The lyrics tell of Macklemore's esteem for going to thrift shops and saving money, rather than flaunting expensive items like many rappers.

The song was met with universal acclaim, with various music reviewers praising its humorous lyrics and social critique.

[3] The song also reached number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

[4] The song illustrates Macklemore's interest in buying cheap clothing from thrift shops, disdaining designer labels and trends.

He claims to enjoy donning "your granddad's clothes" and impulsively buying a sharp-looking but strong-smelling fur stole just because "it was 99 cents".

"[6] Macklemore stated that the message he was trying to send with that song was: "Don't be a fuckboy and think that a logo is going to make you cool.

There are amazing ways that you can freak fashion and be an individual, and we don't need to get caught up spending all this money.

It has been called a critique of the product placement common in modern hip hop,[11][12] but The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica wrote, "[I]t's not quite the robust sendup of hip-hop-extravagance clichés that it aspires to be.

The song then steadily climbed the chart until it entered the top ten in the issue dated January 5, 2013.

"Thrift Shop" was the second best-selling single of 2013 in the US after Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", with 6,148,000 copies sold during the year.

[18] As of November 2015, the song has sold 7,740,000 downloads in the United States, making it the fifth-best selling digital single in the country ever.

It was also only the second independent song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, nearly 20 years after Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)" in 1994.

[28] Filming took place at several thrift shops in Seattle, including Goodwill Outlet, Value Village in Capitol Hill, Red Light Vintage and Fremont Vintage Mall, as well as at Seattle locations like the Unicorn/Narwhal Arcade Bar and the Northwest African American Museum.

[29] Macklemore attempted to persuade a fellow Seattle rapper, Sir Mix-a-Lot, to appear in the video but he did not return the calls.

[31] Postmodern Jukebox covered the song in 2013, with Robyn Adele Anderson singing in a Roaring Twenties jazz style.

[41] In 2018, a slightly modified version of the original song was also used for Suncorp advertisements featuring their mascot, Sunny.