Curious about ThredUP? I tried it for you!
Gone are the days of hauling your unwanted clothing to a local consignment store and waiting four months to get a check after they've sold your items. There are an abundance of online resale options these days, ranging from Facebook consignment groups to eBay to a newer wave of curated online boutiques. I cleared out some items from my closet recently and decide to try one! This time, I tried ThredUP. ThredUP is an online consignment and thrift store where you send all your items directly to the company and they decide what they'll keep and what they'll recycle. I chose it for its convenience and the fact that I didn't have to ship multiple items to individuals or manage an online listing.
Here's the ThredUp process:
Request a bag online. They'll send it to you in the mail, ready to fill up.
Fill your bag. I chose items that I didn't think would do well on a site like Poshmark, where you set up individual listings for items and ship them directly to the buyer. The tops I sent to ThredUP weren't in the best shape, but I figured it was worth the risk instead of just taking them to Goodwill. They'll recycle whatever they don't accept, or you can pay an extra fee to have them send back the items they reject.
Send it in. I sent mine in sometime in mid-July. They received it July 25 and sent me an email confirmation. saying they expected to process it August 19.
ThredUP processes your bag. My bag didn't get processed until September 1, over a month after they received it. This was surprising to me, but understanding considering how popular services like this are right now!
ThredUP will send you an email outlining what they took and what your payout is. For the items I sent in, they accepted one pair of pants, two dresses, and one Anthropologie jacket. Since all the tops I sent in were pretty worn, I knew it was a long shot that any of those would be accepted. I was, however, surprised with ThredUP not accepting one Banana Republic pencil skirt that was in great shape and one pair of nice pants that had the tags on them! For the four items they accepted, they payout was only $9.95. They sold those items on their site for $67.96 total, meaning my payout was only 15% of that. On Poshmark, I would have kept 80% (Poshmark's payout for sales over $15 is 80%. For sales under $15, Poshmark charges a fee of $2.95 and you keep the rest). That means my payout for the same four items would have been over $50!
ThredUP sends your payout. It's available immediately for online credit but you can opt to get a Visa Pre-Paid gift card in the mail after 14 days, which is what I chose to do. I should receive it in the next few days, a little over two months from the time I sent my bag in until I receive payment.
The verdict on ThredUp?
I think ThredUP is a ONLY a good option for clothing you were going to take to Goodwill anyway. If any of your items are in particularly good shape, have tags, and are a great brand, I'd try Poshmark instead. It is certainly worth a little extra effort to get Poshmark's much higher payout. Stay tuned, because I'm sure I'll be cleaning out my closet again sometime soon!
