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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by thredUP, but written by your usual friendly blogger, Kat. Curious about what we mean by “sponsored”? Click here for more details. New to ThredUp? Click here for $10 off your first order.
As the weather gets warmer and you start putting aside your winter clothes, now is a great time to do a seasonal closet review and assess the holes you need to fill for the coming season, as well as what you really wore this past season — and consider how to get rid of the stuff you aren't wearing (or aren't excited to wear again), especially if the stuff is like new. I'm far too lazy to actually haul my stuff to a consignment store in person, and the pile of “stuff to sell on eBay” just never seems to move, so I've been thrilled to have a bunch of great experiences with thredUP, which is the largest online thrift store that buys and sells high-quality secondhand fashion (for as much as 90% off!). (This is a sponsored post, but my enthusiasm is real.) There's also been a bunch in the news lately about how to be a more ethical shopper, and shopping vintage and consignment is definitely one way to do that.
Here are three things I love about the thredUP experiences I've had so far:
1. Cleanout is EASY with thredUP.
First: I love that they send you an absolutely ginormous bag that you can use to clean out your closet. These things are huge! (I think my first introduction to the brand was seeing someone else's bags waiting in my apartment lobby for pickup — they're gray and green and so much bigger than what normally comes or goes in the mail.) I've STUFFED several thredUP bags now, and I have never had a bad experience — sending shoes (in shoe boxes!), bags, dresses, shirts, coats, and more. The company prefers clothes that are recent (definitely within the last five years), and are in really good condition — and they have a list of which brands they prefer for women and children, as well as what items in particular they're looking for right now. I always turn on “return assurance,” which means that I don't review any of that stuff and instead just pay $10.99 to get anything they don't accept returned to me. (Otherwise they donate it, which is also another great option.)
2. Selling is super convenient too.
Once your cleanout bag arrives and gets processed, the thredUP team triple inspects each item by hand to ensure all the clothes are like-new, and then THEY take pictures and describe the piece (including any imperfections). Some items they'll accept outright and give you an “upfront payout” amount — other items that might sell for more they'll accept on “consignment payout,” with a suggested price for resale. Then, you can go in and change the pricing, adjusting it up (I'm not ready to part with it unless I can get $$$ for it!) or down (I do not want to see it at my doorstep again!). thredUP is very open about how much of a cut they're taking. (My view is that their “cut” is totally worth it considering I don't have to bother photographing my items, describing them, answering questions from potential buyers, shipping them, or other fun.)
For your “upfront payout” pieces, as well as whatever sells in consignment — they give you that money in your account. You can then request a check for cash, or — as I usually do — is just turn around and spend it at thredUP.
For example, a few months ago I sent in a bag with a ton of dresses, tops, and bags I wasn't wearing, including some of my maternity dresses. Some of the stuff they took right away as “upfront payout” — mostly things that wouldn't have sold for more than $20 on the site anyway — while a few of the “bigger” pieces they took as consignment payout pieces. Everything sold (although I think I did adjust the price down on the Beirn tote.) I actually just sent in another two big bags that are still being processed by thredUP right now.
Here was my upfront payout, meaning this was stuff that was accepted off the bat (including two sweaters my MIL gifted me, shhh):
And these were my consignment payout pieces — note that the payout percentage can vary.
3. Buying things at thredUP is super easy — and they've got a great selection with great prices.
I've mentioned before the deals I've gotten at thredUP, and I love even more that I was able to use cash in my account in order to do it. (It feels less like “shopping unnecessarily” and more like “turning like-new clothes I already stupidly purchased and don't wear into nice clothes that I actually DO want”). I love that you can filter by sizes, checking several sizes at once “and their equivalents” to account for European sizing — and I love that once you log in, thredUP remembers your sizes. This way, a) you don't have to set up the filters each time you come on site and b) you don't get super excited to see something on sale and then realize it's only available in something that is not your size. You can also limit sizes by petite, tall, plus, or maternity sizes. There's a huge variety in brands — right now you can buy something from Armani and Merona in the same transaction. They add 15,000 items every day, so there's always something new to find.
