I’ve shared a LOT about how much I love thredUP, an online consignment store. Since last November, I’ve placed multiple orders for both myself and the girls. It’s honestly a godsend for kids’ clothes! You can filter by size, brand, color, etc and the savings are pretty impressive.
Beyond kids’ clothes, they also have women’s clothes, maternity (brilliant!), shoes, handbags, and a designer section. All at great prices. I’ve been sold on the buying end for sometime, but one area I’ve heard a lot of criticism on is selling clothes to ThredUP.
I’ve sent them clothes 3 times, making $4.45, $33.20, and $46.15 respectively.
This past time, I decided to take a closer look at the process and results so I could report back my thoughts.
The Process to Sell Clothes with ThredUP
I ordered my clean out kit in the beginning of July. They sent me the large, prepaid bag. Immediately I mailed it back filled with 40 items, a mix of my and the girls’ clothes. They received it July 14 and I received an email saying it would be processed by August 8. Roughly 3 weeks! Apparently they’ve received a ton of bags lately.
It did not end up taking that long though, as on July 19th I got an email telling me it had been processed. They ended up accepting 24 items from my bag (60%) and paid me upfront $46.15. The other 40% of my items were recycled.
The above picture lists the items they kept, in case you are curious on which brands they accepted.
They are very clear about their standards for accepting items. They also are upfront in the fact that they usually keep about 40% of the items they receive overall because they have high standards. They must defect-free, on-trend, in-season, and name-brand. Here is the list of name brands they will accept.
If you’d like a better idea of what your clothes will earn, you can check out their earnings estimating calculator.
[Tweet “Curious about selling your clothes with ThredUp? Get the detailed scoop from @ahealthyslice first! #thredup”]
The clothes they do not accept from your bag are either returned to you for a fee of $9.99 or ThredUp does one of two things: 1. They sell clothes that are in good shape but not up to ThredUp standards to 3rd party sellers OR 2. they are recycled and re-purposed into useful products like carpet and pillow stuffing.
Both the girls’ dresses above came from ThredUp and are in excellent condition (Hanna Andersson and Baby Gap).
So to answer the major question at hand:
Would I sell with ThredUp again?
I would. However, I have my expectations pretty low, I will still probably continue to give to Goodwill most of all, but if I have the occasional few nice items that I just don’t wear, I would send it in to ThredUp. At the very least it would help support my buying habit. I would not, however, send any clothes in that I would want to get back if they did not accept. Paying $10 to get my clothes returned wipes out any benefit of earnings in my book.
I definitely will be buying more clothes from ThredUP though. I actually have a polka-dot box on its way to me as I type. Getting ready for back to school, with this dress for Hailey and a few additional items as well. Oh Hanna Andersson, I love you. Now if only I could find a matching pair of these on ThredUp for the girls.
Interested in using ThredUP yourself?
If you are interested in shopping, use my referral link and get $10 towards you first purchase. You can probably buy 1 if not 2 items on that credit alone! In full disclosure, I will also get a $10 credit to go towards supporting my ThredUp habit.
Weigh in!
Have you used ThredUp for buying or selling clothes?
What was your experience like?
Do you like to shop consignment?
Tammy says
Is there a cash back option? So rather than getting money to spend at their site, they actually pay you for your clothes?
Heather says
I think I may actually give this a try. I haven’t in the past because my kids are usually so rough with their clothes, but there are a handful of really cute items that they’ve worn maybe once or twice and are in great shape and could be perfect for this. In the past I’ve run into issues at kid consignment stores accepting brands that aren’t in their system that I’ve gotten in boutiques or off Zulily, so what the heck?
La says
I recently cleaned out my daughter’s clothes (baby to 3T–so loads and loads) and went to two different Once Upon a Child stores. Both times I made $179 (this included selling some puzzles and baby toys she outgrew). I still had tons of clothes leftover to donate to Goodwill. I just washed them, folded them, and put them in large containers with lids. Maybe something to think about for the girls’ clothes!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh wow that’s fantastic!! I’ll have to consider that next time for sure. Thanks for the info!
Julia @ Drops of Jules says
My family never buys brands that would fall into these categories, and we’ve always just donated to Salvation Army. It feels god to do that, and it helps us keep on track when it comes to our organization. I love a company like this though! It sounds like if you have the right clothes to dispose of, this is a fantastic service!
Jessica says
I’ve heard great things about ThreadUp. I’ve been concerned about the resale though. Not that I expect to make a ton of money selling my old stuff, but I’d hope for more than that. 🙂
Alyssa @ Renaissancerunnergirl says
I’ve made $40-$50 off bags I sent into Thredup, but they were stuffed with things like Theory work dresses, Milly/nanette lepore skirts, and other items that retail for $200-$300 each. I probably received $10-20 for each accepted item, and more like $5-10 for items in the $50-$100 original price range. I have so much because my mom took me outlet shopping for such things before my first summer job at a law firm 3 years ago when I wasn’t doing well with my eating habits, and the clothes no longer fit. Better to make a couple hundred dollars, but it won’t be more than 10% of the value of the item.
B says
i’ll be curious to see how well I do with my thredup bag I just sent in. I have a lot more baby boy clothes that are like new and brand name, not sure if I should local consign them or send them in. I always donate what is not accepted and all of our clothes are in excellent condition.
Linda says
I love Hanna Andersson for my daughter too. There are some great Hanna Andersson and Mini Boden BST groups on facebooks where you can get great deals on clothes too.
Brittany Dixon says
Oh, what a great idea!! Mini Boden is so adorable too. I need to look into this. Thanks!
Abby says
Check out the Kidizen app! You can buy and sell directly to other moms! The app makes it really easy and you can make more selling than you would at a consignment store or through ThredUp. I admit that ThredUp is by far the most convenient. I have a bag processing right now, and it is where I sent all of my maternity clothes.
I also have the same Hanna Andersson dress with the matching striped shorts for my 2-year-old! It is one of our favorite outfits!
Brittany Dixon says
I’ve never even heard of Kidizen, but am going to look it up now- sounds amazing! Thanks!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
I am so glad you posted this update! I got a bag, and I am going to send them a few things. But like you, I think I will be mostly a “buy” side customer. 🙂
Kim says
While it is always nice to have more options to buy online, still my go-to buy and sell is ebay. I’ve always seem to find the best deals for buying and definitely get alot more money selling. Now, I tend to buy all of our name brand things on sale/clearance or on ebay or facebook selling groups, but almost always I get the 75% or more back when I sell of what I paid for it. Yes, it take a bit of time to take photos and list, but for the return on investment, it is well worth it in my books, this way I feel like we are not spending much on clothes at all, as if we bring something in, we sell something and it only cost a few bucks each time.
Brittany Dixon says
I have heard that people who use ebay swear by it! I’ve always been intimidated by the process, but that’s quite a return you’re getting. Thanks for sharing!
Amanda says
I’ve done it a few times but I never feel like I get “enough” cash back, but I have to admit, it is very convenient! And I do like shopping for the kids on it, very easy like you said. Otherwise, I’ll donate our nice clothes to a local organization–Helen’s Hope Chest in Arizona–that gives them away to local foster kids. The foster kids are able to visit the organization and go “shopping” a few times year.
Morgan says
This is awesome! Sounds like a great way to earn extra cash. Thanks so much for the info!
Andrea says
I have had great luck on the buying side o this site. Awful luck on the selling, I sent them twenty pieces of maternity clothes, good brands in good shape. They excepted 5 and I made $20.