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Rags the Fashion Exchange - CLOSED
Category: Shopping Fashion Used, Vintage & Consignment Used, Vintage & Consignment [Edit]
534 University Ave(between 5th Ave & 6th Ave)
San Diego, CA 92103
Neighborhood: Hillcrest
(619) 223-1219
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Chloe C. said: "I visited this store to shop not to sell my own items. The clothing was primarily from nordstrom the day I visited with a large selection of coach handbags and wallets. All of the items I looked at were in good condition for…" read more »
17 reviews for Rags the Fashion Exchange
17 reviews in English
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Review from Paulo D.
San Francisco, CA
3/26/2009
I'm just now finding out that Rags is closed. :(
This place was great. It had none of the snobby vibe that's usually floating around in Buffalo Exchange. The clothes were very reasonably priced, and I found a lot of good stuff there.
I never got a chance to try to sell anything to them, unfortunately.
I'll have to try and visit the OB location sometime. -
Review from Herra Chink y.
San Francisco, CA
1/5/2008
I have a love-it-hate-it relationship with thrift stores, or "exchanges". I love them because someone else's trash is always another person's treasure, because it is one way to find clothing and whatnot that looks kind of weird but not weird enough that it is deemed "high fashion" and sells for $4590204923 in Milan. And it's a great place for some hidden finds.
One thing I hate about most clothing exchanges is THE DUST. I fucking sneeze like a bitch in a field of dandelions and sunflowers.
Rags is one of the better thrift clothing stores in San Diego and it doesn't make you sneeze! I WAS SNOT FREE IN RAGS! HOLLER!
Anyways, I bought the hottest fucking tie here. And then I saw the exact same tie in red, and I was like, what the hell, it's only $7. And then I saw another tie, but in brown, and I was like, WHO CARES, I LOVE CONSUMPTION and I bought it too. And then I saw a hat, and it WAS A GOORIN HAT and so I bought it, and then I saw another hat that was all sorts of awesome and I bought it too.
At the end of the day, I had a bunch of ties and hats in my hand, and I ended up paying $100 for a bunch of crap.
But I put all 1,990,934 ties and all 42,321 hats on when I got home and looked in the mirror and all I could think of was: "GOTS DAMN, I LOOK HELLA FUCKING FINE." Because I'm SO FUCKING HELLA MODEST IT FUCKING OWNS YOU BECAUSE I RULE GOD DAMN MODESTY LIKE NO ONE ELSE NEPHEW.
So go to Rags if you like hip clean vintage store looks, low prices, and you like admiring yourself naked in the mirror with 1,990,934 ties and 42,321 hats on.
And if you don't like admiring yourself naked in the mirror with 1,990,934 ties and 42,321 hats on, WE CANNOT BE FRIENDS BECAUSE YOU HATE FREEDOM.Listed in: SANDY EGGO
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Review from Adam V.
San Diego, CA
12/8/2006
I checked this place out for the first time the other day, and I gotta admit, I was impressed. I was also disappointed ... that I'd put only 15 minutes into the parking meter that evening. Rags very much lived up to the hype. In my (very) brief visit I manged to find two cool shirts (for less than 8 bucks each) and with more time I most certainly would have found more because the selection was excellent -- so excellent that I found myself sprinting the three blocks back to my car to avoid a parking ticket.
AV -
Review from Diana D.
San Diego, CA
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Review from Tracey B.
San Diego, CA
4/20/2008
Rags is on my normal Hillcrest shopping round: Flashbacks, Buffalo, American Apparel, Mint, and then Rags, lastly stopping at City Deli for a cookie and a pint of Calico Amber Ale while playing a few songs on the juke to recup. I highly recommend this kind of calm, reflective pause after a good, full day of shopping, to compare receipts and bask in a job of consumer-whoredom well-done!
It takes some digging, but I've found some cute vintage dresses and jackets here. I really enjoy their jewelery, accessories, and sunglasses. The case that holds all of their jewelery is always merchandised according to color and makes buying for a specific look easier. The prices are always reasonable and significantly cheaper than your other consignment, resale vintage shops.
The staff are always cool and friendly, to boot.
My only complaint is that on occasion, the store has the peculiar aroma of musty books and it isn't even every time, just on occasion. Remember your middle school library? The mildew-y funk of the card catalog? A slight undercurrent of this emenates from some of the racks. Nothing major, just a slight olfactory reminder that some of the items are second hand. -
Review from Christine C.
San Diego, CA
11/7/2006
If you like Buffalo Exchange, but think it is too pricey well head on over to Rags, it is right down the street from the Hillcrest shop.