Some of my greatest hauls from thredUP:
- a Rag & Bone blazer for $51 — I couldn't believe my luck! It's like new, black wool with leather details, and it was $495 when it was new. (This was part of my first order so I believe the price included a $50 promotion from the site.)
- a David Meister dress for $35 — it's a simple black sheath dress with a boat neckline and ruched details along the sides. It was $368 new (and also part of my first order). (I had a David Meister dress years ago that I thought of as my “hot mama” dress (um, here's a totally unflattering picture of me in it) — it fit perfectly and was amazing. Thanks to Rent the Runway credits and the fact that most of our date nights are pretty laid back, I haven't had any formal-but-fun occasions that required the purchase of new clothes in a while, so I was super psyched to get it another dress from the brand for such a great deal.)
- a blue Beirn tote bag that I've always wanted (the one I sold was a longer, bigger tote that I found to be an awkward size) for $95, down from $327 — it was actually marked $119 but thredUP was having a 20% off sale, so I took advantage of that. I've got a matching wallet in this bright cobalt leather so I knew I loved the leather and the brand.
In addition to the huge variety that thredUP has, it's great that you can get free shipping over $79 — and you can get free returns if you choose store credit (which if you're like me you're probably using to buy anyway). There are some final sale items that aren't returnable, but those are usually killer deals.
Recently, doing a hunt right now on size M turned up a ton of great items, including:
- a simple and gorgeous Lafayette 148 New York cardigan for $69, down from $321
- a stunning cocktail dress from French brand Paul & Joe for $133, down from $570
- a feminine but classic Barneys New York blazer for $210 down from $1000
- a feminine tweed blazer from Classiques Entier for $29.99 (they have it marked as having an MSRP of $238, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't higher than that in the store!)
Once you place an order, your new items arrive folded with care, wrapped in cute tissue paper inside of a thredUP's signature polka dot box. Win win.
Readers who have tried thredUP — what were your thoughts? For those of you who HAVEN'T tried thredUP, you're in luck: thredUP is offering Corporette readers a special discount! The first 100 people to use code CORPORETTE40 will get an extra 40% off their first order. (Applies to new US customers only; discount is up to $50.)
Thank you so much to thredUP for sponsoring this post!
Ellen
I already do much of this. Every month, I pull everything out my bedroom closet, and put back everything I have worn within the past month. If I have NOT worn it, I put it in the hall closet and when I next do my monthley inventory, I again move things into the hall closet, but what is in there goes OUT to the Salavation Army or Goodwill or NY Cares — I rotate so that all peeople can benefit from my stuff. I recomend this to the ENTIRE HIVE. It keeps your closet fresh and your charaties happy when they get new stuff from you. YAY!!!!!
Anonymous
I suspect thread up boosted the price they gave you for these items since it was a sponsored post. I sent them a bag and they accepted four items for selling (don’t remember how many I sent, although I don’t think it was many more than that, if any), including a like-new pair of work pants and a silk BR blouse and got less than $13 for all four items.
Anonymous
Actually, they were brand new pants with tags. I remember now. I bought the wrong size and missed the return window.
Anon
I got waaay less than I was accustomed to getting from the last few bags I sent in (example, last year I was consistently getting $50-$60 per full bag; this last time I got $30 per full bag), and then what was really annoying was that they accepted a bunch of stuff for consignment, instead of buying it outright. Stuff took awhile to sell and so I had all these little bits of credit – like $4 at a time – trickling into my account. Not helpful for buying new things. I’ve loved Thredup because I’ve recently lost weight and started working in a more casual office, and being able to essentially trade out clothes has been helpful. But I won’t continue selling to them unless I can get reasonable prices for things and also get credits on a reasonable schedule.
