Buffalo Exchange

Great stuff and some interesting pieces. Incredibly slow service; don’t come here if you have less than an hour.

Amazing! I brought 2 bags full of clothes to sell and got close to $ 100 trade in for store credit. Of course I took the store credit and shopped around. Some of the clothes are really pricey — but you really have to look around to find some great deals. I purchased a couple of tops that were 50%, cardigans, and a super cute vintage coach purse.
If you’re coming in sell, make sure the clothes you have are in great condition and ready for them to sell. If you’re coming in to shop, make sure you have enough time to look around! I was only in there for an hour (wish I had more time to look). Maybe next time!

Tiny little Buffalo Exchange but they manage to pack a lot of shoes, clothing, and jewelry here. They have a ton of Banana Republic clothes here, and some other designers I saw were J. Crew, Laundry by Shelli Segal, and BCBG. Prices were fairly reasonable. I didn’t really find anything that struck my fancy but I do appreciate that this thrift store chain is in the D.C. area.

I love stop into these across the country! I picked up some great items here since I forgot to bring a work shirt with me for when I return to work from vacation. I always manage to find some good steals here especially sweaters and jackets at this time of year.
The staff was very friendly and the line moved a long pretty quickly.

Was my first and my last time at this store or any buffalo exchange store in my area. I felt I wasted my time and energy for nothing! I brought approximately 100 items all in very good condition because I knew in advance they wouldn’t take anything in a bad condition so I did my kind of homework prior going to this store. I felt the clerks were overwhelmed due to the amount of clothes I’ve taken to them, also they were choosing the items to their taste. The ladies were like: oh nice I like it, oh no don’t like this color and sometimes were not even checking the items as they should. They were prejudging prior checking the item. This experience makes me run to another store and definitely let my people aware of this situation since they were exited to take their stuff too to this store .
Very disappointed !!

I do not like this store. It’s way too cramped, the selection is odd, many items are overpriced, sizes are all over the place, and there is no rhyme or reason to the way items are sorted. Staff is withdrawn — not rude, but not helpful either. The only redeeming quality of this store is that sometimes they have fun, quirky items you wouldn’t find in a regular consignment.

Cool selection and very cheap, but don’t trust their sizing. I bought a dress there with the Buffalo Exchange tag reading Medium and the real, sown-​on tag reading size 12. Also a pair of shoes they had listed as a size 8 fit me and I’m a size 6.5, even in that brand. Odd.

This review is from the view point of selling items.
The staff is very friendly. I worked with a lady named Bria? Or Briana? And a gentleman named Jason. Both were very friendly and kind. It can be a weird experience selling items as they go through and critique your items worthy of selling or keeping. I felt very uncomfortable but both B and Jason were super sweet through the whole process. They will give you either 50% of the items you sold toward store credit or 30% in cash. I opted for the 30%.
If there are items they don’t take, they do have a donation pile. I gave some of my stuff as a donation but I will probably try and sell the stuff they didn’t take at another consignment store as my items are all name brand and their reason for not taking some them was that they aren’t in season.
Overall, great atmosphere, great customer service.

This location is pretty cool, way better than the Georgetown location by far. I’ve brought in things to sell a few times and also do pretty decent ($ 30-​$ 40 in cash). You can tell the staff actually knows and cares about the inventory of the store and the over all experience. They really try to make you feel as comfortable as possible when selling which is great. Iyana did my buy and she was a really cool girl, she looked kinda like a model. She was very stylish (as is all of there staff) and I could tell she knew a lot about fashion brands and trends. She didn’t talk much but she did explain to me a good bit about the things they needed specifically which helped a lot for my next go around.
My advice for sellers is to bring in a mixture of both newer trendy items and vintage-​y classic pieces as well for a better shot at more money. Call ahead or talk to the staff to find out what they need before you lug your bags down there and waste your time. Also don’t be shocked if you don’t get rich when selling stuffm you only get 30% of the cash they charge for it.
I usually take the cash, but occasionally I find a gem or two! They’ve got a way better selection then Georgetown store. Only con is the wait time for selling. When I sold on Sunday I waited for about 45 minutes.

Do NOT take your clothes here. Go to any other consignment shop in the area. This was my first and last experience at Buffalo exchange.
Will never go back.
Initial staff member I dealt with was pleasant and helpful, and made offers on several pieces… however– AFTER the offer was made and items were set aside — the manager came by. She interrupted our conversation, as the clerk was going through an additional bag I brought. She never addressed me or made eye contact— and was very condescending to me and her employees. She then took the items I had already received an offer and and gave them back to me… and rescinded the initial offer! She went through the items with the clerk as if I wasn’t there — she was rude to me and especially to her employee. It seemed as if she was trying to train her staff in front of me.
I understand sometimes nothing is bought — but there is a way to treat people in your store… and disrespecting your staff in front of customers is also a bad look.
Additionally; the store smelled old and moldy. I felt bad for the staff— who were clearly not appreciated. Again — will never go back.

