Editor’s Picks: The Best Apps & Sites For Clothing Resale | Sell Your Clothes
Top 10 Apps for Clothing Resale — Editor’s Picks
For so many of us who love shopping for clothes, we quickly find that our closets have come overfull with vintage clothing, streetwear, luxury shoes, bags, and more.
While it is nice to have such an extensive wardrobe with so many options, it is often impossible to even wear all of these items — not to mention the fact your body may go through changes and styles will inevitably change.
Luckily, today it is easier than ever to make money selling your quality secondhand clothes. Between the myriad of websites and the many applications available that help you conduct these sales, you should have no problem emptying your closet and filling your PayPal or bank account. That is if you know where to look.
To help you figure it out, we have put together a quick guide of the most commonly used apps available today.
Our Editor’s Picks: Best Resale Clothing Apps
The following are the best apps to sell clothes on with your phone or computer:
1. Flyp
I want to start off with the application that many are saying they have had the greatest success with, Flyp. Flyp is an incredibly easy to use and highly functional site that connects you to a full network of professional salespeople who handle all of your sales’ heavy lifting.
This is a very modern and easy to use online consignment store system that is handily changing the way clothes reselling is taking place.
Flyp’s simple approach allows you to take photos of the items you wish to sell, be they vintage or luxury items or really anything others will find desirable, and this creates a ‘lot’. Then professional salespeople will bid on the right to sell the items in your lot with estimated sales numbers and a requested commission percentage.
You then pick the seller you want to work with and send them your lot using Flyp’s shipping label. As soon as a sale of any of your items is made, you then receive your portion of the money.
With these pro’s working on your behalf, you can sit back, relax, and get a great sale price on your brand-name clothing in good condition.
Visit JoinFlyp.com and check out this consignment store system with smartly integrated digital enhancements.
2. Poshmark
Poshmark is a nice reselling option that allows you to pick the pricing and run your own digital storefront variation, like an electronic thrift store.
The reason that this company has done as well as it has is that Poshmark syncs up well with Facebook and Instagram. Many do not like to have their social media accounts connected to sales sites, but for those who wish to leverage the power of social networks, this is a solid choice.
3. ThredUP
ThredUP is another tweak of the classic consignment system, but unlike Flyp, it is more centrally controlled, rather than being left up to the sales professionals.
With ThredUP, you put the items you wish to get rid of into their unique bags and send it off to them. The company will then sort through the items and decide which items can be sold and which should be donated. In some cases, you will be prepaid for the more high-end items.
While this is an easy and effective system for clearing out large amounts of old clothes, it can also net you much less overall. There is a reason you are prepaid for the items they think they can make the most off of. With all that said, this is perhaps the better option for bulk clothing removal, especially if you don’t mind a big chunk of it going straight into the donate pile.
4. Mercari
Mercari is a bit different than the previous options on this list. Mercari is a Japanese app with a big international marketplace. The large number of buyers on-site can be misleading since there is much more than simply clothing being offered on the site. At the same time, this does mean that your items are able to be quickly seen by large groups of people.
If you don’t mind the extra leg work in taking photos, making pitches and screening for scams, Mercari is a great option, especially if you are wishing to clear out more than unwanted clothing items.
5. Depop
Depop is very similar to the style of ‘self-ran thrift shop’ you see with Poshmark but is based out of the United Kingdom. Many British bloggers and social media personalities use it to sell original designs and the like, but there is still space for the reselling of clothes and other personal items.
If you are already doing the leg work for selling yourself on other sites, Depop can be a good way to augment your sales system and reach more customers.
6. Vinted
Vinted fits snugly in with the other options on this list like Depop and contains many of the same features, focusing on ‘gently used’ or high-quality, near new clothes. Vinted charges a lower fee than many other versions of these sorts of sites and is another way to get your clothes in front of more customers.
Something to consider is that Vinted lacks a key of the social feature that allows others to “follow” your store, meaning that it is important to correctly label your items and that they must be generally desirable or highly searched in the first place in order for customers to discover you.
For some, this can be a drawback, but it is also a way for smaller sellers with good items to more effectively compete.
7. Instagram
Instagram is amongst the most popular social media app in the world, with countless users logging in every day.
Instagram has huge potential for those with creative flair, and its visual nature is great for selling clothes and other designer items when you have reliable photography and lighting skills. It doesn’t have any back-end support for these sales, so you will have to manage the whole process yourself and directly with the buyer, but you simply can’t ignore the number of users you are likely to be able to get your goods in front of.
With hashtags like #gentlyused and #recycleyourstyle getting hundreds and thousands of views a day, Instagram provides a great platform for direct sales, or for funneling customers to one of your other digital storefronts.
8. Facebook Marketplace
Facebook and Instagram are sister applications, but their sales support options are quite different.
While Facebook will not get you nearly as many eyes on your products with hashtags, it does however, have a robust back-end to help you manage your sales. If you take the time to figure out the Facebook sales methods, and how to reach your potential buyers effectively, this can be just as effective as Instagram but with added support.
9. Craigslist
Craigslist is one of the original and still one of the largest platforms for reaching certain demographics and buyers. With the right photos, sales copy, and headlines, Craigslist can still be a powerful sales platform and is definitely still worth mentioning in such a list as this.
The downsides of Craigslist are also worth noting, in that you have to work directly with the buyer yourself, and will need to list every one of your items independently and effectively to make quality sales. On the other hand, you will not need to pay any commissions once the item sells.
10. Etsy
While Etsy is best known for hand-made crafts and creative endeavors, it also allows reselling in the vintage and craft supplies categories.
Like with the other retailer applications that have huge marketplaces of assorted goods, you will do better selling high-end and trending clothes that people are often searching for. With a well-managed sales page and a fair selling price, shoppers on Etsy should have no problem helping you clear out your closet.
11. Honorable Mentions
Tradesy, The RealReal, Rebag, Grailed, Zara, and Amazon are also all reselling capable sites that can be very effective when put into the right hands. All of these sites will allow you to clear out clothing of all types, including vintage and formal wear, and can also be stops for luxury bags, and accessories.
Make sure to make a quick visit to each of these sites and compare them to the apps you are considering. You may find that some of their unique features (for example, once your shop takes off, you get a lot of options with Amazon), will actually work better with how you plan to conduct your sales.
These are all quality sites and apps and well worth your time even if they didn’t make it too high on this list.
Selling Clothes Online and in an App for Profit
Whether you are selling high-end clothes or used items that were mediocre, to begin with, there is a way to get it sold. If you are a natural salesperson, you can actually spend time finding clothes on discount and then reselling them for an even greater price on many of these sites. In many ways, the traditional fashion markets are being actively disrupted by the many new options appearing to help us buy and sell clothes.
Do a quick experiment and get some deeply discounted items, and then see what you can get for them on your favorite resale site. For many fashionistas, this becomes a fun and profitable hobby.
Start Reselling Your Clothes Today
While Flyp is our clear favorite app for its combination of ease, returns, and sales speed, every choice on this list has its own unique pro’s, cons, and features that may make it sync well with your personality sales style. Some of these choices allow you to be completely hands-off, while others require you to be your own photographer, copywriter, and saleswoman — though with theoretically larger payouts.
Take the time to weigh your options, then get around to filling your wallet up with those unwanted clothing items.
