Welcome to Manila Ukay Ukay|!

Welcome to Manila Ukay Ukay! Hold your horses, this is not your usual blog that only showcases good finds at this type of store but more of a directory and guide on the best places to shop. Ever since I posted my ukay ukay finds at my travel blog, I have received comments and lots of emails asking where the best shop is in Manila, and “inspired” by the Thrift Shop song my Macklemore, I decided to finally make a separate blog about the thrift stores.

Photo By: Keith Bacongco

You may ask, what is an Ukay ukay?
For our foreigner friends out there, this is like the Philippine version of Salvation Army. Basically, thrift shops that sells items such as clothes, shoes, accessories, even furniture and appliances mostly coming from Asian neighboring countries such as Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Japan. I have also seen some stores claiming their products are from the United States or Canada.

The term ukay ukay comes from the term “hukay”, meaning to dig. The original ukay ukay store owners used to just pile the clothes they sell and do not even bother to put them on a nice display, that’s why buyers will be forced to dig! Wagwagan might also come into mind and some frequent ukay shoppers will be familiar to this word, this is basically the Ilocano translation of ukay ukay, seeing that the first ukay ukay actually originated in Baguio.

Contrary to the popular belief, not all items being sold at these ukay ukay stores are second hand or napaglumaan na. I believe some are overruns or surplus from big clothing retailers. You will notice some clothes even having tags on them with the original price sticking out.

How to ukay ukay?
As mentioned earlier, the ukay ukay shops have now evolved and you don’t really necessarily have to ukay or dig anymore. Majority of them, especially here in Manila, display the clothes carefully in hangers and rack shoes and bags into a more organized manner.

Prices also differ from one shop to another so when you buy a 10 peso blouse from a shop, don’t expect that you will get the same deal from another ukay ukay store. I might do a separate post on tips how to score that ukay ukay “treasure” in the future.

Why ukay ukay?
Well, first, it’s cheap. Second, it’s very affordable. It’s low priced. And did I forget to mention that everything is freaking inexpensive? I heard a friend mentione once that ukay ukay are for the lower class Filipinos who can’t really afford to regularly buy at malls. This is partly true but sometimes, the prices can get a bit pricey especially during New Arrival, or the time when the shop acquires new stocks and items.

An ukay ukay is also like that old treasure box or baul from your grandma that contains vintage items and hard to find memorabilia. You can also spot fine brands that don’t even have shops here in the country, items that you may only able to find online or abroad.

When to ukay ukay?
Anytime!
New arrival season are of course, the priciest, since new stocks have just come in. Meaning all the good items or branded stuff are still at the store so prices are still jacked up.

Wait for a couple of weeks or months and this store will gives discounts from 20%, 30%, 50% even as low as 90%! I know of some stores that sells items for as low as 5 or 10 pesos each when they are about to re-stock new arrival items.

Where to Ukay Ukay?
Manila Ukay Ukay is the best answer to this question. Your ultimate resource and guide for the ukay ukay or thrift shops in Manila or even the nearby provinces such as Cavite or Bulacan. I will be posting shops and some of the nice items I was able to spot there.

Stay tuned! :)