Selling Your Clothes
That overflowing closet. Those disheveled drawers. These piles of shoes.
In my quest to purge, I've found myself donating a majority of clothing and other items that I no longer use. But I also have some really great pieces that (most often) were never worn. Instead of throwing that money away, I decided to sell them online. Do I feel bad about this decision? No way! There is no shame in my money-making game!
It's a very overwhelming undertaking. So if you want to do this, just know that it will take some time. You have to be patient and really choose the online selling site that works best for you. Luckily, I have used a few big ones to tell you my experiences to help you out!
I have used Poshmark, ThredUP, eBay and even the Facebook Marketplace and here's what I thought:
First things first. I am an average woman, with average clothing, in an average size range. I do not buy Chanel or Gucci, I purchase clothing from H&M and American Eagle to give you an idea. With that disclaimer being said, I'd like you to keep that in mind when deciding which website you'd like to use or determining the profit you may take home.
Poshmark:
Poshmark is not just for clothing. You can sell makeup, shoes and accessories on this app. When you sign up, you get to create a person profile. You add your picture, your cover photo and then you can create your "closet". You take pictures of the items you would like to sell (for some people this is like a career and the photos are incredibly professional). You have plenty of options as to how you would like to describe the item including brand and size, etc.... There is also the "original" price which you must include. Be careful with this though, if you have no idea how much an item was originally, you will have to do some research and determine your price from there.
After setting up your "closet" and your profile, you can then "follow" others who are shopping and selling. You can share your listings as well as others and "like" listings. You can easily communicate with other members and put in offers through the comments section of the app.
Here's where it gets a little annoying (in my opinion). There is a set shipping price of $6.49. So if you are purchasing from multiple Sellers, you will be paying shipping on all, unless the seller is offering you a discount on shipping, which the Seller will have to cover. Poshmark also takes a profit from what you're selling. In my experience, it's been about $2.00-$3.00, which can hurt if you're selling things on the cheaper side. Sellers can also send private discounts to Buyers, but keep in mind, if you are offering a discount, you then MUST discount the shipping cost and pay for that discount on shipping yourself out of your potential profit.
Poshmark is basically an Instagram app for clothing. The "liking" feature does not really feel relevant, what is the point of "liking" a shirt? I still have no idea. Of course every seller is in charge of shipping these items and Buyers are at the mercy of what the Sellers disclose. If pictures neglect to show any rips or stains, then you will not know about them until they are delivered and inspected by the Buyer.
Overall, I am not a fan of Poshmark. I think it's cluttered and it's Instagram-like app makes it a popularity contest rather than a selling platform. Also, the multiple shipping charges can add up and not be worth it.
ThredUP:
ThredUP is the ultimate online thrift store. The biggest difference in this website compared to others is that you don't actually do the selling of your items. Instead ThredUP does it for you. When you first sign up, you are given a discount to try it out. Usually 20-25% off your first order. The great news about this is that you only pay ONE shipping fee of $5.99. Which is a great deal considering you will be purchasing multiple items from (essentially) different sellers through one HUB. The clothing is in great condition. (I have purchased multiple brand name items that were like brand new! And you will find out how in a minute.) Right now they have Women and Children's pieces and run sales. The app functions like a retail store app, so it's easy to use and to search for items by brand name, size, category and price. Everything comes in a cute box and packaged as though you have just purchased your item from an online department store. You can tell that ThredUP takes their business very seriously and respects the items they sell. This brings me to the Seller's side of the ThredUP operation.
ThredUP is a little different in how they work because they are very exclusive and do not accept all items. When you want to sell your items on ThredUP, you will request a "clean out" bag, which is delivered to you by mail. From there, ThredUP gives you a pamphlet of what they will accept (ie brand names, types of clothing and condition. ThredUP does not accept any flawed pieces, which is great news for Buyers. You will send in your bag (which is prepaid for shipping) and once the items have been reviewed and accepted on ThredUP's end, you will receive your earnings in your ThredUP account, where the Seller can then transfer their money out. Seems too easy for a Seller doesn't it? That's because it is.
The upsetting news for ThredUP is that they offer so little to the Sellers. A kid's Gap Sweatshirt will sell on their website for $12.99 but the Seller will only receive $0.55 for it! This is for many different items and brand names. Sellers will receive pennies on the dollar for some of their items while ThredUP sells them for much more. The items that were not accepted (for one reason or another) are then discarded by ThredUP unless the Seller pays to have those items returned to them.
For purchasing items, it's great! For selling items for a substantial profit? I say no.
eBay:
The OG of the selling game. I don't think I need to even explain how eBay works because it's been around for forever. When it comes to selling your clothes, there are so many people selling them that a Seller's items can easily be lost in the shuffle. However, the Seller has the ability to choose shipping costs and the lower the shipping cost, the better for the Buyer. Much like Poshmark, if a Buyer is purchasing from multiple Sellers, they must pay for multiple shipping costs. The fun part is that eBay usually has a discount code you can use so that you can save a little money on already cheap (for the most part) pieces.
