Making Money Selling My Clothes Online — Here’s The Best Place To Sell Clothes for Cash

This is an honest, unpaid review of my side hustle with clothing resale on these top sites: TheRealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Poshmark, Etsy, and Noihsaf Bazaar.

(Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash)

I spent the last six months Marie Kondo’ing my apartment. I admittedly didn’t take as aggressive of an approach as she does with her Konmari method. However, this means that I now have my drawers organized and in small boxes, and there is a pile of clothes and household items that need to find a new home.

You will now benefit from my months of experimentation and testing of different marketplace websites. This is a summary of my experience figuring out where to sell clothes for cash near me.

My goal was to figure out how to sell pre-owned designer clothing for a good price with the least effort:

1. THEREALREAL

TheRealReal is one of the top designer consignment sites for high end items. They are very particular about the brands they take, and only accept high quality inventory.

• Sales Success: Low. I found their prices to sellers to be low, so I didn’t list my items here. However, they were one of the first online luxury consignment store, and have over 9 million users. If you have great quality items and designers, and are most interested in a quick, easy sale, TheRealReal might be the best place to go.
• Ease of Listing: Very easy. They make it as simple as possible for you to consign your authentic designer items. You can 1) mail your consignment items to them, 2) bring your items to a TheRealReal retail location, or 3) Schedule a pickup in 21 cities.

Selling on TheRealReal:

The RealReal sets the resale price for your item, and when your pre-owned item sells, they pay approximately 40% of the resale price to the seller (for higher ticket items, they pay up to 70%).

There are two things I did not like about the TheRealReal model and sales process:

• Unsellable items. If you send them items that they consider to be “unsellable”, or if you don’t like the proposed price, they require you to pay return shipping to reclaim your item.
• Aggressive discounting without warning. Some customers have complained that the company aggressively discounted their items without warning - resulting in very slim payouts. If you are thinking of selling on TheRealReal, read their terms and conditions closely, especially item #6 here.

I did not sell on TheRealReal, but I was able to get an estimated resale price from them on a few items:

Left to Right: 1. Brand New Ferragamo Flats. TheRealReal estimated $75 to $125 resale price (seller would receive $30 to $50). 2. For this Mark Cross bag, TheRealReal estimated a resale price of $70 to $125 (seller would receive $30 to $50). 3. Ferragamo Shoes, lightly worn. TheRealReal estimated a resale price of $50 to $75 (and the seller would receive $20 to $30).

2. VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE

Vestiaire Collective: For the best prices, I preferred Vestiaire Collective. They require you to do a bit of work to list your items, but upon sale, they consistently pay more than other sites. Vestiaire Collective also optimizes search engines and surfaces your item in the Google commerce bar during a search:

• Sales Success: Very good. I sold a few things for very good resale prices. My sales included a Levi’s jeans skirt, where I received $53 within 10 days of listing it. I listed a Mark Cross Bag and received an $85 offer ($68 to me; theRealReal had offered me $30 to $50 for the same Mark Cross bag). I also sold a Courreges handbag, and received $142 for it. This is one of the few consignment shops that will also allow you to sell items that are in just “good” (not perfect) condition.
• Ease of Listing: Do it yourself. You provide photos and measurements. Vestiaire Collective requires more work than other sites, as you need to upload your own photos, provide a description, list measurements, and propose a price, etc. When you make a sale, they provide a mailing label, and they inspect the item at their offices before sending it out to the buyer.

Clothing Resale on Vestiaire Collective:

Very good resale values and good sales success. Requires the seller to post their item and take measurements. As a result, they are one of the best online consignment sites, and payouts to the seller are higher than other places.

Left to Right: 1. Courreges Bag Sold on Vestiaire Collective ($212 Price / $142 to Seller), 2. Levi’s Jeans Skirt Sold on Vestiaire Collective ($89 Price / $53 to Seller), 3. Mark Cross Bag Sold on Vestiaire Collective ($85 Price / $68 to Seller).

3. ETSY

Etsy: Good, but slow sale. For vintage and one-of-a-kind items, you may want to try Etsy. Since items are unique, resale value can be high. However, there are so many items listed on the site, that it may take a buyer a long time to find yours.

Selling Clothing on Etsy:

Etsy charges $0.20 to list your item every 4 months, and then they charge 5% on each sale, plus a 3.5% + $0.25 payment processing fee for each sale.

I posted a vintage Kenzo jacket from the 80s in May of 2018 for $159, and found a buyer in January of 2019. Unfortunately, I had already given the item away. I also sold a pleated skirt for $59 including shipping, and received $54 for it.