Rags doesn't have as big a selection as Buffalo Exchange but in many cases, the prices are a lot lower. There has to be a couple hundred tops in the shop that are under $10. And there are plenty of dresses for around the same price. It is cool place to get a great deal on hip, old-school Ts. And the vintage dresses are very reasonable as well.
There are a lot of great deals to be had in Rags, the quality of clothes might not hold up over time, but the selection is nifty and the prices are thrifty. Hey, that rhymed. -
Review from Erica B.
Long Beach, CA
1/23/2009
Yah! I was a fan :( on a recent mini vay-k to SD I noticed they were gone............... Empty store........ For rent sign in window.........no more rags......... BOOOOOOOO recesion!
Dearest Rags, you were great you were so much more genorus when it came to paying me for clothes I wanted to sell you... I always gave you first dibs... I always found rad dresses and rad boots at your place, and my man always got bis 8 dolla leather cuff from you.... Your glasses were cool and cheap, and your workers were pretty friendly unlike the workers at Buff Ex. and Flashcracks around the corner who have their head up their arse, u were always plesent....
R.I.P rags.... -
Review from Maureen C.
San Diego, CA
11/10/2008
Yes! Just bought a sexy, slinky Laundry top for $12!
FYI: for those wanting to sell - tips from the salesguy:
* Items in season
* Brand-names
* Great condition
* Basically - items that they (and yourself) are grateful that you are willing to part with, and are "sell-able"; not just items that you want to get rid of ('cuz then they have a store of crap that no one wants and they won't last a split-second).
FYI2: They don't have a charity box there (like Buffalo Exchange) in case they don't take what you offer. Gotta treck over to BE or a Goodwill.Listed in: Born to Shop
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Review from Ron L.
San Diego, CA
3/11/2009
update...for the past 3-4 months RAGS has been closed and moved.
Last time I shopped in there it was cool..found what I was looking for...the pricing wasn't crazy.. -
Review from Mari C.
San Diego, CA
3/25/2007
i was really disappointed with this place. i went with my friend because he has an interview tomorrow and needed some cheap, professional looking clothes.
the men's section was ok. nothing great at all really. most of the shirts were tacky and they didn't have many pants at all.
while he was trying on his stuff i decided to look around. i could use an extra pair of shoes so that's where i started. none of the shoes were in what i'd call "good" condition. they were all kind of grungey looking. the clothes, while actually vintage, weren't anything especially attractive and weren't "gently worn". again, a lot of them looked grungey or just poorly made/poorly treated.
and though i really can't hold this one against them i think it may also affect me returning in the future. the clientele was pretty obnoxious. some faux native american girl in a feathered headband actually pointed and laughed at my friend when he opened the door to show me the outfit he put together. when he told me this i thought "oh, maybe his fly was down or something" and so i glanced at it. it wasn't. nor was his outfit anything ridiculous. just a blue men's dress shirt and some khakis.
i guess that doesn't have much to do with anything, but it pissed me off. -
Review from AL S.
San Diego, CA
8/14/2007
I would consider this the best vintage store over buffalo exchange or flashbacks. It has lower prices, and a better shoe selection even though it is much smaller than buffalo. The staff is super nice and helpful. I've both bought and sold with rags, and all my times comming here were wonderful expiriences.
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Review from Claire V.
Riverside, CA
7/13/2008
Unlike snooty Buffalo Exchange, they actually bought some of what I was selling, including a gorgeous vintage dress that it broke my heart to let go of. Their selection looked pretty good, though I only glanced around. I'm definitely looking forward to returning to spend my generous store credit.
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Review from danielle a.
San Diego, CA
1/26/2009
the rags in hillcrest went out of business.... this is no surprise due to the fact they where not "buying" clothes from people for the last few months because they could not afford to do so. im gonna go out on a limb here and guess it was due to the fact the store was filled with a whole lot of crap and bad condition clothing because they where not picky enough with what they bought.
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Review from Elizabeth A.
San Diego, CA
1/28/2009
this one is unfortunately closed...but there's one in OB now!!!
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Review from anh d.
San Diego, CA
3/18/2008
good deals for trendy items you may not want to keep forever.
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Review from Lynette S.
Roslindale, MA
8/25/2008
some cool stuff but not consisent in interest-level or price as you went through the store...some things were over-priced or under-priced (the latter is not a problem) but some predictability or average may be good. some funny t shirts, a couple cool purses but very little true, quality vintage jewelry to be had.
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Review from Heather W.
San Diego, CA
9/20/2008
a friend introduced me to this shop and i really love it! though small, you can find some real gold in these color coordinated racks on a good day. the organization makes it much more pleasant to shop than buffalo exchange, not to mention you don't usually have people bumping into you and invading your search area. and you cannot beat the prices. some of my staple clothing has come from here.
