Guest Post: Bon Marche Couture
I am pleased to have Emily from Bon March Couture guest post for me today while I am out of town for work. I met Emily on Instagram a while back and loved her vintage looks and thrifting techniques. Emily will be sharing with all of us tips on selling your unwanted items in your closet in today's post. Enjoy!
If you've been following along with any of Sandae's fashion challenges (welcome to Joyful June, by the way), you might be finding that some of those clothes tucked away in the back of your closet are just not working for you anymore. You could take them down to your local consignment store or Plato's Closet to earn a little extra cash. But there are several online services that enable you to do the same thing without even leaving the house! However, each one has its pluses and minuses. So read on to see which is the right fit for you!
thredUP operates like a conventional consignment store, with an online twist. You mail in your clothes (thredUP pays for the shipping), and anything that is accepted gets listed on the site for sale. Unsold items can be reclaimed within a certain window, but you pay for the return shipping ($12.99).
thredUP sets the prices, and the percentage of the sale that comes back to you depends on the selling price. The higher the price, the higher percentage you earn, so high-end clothes will net you a bigger payday. However, the site does accept more mainstream brands (like Gap and Ann Taylor). \par There are no fees to sell, but if you decide to "cash out" rather than spending your earnings on the site, you'll pay a fee to Paypal for the service. (The site also allows you to donate your earnings to charity without incurring any fees.)
Pros: Convenience; minimal fees for sellers\par Cons: Fees to cash out, reclaim unwanted clothes
With both an app and a standard website, Tradesy has gone to lengths to make its service easy to use. Like eBay, the site lets you set your own price and takes a commission (9 percent of all sales); you ship your clothes out when they sell. However, Tradesy's fee covers shipping, which eBay does not; and the site offers other perks, like retouching photos, and handling returns and disputes.
Payment is via Paypal, but like thredUP, you're charged Paypal fees if you cash out to spend your earnings off-site. And Tradesy has a much more high-end focus than thredUP (its "Cheap and Chic" section highlights brands like Coach, Zara, Bebe and Guess), so it's not the best place to find buyers for your clothes from Old Navy, Target and so on.
Pros: Ease of use, attractive presentation. Cons: Cashout fees; limited to designer clothes
Can't decide between Tradesy and thredUP? Threadflip's got you covered. The website offers two options. "Full service" works like thredUP, and "self service" works like Tradesy. Not surprisingly, you get a smaller commission (60 percent as opposed to 80 percent) if you choose full service. Whichever you choose, you get to name your own price, or select a price range (called "smart pricing"), which allows your item to go "on sale" after a certain period of time.
Like Tradesy, Threadflip caters to high-end brands, although it does accept vintage items as well. And here again, your earnings stay put in a Threadflip account, until you "cash out" via PayPal, incurring the usual fees.
Pros: Options galore Cons: Limited to high-end
Don't let the name "Poshmark" fool you; this online marketplace and companion app aren't just for designer togs. You'll find a range of brands on the site, but as a seller, your biggest payouts will come with designer brands; Poshmark takes a flat fee of $2.95 for sales of $15 or less, but for anything above that, you keep 80 percent of the selling price.
To sell on Poshmark, you'll need to download the free app for your iOs or Android phone, but you can browse offerings on the website. The site also hosts "Posh Parties" to highlight particular items, trends or brands.
Poshmark sets itself apart by not charging any fees to withdraw your earnings, offering the choice between a check, and direct deposit to your bank account. (You can, of course, spend your "Posh Credits" on the site as well.)
Pros: Ease of use and receiving payment Cons: Can only sell via smart-phone
Twice
Twice (which has a website as well as a companion app) buys your secondhand clothes outright, as opposed to selling them on commission. Like thredUP, Twice pays for you to ship them your clothes. The site then generates an offer for you based on the whole batch of clothes - no picking and choosing. If you accept the offer, you get your money; if you don't, you get to pay $5 for the pleasure of having your clothes returned to you.
Twice is very clear about which brands it will accept, and has a price estimator to give you an idea of what you can earn. (For one "basic" item, you can get $1 to $3; for one "premium" item, the payout is likely to be $5-$12.)
Payment is via PayPal, check or store credit, with no associated fees. And Twice actually gives you an extra 25 percent if you decide to spend your money there, which is a nice perk.
Pros: Up-front payment; clear list of accepted brands Cons: Have to pay to reclaim unwanted clothes
Having trouble keeping all these options straight? Here, I've created this chart for you:
Of course, there are lots of other ways to sell your clothes online, including eBay, Instagram and Facebook. But that's a whole separate post!
