How To Sell Your Clothes And Accessories Online

We probably all have things in our closets that we have hardly worn or maybe never have worn. And if you haven’t been organizing your closet and quarantine cleaning already, now could be the time. So why not make a little extra cash on what you don’t want or need? Here’s how to sell your clothes online.

Sell Your Clothes and Accessories Online

A few things to know before you get started selling your clothing, bags, jewelry, and accessories…

  • Pay attention to listing fees and shipping costs. Many of these sites offer free listings and may or may not cover shipping, but always read the fine print.
  • Prospective buyers can often make offers lower than the listed price, but you can definitely refuse if the offer is too low.
  • Consignment style sites set the pricing themselves and may be able to discount your items.
  • Your seller feedback level matters in terms of getting more attention to your listing, so be sure to respond to user messages and provide good customer service in general if you want to become a successful seller.
  • Know the right keywords for your listings, for instance, instead of “white linen tunic”, you’d want to use “white puffed sleeve Tory Burch tunic”. Brands and specific item names that those stores or brands use are important for connecting with buyers who are looking for your exact item.

Here are some of the best sites for reselling your clothes, bags, shoes, jewelry, scarves, and other pieces and how to use them to your advantage.

YES! I LOOK FORWARD TO #GROWINGYOUNGER

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE ME TO YOUR MAILING LIST.
* indicates required

 sell your clothes online poshmark screen grab fountainof30

Poshmark

Poshmark is perhaps one of the most successful fashion resale sites, and it is great for mid-priced brands like Madewell, Boden, and anything carried by Anthropologie. You can get great prices for older pieces if they are in a good condition or unworn here, but be aware that while listing an item is free, Poshmark takes a $2.95 commission on items under $15 and 20% on items over $15 (shipping is covered by the buyer), so add your time and effort to list an item to that and it may not be worth it.

That said, if you have a stock of items from popular brands like Tory Burch, Lululemon, Free People, or similar labels, Poshmark might be very worthwhile.

mercari screen grab fountainof30

Mercari

This Japanese-based company lets you sell clothing, accessories, and other items like small electronics such as tablets, consoles and accessories, and cameras and associated gear. Popular nerd toys like Funko figurines tend to do well too. Or if you have items from brands like Nike, Uggs, Patagonia. One advantage of using Mercari is that it is not as popular or well-known as some of the other options, so the listings aren’t as overly saturated – but that may mean it will take longer for your items to sell.

Keep in mind that Mercari holds onto your payouts until the buyer has received your item and has rated their experience, so it isn’t the spot to go for fast cash. Listing items is free on Mercari and the site takes 10% of the sale, but you can elect to have the site take care of shipping for you and subtract that from your earnings.

sell your clothes online the realreal screen grab fountainof30

The RealReal

Billed as the number one way to sell high end designer items, The RealReal is more closely aligned to a luxury consignment shop than an auction or bidding site. You can earn up to 85% of the selling price of your listings, but the experts at The RealReal set the price for you and reserve the right to discount your pieces by up to 20% if they aren’t selling.

What sells best on The RealReal? Women’s, men’s, and kids clothing, fine jewelry, handbags, and accessories, and other items from well-known designer labels like Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Balenciaga, and Cartier. They also accept home decor and art. The RealReal covers most of the customer service aspects of the transaction.

vestiaire screen grab fountainof30

Vestiaire Collective

Another way to resell or consign your high end goods, Vestiaire Collective is similar to the RealReal in that you ship your item to them, they price it, and you earn back 80% of your purchase price. They authenticate your item via photos and once approved, they list it and provide you with a prepaid shipping label for you to send the item(s) off to their new home.

Vestiaire Collective also covers customer service including communicating with buyers and creating the item listing, making it a more hands off method of earning money from your unused designer pieces.

sell your clothes online eBay screen grab fountainof30

eBay

The original online resale site, eBay remains popular, although listings tend to be pretty overloaded and of course there is little oversight – meaning lots of potential fakes depending on what you are selling. That said, eBay only takes 10% of the sale price and it remains one of the most popular online resale platforms.

