The Best Apps for Selling Used Clothing and Househ...

For over a 12 months, I’ve been on a quest to promote a bunch of my stuff to make room in my closet—and, within the course of, earn cash for extra stuff.

I’ve encountered highs, lows, and plenty of resale apps, a few of that are higher than others. Along with making me a little bit more money, this endeavor has actually helped me scale back my litter, too: Plenty of the popular decluttering techniques ask you to type your objects into three classes—preserve, throw, and donate—however by including the fourth class of issues to promote, I’ve cleared main area in my closet. What’s extra, I do my greatest to make use of my “steadiness” in every app to purchase any new objects I would like or want, serving to me stick with my very own model of the “one in, one out” decluttering technique.

In spite of everything these months and dozens of journeys to the put up workplace, this is what I’ve realized about shopping for and promoting on-line and which apps I like to recommend most.

A couple of notes on reselling clothes on-line

There are sellers on these apps who do that in a hardcore method, sourcing cool, uncommon, or costly objects and turning them for a revenue. They deal with this like a job and, in some instances, it is their job. You don’t need to be like that. Don’t fear concerning the profiles that characteristic professional-grade pictures and a whole lot of listings, as a result of somebody on the market desires the factor you’re promoting and can discover it by trying to find it—it gained’t actually matter for those who’re displaying the merchandise on a model in studio lighting so long as it’s the suitable measurement and worth for the customer.

Listed below are my tricks to get you began.

1. Don’t record one thing until you’d truly wish to eliminate it if it offered. That appears apparent, however this has occurred to me: I’ll get a little bit overzealous, record one thing I nonetheless use, and really feel unhappy when it will get purchased ahead of I needed it to. One safeguard I’ve employed is itemizing issues I nonetheless prefer to put on at increased costs than they deserve. patrons will nonetheless just like the listings and will ship gives I can think about. If somebody truly buys it on the listed worth, it was meant to be—and I get more money to appease myself by the grief of dropping the merchandise.

2. Then again, don’t record one thing for those who actually need it out of the home. You possibly can’t decide how briskly one thing will promote, even for those who undervalue it in worth and put it up for sale on the apps each day. If ready for one thing to promote impedes your decluttering, think about a brick-and-mortar consignment store if the merchandise is really worthwhile—or simply donate it.

3. I nonetheless use my objects whereas they’re listed on my apps, however watch out for those who select to do that. If one thing occurs to a bag, prefer it will get a scuff or a stain, it reduces its worth and also you’ll need to replace the itemizing on the very least. Don’t attempt to trick individuals by showcasing one thing in excellent situation, then sending it to them in worse form. They will ship it again and this will have an effect in your vendor score. 

4. Take plenty of footage. You don’t want fancy lighting or a backdrop, however I a minimum of attempt to set my wares on a pleasant rug and preserve different stuff out of the body. Take footage from a number of angles, close-up pictures of any injury, and a shot of the date stamp or serial quantity if it’s a luxurious or high-end piece. Tags, defining options, and particulars are vital to incorporate. (In case you do not do that upfront, be ready for potential patrons to ask for them later.) 

5. Be open to gives and reply to inquiries. More often than not, you gained’t get the worth you ask for, a minimum of not in my expertise, however accepting affordable gives or being prepared to decrease the worth will assist you get the factor out of your home and the cash into your account.

6. At all times seek for the merchandise you’re promoting to see what different persons are promoting theirs for. If yours is of comparable high quality, think about itemizing it for rather less than your rivals to get it offered sooner.

7. In case you record the identical factor on a number of apps, keep on prime of what you are doing. A couple of weeks in the past, I offered a wristlet that I by accident method undervalued on one app a day after itemizing it for its true worth on one other. I misplaced out on good cash! Plus, if one thing sells on one app, you could instantly take away its itemizing in every single place else. In any other case, it may “promote” once more, you may must cancel that order, and your vendor score might take successful.

8. Lastly, and maybe most significantly, be cautious of scams. This is applicable extra to you for those who’re shopping for one thing than for those who’re promoting, however as a common rule, by no means talk with anybody off-app, not to mention conduct transactions that method. These apps are respected and well-run. Anybody claiming they’re having hassle with the cost system is sort of actually mendacity to you. The entire apps I spotlight right here have high quality customer support and can be found that will help you for those who’re offered a counterfeit merchandise or encounter a purchaser who’s mendacity concerning the situation of the factor you offered, however you could conduct your transactions on the app for them to have the ability to render service.

The primary app you want is Vendoo

Earlier than I get into my prime apps for getting and promoting, I wish to spotlight one which has made my use of all of them a lot simpler: Vendoo. Basically, it is a cross-listing app that allows you to create listings for all of your sellable possessions, then put up them to quite a lot of marketplaces, together with Poshmark, Vestiaire Collective, Depop, Mercari, and extra. You possibly can change costs, monitor gross sales, and keep way more organized in case your aim is to eliminate as a lot as you may as quick as you may.