Scarlett
I had the same experience – no change in the clothes I sent in, but I went from getting around $100/bag to $20. I’m going to consign elsewhere.
Samantha
Hi Scarlett, we’re sorry to hear that your feelings for thredUP have declined. That’s the last thing we want to have happen. We know it can be frustrating to receive less than you expected, especially if you’re a seasoned seller with us. We’d love to review the details of your payouts, and see what may have caused the difference. Shoot us an email to support@thredup.com. We hope to hear from you! -Samantha, from thredUP
Dee
Same here, as a Thedup seller I am skeptical of Kat’s experience because they discarded so much like-new stuff I sent in (and I didn’t want to pay the $12 return assurance, hoping they’d be fairer. I have a theory their workers just pocket whatever they want because the volume of bags sent in is tremendous and no one would be the wiser. What they didn’t discard, they gave me pennies for. I still use them because of the convenience and small selling market for re-selling non-high-end stuff. For high end stuff, I’ve had a way better experience with TheRealReal.
True story: ThredUp totally screwed me over once when I sent them an Oscar de la Renta black leather jacket (granted it was not a recent style, more vintage) and got $4 for it because they mis-labeled the brand as O’Shara (WTF?). Guess what customer service did after I complained: they just updated the brand on the webpage (but not price as it had already sold by then for the pennies I got) and did not give me any more money for it!
As a buyer, I find Thredup to be much less of a bargain than the steals I’ve found on Poshmark and Ebay (and even TheRealReal). Also, any earnings you get as a seller should be redeemed in cash because they don’t give you any bonus credit for using it towards their website (e.g. redeem your earnings or get a 15% premium in Thredup credit by using it on our site).
Clarissa
Oof. At least some other sites let you name your own price with full knowledge of commission rates and mailing.
Samantha
Hi Clarissa! With consignment, we do list the item with an initial resale price, but the seller is welcome to adjust it as they’d like. :) -Samantha, from thredUP
Anonymous
Same. I sent in a bag with 12 items (many new-with tags) and I got less than $20. And I found the ranges they give extremely misleading. For example, they said they paid something like $5-20 for an H&M dress (those numbers are from memory and might not be right, but it was something like that). I sent a never-worn-with-tags work dress from the current season and they gave me $5. So what kind of dress could possibly get more than $5? I think they basically offer the minimum for everything they accept and giving a range is incredibly deceitful.
Samantha
Hi there, it sounds like you may have used our older payout calculator. It gave a range that could vary, and we agree that it did not always set the best expectations. We’ve updated it to our new payout estimator which shows recently awarded payouts based on brand and item type. I think you’ll find that it’s much more representative of the payout you can expect to receive. Give it a spin here – https://www.thredup.com/p/cleanout-payout-estimator
Kat G
Actually the payouts pictured were from December, long before I started talking with thredUP — just a normal person account, not affiliated with my blogging identity at all.
Anonymous
Yeah, most of the brands are nicer ones than BR. In my experience, places like this are super brand conscious and BR/J. Crew is not nice enough to get their attention. It really makes sense because those stores have so many sales that a shopper could just go buy something new from BR; Thred UP has to beat that price.
Anon
One thing to remember is that clothes shrink with washing. I learned the hard way when I bought a few tshirts that they were very tight despite being labeled a Medium.
Samantha
Oh no, can we help with a return? Drop us a line to support@thredup.com and we’ll take care of it! -Samantha, from thredUP
Anonon
I’m a fairly new customer of ThredUp and have a mixed review of the process. In terms of buying from the website, my biggest issue is the insufficient number of pictures. Usually, the site only has a front and back picture of an item displayed on a mannequin. This can make it difficult to tell how the sleeves fall on certain items, especially on darker colored clothing. For example, I don’t like flowy sleeves but I ended up with an item that had flowy sleeves because I couldn’t discern the sleeve style from the pictures and it wasn’t included in the description.
