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Have you ever looked in your closet, only to feel like you have nothing to wear? This is a common dilemma, since most of us have closets overflowing with:
- Poorly-planned impulse buys
- Ill-fitting items
- Outdated vintage styles
- Unwanted gifts
- Unnecessary final sale purchases
You hold on to these untouched or unwanted clothes, because maybe, just maybe, you’ll find an occasion to wear them one day. However, it’s gotten to the point where your partner is nudging you to clear out your side of the closet before your piles and piles of clothes start to encroach onto his space.
The truth is that those fantasy events rarely happen. In reality, most people have a few pieces of clothing they love and wear on a regular basis. Everything else sits in the closet, collecting dust.
Transform Clothes Into Cash
Why not trade in these unwanted vintage items for cash?
By decluttering your closet and listing unwanted clothes online, you can earn a ton of extra money on the side. Maybe, you and your partner have started using one of our recommendations for the best apps for couples, and are determining different ways to bring in a little extra income. These earnings from simply selling clothes can be used to purchase new clothes, placed in a rainy day fund, or set aside for a long-awaited vacation.
Do People Really Buy Used Clothes Online?
If you only shop retail, you may be wondering, “How many people actually buy used clothes online?”
The answer is way more than you’d think! The fashion resale industry is worth a whopping $20 billion, making it the leading resale market in America. It’s growing 24 times faster than its retail counterpart. Once you start selling your old clothes online, you’ll see the demand for yourself.
After checking out the deals in the resale market, you might be inspired to shop used yourself. Resale fashion is much more affordable. Better yet, many of the resale listings feature new or like-new clothing pieces.
How Can I Get Money for My Old Clothes?
If you’re finally ready to part with those tight jeans or that fussy blouse you never wear, you’re in the right place. Selling clothes online has never been easier.
But what is the best app to sell clothes on?
What is the Best Way to Sell Used Clothes?
These days, there’s a plethora of resale clothing websites out there. Some charge selling fees, while others are totally free. While each used clothing resale platform differs slightly, they all function in a similar fashion.
Here are the general steps to selling on these platforms:
- Create a selling account
- Take photos of your items
- Create a product listing for each clothing item
- Wait for offers to come in
- Ship or drop off your item to the buyer once it’s sold
- Pay the listing or transaction fees, if there are any
By following these steps, you can recuperate some of your hard-earned money and declutter your closet at the same time. Feeling overwhelmed? Not to worry, there is no shame in hiring an assistant from apps like TaskRabbit to help you organize your wardrobe in less time.
What is the Best App to Sell Clothes?
Here are the 10 best app to sell clothes on that feature large user bases and convenient sales tools:
1. eBay
You’ve probably heard of the resale powerhouse known as eBay. Having been around since 1995, it’s grown into one of the largest resale platforms on the internet. It provides sellers access to a massive, worldwide customer base of over 182 million users!
How to Sell Clothes on eBay
To sell on eBay, start by setting up your seller account. Next, snap some high-quality photos and write a compelling product description. During the listing process, you’ll have an important choice to make: Auction or Buy It Now?
Auctions – eBay auctions allow users to bid on items. With each additional bid, your item’s selling price increases until the auction is over. If you have a particularly desirable item, like a limited edition jacket or a designer bag, you’ll get to watch one of eBay’s infamous bidding wars first-hand. Auctions are best suited for high-demand items, since they’re more likely to attract bidders.
Buy It Now – This “Buy It Now” option allows you to set your selling price. Interested buyers can still message you with lower offers, but these won’t trigger a sale. This option is better for items that aren’t in high demand. Since these listings probably won’t spark a bidding war, the “Buy It Now” feature ensures you still earn a decent revenue.
Once your item has sold, you’ll get paid via PayPal and have the option to purchase a shipping label directly through eBay for a slight discount.
Note: eBay’s selling fees are charged monthly. The platform takes 10% of your earnings, up to $750. Since you pay at the end of the month, after your earnings have reached your bank account, these charges can sneak up on you.