Having your items on the market throughout a number of platforms is useful as a result of, whereas there are plenty of customers who peruse a number of apps, every one additionally has a reasonably devoted fanbase that solely makes use of one particular market. By cross-listing, you improve your probabilities of a possible purchaser operating throughout your merchandise.

One other app that’s actually useful is PrimeLister, however actually provided that you are promoting on Poshmark. This one automates the entire tedious little duties you may (and will) do to spice up your gross sales, like sharing your listings to touchdown pages and the homepages of your followers, plus it provides you the choice to bulk-complete duties, like altering costs or sending out low cost gives to patrons.

Vendoo and PrimeLister each price cash—about $30 per thirty days, relying on the providers you want—however, in my expertise, are value it for enhancing gross sales and making this course of simple.

The perfect apps to promote garments and equipment

Although I solely actually obtained into promoting a few 12 months in the past, I have been shopping for on these platforms for a lot of, a few years and made the sporadic sale right here and there again within the day, too. I like to recommend Poshmark, Vestiaire Collective, TheRealReal, and Depop. To me, these 4 have the perfect interfaces and are best to make use of for getting and promoting. Let’s go over their particulars. 

Poshmark: Finest for promoting just about something

If you promote on Poshmark, you retain 80% of your gross sales so long as they’re over $15. For something beneath $15, you pay the app a price of $2.95. On this app, patrons can supply decrease costs than what you’re itemizing your merchandise for and also you’re free to simply accept or decline their gives.

Declining provides you the possibility to submit a counteroffer, so you could find yourself negotiating for a little bit bit, however the app all the time notifies you of what, precisely, you’ll make for those who promote one thing at a sure worth. The app additionally permits potential patrons to “like” objects, enabling you to ship non-public low cost gives to all of a list’s likers directly. Decreasing the worth of an merchandise is simple, too, and you’ll share listings to “events” that match your merchandise’s description. As an example, Poshmark frequently hosts luxurious bag events, making a touchdown web page for customers searching for these, and I share my listings for baggage to these events once they’re occurring.

Creating a list could be very simple for those who’re doing it in-app, not utilizing a third-party service like Vendoo. Add your pictures, fill out a kind that features easy particulars like measurement, model, authentic worth, and asking worth, and also you’re good to go.

If there’s a draw back to Poshmark, it’s that you just do should be fairly lively and engaged. Gives expire after 24 hours, you may solely share listings to a celebration when the celebration is going on, and customers anticipate well timed responses to their feedback. 

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

Like I mentioned, you may put something on right here. You possibly can promote a Louis Vuitton bag or a Nike T-shirt. Some individuals promote housewares and handicrafts. I’ve purchased a number of Diptyque candles and as soon as offloaded a Yankees bobblehead I by accident acquired on a visit to the Bronx. In order for you an app the place you may promote all the things, not only a sure form of clothes, it must be Poshmark. 

In my expertise, promoting higher-end objects on Poshmark is hit and miss. Sure, I’ve carried out it, however individuals on there are searching for every kind of issues. I largely purchase baseball jerseys there and save my very own luxurious resale looking for different apps. Poshmark would not authenticate designer items the best way different devoted luxurious apps do, so patrons are much less assured and extra more likely to lowball you to make up for his or her lack of religion in your wares. When you have mid-tier stuff, like Lululemon, Uggs, or Skims, Poshmark goes to be particularly useful for you.

All that mentioned, Poshmark is by far my most-used resale app and I might say I conduct over 90% of my enterprise there. The interface is simple to navigate, the number of listings and various consumer base lend themselves to a surprisingly excessive quantity of gross sales on even essentially the most random issues, and promoting is very easy. Once I make a sale, Poshmark generates a QR code that I merely have to indicate to the individuals on the put up workplace. The transport price is paid by the shopper and features a precedence field or envelope. I haven’t got to print a label, purchase a field, or do something however present up on the put up workplace. A day or two after the customer will get the merchandise, the cash seems in my steadiness. Crucially, Poshmark lets you use your gross sales steadiness to buy issues on the app, which I actually love, however you can too very simply switch it out into your checking account. Read my full Poshmark review here.

Vestiaire Collective: Finest for higher-end objects to maximise income

Vestiaire Collective is supposed for higher-end objects, which often means luxurious items, however I’ve seen it embrace loads of different high quality stuff, like Gymshark. The place this one shines is its authentication course of. A lot of the time, objects you promote shall be shipped straight to VC, the place a staffer will authenticate them and ship them out to the customer. This additional safety is nice, particularly for actually high-ticket objects, and VC has low promoting charges: You pay 10% on each sale, plus a 3% cost processing price. You don’t get charged in your first one, both, so long as it’s beneath $2,000.