The other problem issue is that measurements are not included for individual items. Companies vary widely in what a S or XS mean (my sizes), and when you shop from a specific brand they usually provide a size chart. Because TU sells so many brands and doesn’t include measurements, you pretty much have to guess if the size will fit you if you’re not familiar with the particular brand of the item.
If you’re selling an item, just be aware that it can take a month for them to assess your bag and determine if they can sell them. Not a biggie for me, but set expectations accordingly.
With all that said, I’m still giving it a shot. There are some pretty great deals and I’ve been happy with a few of the items I have purchased from there. I’ve been wanting to incorporate more silk tops into my wardrobe and since it can be expensive to buy them retail, ThredUp has been an affordable way to go about it. I would say that I have had about a 60% success rate in terms of buying. Still waiting for the bag of clothes that I sent in to be processed so can’t say how I satisfied I will ultimately be with that side.
In-House in Texas
Does anyone who has the Dagne Dover Legend Tote wear it on their shoulder? The photo on the site just has the model with the bag in her hand. I’m a shoulder girl….thanks~!
Anon
I was going to post this this morning on the main thread, but since I bought this item from Thredup :-) I’ll post here. I’m wearing one of the pleat-neck Calvin Klein shells that was mentioned yesterday morning, as a recommendation for the person who is getting mean-girled for accidentally showing cleavage at work. I really like this top – I don’t have a cleavage problem generally, but do have to watch my amount of chest exposure. This shell’s neckline comes up high enough without being too high, and it doesn’t gape when I bend over. I think it would be a good choice for the OP on that thread yesterday. I’m going to look for a couple more as they’re the right mix of comfortable, stylish and flattering for me.
anonymous
Thanks for the report! I am not the OP, but I recently discovered that, since I gained some weight, some necklines that used to be okay are now not okay (if I don’t watch my posture, etc.). I am sure others noticed before I did, but there’s nothing I can do now other than fix the problem. And I don’t know if this is me being conscious about my weight, but high necklines emphasize my new figure in a way that I’m not comfortable with either. I can’t tell if this shell is too high or not (or if I’m looking at the right one?), but I will plan to try it on in store at my next opportunity.
Sloan Sabbith
I really like the one shell I have. I bought it for an interview and don’t wear it super often because it’s a bit fancier than my office calls for (…and uh, one of the only times I would need to wear it is when presenting to the people who interviewed me, and I wonder if they think I only have one nice top), but it’s light and feels nice and the stretch isn’t clingy.
Anonymous
I’ll be honest, I’ve had really good experiences with ThredUp buying and really meh experiences with ThredUp selling. I had one Banana Republic bag get sold on consignment for which I actually made more money than I bought it (had bought on sale, sold for more and took home 60%). Most things thought I’ve made pennies on the dollar. And I’ve had a ton of stuff not accepted – even things that were new with tags.
I generally only buy things from brands I know, and often things that I have either tried on or own already in similar styles/colors. It’s a great way to purchase things that are about a season or two old – including a couple of things that I meant to buy but got sold out (esp. from JCrew and Lululemon).
Samantha
Hi there, we’re so thrilled to hear that you are enjoying shopping with us! But we want you to love every aspect of thredUP. Would it be helpful to chat with our specialists to find out why certain items were not accepted, or the reasoning behind our pricing and payouts? We keep a detailed list of the items we are unable to accept, and we’re happy to share that with you upon request. Just give us a shout to support@thredup.com. :) -Samantha, from thredUP
Anon
ThredUp is great for kids clothes (buying and clearing out, but not really to make money).