 

tradesey screen grab fountainof30Tradesy

Tradesy is a peer-to-peer marketplace that takes 19.8% of the sale price. Buyers and sellers can negotiate and the buyer pays for shipping. Almost anything can sell on Tradesy but high end designer items in good condition tend to do the best, naturally. Tradesy also has a popular app which may give your items more visibility.

sell clothes thredup screen grab fountainof30

ThredUp

ThredUp might be one of the easiest options in terms of actual labor from the seller, but it might have the lowest payout. If you want to sell on ThredUp, they send you a prepaid bag that you fill and ship back, and they photograph and list the items they think are worthwhile to sell on the site. However, if they don’t approve the items you’ll get them back, and buyers have reported receiving items in poor and/or unwashed condition.

rebags creen grab fountainof30

Rebag

A relative newcomer to the online reselling scene, Rebag has physical locations in several major cities on the East and West coasts, but you can also sell your designer purses and accessories online via Clair by Rebag, a unique pricing index and selling method that will help you see how much your items are worth. Percentages earned on Rebag vary depending on which of the many listing options you choose.

Selling Your Designer Goods Online

Regardless of where you decide to sell your pieces, you should make sure they are clean and in good condition (of course). Taking quality and detailed pictures of the pieces helps as well – use natural light if you can and make sure you clearly capture the tags and labels.

Also, provide exact measurements of the item so potential buyers can determine if it’ll work for them. Finally, if it is an item that has a name e.g. the “Alondra Maxi Dress from Anthropologie”, definitely include it so users searching for that specific item can discover your listing.

You’ll also want to be responsive to messages from potential buyers – if you don’t answer them quickly and accurately enough, they may move on to the next thing. That said, you don’t have to accept lowball offers – keep in mind the cost you originally paid for the item as well as your time involved in responding and shipping the piece(s).

Whether you want the extra cash to buy something new, or simply pocket some extra money, it’s a good time to organize your closet and I bet we all have stuff that we’ve barely or never worn that has some value!

Have you bought or sold clothing or accessories online with one of these sites or similar platforms? Let us know in the comments or in our Growing Younger Facebook Group!

*Note that while various members of the Fountain of 30 team have bought and sold items on these sites, we don’t endorse any one of them in particular.

–Jacqueline Zenn

You may like to read more of Jacqueline’s fashion posts like The Best Summer Athleisure Wear For Women Over 40 and How To Wear A Sundress When You’re Over 40.

This post contains affiliate links which may give us a commission at no additional cost to you.

Are you following Fountain Of 30 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest? We’ve got lots going on, so join in on the fun! Subscribe to our newsletter here. You don’t want to miss a post and we promise not to bug you to death. We also started a Facebook Group called Growing Younger for women to discuss everything good and bad about being over 40. Be sure to listen to Lauren talk about all things anti-aging on the new podcast “Beauty is a Bitch!

Photo at top: rebag.com

Please pin!

how to sell clothes accessories online fountainof30

4 thoughts on “How To Sell Your Clothes And Accessories Online”

  1. Great article Lauren. Covers all the options well with thorough info needed on each site. I have bought on ebay in the past and have recently used Poshmark which I find easy and simple. Yes they take a fee but remember if you consign local, they determine the value of your items and you have to wait for it to sell and they take a higher percentage of the sold fee(plus if it is a consign that pays immediately upon taking then you really get a lot less money) If you don’t mind having the items sit around for a bit and the package them, then it may be a great option. I think- well I was going to donate it anyway. I also like the sites above as often I have a couple favorite pieces of clothing that are timeless and perfect but I want another color or may get old/ruined or discontinued and if I am patient and take the time, I can find exactly what I am looking for”new” as it has been sitting in someones closet. Thanks for the article.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.