Where to sell your used clothes online
Nowadays, recouping a little cash on your clothes is pretty easy: you can hold a garage sale, host a swap party, post online on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, or use an app or service like Poshmark or thredUP.
Initially I tried to sell some of my nicer sneakers and shoes on Poshmark, thinking I could get more bang for it. You just sign up on the app, start taking photos of your items and create listings. Not that it’s tons of work, but multiply that by each item you’re selling and it can really eat up your time. I also tried to list a couple of things on Facebook and on Craigslist, but the interest I got never panned out.
Selling with thredUP review
In the end I went with thredUP purely out of convenience: I was doing a huge spring cleaning and was going to donate the clothes anyway and just wanted to see what I could get for it. Earnings with thredUP will be some of the lowest but you do barely any of the work. thredUP states that anything they don’t sell will be either sold again at a later time (no longer gives you anything though), responsibly donated or recycled.
The selling process is really simple. You go online and order some “clean out bags” and they’ll mail you some giant prepaid mailer bags and a little info card that provides some guides on what to send them. I opted to have it go through USPS and then ordered a front door pickup for them through the USPS website. Super convenient!
I sent in 5 bags with an assortment of sneakers, heels, bags and clothes; random things I bought from Marshalls, H&M, Nike and even an old Coach clutch. I got an email when they received the packages within a few days and then it was a week or so to wait for processing when they set up your listings and tell you what they think everything is worth.
Average items are given roughly 28 days to sell, whereas luxury brands get a longer consignment time and a higher payout. A week before your listing expires, they send an email to remind you and you have the option to leave it as it is or to drop the price. After the initial set price they recommend, you can adjust the price however you want and you’ll see what percentage of the earnings you’ll get (you get a higher cut with the bigger brands). Note that if people buy your stuff with a discount, you’ll of course lose out on the profit.
Here are the numbers
13 items sold, 16 items did not. My total earnings were $26.68 but with the cash out options you lose a percentage to either Paypal or Stripe, so I ended up with $25.63.
I was a bit confused by that since there appeared to be a loss in my earnings by cashing out to begin with and then an additional loss via the Paypal fee. Strangely after I cashed out via the Paypal method, I still have a remaining balance of $0.53 with thredUP, I guess it’s what I would have got if I spent it shopping on thredUP rather than cashing out.
Would I sell with thredUP again?
Honestly I hope to maintain a more minimal lifestyle and not need to keep purging my closet, now that I’ve survived traveling for a year on one carry-on suitcase, but I know it can be a challenge to let go of things sometimes. If you care about how much you’ll make or how much you spent on your clothes, the reality of selling on thredUP can be harsh. However, if you’re just trying to get a little something back and want to get rid of the stuff anyway, it’s a pretty easy process. I think that thredUP is a great choice for those wanting to clean up, do minimal work, and just want a little back in return. If you’re looking for a bigger payout, you’ll need to do more legwork yourself and should look to list yourself on Poshmark, Craigslist, etc.
