When was the last time you looked in your closet? Were you a little disgusted by how out of control it looks? Do you have a huge load of clothes that no longer fit or that you never wear? If so, you’ll want to continue reading. I’ll be covering ways to make money by selling your new or used clothes.
Facebook
One of the fastest and easiest ways to sell your new or used clothes that you no longer need is Facebook. If you don’t already know, Facebook has a groups function that offers much like a marketplace. In almost every city that I searched, there was a group on Facebook that was dedicated to selling household items/clothes/etc direct, person to person. There are so many benefits to this and I would suggest this option more than any other for numerous reasons. Groups are usually highly moderated and only people in the community are approved to join. When someone replies to your sales post on the group for whatever item of clothing you’re selling, their profile shows so that you can look into them and make sure you would be comfortable meeting up with them. A great thing to do on this step is to look through their profile and make sure there aren’t any warning signs of it either being a fake person or a dangerous person. This also doubles as a way to recognize who is going to be meeting you to obtain the item you’re selling. These groups are also usually populated with very motivated buyers (in my area 99% housewives or stay at home dads) that will meet you within the next hour to either come pick it up from you or meet you at a mutually agreed upon safe location (well lighted McDonalds parking lot?). This is undoubtedly my favorite of the ways to sell used clothes and other household items.
Poshmark
Where do I start with Poshmark? Poshmark is an app that is very much like Instagram but it allows you to buy and sell clothes. Users can buy or sell clothing to each other and also comment or place a star (a like) on the items that they find interesting. The app is basically a more specialized version of the Facebook group. Unfortunately, it still forces the buyers and sellers to find a way on their own to exchange the clothes. The second obvious downside to this is that unlike Facebook, you won’t have as much of an ability to “stalk” or look up the person who you will be meeting up with beforehand to make sure you’re safe.
Twice/ThredUP
The first two options are completely in your hands about when you’re going to meet up and exchange the goods. If on the other hand you have no desire to ever see the people you’re selling your clothes to, you might be interested in Twice. Twice is a company that takes your unwanted clothing and sells them for you. After signing up, they provide you with a shipping label and bag and you send your items direct to Twice. This is a highly efficient way of making some money off of your old clothing because you yourself don’t need to actually sell them. The only downside to this route is that it will likely yield you much less than how much you will make selling your items on your own because Twice has to make money off your clothing as well. You then get their sliding scale of how much they make. I’ve never used the company myself but it looks like most people make about $25 per bag of clothing but it ultimately seems to depend on the brands you send to them in your bag. ThredUP is a service that I feel mirrors this same concept. It’s really up to you on which one you would prefer to use. Maybe try both and see which one you like better?
Swap Meet
I want to remind everyone about the power of the swap meet. Yes, I’m talking about those random meet up places in your city (usually on a Sunday morning) where people sell things for a dollar at tiny stands that have been put up first thing in the morning by volunteers. Even though I would be willing to bet that this would bring in the absolute lowest amount of money for your clothes, this is the sure bet when it comes to getting rid of your over flowing closet and at least making something from the endeavor. If you’re not having luck with any of the above tactics, try going to a swap meet. They still exist and they’re still very much thriving in many areas in the United States. Even if you sell each piece of your old clothing for only a dollar, you’re still making much more profit than simply throwing them away or donating them.
Donation
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know this isn’t going to make you money on the front end but I do have a point when I list it here. Even though you are basically giving your clothes away for free when you donate clothes to a local donation center, you are a fool if you think you can’t make money off this deal. You need only make sure to ask for a receipt when you drop the items off and the lovely attendant will give you a receipt for your donation. These receipts can show how much you’ve donated so that you can hopefully obtain a well-deserved tax break for your good deed! Simply enter the amount of the receipts into Turbo Tax or whatever other awesome tax software you choose when you’re entering in your taxes and see if the government feels like rewarding you with a break.
Now it’s your turn
Were there any others that you could think of that I haven’t listed here? Do you have a better idea on what to do with your old clothes to make money off of them?
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