Thrift stores in Tehran

If you like the hunt, Tehran, Tehran is worth a wander: 10 second-hand and charity shops are mapped here. 5 of them are charity shops and 5 are independent second-hand stores, so Tehran gives you both flavours of thrifting in one trip.

This guide covers every thrift store we could verify in and around Tehran (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include سمساری و امانت فروشی and پنج شنبه بازار, plus جمعه بازار خرید فروش وانت — each with its own personality, which is half the fun. If a shop's missing from Tehran's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet — the scene is bigger than any single dataset.

The Tehran thrift lineup

10 mapped within about 40 km:

What the map tells us about thrifting in Tehran

None of the 10 shops in Tehran has opening hours in the map data, so treat this as a browse-and-discover trip rather than a surgical strike. Midday on a weekday is usually the sweet spot — fresh stock, thin crowds.

The one mapped shop sits on مسجد جنب شیدایی — worth combining with whatever else brings you to that side of town.

The Tehran thrift circuit

Making a day of it in Tehran? Work this order: سمساری و امانت فروشی on مسجد جنب شیدایی, پنج شنبه بازار, جمعه بازار خرید فروش وانت, موسسه رعدالغدیر, سمساری مجید, بنیاد خیریه نیکو کرداران بنا, موسسه توانمندسازی مهر و ماه, and موسسه خیریه طپش. That's 10 stops, and if you hit them in sequence you won't backtrack. 2 more are listed below.

Thrifting tips for Tehran

Thrifting in Tehran goes better with a little prep:

• Don't skip the linens at سمساری و امانت فروشی. Tablecloths, curtains and wool blankets are routinely excellent and routinely overlooked. Check for stains in good light.
• Check for matching sets at پنج شنبه بازار. Single plates and glasses are easy; full sets are the prize. Scan the whole shelf — mates hide behind other stock.
• Bring a tape measure. The perfect sideboard is useless if it won't fit through your door. Tape measure in the bag, every trip.
• Weekday mornings beat Saturday crowds. Serious pickers go early on weekdays. Weekends are for browsers; the stock is the same but the competition isn't.

Good to know

We searched about 40 km around Tehran — 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 Tehran can take a while to appear. If you spot one of the 10 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 Tehran'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 — Tehran included.