If you’re looking to snap up a vintage bargain in the city, look no further than the extensive vintage kilo sales in London. There are lots of regular vintage kilo sales, as well as one-off events. It’s the perfect way to curate your second hand wardrobe in a super affordable and sustainable way.
Sure, you can shop in the many vintage shops in London, but sometimes it’s fun to have a real rummage. I like to think of kilo sales as the modern jumble sales. You never know what you might find, but you can be sure that you’ll usually find a unique bargain.
How do kilo sales work?
As the name suggests, a kilo sale is where you pay per kilo on what you buy. You’ll pick up a few items, take them to the till, the items will be weighed out and you’ll pay based on the weight of the item.
Kilo sales originated in Europe, gaining popularity in The Netherlands and Eastern Europe- although they weren’t always for vintage clothing. I visited a kilo sale in Amsterdam back in 2012 and bought some really fun vintage items for just 4 euros. Although vintage kilo sales in London are not quite that cheap anymore, it’s still certainly one of the best ways to view a huge amount of vintage pieces at once, and snap up some bargains in the process.
Often you might pay a small entrance fee to get into a kilo sale, this is usually between £2-4. You might pay more for an earlier ticket to get first dips on the best items as soon as the sale opens, and entry might even be free if you arrive late afternoon.
But if you really want to have a good rummage of second hand stuff? Check out the many car boot sales in London.
1. Brixton Vintage Kilo Sale
If you’ve been to Pop Brixton before, you might have seen adverts and posters for the Brixton Vintage Kilo Sale. It’s a great location for a pop up sale, and there are a ton of tasty restaurants and cafes in the surrounding areas. It’s Thrifty Londoner recommended to make a day of it!
Brixton Vintage Kilo Sale is free to enter, with clothing priced at £15 per kilo. This kilo sale is hosted by ‘Worth The Weight’ which is an organisation holding kilo sales all over the country.
You can expect to find hand picked vintage and retro clothing at this sale. It’s certainly one of the more affordable options when it comes to kilo sales in London, especially since there is no entry fee. This sale is held monthly, on the first weekend of every month, with stock in constant rotation. Follow their Instagram page @brixtonvintagekilosale to get the info on past and future sales.
49 Brixton Station Rd, London SW9 8PQ
2. The London Vintage Kilo, Putney
Held at St Mary’s Church, Putney, The London Vintage Kilo tends to be held about once every quarter, by Judy’s Vintage Fair. You can keep up to date with upcoming sales by checking on Eventbrite for latest news and information. You can also follow them on Facebook to be notified of upcoming events.
Fresh stock is added throughout the day, with no minimum spend. Price per kilo is £15. Bring your own bag if possible. The London Vintage Kilo also advise some guidelines for what you can expect to pay for certain items by weight: T-shirt £4, sweatshirt £9, Levi jeans £12, vintage blouse £5, vintage dress £14.
The entry fee is either £2.50 for early bird entry from 10:30-11:30am (you can purchase early bird tickets online), pay £1.50 on the door for general admission from 11:30-3pm, or arrive after 3pm for free admission. And since you’re in the Putney area, it’s a great idea to check out the many charity shops in the area for more affordable second hand clothes.
St Mary’s Church, Putney High St, London SW15 1SN
3. Shop Kilo!
Shop Kilo is the original kilo sale, having held vintage events in the UK since 2009. The sales are held across the UK seasonally, with sales tending to be during the autumn and winter months, typically from September to April. Past kilo sales in London have been held in Camden and Mile End.
The Shop Kilo events are usually priced at £20 per kilo, but there is no minimum spend. That means that if your item weighs 500g? You’ll pay just £10. It’s a super sustainable way to shop, and you’re unlikely to go overboard with their no minimum spend policy.
General admission is £1 from 11:30am, with early bird tickets priced at £2. Follow @shop_kilo on Instagram to be the first to know about upcoming events in London.
