“In order to decide where to sell your clothes, it’s helpful to first think about what category your clothes fit into,” said Jennifer Mielke of StyleCrush. These categories include designer, trendy/higher-value retailers, and discount/lower-value brands. Then, Mielke said, figure out how much time and energy you want to invest in selling your clothes. Are you willing to put in extra effort for extra cash? Are you willing to try a few places to get the most money from your clothes? Or do you just need to get these items out of your closet, and earning some cash is a bonus? With those logistics in mind, you can start considering what the best place to sell used clothes online and locally would be for you.
Where to Sell Used Clothes Online and In-Store
Online
Poshmark: You can sell men’s and women’s clothes on Poshmark, as well as clothes for kids and even pets, and you can redeem your earnings via direct deposit. Poshmark takes a $2.95 commission for sales under $15 and a 20% commission for sales $15 and over.ThredUp: ThredUp will pay between 3% and 80% of the sale price. And you can get your money via several options, including bank and PayPal transfers or a ThredUp credit. Grailed: Grailed charges a 9% commission plus a payment processing fee, and sellers can receive their money in a PayPal account.Depop: Commission is 10% on Depop, plus a transaction fee, and you also can manage your funds via PayPal.
In-Store
Plato’s Closet: Plato’s Closet can pay fairly well for clothes that are in good condition and in fashion. Bring in your used clothes to sell, the store will make an offer, and you can choose to accept it and receive cash on the spot.Buffalo Exchange: When you sell used clothes with Buffalo Exchange, the store will assign a sale price to each item it buys from you, and you’ll get 25% of that price via cash or PayPal right away. You also can accept 50% of the price as a store credit.
A Local Consignment Store
You can sell used clothes for cash near you at local consignment stores. Consignment stores pay a percentage of the sale price for your clothing once it sells. “Typically, an appointment is needed for the store owner to set the prices for the items that they’d like to try to sell, then once any items sell, you are paid a percentage of the sale price,” Cherney said. Some consignment stores offer to let customers retrieve unsold items, and some donate them to charity. You can sell suits, dresses, jewelry, and more for cash at consignment stores. These stores offer a higher percentage of the sale price to their sellers than many resale shops do, according to Cherney. But understanding the contract at a consignment store is vital, especially with high-dollar or luxury items. “It’s important to know how long an item has to sell before that item gets discounted, and if it’s a luxury item, it’s important that you and the consignment store are on the same page about how low you are willing to price your item before you get it back,” Cherney said. It’s also smart to understand what happens if the item is damaged or stolen. Generally, consignment stores take a small selection of designer and higher quality items. “Split is often 50/50, paid upon sale, and your effort is limited to dropping off your items,” Mielke said. Market value in the community the store serves is also something to consider. “If you have a high-value item, it’s probably worth seeking out a consignment store in a more expensive area to get the best price or the highest likelihood of selling your item,” Mielke said.
A Local Buy/Sell/Trade Store
Local buy/sell/trade stores generally focus on trendy items. And they buy most inventory outright, meaning you get a set price for each of your items regardless of what they sell for. “Great if you want the cash up front, but the tradeoff is the value you get is pretty low,” Mielke said. This option can be pretty low effort, but the buying process can feel a little demoralizing at times. The store is focused on fast turnover and usually has specific items in mind that it wants to buy at any given time, so you might not always get the offers you want.
Resale Stores
Resale shops are a good option for anyone seeking instant gratification for selling used clothing. “Resale shops pay their sellers up front,” Cherney said. “So when they complete the transaction, they walk away with cash in hand, versus traditional consignment models where the seller only receives payment once the items have sold.” Convenience is a huge benefit of resale stores. You typically leave the store with cash. “This means that if your items are damaged, stolen, or never sell while on the sales floor, it doesn’t affect you since you’ve already been paid,” Cherney said. They also don’t require appointments and typically buy all seasons of merchandise year-round. So you can clean out your whole closet without having to store some items to sell next season. However, with resale stores assuming financial responsibility up front, they tend to be highly selective in the items they purchase.
Online Resellers
With this option for selling used clothing, sellers do a lot of the work themselves. But they also have a lot of control. “They photograph their items and write their descriptions. They interact with potential customers directly to answer questions; then the website processes the transaction,” Cherney said. “Once the items have sold and the customers approve of their condition, the money is released to the seller.” These websites have varying payment structures: Some charge per listing, and most charge a percentage of the sale. They also might have a secondary charge for merchant services that pay for the use of secure payment platforms, such as Shopify or PayPal. Some of these sites also have a bargaining or negotiating culture, so both the buyers and the platform itself might ask sellers to lower their prices. “The sellers are in complete control of the listings and will typically net the highest percentage for their items using this method,” Cherney said. They can list on their own terms and generally have large audiences viewing their items. “Photographing items, managing descriptions, and answering seller questions is very time-intensive, especially when shipping and handling is factored in,” Cherney said. For apparel items, which often sell for between $15 and $25, it might not be worth the time and effort. “ThredUp might be a good option if you want to just send your pieces in and be done with them,” Mielke said. ThredUp takes everything from fast fashion to designer items, but the payout can be low. Another online reseller, TheRealReal, takes a similar approach to a local consignment store but with greatly expanded reach. “If you have designer or high-value items and want to sell them with little effort, this may be your best bet,” Mielke said. Poshmark and Depop are other options for selling used clothes online. “Poshmark and Depop are two of the biggest, but with millions of items listed monthly, getting your items seen by the right buyers on these platforms doesn’t come easy,” Mielke said. With either, you’ll likely need to invest time into updating your listings regularly, Mielke warned. This involves going on the app and “sharing” or “editing” your items, which boosts them to the top of buyer search results. “You’ll have to invest time in photographing, interacting with buyers, and, in the event your item sells, then packaging and shipping them,” she added. Overall, Mielke cautioned that clothing holds a lower cash value than what most resellers might expect or hope for. “There is such an abundance of great secondhand that most resale platforms are swimming in inventory,” Mielke said.
Clothing Swaps
For those who are less worried about getting the most money from their clothes, swapping is great option. “Clothing swaps between friends are so much fun, but for simplicity’s sake, I always recommend a company called Swap Society,” Mielke said. You can find everything from affordable store brands to designer labels in Swap Society’s collection, and every one is $4.99 plus a certain number of points relative to its value. Swappers can earn points by sending items in to swap. There’s a reasonable membership fee, as well. “What I especially love is that they take ALL brands as long as the clothing is in good, wearable condition, so it’s a great option for people looking to get some value out of items they have from brands that don’t traditionally hold value in the resale space,” Mielke said.
Individual Resellers
If you’re less interested in getting top dollar for your items and more interested in getting rid of them, check whether you have someone in your network who is a reseller and hand off your items to them. “Individual resellers work really hard, and your contribution to their hustle will likely be highly appreciated,” Mielke said. You can negotiate a flat fee or per-item payment, so you’ll get some money for your items without too much effort on your part.
