Have you got some old clothes you’re looking to sell online? If you’ve been doing some spring cleaning, anytime cleaning, or perhaps you’ve become completely obsessed with the KonMari Method (like me), then this post is for you.
Once you’ve gone through the process of paring down your closet, you’re left with a pile of clothes that you don’t want any more. Of course, you can always find a local charity and donate them, but if you’d like to try to make a little extra cash, I’ve put together a guide to selling on 5 different sites I’ve used in the past. I’ve been selling clothing online for years, and have had a lot of success using them.
I’ve rated them all by ease of listing, shipping, the price you can get, and whether or not you should expect to negotiate with buyers. Keep in mind, though — any time you’re selling a used item, the market dictates what you’re going to be able to get for it. Although you may really love the sweater you wore to your sister’s graduation, if it’s selling online for $2, you’re going to be hard-pressed to get $20 for it.
Also, be sure to be as descriptive as possible when creating your listings. If there are any flaws, defects or damage to the article of clothing, include a photograph so that the buyer knows what they’re getting. It’s also helpful to have a close up of any small patterns/prints, and to state whether or not your item comes from a smoke-free home (this can definitely affect clothing).
Check out the sites below — you can use one, or multiple depending on the value of the items you have to sell!
- ThredUp
- Ease of use: 😄😄😄
- Ease of shipping: ✉️✉️✉️
- Price you can get: 💰
- Negotiation: No
ThredUp is the easiest site to use as far as the work needed on your end. However, it’s also the site where you’ll get the least money for the clothes. If you’re not feeling like spending time researching recent sales or photographing your clothes, this is the site for you.
You simply request a bag (in the top right-hand corner under the search bar, click the “SELL” link, then click “ORDER A KIT” on the next page). You’ll need to give them some basic information about the items you’re selling and give them your address. Then, ThredUp will send you a bag that you’ll load up with the clothes you’re ready to say goodbye to. They also give you an option — if the clothes aren’t able to be re-sold, they will either recycle the items or send them back to you (but you’ll have to pay for the shipping to have them returned). The bags are huge and come with a pre-paid shipping label on the outside. Once you’ve filled the bag, drop it off at your closest post office. In about 5-6 weeks (after they’ve finished processing), you’ll hear from ThredUp via email, and they’ll let you know how much money they’ll be giving you for your clothes. Keep in mind that because ThredUp is doing all the hard work to re-sell the items, it won’t be retail prices for the items. You can either have the money paid out to you, or use it as credits on the site (because what else are you going to do with all the empty space you have in your closet now?).
- Vinted
- Ease of use: 😄😄
- Ease of shipping: ✉️✉️
- Price you can get: 💰
- Negotiation: Yes
Vinted is a site filled with folks selling their old clothes. It’s relatively easy to use, but you’ll still need to photograph your clothes and decide on a price, making it a bit more work than ThredUp.
Here’s a photo of the homepage:
You can see that some folks have mannequins they use to style the clothes, but if you don’t happen to have one of those laying around, you can snap a selfie in the item, hang it on a hanger, or lay it down flat.
With Vinted, you can set up your listings online; or, if you have a smartphone, Vinted has an app that makes the process relatively simple. Just snap a few photos, write up a description of the item (brand, size, etc.) and Vinted will prompt you for some additional info to help others search for your clothes. As we discussed previously, you’ll want to search the brand or similar items on their site to see what they’re selling for, and price yours accordingly. If it’s in excellent condition, you can ask a bit more; if you’re less concerned about price, you can undercut the other sellers to make your item irresistible.
When a person is interested in the item, they will either buy it outright, or they may make an offer. You can counteroffer, accept their offer, or also offer a trade for an item they’re selling. In my experience, folks on Vinted are more likely to be hunting for a good deal, and the crowd is younger. If you have some items that are worth more, this may not be the place to sell them. Once you come to an agreement, Vinted will email you a pre-paid shipping label. You’ll need to find your own packaging, print the label, affix it to the box/envelope, and drop it off at your local post office. Vinted will then offer a payout directly to your bank account.
