Privacy Policy

ThriftStores.io (“we”, “the Site”) is an informational directory of secondhand stores in the United States. This policy explains what information the Site handles, what stays on your own device, how advertising and analytics partners work, and the choices you have. The short version: we do not ask you to create an account, we do not collect personal information to use the Site, and the only data that leaves your browser goes to the services described below.

1. Information we do not collect

The Site has no accounts, sign-ups, or profiles. We do not ask for your name, email address, or location to browse stores, and we do not sell or rent personal information to anyone. If you email us, we use your message and address only to reply.

2. What stays in your browser

A few features remember things for you using your browser’s local storage, which never leaves your device and is not sent to us: stores you save with the heart button, items you enter in the donation value calculator, and trip selections. Clearing your browser data removes them.

The “Find stores near me” feature asks your browser for your approximate location. That request is handled entirely by your browser and your device; the coordinates are used on the page to list nearby stores and are not stored or transmitted to our servers.

3. Analytics

We use Vercel Web Analytics to understand which pages are useful in aggregate — page views, referring sites, countries, and device types. It does not use cookies and does not identify individual visitors. We also use Google Analytics, which sets cookies (such as _ga) to count visits and show how people move through the Site; Google handles that data as described at the partner-sites link below. You can opt out of Google Analytics with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. Our hosting provider also keeps standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) for security and reliability, retained for a limited time.

4. Advertising and cookies

The Site is supported by advertising. We use Google AdSense to display ads. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.

You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info. Google explains how it uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. Where required by law, visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland are asked for consent before personalized ads are shown.

Ads are clearly distinguishable from directory listings and guides. Nobody can pay to have a store listed, ranked, or rated on this site; see our advertising and affiliate disclosure.

5. Affiliate links

Some guides may contain affiliate links to online resale platforms or products. If you click one and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The affiliate partner may set a cookie to attribute the sale. Affiliate relationships never influence which stores appear in the directory or how they are ranked.

6. Links to other sites

Store listings link to the stores’ own websites and to mapping services for directions, and guides link to external resources. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we do not control.

7. Children

The Site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

8. Your rights and choices

Because we hold no personal data about visitors beyond email you choose to send us, there is usually nothing to access or delete on our side. You can clear the Site’s local storage in your browser, opt out of personalized advertising using the links above, and email us to have any correspondence deleted. Residents of California and other jurisdictions with privacy laws may exercise their rights by contacting us; we do not sell personal information.

9. Changes

We will update this policy when our practices change and revise the date above. Continued use of the Site after a change means you accept the updated policy.

10. Contact

Questions about privacy go to contact@thriftstores.io or through the contact page. See also our terms of use.