I would highly recommend selling your clothes on eBay. You can bundle things together, put whatever items you want on there (even if they are flawed), accept and decline offers and it costs you nothing as a Seller. As a Buyer, I'd recommend following the "Buyer beware" strategy. Check all images, ask questions, do your due diligence before purchasing an item.
Overall, I would recommend selling on eBay over the other two sites mentioned, but prefer buying on ThredUP for sure!
If you want to try these sites out, here are some discount codes to get you started:
Poshmark: Poshmark Get a discount using my code: MITNB_14
ThredUP: Get $10.00 on me! ThredUP
eBay: eBay
After setting up your "closet" and your profile, you can then "follow" others who are shopping and selling. You can share your listings as well as others and "like" listings. You can easily communicate with other members and put in offers through the comments section of the app.
Here's where it gets a little annoying (in my opinion). There is a set shipping price of $6.49. So if you are purchasing from multiple Sellers, you will be paying shipping on all, unless the seller is offering you a discount on shipping, which the Seller will have to cover. Poshmark also takes a profit from what you're selling. In my experience, it's been about $2.00-$3.00, which can hurt if you're selling things on the cheaper side. Sellers can also send private discounts to Buyers, but keep in mind, if you are offering a discount, you then MUST discount the shipping cost and pay for that discount on shipping yourself out of your potential profit.
Poshmark is basically an Instagram app for clothing. The "liking" feature does not really feel relevant, what is the point of "liking" a shirt? I still have no idea. Of course every seller is in charge of shipping these items and Buyers are at the mercy of what the Sellers disclose. If pictures neglect to show any rips or stains, then you will not know about them until they are delivered and inspected by the Buyer.
Overall, I am not a fan of Poshmark. I think it's cluttered and it's Instagram-like app makes it a popularity contest rather than a selling platform. Also, the multiple shipping charges can add up and not be worth it.
ThredUP:
ThredUP is the ultimate online thrift store. The biggest difference in this website compared to others is that you don't actually do the selling of your items. Instead ThredUP does it for you. When you first sign up, you are given a discount to try it out. Usually 20-25% off your first order. The great news about this is that you only pay ONE shipping fee of $5.99. Which is a great deal considering you will be purchasing multiple items from (essentially) different sellers through one HUB. The clothing is in great condition. (I have purchased multiple brand name items that were like brand new! And you will find out how in a minute.) Right now they have Women and Children's pieces and run sales. The app functions like a retail store app, so it's easy to use and to search for items by brand name, size, category and price. Everything comes in a cute box and packaged as though you have just purchased your item from an online department store. You can tell that ThredUP takes their business very seriously and respects the items they sell. This brings me to the Seller's side of the ThredUP operation.
ThredUP is a little different in how they work because they are very exclusive and do not accept all items. When you want to sell your items on ThredUP, you will request a "clean out" bag, which is delivered to you by mail. From there, ThredUP gives you a pamphlet of what they will accept (ie brand names, types of clothing and condition. ThredUP does not accept any flawed pieces, which is great news for Buyers. You will send in your bag (which is prepaid for shipping) and once the items have been reviewed and accepted on ThredUP's end, you will receive your earnings in your ThredUP account, where the Seller can then transfer their money out. Seems too easy for a Seller doesn't it? That's because it is.
The upsetting news for ThredUP is that they offer so little to the Sellers. A kid's Gap Sweatshirt will sell on their website for $12.99 but the Seller will only receive $0.55 for it! This is for many different items and brand names. Sellers will receive pennies on the dollar for some of their items while ThredUP sells them for much more. The items that were not accepted (for one reason or another) are then discarded by ThredUP unless the Seller pays to have those items returned to them.
For purchasing items, it's great! For selling items for a substantial profit? I say no.
eBay:
The OG of the selling game. I don't think I need to even explain how eBay works because it's been around for forever. When it comes to selling your clothes, there are so many people selling them that a Seller's items can easily be lost in the shuffle. However, the Seller has the ability to choose shipping costs and the lower the shipping cost, the better for the Buyer. Much like Poshmark, if a Buyer is purchasing from multiple Sellers, they must pay for multiple shipping costs. The fun part is that eBay usually has a discount code you can use so that you can save a little money on already cheap (for the most part) pieces.
I would highly recommend selling your clothes on eBay. You can bundle things together, put whatever items you want on there (even if they are flawed), accept and decline offers and it costs you nothing as a Seller. As a Buyer, I'd recommend following the "Buyer beware" strategy. Check all images, ask questions, do your due diligence before purchasing an item.
Overall, I would recommend selling on eBay over the other two sites mentioned, but prefer buying on ThredUP for sure!
If you want to try these sites out, here are some discount codes to get you started:
Poshmark: Poshmark Get a discount using my code: MITNB_14
ThredUP: Get $10.00 on me! ThredUP
eBay: eBay
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