VC typically runs specials, too, the place the place you may pay no vendor’s charges on sure manufacturers, for instance. Like Poshmark, patrons can ship gives, however right here, you have got two days to simply accept, decline, or counter them, somewhat than one. One distinction that may throw a little bit of a studying curveball is that when you settle for a proposal, the customer has to make the acquisition. On Poshmark, a purchaser who sends a proposal agrees that for those who settle for it, their steadiness or card is charged. On VC, simply since you settle for the low worth doesn’t imply you’ve got made the sale. The client then has two extra days to determine in the event that they wish to undergo with it. Promoting on VC, in my expertise, is a a lot slower course of than different apps, particularly due to the additional time required for in-person authentication.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

Total, I like shopping for on right here as a result of I do know I am all the time getting high-quality items, however the sluggish tempo of gross sales stops me from promoting on VC too typically. If you make a VC sale, you do not get a useful QR code to ship the merchandise. Somewhat, you need to print the label, purchase a field or envelope, and ship it your self. It takes some time for the cash to get to you, provided that the merchandise has to go to VC for authentication earlier than being despatched out to the customer. And whenever you do get that cash, it goes into your Venmo account, not a steadiness that you should utilize to make new purchases.

It is value noting that VC is essentially the most world app on my record. Individuals world wide purchase and promote on right here, which is superior as a result of it actually broadens the market from which you should purchase and the inhabitants to which you’ll be able to promote, however not-so-awesome as a result of world transport actually takes some time. In case you purchase, do not anticipate your merchandise to return in rapidly—and for those who promote, do not anticipate your cash to return in rapidly.

Patrons on right here want to spend on good stuff, so you will not get lowballed typically and objects that would not promote on a extra mid-level app get far more consideration. Promoting on VC requires you to measure your baggage, take extra particular pictures of things (together with ones that clearly present model labeling), determine the fabric your merchandise is product of, and wait—typically, in my expertise, as much as two or three days—for the pictures to be permitted by a staffer. Like I mentioned, this isn’t a fast-money app, however one good factor is that the app suggests a worth on your itemizing primarily based on costs comparable objects in comparable situation have offered at, so you do not have to guess. For all the additional work you could do on this one, it does assist you out with little options like that—plus, its minimize of the revenue is decrease than rivals’, so for those who’re prepared to place in additional effort and wait a little bit longer, you do find yourself making more cash. Read my full Vestiaire Collective review here.

TheRealReal: Finest for fancier stuff you simply need out of your home

TheRealReal is just for designer, luxurious objects, and it operates extra like a consignment retailer than direct promoting. How a lot you truly make relies on your “loyalty tier” on the time of sale, so for those who’re simply beginning out, you get 55% fee on something offered for greater than $195. In case you earn $1,500 in annual web gross sales, you progress as much as a brand new tier and earn extra. You can too simply fork your items over to TRR in alternate for web site credit score and allow them to promote as they may. I gained’t lie: It’s a little bit complicated, so solely go together with this one if in case you have actually costly objects to promote that require authentication and might nonetheless usher in a hefty chunk of money, even with charges. 

I take advantage of this app nearly completely as a purchaser, not a vendor. Since TRR is in command of the costs, plenty of very nice issues inevitably go on a deep low cost if they do not get offered rapidly. In order for you a top quality piece which you could put on for a little bit after which resell, attempt wanting right here.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

Depop: Finest for eliminating something you have got, from mall finds to extra luxe objects

Depop is one other web site the place you may promote something. It may be fancy, it may be fundamental, it may be handmade—you may promote no matter. You don’t pay a list price, however you pay a ten% price for all the things you promote. That’s it. It’s tremendous simple, and Depop helps you fill out the itemizing by populating ideas primarily based in your footage and textual content inputs. This hastens the method so that you’re not spending 5 minutes on each itemizing, pulling model names and sizes from drop-down menus. You possibly can supply likers reductions and, like Poshmark and VC, area gives from potential patrons. 

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

I’ve had success with Depop as a vendor and a purchaser, nevertheless it’s positively a crowded market. I consider it extra like a thrift retailer than something. You’ll find fancy issues, sure, however they don’t seem to be authenticated and I’ve seen pages and pages of very apparent fakes (and, seemingly, much less apparent fakes I did not hassle investigating), so beware. (As a facet notice, for those who ever need assistance figuring out if a listed luxurious product is genuine, you may attain out to me. It is a enjoyable pastime I genuinely take pleasure in.)

