Where to go thrifting in Amsterdam: 10 kringloop and vintage shops

Amsterdam is not the cheapest city in the Netherlands for second-hand, and it is not the biggest either. The Hague has 19 shops in Kringspot's list, Groningen has 18, and both beat Amsterdam's ten. What Amsterdam does have is variety in a small area: charity kringloop shops, kilo stores, vintage boutiques and two enormous RataPlan warehouses, all reachable by bike in an afternoon.

These are the ten shops on the Kringspot map for the city, grouped the way you would actually plan a route.

A note before the addresses: shops move, change their opening hours and occasionally close. Everything below comes from the Kringspot store list, which is maintained as open data, but check before you set out.

Centrum: Waterlooplein and around

Episode Waterlooplein (Waterlooplein 1) is the Amsterdam branch of a vintage chain that has been selling curated second-hand clothing for decades. It is a vintage shop, not a charity shop, so expect vintage prices rather than kringloop prices. Good for denim, jackets and anything with a recognisable label.

Kilostore Waterlooplein (Jodenbreestraat 158) is the opposite philosophy: you pay by weight. Pile what you want into a bag, put it on the scale, pay per kilo. If you are willing to dig, this is the cheapest way to leave with a full bag of clothing in the city.

Bis! (Sint Antoniesbreestraat 25A) sells military surplus and workwear. It is not a kringloopwinkel at all, but it is on the map because surplus jackets, boots and bags are exactly the kind of thing thrifters are hunting for. Worth a look if your alert is set to outdoor gear.

De Pijp

Marbles Vintage De Pijp (Ferdinand Bolstraat 28) is a proper vintage shop in a neighbourhood where the rents make that a bold choice. Smaller and more curated than the chains, with a strong clothing focus.

Oost

De Buurtkringloop (Insulindeweg 1) is what the name says: a neighbourhood kringloop in the Indische Buurt. Small, genuinely local, and the kind of place where the stock depends entirely on who moved out that month. This is the sort of shop where a tip-off app earns its keep, because you would never pass it by accident.

West and Oud-West

Kringloop West (Tweede Hugo de Grootstraat 70H) is a solid general kringloop for the west of the city: household goods, furniture, the usual mix.

ReShare Store Amsterdam (Bilderdijkstraat 183) is the Salvation Army's textile format. Clothing and shoes, sorted and presented properly rather than dumped in bins. If your watch is set to a specific garment, this is a good place to have on your route.

Noord

FIGO Vintage (Asterweg 38) sits in the industrial north, which means more space and less foot traffic than the centre. Vintage clothing, and a shop that rewards a deliberate trip rather than a stroll past.

Two warehouses worth the bike ride

RataPlan Amsterdam Generatorstraat (Generatorstraat 10) and RataPlan Amsterdam Van Slingelandtstraat (Van Slingelandtstraat 39) are the big ones. RataPlan runs warehouse-scale shops, and the Amsterdam pair are where you go for furniture, bikes, bookcases and anything too large to carry home on a normal shopping trip. Go with a plan for transport, because you will find something you cannot carry.

Practical notes

• Bring a bag and a lock. You will buy more than you meant to, and you will want to park the bike somewhere sensible.
• Go early in the day. This is true everywhere, but especially at the two RataPlan locations, where the good furniture does not survive the morning.
• Cash still helps in the smaller shops, even though most now take cards.
• Check the hours. Volunteer-run kringloop shops keep shorter and more irregular hours than a chain store. Several of the shops above are closed on Sundays and Mondays.
• Do not expect to haggle. Charity shops price centrally and sell at the sticker.

Bringing the rest of the country along

Amsterdam is ten shops out of 976. The Kringspot store list covers 389 Dutch towns and cities, geocoded to the front door, and the app puts all of them on one map with pins that light up when a shop has a fresh find.

That is the practical answer to the real problem with this list: you cannot be in ten shops at once. Set a watch for what you are hunting for, and Kringspot tells you when someone spots it, in whichever of these shops it turns up.