4. Thrift Factory
Thrift Factory is a permanent vintage kilo sale, priced at a very competitive £10 per kilo, with locations in London, Birmingham and Manchester and vast collections of vintage. There is no entry fee, and the sale is held daily 7 days per week. A fun alternative to thrift shopping in London.
New stock arrives daily, so you’ll be truly spoilt for choice. They aim to stock a variety of vintage sizes and you’ll find clothing, shoes, hand bags and accessories at this East London kilo sale. Follow them @thriftfactory.uk on Instagram for latest news and information.
Unit 3a, Thames Road, Silvertown, E16 2EZ, London
5. Preloved Kilo
Preloved Kilo have held over 500 kilo sale events across the country to date, keeping over 2000 tonnes of used clothing in circulation through their sales! You’ll find regular kilo sales hosted by Preloved kilo across London, in areas such as Peckham, Hackney and Camden.
Most of the kilo sales held by Preloved are priced at £20 per kilo. However, you can pay in advance to save money – buy up to two £15 Advance Kilos and up to five £18 Advance Kilo tickets per person, per event.
Preloved Kilo pride themselves in sourcing only the highest quality pieces with a wide range of styles, brands & eras at every event. In fact, you’ll have over 6 tonnes of clothing to sift through at any given event!
You’ll need to buy an advance ticket to any of their kilo sales, at £1.50 per ticket (£2 if you wish to pay an extra 50p towards planting a tree). You can buy advance tickets for any sale via their website.
6. Westfield Stratford Vintage Kilo Pop Up
This event at Westfield, Stratford is held fairly sporadically every couple of months. It’s a great location for a vintage kilo pop up due to the great transport links and vast amenities around the sale. Want to make a day of it and have lunch? There are a ton of restaurants inside Westfield!
At the event itself, you’ll find thousands of pre-loved, quality designer vintage garments for you to give a second life to. Sizes are from XS to plus size, so there really is something for everyone.
The event is organised by We Are. Tickets are £1.50-£2.50 depending on what time you wish to enter the sale. Clothing is priced at £25 per kilo, which makes it one of the more expensive options on this list. However, there is no minimum price. We Are state that it’s roughly £6-8 for denim, £6 for a dress and £4 for a T-shirt.
To find out about upcoming events, follow @wearesecondlifefashion on Instagram. We Are also offer discounts to staff who work the event, contact recruit@weare.shop to join the team.
Westfield Stratford City Montfichet Road London E20 1EJ
7. Peckham Vintage Kilo Sale
The Peckham Vintage Kilo Sale is organised by kilo sale organisation, Worth The Weight, who are Europe’s largest vintage wholesaler. At this sale you’ll find thousands of vintage, retro and branded items from 70s to early 00s. Sadly you won’t find older vintage (40s, 50s, early 60s) at this kilo sale.
Early bird entry on the door is £3, with general admission from 12pm priced at £2. Clothing is priced at £15 per kilo, and there is no minimum spend. In essence this means that you could pay as little as 50p for a super lightweight item! Another bonus is that heavy items are capped at £20. So if you find any item weighing 1 kilo or more you will only pay a maximum of £20 for that item.
And if you’re also looking for vintage furniture, home furnishings and accessories? Check out our guide to the best vintage furniture shops in London.
This event isn’t held super regularly, but it often returns to this location so definitely one to try if you’re a South East London resident. Find out about upcoming events by checking Eventbrite.
UNIT 8, Copeland and Bussey Building 133 Copeland Road London SE15 3SN
8. Croydon Vintage Kilo Sale
So the Croydon Vintage Kilo Sale is a slightly out of town location for many Londoners, but is a pretty quick journey from Clapham Junction or Waterloo. You can even get there by tram from Wimbledon. This vintage kilo sale is again fairly sporadic, with a couple of sales per year.