If you've been following along with any of Sandae's fashion challenges (welcome to Joyful June, by the way), you might be finding that some of those clothes tucked away in the back of your closet are just not working for you anymore. You could take them down to your local consignment store or Plato's Closet to earn a little extra cash. But there are several online services that enable you to do the same thing without even leaving the house! However, each one has its pluses and minuses. So read on to see which is the right fit for you!
thredUP
thredUP operates like a conventional consignment store, with an online twist. You mail in your clothes (thredUP pays for the shipping), and anything that is accepted gets listed on the site for sale. Unsold items can be reclaimed within a certain window, but you pay for the return shipping ($12.99).
thredUP sets the prices, and the percentage of the sale that comes back to you depends on the selling price. The higher the price, the higher percentage you earn, so high-end clothes will net you a bigger payday. However, the site does accept more mainstream brands (like Gap and Ann Taylor). \par There are no fees to sell, but if you decide to "cash out" rather than spending your earnings on the site, you'll pay a fee to Paypal for the service. (The site also allows you to donate your earnings to charity without incurring any fees.)
Pros: Convenience; minimal fees for sellers\par Cons: Fees to cash out, reclaim unwanted clothes
Tradesy
With both an app and a standard website, Tradesy has gone to lengths to make its service easy to use. Like eBay, the site lets you set your own price and takes a commission (9 percent of all sales); you ship your clothes out when they sell. However, Tradesy's fee covers shipping, which eBay does not; and the site offers other perks, like retouching photos, and handling returns and disputes.
Payment is via Paypal, but like thredUP, you're charged Paypal fees if you cash out to spend your earnings off-site. And Tradesy has a much more high-end focus than thredUP (its "Cheap and Chic" section highlights brands like Coach, Zara, Bebe and Guess), so it's not the best place to find buyers for your clothes from Old Navy, Target and so on.
Pros: Ease of use, attractive presentation. Cons: Cashout fees; limited to designer clothes
Threadflip
Can't decide between Tradesy and thredUP? Threadflip's got you covered. The website offers two options. "Full service" works like thredUP, and "self service" works like Tradesy. Not surprisingly, you get a smaller commission (60 percent as opposed to 80 percent) if you choose full service. Whichever you choose, you get to name your own price, or select a price range (called "smart pricing"), which allows your item to go "on sale" after a certain period of time.
Like Tradesy, Threadflip caters to high-end brands, although it does accept vintage items as well. And here again, your earnings stay put in a Threadflip account, until you "cash out" via PayPal, incurring the usual fees.
Pros: Options galore Cons: Limited to high-end
Poshmark
Don't let the name "Poshmark" fool you; this online marketplace and companion app aren't just for designer togs. You'll find a range of brands on the site, but as a seller, your biggest payouts will come with designer brands; Poshmark takes a flat fee of $2.95 for sales of $15 or less, but for anything above that, you keep 80 percent of the selling price.
To sell on Poshmark, you'll need to download the free app for your iOs or Android phone, but you can browse offerings on the website. The site also hosts "Posh Parties" to highlight particular items, trends or brands.
Poshmark sets itself apart by not charging any fees to withdraw your earnings, offering the choice between a check, and direct deposit to your bank account. (You can, of course, spend your "Posh Credits" on the site as well.)
Pros: Ease of use and receiving payment Cons: Can only sell via smart-phone
Twice
Twice (which has a website as well as a companion app) buys your secondhand clothes outright, as opposed to selling them on commission. Like thredUP, Twice pays for you to ship them your clothes. The site then generates an offer for you based on the whole batch of clothes - no picking and choosing. If you accept the offer, you get your money; if you don't, you get to pay $5 for the pleasure of having your clothes returned to you.
Twice is very clear about which brands it will accept, and has a price estimator to give you an idea of what you can earn. (For one "basic" item, you can get $1 to $3; for one "premium" item, the payout is likely to be $5-$12.)
Payment is via PayPal, check or store credit, with no associated fees. And Twice actually gives you an extra 25 percent if you decide to spend your money there, which is a nice perk.
Pros: Up-front payment; clear list of accepted brands Cons: Have to pay to reclaim unwanted clothes
Having trouble keeping all these options straight? Here, I've created this chart for you:
Of course, there are lots of other ways to sell your clothes online, including eBay, Instagram and Facebook. But that's a whole separate post!
Thanks for sharing these sites.
ReplyDeleteGood to know … thanks!
ReplyDeleteOXOX
Dawn Lucy
Great article and thanks for sharing! I think you can add Vinted too it's quite similar to poshmark or tradesy, you can check this out: http://www.vinted.com/women
ReplyDelete