2. Poshmark
Compared to eBay, Poshmark is a much more fashion-focused platform. Poshmark only allows you to buy and sell clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry, and only recently, home decor. It’s a popular platform amongst savvy fashionistas on the hunt for great deals.
After snapping a few photos on your smartphone, simply upload them to the Poshmark app and fill out the product details:
- Category
- Size
- Color
- Description
- Condition
- Price
Poshmark also asks you to include the item’s retail price. It will be shown next to your asking price to highlight the hefty discount you’re providing.
Other Poshmark Features
Poshmark has strategically designed itself to look like a social media platform. As with Instagram or Twitter, you can follow users that have “closets” you admire, as well as amass a following for your own closet.
Here are a few special features you’ll enjoy on the Poshmark app:
Resharing – To boost the visibility of your listings, make sure to reshare them often. Resharing items sends them to the top of your followers’ news feed, as well as the top of any relevant Poshmark search results pages.
Posh Parties – Three times a day, Poshmark hosts “Posh Parties.” These parties have themes, like “Best in Jeans,” “Loungewear Favorites,” and “Everything Petite,” to name a few. If a Posher likes a theme, they can join the party and shop from a curated selection of relevant items. You can submit your listings to these parties in real-time.
Posh Authentication – For designer items priced above $500, Poshmark offers a free authentication service. This way, you can buy and sell luxury items with confidence.
Once an item sells, you’ll receive the prepaid shipping label automatically in your email. Keep in mind that Poshmark charges a 20% sales fee, which is on the higher end compared to other resale platforms.
3. Facebook Marketplace
Facebook is used by billions of people around the world. It enables users to:
- Connect with friends and family
- Read interesting articles
- Join community groups
Another lesser-known feature of this social media powerhouse is the Facebook Marketplace. This selling platform allows you to list your clothes directly on Facebook. Your social network and other locals in your area can shop your selection. By selling locally, you can meet up with your buyer in-person and save on shipping costs.
One major advantage of selling on Facebook Marketplace is that you won’t have to pay any seller fees or taxes. However, you’ll have to manage the transaction on your own.
4. The RealReal
If you have any luxury items lying around, The RealReal is the perfect site for you. As an authentic luxury consignment store, it gives shoppers the chance to buy coveted designer bags and high-end apparel at an affordable price.
Thanks to their authentication experts, each listing on The RealReal is guaranteed to be authentic.
You can list the following types of pre-owned designer items on The RealReal:
- Clothing
- Shoes
- Jewelry
- Bags
- Fine art
How Does The RealReal Work?
Since The RealReal is a consignment shop, it takes care of the entire selling process for you. You don’t have to worry about taking pictures or writing a product listing. Simply send your luxury goods to The RealReal via USPS, or by using their free, in-home pickup service.
However, this also means you won’t get to determine your clothing’s selling price.
Most items sell on The RealReal within 30 days, so you can enjoy quick cash. However, as with brick-and-mortar consignment shops, The RealReal takes a significant cut from the sale, ranging anywhere from 15% to 45%.
5. LetGo
LetGo is a website that bases its branding on the concept of “letting go.” By selling what you don’t need, you gain more freedom to focus on the things you love. This is a concept popularized by minimalism. Thus, you could say that the LetGo app encourages you to embrace your inner Marie Kondo.
An important aspect of LetGo is that it’s meant to be used locally. The platform doesn’t allow for in-app payments, so you’ll have to arrange all transactions on your own. An upside to this is that LetGo doesn’t charge any selling or listing fees.
This free selling platform has over 10 million users, providing your clothing with a wide audience of prospective buyers. Furthermore, LetGo uses an advanced algorithm to categorize your items in the search, ensuring buyers find your items with ease.
6. ThredUP
ThredUp is a thriving online consignment and thrift store. With over 5,000 new items listed daily, this platform attracts a wide variety of thrifty shoppers. In turn, you can expect your items to fly off the virtual shelves.
ThredUp does all the heavy lifting for you, taking the entire listing process off your hands. All you have to do is:
- Gather your clothing – ThredUP will mail you a convenient “clean out kit.” This kit includes a bag to toss all of your unwanted clothing into, along with a prepaid shipping label.