I don’t get the pricing at these kind of places. A black leather jacket worn once or twice is going to be sold for $ 18 while a springy Marc Jacobs bracelet will be sold for $ 15? (By the way, you can probably tell which is grossly underpriced and which is on sale at BE for more than the retail price.)
Here’s my haul:
Wilson black leather jacket, selling for $ 18
green lace United Colors of Benetton sleeveless dress, $ 16.50
Max and Cleo Sheer Striped Dress, $ 16.50
Max and Cleo white top, yellow pleated button dress, $ 18
Madewell Denim Frayed Shorts, $ 18
Marc Jacobs Metal Bones Bracelets, 2 * $ 18
Marc Jacobs Springy Gold Bracelets, 2 * $ 15
Marc Jacobs Sports Necklace, $ 15
Club Monaco Rings, Set of 12, $ 13
Club Monaco Bracelets, Set of 12, $ 14
J. Crew Long Necklace, $ 16
I’m off $ 4 on what I recall the going rate is for the stuff above, but I ended up taking 30% of the BE retail price and pocketed $ 64.50.
Again not a place to make money. It’s a reward for cleaning out closets and ensuring your stuff is appreciated by someone else.
Also, they seem to be overstocked with dresses, so says Lindsay yesterday, but they are looking for transitional stuff and she recommended shorts, tanks, and tees would be good to bring in.
Overall, the selling experience was good yesterday — I timed it right and there were more employees than customers so my wait for only a few minutes. I also appreciated that Lindsay was nice and chatted with me and took a bunch of good condition stuff.
Hope you enjoy!

I love thrift shops and I find myself going back and forth between BE and Crossroads. Although from my visits here and elsewhere, I find that Buffalo Exchange has more bolder pieces — either you can rock it or you can’t.
Likes — Clothes are organized by size, lots of dressing rooms, nice staff.
Dislikes — Small space for amount of items, and I don’t think the selection is as great as elsewhere.
The above didn’t stop me from scoring a lululemon Energy Bra (retail: $ 48) for $ 15! I was pleased.

I’ve been going to Buffalo Exchange for years in Philly, but this was my first time in the DC store on 14^th St, and I loved it. The staff was all super friendly and made good conversation while I was selling my stuff.
They have a really good selection of clothes and shoes. Normally I take the cash and don’t trade in, but I found so many good things I decided to take the store credit. I got a Free People dress, a Cynthia Rowley sweater/​coat, vinatge brown booties among other things.
Definitely going back in a few months to swap again!

This place has quickly become one of my favourite places to shop and makes both the journey and fighting the traffic worth the effort. The selection is always highly varied and there is never a guarantee that you’ll get the same selection on a different day. It’s an upscale and trendy second hand shop, with brand new clothes littered throughout.
I have never come to sell clothes, but as a customer I have nearly always found at least one item that I walked out with.
Plenty of statement clothes — item pieces to be found — if you’re willing to put in some effort for it.
The prices are fair enough and as someone who generally shunts mainstream fashion dicta; this place has the sort of wardrobe choices I am looking for, even if walking in can be an awakening to any less «trendy» or «hipster» folk. The staff is polite and have kept me coming back at regular intervals when I need a fresh look.

Buffalo Exchange is where all the cool kids hang out. I walked in feeling a little thrown off by how ‘happening’ the atmosphere was. And yes I said ‘happening’ which kind of tells you how intimidated I was ready to feel.
Just think about it, you’ve cleaned out your closet — probably because you hate everything you have and it’s gotten out of control. You decide that maybe you can sell some of your stuff, but aren’t sure if anyone would like it, then you walk into Buffalo Exchange and realize you’re probably out of your league.
But then this incredibly sweet girl spots me and says ‘Hey, how can I help you? Are you selling today?’ and then instantly I felt emotionally safe enough to have my clothes evaluated.
So this is how it works. Close to the store’s entrance there is a sign that says ‘Sell’ — under which there is one or two staff members going through bags of clothes, with the sellers, evaluating and pricing the pieces they want to buy. There was only one person ahead of me, so after 10 minutes of waiting it was my turn. Only a few of my pieces were selected and I had the option of getting cash ($ 21) or store credit ($ 36). Which is fine — because I was going to donate the stuff anyway, but here is what I think they’re looking for:
— Brand names (mid range designers seem to peak their interest)
— Unique pieces (ones you can’t find out on a regular trip to the mall)
— Flashy dresses/​accessories (those were the pieces that got them to stop and show off to their coworkers)
Knowing that it’s basically just a 30 minute outing to sell my stuff, I’ll probably start cleaning out my closet sooner than later. I’m glad the staff is welcoming and friendly enough for what was surprisingly an emotionally draining process.
With all that said, I wasn’t crazy about their inventory — which is why I had to go for just 4 stars. So good for selling — maybe not so great for shopping. But of course, that’s just my incredibly mainstream fashion loving opinion.

