hours: Mo,Su off; Tu-Sa 11:00-17:00
Phone: +1-805-619-0649
Destined for Grace
Charity shop12.2 km from Santa Barbara
Destined for Grace is a charity shop on 5960 Hollister Avenue, Goleta. Destined for Grace also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo,Su off; Tu-Sa 11:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
5960 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, 93117
Hours: Mo,Su off; Tu-Sa 11:00-17:00
Phone: +1-805-619-0649
UCSB Surplus Sales
Second-hand store14.5 km from Santa Barbara
UCSB Surplus Sales — an independent second-hand store, found on Mesa Road in Santa Barbara. Also worth knowing about UCSB Surplus Sales: the map lists its hours as Fr 13:30-16:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Mesa Road, Santa Barbara, 93106
Hours: Fr 13:30-16:00
Phone: +1-805-893-2732
Storke FSH Community Swap Shop
Second-hand store15.1 km from Santa BarbaraRun by UCSB
Run by UCSB, Storke FSH Community Swap Shop is an independent second-hand store. Also worth knowing about Storke FSH Community Swap Shop: the map lists its hours as "Swap shop can be accessed by residents using a key from the Storke Front Office during business hours (Mon-Fri, 09:00-12:00, 13:00-16:00)".
Hours: "Swap shop can be accessed by residents using a key from the Storke Front Office during business hours (Mon-Fri, 09:00-12:00, 13:00-16:00)"
What the map tells us about thrifting in Santa Barbara
8 of the 13 shops list their opening hours, which is unusually helpful for Santa Barbara — thrift stores are notorious for surprise closures. Still, call ahead if you're making a special trip to Santa Barbara; volunteer-run shops sometimes close early on quiet days.
11 shops have websites listed, worth a look before you go — some post new arrivals or sale days online.
Most shops in Santa Barbara list a phone number. Use it — a thirty-second call beats a wasted drive, especially for furniture or anything you can't carry home on the bus.
The Santa Barbara thrift circuit
The efficient Santa Barbara thrifting route strings these together: Habitat for Humanity ReStore on 400 State Street, UnityShoppe on 1209 State Street, Goodwill on 302 West Carrillo Street, Alpha Thrift Store on 700 North Milpas Street, Miss Daisy's on 3845 State Street, Alpha Thrift Store, The Salvation Army on 4849 Hollister Avenue, and United Family Association Thrift Shoppe on 5156 Hollister Avenue — 13 shops, one logical loop, no backtracking. 5 more are listed below.
Thrifting tips for Santa Barbara
A few things worth knowing before you work through Santa Barbara's thrift stores:
- The housewares aisle rewards patience at Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Cast iron, Pyrex, good knives — they all surface eventually. Check the bottom shelves; heavy things live low.
- Learn your fabrics at UnityShoppe. A quick touch tells wool from acrylic, leather from pleather. Natural fibres at thrift prices are the whole game.
- Seasonal items go cheapest off-season. Winter coats in April, fans in October. Buy the season ahead and pay half.
- Smell the leather. Real leather smells like leather. If it smells like plastic, it is plastic — price it accordingly.
Good to know
We searched about 25 km around Santa Barbara — 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 Santa Barbara can take a while to appear. The 13 above are only as current as the community map. A shop that's shut, or a new one nobody's added yet, gets fixed with a single OpenStreetMap edit.
Prices at Santa Barbara'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 — Santa Barbara included.
Thrift store listings for Santa Barbara: 13 mapped from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors; individual photo credits appear in captions. Listing data was last refreshed automatically — verify hours before visiting.