The Complete Guide on ThredUp
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Nobody wants to hoard their old clothes, even if we often find ourselves doing it.
People tend to stockpile on their clothes, having issues letting go of them.
You may use the “I might wear it still” excuse, but you probably don’t want to throw that old T-shirt away and get nothing in return.
That’s what consignment stores are for.
You bring your clothes, the consignment store sells it, and you both get paid for it.
What happens if there are no consignment stores nearby?
You go to an online consignment store such as ThredUP.
But how does ThredUP work?
What Is ThredUP?
At first glance, ThredUP looks like your average clothing eCommerce.
Everything is there, from discounts to various filters and promotions.
If you look at the company’s description, you’ll see that it’s a secondhand clothes shop.
How does an online secondhand shop work, you may wonder.
The company is a retailer.
You go to their website, browse around for articles, make a purchase, and ThredUP ships the clothes to your location.
Pretty simple, like any other eCommerce website.
However, to sell secondhand clothes online, you need to get your hands on the actual clothes, first.
That’s what makes ThredUP special – you can send them your used clothes and share the profit with them.
How Does ThredUP Work?
So, you know that you have all those unnecessary clothes that you need to get rid of.
You want to clean out your closet and get at least something in return for it.
That’s exactly why they’ve named their two main options, “clean-out kits.”
The first, Standard Clean-Out Kit, gives you cash or credit on all your items that they accept.
All the items that don’t end up accepted can either be shipped back to you for around $10 or recycled by the company.
Either way, you’ll get rid of clothing items that you don’t need and will likely get paid for it.
The Donation Clean-Out Kit allows you to send clothing items, recycle them responsibly, and send $5 per bag to a charity of your choice.
Of course, you get a tax receipt, and they donate in your name, not ThredUP’s.
If you’re wondering why ThredUP doesn’t simply distribute the items to the charities in question, there is a good reason for it.
Charities aren’t known for having too many resources at their disposal.
They tend to have problems sorting the items out, which is far from an ideal situation.
That’s why the company has decided to responsibly recycle the clothes and give money to a charity that you’ve picked.
How to Send Clothes and Get Paid with ThredUP?
First of all, ThredUP for men doesn’t exist as of yet.
However, you can make money with women and children's clothes on ThredUP.
Sell your women’s or children’s clothes, and they will gladly sell your clothes and split the profit with you.
But how do you get paid?
Does the store itself send you money for the items?
No, it most certainly does not.
ThredUP’s business model isn’t based on them buying clothes from you.
You earn based on percentage when they sell the item.
The payouts go from 5% to 80%, depending on how expensive the item in question is.
If you’re wondering how to send the clothes, you should order a free Clean-Out kit from the website.
The kit then arrives at your mailbox, and you fill it with clothes.
Then, you schedule a pickup, wait until your items are picked up, and wait for ThredUP to sell your items or return them to you.
Then, ThredUP processes all kits within one week.
After that, the company notifies you whether the items are listed or have been recycled.
Either way, you don’t have to pay for anything, and you get to clean out your closet quickly and free of charge.
Finally, we hope the company will open up ThredUP for men and allow selling men’s clothes on the site.
Everyone should be able to send clothes to ThredUP, sell, and make money while also helping save the planet.
The Eco-Friendly Aspect of ThredUP
You can tell ThredUP is eco-friendly, purely based on the fact that it doesn’t produce anything.
It is a platform for buying and selling clothing items that the current owners no longer need.
In this way, the site tries to reduce the public demand for new clothing items.
Of course, this impact isn’t too significant, but if more companies started utilizing this approach, the impact is going to be much bigger.
The fact that the company recycles responsibly means a lot.
The amount of textile waste is whopping.
The term “fast fashion” describes irresponsible manufacturers.
Those who use whatever means necessary to create clothing items quickly, easily, and cheaply.
It is good that there are companies such as ThredUP who stand against this.
The Pros
To start with the pros of using this service, let’s look at it from the point of responsible recycling.
Sure, you can take all of those clothes, send them to a recycling facility, and achieve the same thing as with ThredUP.
But you’ll have to pay to get it done.
With ThredUP, you order a free kit, fill it, send it, and that’s it.
Another plus side to selling your clothes through ThredUP is that you may end up getting paid.
Alternatively, if you want to get rid of your old clothes, the most morally correct thing to do would be giving them to a charity.
That means going through the hassle of getting from point A to point B.
Plus, the charities don’t have the time or resources to deal with all the clothes that they receive.
By using ThredUP, you don’t have to bother visiting a charity (or paying for the shipping costs), and the charity of your choice actually receives money that it can use.
Another great thing with ThredUP, when compared to other eCommerce platforms such as eBay, is that it’s much simpler.
You won’t have to worry about all the legwork involved with setting up the ad, dealing with photos, shipping, and the actual selling.
ThredUP does all of this for you.
Finally, one of the biggest upshots to using ThredUP is the fact that it is eco-friendly.
Not only are the items recycled properly, but the proceeds of Donation Clean-Out Kits go to a charity of your choice.
The Cons
One of the most prominent cons of using ThredUP is that they don’t deal with men’s items.
The only thing you can do with men’s clothing via ThredUP to have them recycled and turned into charity money.
Although it is somewhat of a downside at the moment, they will probably introduce this option somewhere down the line.
Another downside is that it doesn’t work wonders for high-end items.
Even though you get 80% of earnings for all $200-or-more items, you might be better off using eBay for deals this expensive.
Naturally, if you want to pay 20% of your would-be earnings for the lack of hassle, using ThredUP is a great deal.
It may not be that big of a downside, but you will have to pay for shipping if you want your items returned.
To have an item returned, you will have to pay around $10.
However, you have probably already said your goodbyes to the sent items
ThredUP – the Pillar of Second-Hand eCommerce
So, how does ThredUP work?
Although it deals only with clothing items, the company has opened up new doors for many others to follow suit.
We are a product of an ecologically ignorant society, and it is companies such as ThredUP that pay attention to the world’s problems.
ThredUP brings practicality, convenience, and quality to the table.
By sending your used clothes to them, you are ridding yourself of unnecessary clutter, while helping others.
Although it may not be ideal for every situation, if you want to clean your closet out, consider going with ThredUP – you won’t regret it.
As a seller – you know where your clothes go. As a buyer, you know that you’re doing the responsible thing.
Now It's Your Turn
Now I’d like to hear from you:
What do you think about thredUp?
Have you tried using them before? Or do you think you will in the future?
Either way, leave me a quick comment below to let me know.