Take a look at your clothing items sitting in your closet, barely worn and gathering dust. Instead of letting them go to waste, why not turn them into cash, and give them a second life at the same time? Selling your gently used clothing is a great way to declutter, earn a little extra, and help reduce waste by keeping items in circulation. Here are some practical tips to get started.
Prepare your clothes before selling them
Use these tips to prepare your gently used clothing items to sell:
- Make sure the clothes are clean and odor free. Be sure to wash or dry clean before selling.
- Items should be stain-free, no pilling, no holes or tears, and no missing buttons or snaps. If possible, repair any damage prior to selling. Bring them to a Fix-It Clinic if you need help.
- When selling in person, fold the clothing neatly or put it on a hanger.
- If selling online, take good photos in well-lit areas with minimal background. Take pictures of any clothing tags in the item and take up-close and front/back shots of the item. Be sure to neatly package your items for shipping to reduce wrinkles.
How can you sell your used clothing?
One thing to keep in mind when selling your items is that most retailers who buy secondhand clothing plan to resell it for a profit. Because of this, you shouldn’t expect to receive top dollar for your pieces. Their offer will typically reflect what they can reasonably resell the item for, not its original retail price.
There are a few different ways to sell your clothing:
- Sell in person
- The quickest way to sell your clothing is to sell it outright to a retailer who will give you cash or store credit for your item.
- The other option for selling in person is through consignment. A retailer will sell your item and split the profit with you. You do not receive payment until after the item is sold. Learn more about selling with consignment.
- Sell online
- There are several online options for selling secondhand clothing, both outright and consignment depending on the platform.
Selling in person
There are many stores in the Twin Cities where you can sell your clothing. These stores will list their buying hours on their websites, if they sell consignment or buy outright, and instructions for how to sell to them.
Search the Choose to Reuse directory for stores near you. A few local options include:
Men, women, and children’s clothing
- Turnstyle Consignment: Consigns clothing, housewares and furniture at four locations in Hennepin County.
Women’s clothing
- Style Encore: Buys and sells gently used women’s casual and business clothing, shoes, handbags, and accessories.
- Clothes Mentor: Consigns clean, gently used women’s and maternity clothing and accessories.
Vintage or retro
- Bro Bros: Buys and sells vintage lifestyle clothing including professional sports merchandise, name brand items, and outerwear.
Designer or high end
- b.Resale: Buys and sells high quality current and vintage women’s and men’s clothing, shoes, and accessories.
Teen clothing
- Plato’s Closet: Buys and sells gently used favorite teen clothing, shoes, and accessory brands.
Plus-sized clothing
- Cake Plus-Size Resale: Buys and sells plus-size clothing, shoes, and accessories, sizes 1XL and above.
Wedding dresses
- Brides of France: Consigns wedding gowns purchased in the last 2-3 years.
Maternity clothing
- Bellies to Babies: Buys and sells maternity items, as well as baby clothes and supplies.
Sell online
If you want to sell online, there aren’t as many choices for specific types of clothing, but there are a lot of platforms to choose from.
Consignment
- ThredUp: A subscription-based service for men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing. ThredUp processes, inspects, photographs, and lists your items for you. Items that don’t get listed get donated or recycled.
- The RealReal: Online seller of authenticated luxury consignment of men’s and women’s fashion. Offers free virtual appointments, in-home pickup, drop-off, and direct shipping.
Cash transactions
- Vinted: This platform sells women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing along with other goods. The website also offers the option of swapping clothes with other sellers.
- Poshmark: Poshmark sells women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing and home goods. Prepaid shipping labels are included.
- Borrowing Magnolia: Sells wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, and accessories for you for one flat fee.
- Depop: This newer platform sells trending fashion in women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing for a small fee per transaction. Much like other platforms, you upload your listing and ship items right from your home.
- Facebook Marketplace: This neighborhood friendly platform helps you sell your clothes through your social network. Placing ads costs nothing, and you reap the rewards.
- eBay: The oldest of the auction and resale platforms, eBay is still a go-to for many sellers. Once you have an account, you can set up sales for all your clothing. eBay does take a cut of sales per transaction but can handle setting up payment transactions and shipping for you.
No matter how you choose to sell your clothes, you’ll be making extra cash while keeping perfectly good items out of the landfill. That’s a win-win for your wallet and the planet.
