Spring Cleaning: 4 Places to Sell Clothes Online

Photo by Kai Pilger from Pexels

Since people have more time on their hands because of the need for social distancing, spring cleaning just got much easier. With all of this new free time, why not participate in the tradition of spring cleaning? When it comes to decluttering, your closet is a great place to start. The average American throws away 80 pounds of clothes per year, according to Newsweek. A great way to give your old clothes a new home and have a bit of pocket change is by selling clothes through the internet!

Depop (Best for handmade and vintage clothing)

Depop is probably the most well-known secondhand marketplace. The app’s most popular categories are vintage, handmade clothing and accessories. It has a convenient messaging feature where both buyers and sellers can negotiate item prices (to the seller’s discretion) or get more details about a specific item. The app’s layout is very similar to Instagram’s, and users are able to follow certain buyers who sell what they like.

Sellers simply take a photo of the items they want to sell, fill out a description, and can either use USPS with Depop, or their own shipping methods for the item. Payment is done through Paypal, and sellers are able to access all of their past and present sales within the app. After the transaction, the buyer and seller can leave public reviews on each other’s accounts. Depop and Paypal both have selling and transaction fees. Depop partnered with Real Authentication, where sellers must purchase a £15.00 from the Depop Supplies shop (approximately $17.68) and email supplies@depop.com to redeem the credit.

Depop desktop is great for rearranging items in the seller’s store, mass-posting items, and seeing what’s on the explore page on a bigger screen. For the most useful features, like messaging, following, and liking and saving items, the Depop app is the way to go. The app is more convenient, and you can do everything mentioned above.

ThredUp (Best for branded and designer clothing)

ThredUp is another great online marketplace with a focus on selling new or used items with sales tags or lightly used branded clothing. It focuses on clothes from brands such as Lululemon, Anthropologie, Free People, The North Face and more. Sellers order a free Clean Out Kit from ThredUp and send back the clothes they want to consign or donate.

If selling, ThredUp will sell the clothes on their site during a window and give sellers a payout (either cash or partner store credit). For “value” and “mall” brands, the selling window is 60 days, while for “premium” and designer brands it’s 90 days. If the items don’t sell within that time, the seller has up to 14 days to reclaim their items, afterward it becomes property of ThredUp. The only time the Clean Out Kit doesn’t work well is if the seller would like the unaccepted items returned and if they want the one-week processing of their clothes instead of the average five weeks.

ThredUp payouts are the highest when selling designer or higher-end brands, otherwise, it’s best to sell to the company if getting rid of the clothes is more important than a profit. ThredUp’s app is colorful and quite useful. It has convenient tabs at the top similar to the site, where users can either buy clothes listed on ThredUp or sell.

Poshmark (Best for branded and designer clothing)

Poshmark is a blend of ThredUp’s principles with the functionality of Depop. Another marketplace focused on branded clothing, users can filter between men’s, women’s, luxury or all markets when buying and selling. Sellers post their items and can share others’ listings onto their page, sort of like a repost.

The app hosts parties where users can join and showcase their listings related to the party’s theme, such as the “Best in Jackets & Coats Posh Party.” The app uses flat rate shipping and takes a commission depending on the price of the item. Poshmark has an authentication process for orders priced over $500. Buyers can send the item for free to Poshmark HQ, where the team will inspect the item. If it can be authenticated, then the item is shipped back to the buyer.

A downside to Poshmark is that there is no messaging feature, so the buyer and seller have to talk through comments on an item. Poshmark is more efficient on desktop because it looks less cluttered, especially on the notifications tab. On mobile, it feels like an endless horizontal scroll.

Mercari (Best for mall and common brands)

Mercari is another great place for selling clothes, whether they are from a popular brand or not. What makes this app unique is its in-app offer feature. Sellers can post their items for a price, and make a public or private offer to those who like their items on the app. The messaging feature is ingrained with the offering, so buyers and sellers can negotiate with each other. Mercari charges a flat 10% selling fee. On Mercari, there is no authentication process, and only certain messages are shown on desktop. Using the app is better overall because messages are more cohesive, and everything is more compact.

These are only a small list of online marketplaces for selling clothes; sites like Vinted, eBay, The RealReal, Grailed, Heroine and so many more fit niche markets. Getting rid of old clothes doesn’t have to be a drag, try selling them online!