Very affordable whether you’re looking for clothes for work or play. Besides the secondhand and sometimes vintage clothing and accessories for women AND men, they also seem to have a some new accessories. I got a pair of mint polka dot sunglasses from here (new, I think) for under $ 15 that I always get compliments on.
I can usually find things I want from their clothing, but I wish they were better about taking only clean stuff or dry cleaning before putting things out. I bought a sweater I love that stank of smoke, knowing that I’d have to wash it as soon as I got home. But for the price (about a third of what it currently retails for), I could deal.
I’ve had good luck trading/​selling things, too. They care more about how current something is than if it’s a super high end brand, and will take F21 and H&M stuff in addition to designers, and J Crew/​BR type things.
You have to pay for a tote bag if you want a bag to carry your finds home in, but if you don’t need a bag, they give you a little 5 cent token and you can choose one of three local charities to donate the 5 cents to.

I’ve got a gift card to BE that I need to use up, so I’ve visited a few times. Each time, it has been crowded (note to other parents: do not try navigating this with a stroller).
True, there are great, great bargains to be found here. Like any other second hand store, you’ve got to commit some time to searching around.
I purchased a skinny leather belt here, and only after I got home and tried it on did I realize the back of the belt was so worn that it sheds little leather bits all over my pants!
Also, while I understand it is difficult to have 100% success with labeling and organization, I’ve found more than a few things to be mis-​labeled and/​or in a completely wrong section.
I’ll be back, and hopefully will have some better success!

After skimming through some of the reviews, I have established a theory that there are two types of people who visit Buffalo Exchange.
Type one is the successful seller, they know what BE is looking for, and they only bring in what they know they will buy and generally make out well when they visit BE. This would be me. I never actually spend my own money in here and generally have a rolling store credit.
Type two is the buyer. They know what BE has to offer and what their prices are. They are well aware some things might be a hair higher than they thought, but there are NO OTHER PLACES LIKE THIS in the 14^th street area! Actually there is very limited, AFFORDABLE shopping in DC. If you need to rent a car, or spend $ 12 and 2 hours on the metro to get to a suburban shopping mall, yes, that $ 12 dress IS a great buy. AND you can sell it back to them after you wear it to that horrible wedding you didn’t want to go to in the first place. Let alone be stuck with a dress that reminds you of that boring wedding, where they didn’t even have an open bar!
BE’s style caters to the young, and young at heart crowd. They have amazing hipster styles and creative items for sale, along with trendy office neutrals.
I feel everyone who’s writing one star reviews are people who brought in boring, dull clothing (because this is DC), that they went to the mall and dropped a lot of money at Express and Macy’s. No BE is not going to give you top dollar for that outdated pair of ill-​fitting, black dress pants. Or you’re faded Aeropostal shirt you get ten years ago.
I tell everyone I know, take your stuff to BE because they might want your stuff. But DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP! If your heading to the thrift store stop there first, and they’ll even donate your stuff if you don’t want to make an extra trip.
Try to go during the week, but they’re always busy, and SUPER busy on the weekend.
A hint, they have sale racks, but the sale items tend to get mixed in with the normal non sale stuff, and I randomly find 50% stamps on tags.

I had never heard of Buffalo Exchange before moving to D.C. and was immediately in love! I like how small the store is because it doesn’t completely overwhelm me. I feel like its the perfect size to stop in when I walk by, quickly look through and know if I will immediately find a gem. I’ve accidentally made it a habit to come here on my lunch break. I have found some great deals here and come back fairly often. I’m excited to bring in some old stuff to see if I can sell any for credit.

I sold a bunch of my items here this past weekend. I received great service while doing so. Will definitely be back to shop and sell. I found a slightly used, if at that, Long Champ purse!
I recommend for you to come when they first open if you are planning to sell. They get packed. I am speaking of someone who came in on a Saturday. I dont expect any less on Sundays either.
Tip– if you have sold your items to a different Buffalo Exchange in a different state, you should be good to go and still be in the system! Some states/​cities are different with their cash back percentage, so be aware of that.