1) One year after listing, a buyer from Japan contacted me and paid $162 for this vintage Kenzo jacket, but I had given it away already, 2) Knife pleated skirt, sold for $59, received $54.

4. POSHMARK

Poshmark: [UPDATE IN 2023 — - I originally wrote this article in 2019, and since then, Poshmark has gained significant traction, and has become a leading marketplace. I’ve purchased and sold on Poshmark, and would definitely recommend it]

Easy to list, but lowball offers. Poshmark was one of the first social app-based consignment stores. They have a tremendously engaged and enthusiastic customer base of 50 million users and 5 million sellers, tons of positive and negative Poshmark reviews, and have some sellers making thousands of dollars each month.

It’s a mystery to me how to sell on the site. When I listed items, I received many likes, but very few offers. The site seems to work for the seller that might be willing to put in the work to “like” other Poshmark seller items, to build a social following, and to take part in the parties. Poshmark might be best for the person that is able to figure out how to strategically drive sales to their store, or for the casual user who is willing to part with their items at low prices.

Clothing resale on Poshmark:

Marc Jacobs NWT Child’s bikini sold on Poshmark for $20:

Poshmark: The selling price on this NWT Marc Jacobs child’s bikini was $20, and the price paid to the seller was $16 (original price $90).

5. NOIHSAF BAZAAR

NoihsafBazaar: Easy to list, but haven’t had sales success yet. Noihsaf Bazaar is an Instagram feed. I love the idea of this site, and the listing process is easy. It feels like the future of resale. Fees are a low $3.80 flat for each sale. You set the price.

The feed is curated and has a very specific aesthetic — think clean, modern and midcentury lines, and designers including Doen, Rachel Comey, Reformation, Jesse Kamm, and Ulla Johnson. I submitted a few items, and none of them sold. However, my items admittedly were not the exact Noihsaf aesthetic, nor were they from the targeted designers. I have seen items from those names and other independent designers sell quickly and at good prices.

As of this writing, Noihsaf Bazaar has approximately 30,000 followers (as a comparison, Vestiaire Collective has over 350,000 followers with even more members on their app platform). As they gain recognition and build their business, I expect that they will attract more buyers, and build additional sales velocity. In addition to women’s clothing (IG: @noihsaf.bazaar) they have already expanded into Vintage, Kids, Mens, Activewear, Beauty, and Home.

Clothing Resale on Noihsaf Bazaar:

Noihshaf Bazaar is an Instagram-based resale site. Items are easy to post, and the feed is curated, meaning they only accept specific items and designers. Resale values are good. Here are a few things that I listed, but that did not successfully sell on Noihsaf Bazaar (bikini) and Noihsaf Vintage (shoes, sandals). Contact me directly at IG @mmluh if you would like to purchase.

Left to right: 1) We Are Handsome bikini (listed, but hasn’t yet sold: resale price: $99), 2) Deva gold leather shoes (subbrand of JP Tods). Listed, but hasn’t yet sold: resale price $49, 3) Papagallo leather sandals (listed, but hasn’t yet sold: resale price, $59).

FINAL THOUGHTS [Updated 2023]

Overall, I had the most success selling pre-owned designer items on Vestiaire Collective, and their payouts were the highest. However, posting on the site does require some work to create the listing and upload good photos.

I would also list on Poshmark. Listing on both Poshmark and Vestiaire Collective will provide the best mix of offers, as they tend to each pull a different audience (Vestiaire Collective seems to have a designer-focused audience, while Poshmark is more of customers selling a variety of clothing brands that appeal to a wider audience).

If you have a Niche brand, you can try also listing on Noihsaf Bazaar.

If you are just looking to consign your designer clothing with minimal effort, you might want to go with TheRealReal. However, due to their aggressive discounting policy, you might net a much lower than expected payment in the end. Their strength is that they make consignment simple for the person that just wants to clear their closet.

One strategy might be to 1) first post your best items on Vestiaire Collective and Poshmark to see if you can find a buyer at a good price. Then, if the items don’t sell, you can 2) bring your designer items to TheRealReal to see what prices they offer. 3) Lastly, you can donate any items to charity that are still good quality, but that won’t generate high resale prices.

Note: Please consider that while stores like Goodwill and Housing Works will take older items, if the items is in poor, unsaleable condition, they need to pay a company to dispose of it. Here is what happens after you donate your clothing to Goodwill.

I hope you found this information to be helpful! Feel free to let me know about your own experiences, successes, and challenges with luxury consignment online. Let me know what you have learned about the best online thrift stores, and the best places to sell clothes for cash in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this article, you might want to read my post about how to resell your antique furniture online.

You can also reach me directly at www.tiltadvisors.com (margaret.luh@gmail.com)

Originally published on October 20, 2019 here.