It’s a lot easier to sell used clothes today than it was just a decade ago. Back then, you’d either have to haul your stuff over to the nearest consignment store, or have them listed on eBay or Craigslist where they could get lost among similar postings.
Now, there are easy-to-use apps to help you sell your used clothes online. Here are 6 mobile apps and websites you can check out:
ThredUp is mainly used by busy parents who have a hard time keeping up with their kids’ physical growth and just don’t have much time to spare to place the outgrown clothes on sites like eBay. It employs a mail-in resale service, originally for kids’ apparel, and on average lists items at 70 percent of their original retail price. Any item that can’t be sold on the site goes to charity.
Users of this app are on the younger side, which makes sense since this is an app for the social shopper. It feels and looks quite like Instagram. Joining the community allows you to “follow” other shoppers, check out photos of the items they put up for resale, and like or “star” your favorite items. Users can buy and sell used clothes on Poshmark just like they would on eBay, with brands like Michael Kors and Tory Burch being the most popular.
A resale marketplace for the label-conscious, its average user is a professional woman aged 20 to 45 years old and is both fashionable and budget conscious, and loves great deals. SnobSwap takes in clothing and accessories from brands such as Coach, Chanel, and Christian Louboutin which typically resell for around $250 to $370. One great feature of this site is that it authenticates every item that it resells, which makes it a lot easier for both sellers and buyers alike to build trust and get high prices for pre-owned luxury goods.
Like SnobSwap, this site receives items through the mail, and authenticates them before listing them for consignment. This is the perfect marketplace for people who only wear designer clothes and accessories, with luxury brands such as Gucci, Cartier, and L0ouis Vuitton available in its listing. Items here typically resell for $150 to as high as $20,000.
The previously mentioned sites and apps all take a cut of the earnings that you get from reselling your clothes on their platforms. If you’d like to avoid that but just don’t have the time or resources to create a website from scratch, Instagram is your best bet.
Using specific hashtags such as #shopmycloset, users can post photos of old clothes and accessories that they no longer want, and accept bids for them via the comments. The downside is that Instagram doesn’t support financial transactions, so sellers and buyers have to find workarounds to complete the sale.
Shopify
If you are up for the challenge and willing to turn your little experiment into an actual business, then consider making a website to sell your clothes online. Shopify allows you to create a website from scratch without any hard-core coding involved.
We definitely have more platforms for reselling clothes and other items, some definitely more trustworthy than eBay and Craigslist. Reselling old clothes and accessories is a lucrative business, so if you have items that you no longer need or want, there is definitely the option to turn that into some cash.
Images from Caroline Winberg Graces the Pages of D’SCENE Magazine Winter 2016.17 Issue