Kate
TW: domestic violence
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Earlier today I witnessed a man violently yelling at a woman in public. I didn’t know what to do, and vaguely remembered learning that intervening in a wrong way can make things worse for victims of abuse, so I did nothing and immediately regretted it. This resource helped me learn what to do next time, so I’m sharing it to help others who may find themselves in similar situations. I also made multiple copies of local domestic violence resources and put them in my wallet.
http://www.icadvinc.org/prevention/for-bystanders/intervening-to-prevent-violence/
Mary
ThredUp is where I send clothing that I’ve tried every other money making way to get rid of. Because you will not make a reasonable amount from them. At all. And for some reason, even brand new stuff will have the little * that means it’s damaged in some way and going to the Basement section. They’re fine if you just want to get rid of stuff, but they’re definitely not my first choice. They used to be better, when I started sending stuff to them a few years ago, but now they’re just meh.
Torin
+1 to the damage comment. My experience has been that they add that asterisk to things that are in _extremely_ good condition as well as things I fully admit were showing some wear. It’s totally inconsistent.
JEB
I’ve sold with them a few times. 15-20 accepted items from BR, J Crew have fetched around $50. So it’s definitely a low pay out. But I don’t mind, since I’d otherwise take the items to goodwill. I had once instance where I sent brand new Cole Haan pumps and they sent them to the basement section (I complained about it here!). I wrote to complain, and they moved them out of the basement and paid me like $20 (as opposed to the pennies I received previously). In the future, if I have something that nice, I won’t send it to ThredUp and would consider using one of the upscale online consignment options instead.
In terms of buying, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I’ve purchased some J Crew work dresses for around $30 that have been really nice, and I just picked up two pairs of jeans that I really like. I’ve also had lots of luck with toddler clothes. Although I looked at some dresses today, and it seemed like the prices have gone up significantly. Has anyone else noticed this? The cons: the return window is short (14 days), so I was burned on that once. And I agree with a prior poster that some items are photographed too poorly to see any of the details…I’ve learned to steer clear of black dresses for this reason.
Em
Love ThredUp! I work in a developing country on local salary, but still have my American taste, so this helps reconcile those two. I’ve sold a few things to them that were destined for Goodwill…my payouts have always been tiny, but better than nothing!
My favorite cardigan has been discontinued, but frequent scouring of ThredUp has gotten me a replacement, so I’m very happy with that!
Rebecca
I love ThredUp for shopping! I’ve gotten lots of like-new items and even several with the tags still attached. I like that they carry a lot of brands that I wear already (J Crew, BR, Ann Taylor, etc) so I’m already familiar with sizing for those brands.
I haven’t tried selling through them. Honestly, doing consignment is a little more effort than I want to put into it. I usually just donate my clothes to a non-profit thrift store in my neighborhood rather than deal with online or consignment stores. I’m admittedly lazy, though!
Samantha
Hey Rebecca, one of the best parts about cleaning out with thredUP is that it takes the least amount of time as possible! You don’t even have to leave your house! You can have the bag picked up from your doorstep, and we’ll take care of the rest! -Samantha, from thredUP
Morgan
I’ve gotten some great items on ThreadUp, but what continues to drive me nuts is that they don’t match blazers and suit jackets with their accompanying pants or skirt. I would LOVE to buy a suit through ThreadUp, but it is maddening to find a jacket and then have to hunt for the accompanying pieces based on fabric content or whatever else you can figure out. I’ve made the request to them several times that they figure out a way to match the items, but it still hasn’t happened.
LizM
I use Thredup for children’s clothes. I hate buying new clothes for my toddler just so he can trash them or outgrow them, and I like that their selection is more varied than just stuff from Target and Carters.
I sell his clothes on Thredup, I don’t get a very big payout, but it’s more than I would get at Goodwill, and I don’t have the time/patience for other resale options, so it’s worth it to me.
I’ve also been pretty happy with stuff I’ve bought from Thredup, although was a little disappointed with the pay out amount. However, I’ll readily admit I wasn’t selling super high-end stuff, and like my son’s clothes, if I didn’t sell them, I would have taken them to Goodwill, so at least I got a few dollars to spend on new clothes.