A visit to Camden is a must whether you’re a born and bred Londoner, or you’re just visiting the city for the weekend. There’s nothing quite like Camden Market- the music venues, the clothes stalls… but what about the charity shops in Camden? They’re pretty awesome too! If you’re heading to Camden, dropping by some of the charity shops is a must. (Interestingly, they’re also pretty good value by London standards!)
WHY SHOP IN CHARITY SHOPS?
Saving the environment and saving money are two huge benefits of shopping in charity shops. Charity shops have been transformed in recent years, and are now an exciting way to shop. Some thrift stores even offer a boutique-style experience, which could even be considered better than your average high street store.
If you already love charity shops? Be sure to check out our other London-based guides to charity shopping in south London, and charity shopping in west London.
You never know what you’ll find in a thrift store in London, and this is especially true in Camden. Camden is full of individuals with a unique sense of style, which means that the clothing found in the charity shops in the area reflect this.
Vintage Rail- Mind, Camden
THE BEST CHARITY SHOPS IN CAMDEN
Let’s take a closer look at the best charity shops in Camden. After visiting each of the charity shops in the Camden area, we have some insider information about what is sold in each shop, the brands you can expect to find, and the prices that you can expect to pay.
Camden is home to some of the key London charity shop players. Cancer Research, Scope, and Traid are just a few of the charity shops chains that you will find on the Camden high street. Luckily, the shops are all within a few feet of one another which means that within an hour, you can hit all of the shops.
MIND
60 Camden High St, London NW1 0LT
Mind is a brilliant chain of charity shops, and goods are usually priced reasonably. There is often a lot of variety in these stores and Mind Camden is no different. Our favourite part of this Mind store was the fact that there was a whole rail dedicated to vintage clothing- a sight we love to see! The rails were bursting with clothing, and our favourite vintage find was a Jaeger blouse for £12.50.
Alongside the vintage rail there was also a good mixture of both high street and designer items. One of the best designer spots was a Mulberry dress for £60. Jackets were priced from £7, alongside snow boots, wellies, and high street brands. Other brands included Topshop, Topshop Unique, Zara, Mango and Marks & Spencer.
This store also has records, jewellery, and a great selection of scarves. Mind Camden is small, but the rails are tightly packed which means that chances are high for finding a piece of treasure!
TRAID
154 Camden High St, London NW1 0NE
Traid stores are some of the most fun charity shops around. The music is usually great, the clothes are usually great, and most are total rabbit warrens where the rails go on and on. It’s easy to spend an hour or more in any Traid store!
Traid in Camden is home to SO much vintage. Rails of the stuff. The vintage is well priced, with vintage dresses from £15. The vintage spans dresses, jackets, jumpers, and more unusual verging-on-fancy-dress style clothing. We also found vintage sportswear, dancewear, and carnivalesque clothing. You can also find a dedicated area to Camden-inspired gothic clothing and accessories which is unique to the area.
In Traid Camden we also found pretty much every high street label you can think of. High street tops started from around £7. With dresses coming in at around £18-25. We spotted an & Other Stories cardigan for around £24 which was on the pricier end of the scale.
Interestingly, we found that the vintage clothing was better priced that the high street items. Whether it was luck of the draw or not, we expected the high street clothing to be at a lower price point than the vintage items. Definitely head to Camden if you are super into vintage clothing and accessories like we are here at Thrifty Londoner!
SCOPE
73 Camden High St, London NW1 7JL
Scope is usually fairly well priced, and this store had a real mix of price points. Dresses started from £4-5, which is a super affordable price in London. There were lots of high street brands at this store- for example, Asos, H&M, M&S and River Island. There were also a few more high end high street brands such as Laura Ashley.
However most brands were high street. Coats started from £10-13 which was reasonable- with a small selection of vintage priced affordably. We spotted a suede coat for £45, which although might seem a little steep in a charity shop, was in perfect condition.
The rails in this store were full- and the store seemed to specialize in clothing. There was a very small bric brac section, alongside a very small book section. If you’re looking for homeware specifically, I wouldn’t pay this shop a visit.
You might also enjoy reading: The Biggest Charity Shops in London
CANCER RESEARCH
81 Camden High St, London NW1 7JL
Cancer Research have over 600 charity shops in the UK, which means that you’ll find a ton of them in London. It often seems like there is a Cancer Research on every high street. Usually the stores are well priced, with a great mixture of high street brands.
In Cancer Research Camden we found high street brands such as Zara, Karen Millen, Gap, Warehouse, J Crew and Asos. We also saw Topshop and Oliver Bonas knits, starting from £5. There were a few vintage items, and some slightly more expensive pieces such as a 100% cashmere jumper for £20, a Cos top for £15, and an & Other Stories dress for £9.50.
The store has both Menswear and Womenswear, with a selection of bric a brac, books and shoes. Notable spots were some Joseph & Joseph kitchenware, a few pairs of Converse, and some popular non-fiction book selections- for example, The Positive Birth Book for £3.75.
OXFAM
89 Camden High St, London NW1 7JL
Like Cancer Research, there are a ton of Oxfam stores throughout the UK. This Oxfam was particularly well priced, and there was even a selection of items on sale! We spotted a £2 sale basket, a 99p kids basket, sale rails, and 50p rolls of Christmas wrapping paper.
There was some high end high street items priced very competitively- such as a Scotch & Soda dress for £6.99, a Diane Von Furstenburg dress for £12, and a Finery blouse for £6.99. Also spotted were some high street favourites such as some & Other Stories trousers for £9.99, a H&M coat for £30, and plenty of items from Zara, Next, and M&S.
At this store you’ll find womenswear, menswear, and a small selection of bric a brac. The store is quite small, so it’s really luck of the draw whether you’ll find a gem here.
Almost next door, you’ll also find an Oxfam Book Store. These are brilliant places to find books on almost every topic imaginable, as well as records, rare books and more. If you’re dropping into Camden, definitely pop into Oxfam Books to see if anything takes your fancy. There is always something lovely about stumbling across a second hand book!
You might also enjoy reading: The Best Charity Shops in Chelsea
Neon Clothing- Traid, Camden
TOP TIPS FOR CHARITY SHOPS IN CAMDEN
When you go charity shopping in Camden, it’s a great idea to combine your charity shopping with lunch, or with heading to Camden Market. You can easily spend a whole day in Camden, and it’s something of a must-see for any tourist visiting London.
As well as great charity shops, there are also plenty of dedicated vintage stores which are great to pay a visit to if you are interested in vintage fashion. Although you’ll find some items in the charity shops, you can expect to find a much larger selection in the specialist vintage shops.
And finally, there’s nowhere quite like Camden! The charity shops in the area really reflect the eclectic style of Camden. You are bound to find something special in these shops.
