Cheap Halloween Costumes in San Antonio (2026): Thrift, Consignment & DIY

Halloween is 20 days away, and the party stores are doing what they do every October: charging $50–$70 for a polyester costume you'll wear exactly once. San Antonio has a better playbook — and it runs through the thrift racks, consignment shops, and your neighbors' closets.

Whether you're buying or selling, here's the full 2026 game plan for cheap Halloween costumes in San Antonio.

1. Work the thrift racks first

Goodwill San Antonio runs multiple stores across the city, and October is when costume-adjacent inventory peaks — blazers, evening gowns, scrubs, boots, hats, and wigs all land on the racks as people clean out closets. Go on weekday mornings when shelves are freshly stocked, and check back more than once: new donations arrive daily, and the good wigs go first.

Buffalo Exchange Outlet (145 W Olmos Dr) is the cheat code for costume pieces: everything in the store is $8 or less, with select items marked down to $1 on weekends. It's the outlet of the buy-sell-trade chain, so the racks are more organized than a typical thrift store — easier hunting when you're on a deadline. One honest note: this location is shopping-only, so you can't sell your old pieces there.

2. Check consignment shops for statement pieces

For the pieces that make a costume — a real leather jacket, an evening gown, a sharp blazer — consignment shops beat the thrift chains on quality. Otra Vez Couture Consignment, a San Antonio women's consignment shop now in its 19th year, is exactly the kind of place where a $200 blazer shows up for a fraction of retail. Consignment prices run higher than Goodwill, but for the one hero piece that carries the whole costume, it's still far cheaper than buying new.

3. Skip the digging: buy from your neighbors

The fastest route is SA Thrift's Costume Shop — San Antonians listing wigs, masks, and full costumes directly. No digging through racks, no driving across town: message the seller, meet up locally, and see it before you pay. New costumes get listed daily as Halloween gets closer.

4. Five DIY costumes from thrift finds

You don't need a bagged costume. You need one good piece and a little commitment:

• Vampire: any black dress or suit + a cape + drugstore fangs. The cape does 90% of the work.
• Cowboy: jeans + plaid shirt + boots + a thrifted hat. In Texas, half your closet already qualifies.
• 80s workout: neon windbreaker + leggings + sweatband. Thrift stores are swimming in windbreakers.
• Tourist: loud Hawaiian shirt + camera strap + socks with sandals. Commit to the bit.
• Zombie office worker: thrifted blazer + smeared makeup + a fake wound. Distress it — nobody's reselling this one.

5. Selling? Your old costume is cash

Here's the other side of Halloween: that costume in your closet from last year is worth money right now. Demand peaks in the two weeks before October 31, and a complete costume with accessories sells faster than any single piece.

List it on the Costume Shop — listing is free, it takes under a minute, and you keep 92% of every sale. Photograph it on a hanger in daylight, name every piece in the title ("Women's vampire costume, cape + dress, size M"), and price it to move: a costume that sells this week beats one that sits until November.

And when November 1st hits, list this year's costume the same day — early-bird shoppers start hunting for next year almost immediately.

The 2026 timeline

• Now – Oct 20: best selection everywhere. Thrift this week.
• Oct 21 – 30: neighbor listings spike as sellers list last-minute. Make offers — sellers expect it.
• Oct 31: the day-of desperation tax. Don't be the person paying full price at 4pm.
• Nov 1: list your costume for next year's early birds.