If you’re curious about how much money you can make selling on thredUP, keep reading! I am detailing my personal experience using online consignment shops and whether it is worth your time.
Growing up, my family was on a tight budget. To help make ends meet, my sister and I would wear hand-me-downs from family and friends, and my mother would sell our old clothes at garage sales and consignment shops. Growing up like this, it was natural for me to sell my old clothes for money.
The first time I resold my clothes was in college, a Buffalo Exchange. I sold a few pairs of jeans and some shoes. I didn’t make a lot of money – but with the money I did make I was able to buy myself quite a few new clothes.
From there, I began selling directly person-to-person through online want ads like Craigslist and Facebook groups. When you take the middleman out of the equation, your profits are much higher, but you have to invest more time writing your ad, taking photos, responding to potential buyers, and finally meeting them in person to transact.
so when threadUP came on the scene, I was excited to try them.
How does thredUP work?
thredUP is an online consignment and thrift store where you can buy and sell gently used clothing, footwear, handbags, accessories and jewelry for women and children.
I’ve been selling clothes on thredUP since 2015, and their process is always changing. When I first started using thredUP, there was no fee to start selling; You just ordered a clean-out kit and sent it back to them. It will usually take them a few weeks to process your kit and then purchase the items they wanted. Now, they have many fees, and each item is placed on the invoice.
To start selling on thredUP, visit their website and click on the Clean Out tab. From there, you’ll choose between using a free shipping label with your own box or paying a $2.99 fee to get a clean-out kit like the one pictured below. With a clean-out bag, all you have to do is fill it with your gently used clothing and take it to the post office for shipment.
From there, you decide what to do with the clothes that aren’t accepted for resale According to thredUP, they accept about 50% of items on average; However, I think it’s less than that. If you wish to return your items, you will be charged a $10.99 fee; Alternatively, you can choose to donate what’s left over.
The last fee is a $14.99 service fee that is deducted from your earnings for using their service. When I first started selling on ThreadUp, they didn’t have this fee.
Clean-out kits usually take thredUP a month or more to process, and then you have to wait for the item to sell. So, if you are looking for a quick way to make money, I would explore these other options.
Does thredUP accept any items?
If you want to make money selling on thredUP, you must follow their quality standards:
- Your clothes need to be clean and freshly washed
- Name brand
- Tendency and under five years of age
- Item free of tears, stains, or holes
- High quality items that are in good condition
thredUP prefers designer brands like J. Crew, Gucci, and Lululemon, which collect the highest consignment commissions. Mid-priced brands like Nike and Gap get mid-rate commissions, value brands like Old Navy and Forever 21 get low commissions, and some brands get zero value.
How much can you earn using thredUP?
Now the question everyone wants to know is, how much can you actually earn by selling on ThreadUp? According to their website, approximately 50% of your items will be accepted, and from that, you will earn 3%-80% of what is sold based on the selling price, demand, brand and quality of an item.
You can request your earnings via thredUP shopping credit or Stripe, PayPal or direct deposit.
Clear as mud?
To give you an idea of what sellers can actually earn, I’m sharing the contents of one of my bags and actual payout numbers.
women’s clothing
- White House Black Market Leggings
- Merona Ballet Flats
- Embroidered Denim Jacket > 5 years
- Banana Republic Trousers > 5 years
- Juicy Couture Jeans > 5 years
- Loft Sweater > 5 years
- Maroon sweater
- J Crew Blouse
- Cache tank top
- Loft blouse
- Banana Republic Sweater > 5 years
- Old Navy Jeans > 5 years
- Cabbie Hooded Sweatshirt > 5 years
- Express skirt > 5 years
- Gap skirt > 5 years
- Gap skirt > 5 years
- Banana Republic Pants > 5 years
- Kloth Jeans > 5 years from Kut
- Banana Republic Pants > 5 years
- Citizen Jeans of Humanity
- Banana Republic skinny jeans
girls clothes
- Old Navy Denim Shorts
- Miss Me Denim Shorts
- Old Navy Printed Denim Shorts
- Austin Trading Co Cowboy Boots (Faux Leather)
- Old Navy Leggings
- Cherokee Long Sleeve Tee
- DKNY Long Sleeve Tee
- Arizona jeans, denim shorts
- Cherokee Tank Top
- Miss me jeans
- Gap Jumper
- Hello Kitty jacket
- Buoyancy swimming coverup
- dress of joy
- Jessica Simpson Jumper
- Jane Copeland Cape > 5 years
- GB girls clothing
- Cherokee vest
- Matilda Jane sweater
- Faded Glory Leggings
- Nickelodeon shirt
- Faded Glory T-Shirt
- Circo T-shirt
From this haul, they received 13 items, just 30% of the bag. If you take my old items it will be more on target with their average acceptance (43% accepted). Five items were sold on consignment ($24.95), and the remaining eight were purchased outright ($9.99) for a total of $34.94.
thredUP is it worth it?
I’ve been selling on thredUP since 2015, and over the years, I’ve made a total of $493.02 from the 251 items they’ve accepted. I actually sent a bunch of stuff that they didn’t accept, and it went to charity, which I was happy to donate.
Another ThreadUp user, Alicia WoodardEarned $540.00 using thredUP.
So, would I recommend using ThreadUp to sell your clothes?
It depends.
Past experience with thredUP
In the past, I used thredUP because it was easy, and I would donate my clothing to Goodwill or give the items to a friend. Of course, if I had a high-priced designer brand (think a Michael Kors handbag or a Lululemon tank top), I’d sell it online using a site like eBay, Poshmark, or Facebook Marketplace because I knew I’d make a lot of money. More, and the extra time and effort that went into the list will be worth it.
Another factor is that I tend to keep my clothes for a long time, so many of the items I sent to ThreadUp were over 5-years old, and I thought, why not give it a shot?
I’ve personally found that thredUP accepts more items for kids than adults (probably because I keep my clothes so long and they’re out of style). So, if you tend to update your wardrobe every season and have current styles to send, you can make more money.
It’s also best to ship seasonally appropriate clothing, which means you’ll need to keep the items in your closet for a few months before shipping them.
Current experience with thredUP
Having used ThreadUp for years, I personally don’t think the platform is worth using anymore.
The first is the $14.99 service fee they deduct from your earnings.
Second, they have so many clothes that it takes months to process your clean-out kit, so it’s not a quick way to make money online.
Third, when they receive your items, they no longer purchase them directly. They instead put them on consignment, and then they may or may not sell. In the last batch of clothing, I sent, only four items were accepted, and only one sold for a total of $1.47.
Instead of cashing out my earnings, I would take a ThreadUp credit. And over the years, I’ve gotten some great stuff from them. However, they are now one $3.99 restocking fee If you want to return items, that eats up your earnings even more.
Conclusion
In the past, I’ve enjoyed using ThreadUp to buy and sell clothing. The process was easy, and they did the hard work of listing, taking photos, and managing the transaction. But for me, with their new structure, it’s not worth it.
If you sell on thredUP, you need to have a realistic idea of how much you’ll earn, how long the process will take, and how much time you’ll save by using them.
I like thredUP’s overall concept and its sustainability business model; I don’t think they give sellers a fair price for their items. If you’re interested in buying clothes from the site, you can find some good deals, but they have a restocking fee for returns, which often prevents me from shopping there.
If you are looking for another online marketplace to sell your clothes, explore this article!
Have you sold clothing on ThreadUp? What was your experience? Drop us a note; We would love to hear from you! If you enjoyed this post — please share it on your favorite social media sites.
Originally published on January 7, 2019. Content updated as of April 2023.
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