- Poshmark (sign up with code JGARX to get us both $10!)
- Ease of use: 😄😄
- Ease of shipping: ✉️✉️
- Price you can get: 💰💰
- Negotiation: Yes
Poshmark is extremely similar to Vinted — the biggest difference is that Poshmark is designed more for brand-name items that should expect to fetch a good price.
You can see that the homepage here has items from more well-known brands (and the photos are a little higher quality):
Poshmark does not allow you to create listings online, but they’re easy to do with your smartphone. You’re a bit more limited than Vinted (images must be square, only 4, etc.) but you do have fun filters available to fix the photos up a bit if you like. Again, you’ll want to search the site a bit for similar items and price yours accordingly.
Like Vinted, when a buyer is interested, they’ll either make an offer or buy the item outright (trades can be facilitated here, but are much less common). Once you’ve come to an agreement and made a deal, Poshmark will send you a pre-paid shipping label. Again, you’ll need to find your own packaging, affix the label and drop it off at the post office. Though it’s slightly more difficult to locate than on Vinted, you can still have a payout made directly to your bank account. However, you can also use the money you’ve made here as credits for the site.
- eBay
- Ease of use: 😄😄
- Ease of shipping: ✉️
- Price you can ask for: 💰💰
- Negotiation: Unlikely, but possible
eBay is one of the most well-known sites for selling online, but not many people think of it for selling used clothes. However, it’s pretty easy, and you can get good money for the items because people on eBay are usually looking for something specific when they visit the site.
Some of the items that show up when you search “anthropologie”:
Like Vinted, you can create listings from either your phone or your computer, and can easily snap photos with your smartphone during the process. In addition, eBay has some features that make selling pretty easy. If you can find something just like your item, there’s an option to “Sell Similar Item”. This autofills a lot of the required information, and you only have to add your own photos and description.
The big difference with eBay is the selling options — you can either set up an auction or put a set price. Either way, you can give the buyer the option to make an offer (if you do want to negotiate). Sometimes, even with an auction or set price, you will get a message from a buyer looking to negotiate, and you can decide if you want to do that as well. With an auction, you can underprice the item a bit in the hopes of getting a bidding war going. This is great for sought-after name-brand items.
Once you’ve completed the sale, eBay will notify you that the buyer has paid and put the money directly in to your PayPal account. The easiest way to ship the item is using eBay’s process to create a pre-paid shipping label for USPS. This does mean that you will need to have a general idea of how much the item weighs so that you can accurately purchase postage, as well as the type of shipping you’d like to use (priority mail vs. first class, etc.). You’ll also need to provide your own box. Then, just affix the label and drop the item off at the post office.
- Etsy
- Ease of use: 😄
- Ease of shipping: ✉️
- Price you can get: 💰💰💰
- Negotiation: No
Etsy is definitely the most time-consuming site to setup and use, but can get you the best price. Keep in mind that Etsy is only for vintage or handmade clothing. You’ll need to research any vintage items to get as much history as possible. With handmade items, if they’re one-of-a-kind, you can decide the price!
In order to sell on Etsy, you’ll need to set up a shop. Here’s a link to mine so that you can get an idea of what that looks like. I’ll follow up later with more information on setting up an Etsy shop, but for now, the main things that you need to know are that you’ll be setting up a URL, creating a description, and filling out your shop policies.
You’re going to want to use the most professional photographs that you can get — if you have a professional camera, I would recommend using it. Find a fun background to use as well — either white, or a brick wall, something fun, but not too distracting.
As I mentioned before, list the item with as much detail as you can. Do a thorough inspection of the clothing. Search the site for pricing ideas, and include relevant tags in your listing. Do your research.
Once the item is purchased, it’s easiest to go through Etsy’s shipping process. This is identical to eBay’s — you’ll need weight and your shipping process, and then can print out a label that you’ll affix to your own packaging. Then drop it off at the post-office, and you’re set! Etsy will pay out to a bank account once a week, on Mondays.
That’s the basics of selling clothes online! Do you use other sites? Have questions, or any other tips? Let me know in the comments!
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