The sale is again hosted by Worth The Weight, with the clothing priced at £20 per kilo. Tickets are £3 for early bird admission, and £2 after 12pm. Stock is replenished all day long, and you can expect to find menswear and womenswear clothing from the 60s onwards.
Follow @worththeweightvintage for news on upcoming events in Croydon.
Fairfield Halls Fairfield Halls Park Lane Croydon CR9 1DG
9. PICKNWEIGHT
Rather than a one off event, Picknweight is a permanent bricks and mortar store in central London, Covent Garden. Originally founded in Germany, it’s a vintage store in it’s own right, the only difference is that you pay by weight.
The good news is that there is no entry fee for the store, and it’s always open, so you don’t have to wait around to shop at a vintage kilo store in London!
The pricing structure can get a little complicated, because clothing is graded using different coloured stickers. For example, red stickers are £20 per kilo, yellow is £40 per kilo, green is £70 per kilo, blue is £90 per kilo, and purple is £100 per kilo. There is no minimum spend however, so if, for example, you bought a shirt with a yellow label that weighed 310g, you’d pay approximately £12.40. See a further breakdown of their pricing structure in the image below.
14-18 Neal St, London WC2H 9LY
Top tips for kilo sales in London
Choose items carefully
Since kilo sales are literally based on the weight of the clothing items. You’ll get more bang for your buck if you stick to lightweight items such as shirts, blouses, tops dresses and skirts. Denim, coats, shoes and accessories are likely to be much heavier. But that said, if you find a pair of denim dungarees that you love? You may as well snap them up rather than buy lightweight items that you don’t really love.
Wear tight clothing
There are rarely changing rooms at vintage kilo sales and so you’ll want to wear clothing that you can easily try clothing over the top of. Think leggings and a sports top.
Go with a friend
It’s easy to get swept up in the madness of a kilo sale in London. To keep your cool, ask a friend to come with you. You can both keep each other in check and they can offer their opinion when you try clothes on (it can sometimes be hard to come by a mirror at a kilo sale too!)
Take luggage scales
If you already own a set of hand held luggage sales (you know the ones with a hook that you attach your case to), then take them along to the kilo sale to check how much your items weigh before you head to the till. There is nothing worse than getting a nasty surprise at the till, and feeling obliged to pay for 3 kilos when you were hoping to only pay for 1.
Bring cash
Check if you’ll need to bring cash to the venue ahead of time. Sometimes you’ll need to pay cash on the door, or even pay cash for your clothing. Come prepared!
FAQ
What is a vintage kilo sale?
A vintage kilo sale is usually a pop up event where you pay for vintage clothing based on weight. Most kilo sales will have a specific price per kilo, for example, £15 per kilo. No matter what items you select, the amount you pay is based on the weight of the clothing only.
How much clothes can you get in a kilo sale?
At a kilo sale you can get as many clothes as you like- there’s usually not a limit on how many kilos you can buy. That said, if you only want to pay for one kilo, you can still get a few items for that price. To get the most bang for your buck, opt for lightweight shirts, blouses, tops and dresses in materials such as silk, cotton gauze, or chiffon. They are the lightest materials that you’re likely to find at a kilo sale. You could get 3-4 lightweight tops in these materials for one kilo. Preloved Kilo have a handy blog post detailing outfits you could end up putting together for less than £10 on their site.
How much is a kilo in a kilo sale?
The price of a kilo in a kilo sale varies by event. You can usually expect to pay around £15 per kilo at kilo sales in London. However there are exceptions to this, and you may find that there are sales at higher and lower prices than this in London and around the UK.
What are kilo stores?
Working on a similar basis to kilo sales, a kilo store is a bricks and mortar permanent vintage store which sells clothing by the kilo. You’ll find Picknweight in Covent Garden, London which is a great vintage shop selling by kilo. It’s a little more expensive than kilo sales, but is a much more civilised way to shop by the kilo without the crowds or the entrance fee.