Additionally distinguished are actually staple items, like Ceaselessly 21 tops. You could not suppose the fast-fashion, mall-bought shirts clogging up your closet are value making an attempt to promote, however you would be very shocked. Somebody on the market might want them, so attempt itemizing them on Depop earlier than donating or tossing them. Set a tough deadline for your self, although. If it would not promote in, say, two weeks, eliminate it one other method. Once more, promoting is superior, however not if it stops you from successfully decluttering. Read my full Depop review here.

Finest for set-it-and-forget it gross sales: Mercari

I’m very new to Mercari, because it’s the one app on this record I downloaded simply to evaluate and had by no means used earlier than. That mentioned, I preferred what I noticed! The method of itemizing on Mercari is very easy, so it is a stable entry level for those who’re new to reselling and wish to begin with a extra manageable expertise. Tapping Promote on the backside of the house display brings you to a list creation web page that’s notably pared down when in comparison with the opposite apps on this record. You add your pictures, a title, an extended description, as much as seven hashtags, a class, a model, and a situation indicator. You’ve gotten the chance to supply free transport (which suggests you pay for it) or make the customer pay the price. Then, you set your itemizing worth. That is it.

Remarkably, Mercari will even deal with your discounting for you, which is one thing you need to do manually on the opposite apps or else recruit a third-party service like PoshLister to handle for you. If you end creating a list, simply toggle on “Sensible Pricing,” set a minimal you would be prepared to simply accept for the product, and do nothing else. Over time, if it would not promote, Mercari will incrementally decrease the worth till it hits that minimal you set. Of all of the apps right here, this one is essentially the most hands-off from starting to finish.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

There’s one draw back: Whereas all apps take a little bit minimize of your revenue within the type of vendor’s charges, not each app costs purchaser’s charges, nevertheless, which Mercari does as of January 2025: Patrons pay a “Purchaser Safety Charge” of three.6% on Mercari, and that price is displayed as a part of the ultimate worth within the merchandise checkout part. Consider it like whenever you order meals off Uber Eats, however solely see the true price, with charges, whenever you get to the very finish.

In case you’re a vendor, you would possibly wish to preserve that in thoughts and, sadly, decrease a few of your costs to make your wares extra interesting in gentle of those worth will increase. You additionally want to bear in mind the charges you may pay on the sale. Mercari takes a ten% minimize of your earnings and, relying on whether or not you elected to supply “free transport” to patrons, you may may additionally need to pay round $9 for the transport price. Some excellent news is which you could spend your steadiness in-app, which I am a giant fan of. Read my full Mercari review here.

Honorable point out: Hire your garments out on Pickle

This record is all about resale platforms, sure, however I’ve had unbelievable luck utilizing Pickle, an app that permits me to hire out my equipment and garments as a substitute of promoting them. I’ve solely been utilizing it for 2 months and few baggage in my closet have already been rented a number of instances. Theoretically, they’ll preserve producing me cash over and over and I can preserve utilizing them myself, neither of which is true whenever you make a straight-up sale.

There are 3 ways you may hire out your stuff on Pickle: You possibly can prepare a meetup with a renter and hand it off in particular person, the renter pays a $3 price for a courier to move your merchandise to and from their location, or you may ship your items wherever the opposite particular person is within the nation. Meetups actually solely work in massive metro areas, however with the transport possibility—and since the courier system runs by established apps like Uber Eats and Doordash—Pickle works surprisingly properly even in far-flung areas. Throughout a latest interview, the app’s cofounder additionally let me know that it is hoping to broaden the scope of Pickle’s market choices quickly, too, so you may hire out musical devices, digital camera tools, or no matter items you have got mendacity round.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

I’ve cherished with the ability to put my items to work and some of my purses and footwear are near paying themselves off, so to talk. Like different apps, Pickle permits potential renters to ship you a proposal, which you’ll be able to settle for or decline, and it takes a 20% price off your revenue, however once more, you get your stuff again and might hire it out once more indefinitely. In case you’re nervous about sending your possessions out, take coronary heart understanding Pickle has a sturdy customer support workforce and care coverage. If somebody damages or fails to return your merchandise, the Pickle workforce works with you to get you the worth of the products. That is a rarity, although, as a result of the app has a robust group really feel to it. Not solely have my issues all the time been returned in excellent situation, however they often include thank-you notes and, notably, one renter even despatched me a thank-you reward.

Pickle is admittedly useful for those who’re beginning to declutter as a result of it’s akin to a purgatory box, or an area you place one thing for those who’re not fairly certain you are able to eliminate it. You possibly can expertise what life is like with out quick entry to that merchandise and you could even discover you did not miss it. In that case, record it on one of many apps above. Notably, Pickle additionally lets you promote your stuff. All you need to do is point out an merchandise is on the market in its rental itemizing. Read my full Pickle review here.