- Ship your clothes to ThredUP – Once you load your clothes into the kit, send them to ThredUP. Their team will carefully evaluate your items. ThredUP only accepts around 40% of all submissions. To increase your chances of getting accepted, only submit clothes that are in like-new condition.
- Request a return of the rejected items – If you want your rejected items back, you’ll have to pay a $10.99 shipping fee.
To enjoy ThredUP’s selling service, you have to fork over a large portion of your clothing’s sales revenue. Only expect to get back between 5% to 80% of your clothing’s selling price. If you choose to accept store credit as payment, you can keep a slightly larger cut.
7. Mercari
Mercari is a resale platform that features clothes, as well as electronics, toys, sports gear, and more. The app gets over 100,000 new listings every day and attracts millions of users. It’s also incredibly easy to use.
To list an item on Mercari, simply take a photo, write your description, and choose your price. Listing is free, but Mercari charges a 10% selling fee for each sale. Like Poshmark and The RealReal, Mercari also provides authentication services for designer listings.
Once you make a sale, Mercari will send you a prepaid, trackable shipping label. All you have to do is place your item in the mail. Once it’s accepted by the buyer, your funds will be released. No meetups required.
8. Grailed
Grailed is a unique selling platform because it focuses on menswear. When you browse Grailed, you’ll find a mix of high-end designers, like Gucci, as well as coveted street brands, like Supreme and Adidas.
To sell on Grailed, follow these steps:
- Create a Grailed account
- Upload a minimum of 3 high-quality photos with a simple background
- Select the correct men’s market:
a. High-end designers
b. New release streetwear
c. Classic menswear
d. Mainstream brands
- Add your product information
- Set your price
- Wait for offers
This streamlined menswear platform only charges a selling fee of 6%. Thus, you get to keep the majority of your earnings, which will conveniently be sent to your Paypal account.
9. Vinted
Vinted is another awesome fashion-focused resale platform. On this app, you’ll find everything from high-end designer brands to mainstream labels. You can sell items, or swap with other sellers if they have listings that catch your eye.
To sell on Vinted, simply list your items with photos and a description, and set your price. Interested buyers will message you with their questions and offers. Once you accept an offer, you have five days to ship the item. Your funds will only be released after the buyer confirms it’s arrival. At this time, you can transfer your earnings into your bank account or Paypal account.
The standout feature of Vinted is that all listing and selling fees are paid for by the buyer, instead of the seller. Thus, you get to keep all of your revenue.
10. Depop
Lastly, there’s Depop. This selling app allows you to earn cash for your unwanted clothing and accessories. Like Poshmark, Depop encourages users to follow each other. By growing your following, you can increase your reach and make more sales.
Depop also gives you the option to add your location. By selling locally, you can pass off your item in person to avoid any shipping hassles. To enjoy their convenient platform, Depop charges a reasonable selling fee of 10%.
What is the Best Website to Sell Clothes?
As you can see, each selling platform has benefits and drawbacks. The right one for you depends on:
- How much revenue you want to keep
- How much time you’re willing to put into your listing
- What type of apparel you’re selling
- Whether or not you’re comfortable meeting up with buyers in-person
- Whether you’re selling an item that would benefit from authentication services
No matter what your selling preferences are, there’s a resale website out there for you. It also doesn’t hurt to give a few of them a try.
RebateKey – Get Cash As You Shop
Once you start selling your old clothing, you’ll realize something very quickly: Retail prices are highly inflated.
Even brand new clothing is sold at a heavy discount on the resale market. Once you discover this secret, you’ll never want to pay full price again. Why would you when there are so many cheaper options out there? Surprisingly, this concept not only applies to retail clothing, but also to the food and beverage industry, hence the purpose of free food apps.
One way to shop retail without paying full price is to use RebateKey. It enables you to get cash back as you shop online. All your savings will be sent to you in a convenient check once a month. Sign up with RebateKey and start saving today!
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