The air has started to warm and the sun is shining brighter and longer every day. Spring is here and with it, the gently nagging reminder in the back of our heads: time for Spring Cleaning. While there’s the occasional super mom who, armed with her Swiffers and Glad bags, announces the arrival of her favorite time of year, if you’re like us, nothing is exciting about cleaning. Until we realized that our closet is full of sartorial stock just waiting to be cashed in and now is the perfect time to do it! Not to mention there are so many other benefits. Reselling positively impacts your community by recycling used clothes. Not only is it eco-friendly, but you will get to experience more of the fashion you love by selling, buying, and essentially turning over your wardrobe with each new season. Everyone wins! Whatever you might have to sell, there’s a place (and a profit!) for it. Here, we break down four amazing resale options that will you have you turning over a new leaf in your wardrobe. Now, break out the champagne and get ready for a costume montage Carrie Bradshaw-style.
POSHMARK
Warning: Could become addictive.
Best For: Coach, Free People, BB Dakota, Cheap Monday; other better, non-designer brands.
Sure, we all like turning a profit from the comfort of our living rooms, but what could be more fun than making money on the go? Poshmark is quick, easy, and best of all, found right on your smart phone. (Or iPad!) This mobile-ready app makes selling a breeze; photograph gently used or new with tags items from within the app, fill out a short, descriptive Q&A, and voila, you’ve created your closet. We uploaded a pair of gold glitter platform heels by Paris Hilton in five minutes tops and were able to share them not only with the entire Poshmark community but our own social media-sphere via Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and more. The best part about this app—besides being able to stage creative photo shoots, instantly upload products, and rake in the cash all without an internet connection—is finding great deals on unusual products that you otherwise would not find in your local retailers.
It is necessary to spend some time uncovering hidden treasures, but that’s what makes Poshmark so addictive! While you may come across the occasional designer steal, Poshmark is really about scoring seasonal trends on the cheap, and better yet, for trade. If you find another user listing items you love, you can follow her entire closet and start making offers for buy or trade. Other perks include Posh Parties, virtual shopping parties created by users for social shopping at a specific date and time, and no-hassle shipping—the buyer pays so all you have to do is print a free shipping label, pack, and ship. Perhaps the only con is forking over Poshmark’s 20% cut, but profits are clearly calculated in each listing so you can price your items accordingly. Check your balance in the app at any time and cash in redeemable earnings via direct deposit or paper check as you please. The more time you spend curating who you follow and adding to your own closet, the better success you will have on Poshmark.
SHOP-HERS.COM
Your items for sale at the price you decide.
Best for: Christian Louboutin, Proenza Schouler, Diane Von Furstenberg, Kate Spade; high-end designer labels.
If designer wares are more your—forgive the pun—bag, than Shop-Hers is your resale destination. Co-founded in 2012 by Jaclyn Shanfeld and her expert e-commerce team, Shop Hers was among the first of it’s kind: a seller-driven resale site that lets you name your price so you never have to settle for less than what your beloved merchandise is worth. Plus, there are a ton of fun features on this site carefully thought out by its founders for the utmost resale experience. For instance, parting with your designer duds can be an emotional experience filled with uncertainty. Forgo those fears with the Flaunt feature that allows you to test the waters, so to speak, to see who might be interested in buying your piece at the price you’ve set before you totally commit to selling. Another chic feature at Shop Hers is Style Soul Mates, a totally unique formula that takes the tedious searching out of the equation. “We created an algorithm, Style Soul Mates, that creates a community of women who share similar aesthetics. There are Style Soul Mates that share the same sizes…or those that just share the same love of handbags,” says Shanfeld.
There’s even an option for those who are sitting on a closet full of cash but don’t have the time to become a dedicated seller: The VIP Experience. Just ship all your resale goods to the Shop Hers headquarters and the team will take it from there. It will cost you a bit more than selling yourself, (a 35% fee on each transaction as opposed to the regular 18% charge) but it’s worth it if you’re doing a complete closet overhaul. On Shop Hers, it’s really all about the presentation. Take time to present quality photographs of your items; include detail shots, pictures of the original box and/or duster, and make sure a buyer can tell that the item they’re about to purchase has been cared for with love. Also, no fakes allowed! Once purchased, all goods must be sent through Shop Hers for their “Sure Shop Guarantee” to ensure that no “Prado” is mistaken for the real thing. Pending approval, you’ll get a juicy deposit right into your bank account. Buying and selling—even dreaming!—on Shop Hers has become our favorite pastime as of late. Even Bono invested in the site in late 2013—how’s that for a sustainable seal of approval?
VAUNTE
We vaunte to shop your closet!
Best for: 10 Crosby Derek Lam, Agent Provocateur, Barbara Bui, Isabel Marant Étoile, Thakoon Addition; designer collaborations or diffusion lines.
We have to admit, when selling on Vaunte it becomes increasingly hard not to shop on Vaunte. That is, for the most part, that your goods are not just listed among other sellers much like yourself, but among the closets of major tastemakers in fashion. Designer Jill Haber, television host and writer Louise Roe, Marni Flans, co-owner of Milk boutique, and Leah Park, the stylish co-founder of Vaunte herself. The routine is pretty much the same, but when you consider your closet merchandised among the aforementioned fashion heavy hitters, it seriously ups the ante. Vaunte also allows you to name your own price (as it should be!) and takes a mere 15% commission on every sale. The online reseller also has a pre-approval policy: when listing a new item, you may have to wait up to 48 hours before it goes live on the site, which only pales slightly in comparison…unless you’re a real stickler for instant gratification. Once an item sells, you’ll send products directly to the customer with a prepaid shipping label and, here’s where it gets tricky, funds are deposited into you Vaunte Cash Vault. Here is where you must may or may not practice restraint and transfer the amount into a bank account or spend your newly earned cash in one of those completely covetable closets we were talking about. Don’t see the brand name for merch you want to sell? Check back, Vaunte continues to accept news labels everyday and when you sign up, you’ll receive a sweet $50 off and free shipping deal on your first purchase. See, we told you it was hard to resist.
BUFFALO EXCHANGE
“Buffalo” because it’s American.
Best for: Putting everything in your car and dropping it off for someone else to deal with!
Then of course, there’s old reliable: Buffalo Exchange. Started in Tucson, Arizona, this well-established store is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and is one of the only mass consignment stores in the U.S. You can find a Buffalo Exchange in seventeen states and hopefully, wherever you’re reading this, there is one near you!
Here’s what you can expect: There’s a designated “buy counter” in the store where someone from the team will handpick desirable items from your pile. “We take things we feel that someone will be excited about getting for a deal,” says Amanda, an employee at the East Village store in NYC. They will price each piece on the spot and offer you 50% of the resale price in the form of store credit or 30% in cash on the spot.
They buy seasonally, so they’re currently purchasing spring and summer items, and are more concerned with quality and originality of items rather than labels (although higher end brands do help bring in the big bucks). We called ahead to find out the inside scoop on what’s trending now and found our local branch has an eye out for women’s blouses and tee shirts. Save time by editing your offerings to items you know the store will be interested in. Current best selling styles are kimonos, cool prints, and drape-y sweaters that can be layered over spring dresses and tank tops. Bohemian styles are also an easy sell in our neighborhood. There’s really only one necessary guideline. To sell you must bring a valid, government-issued id. Most people use their driver’s license or a passport works too. Then there’s the icing on the cake. Most Buffalo Exchange locations offer to keep the leftovers they didn’t want and donate them to the Salvation Army, which is totally incentive to downsize, de-clutter, and get what you’re not wearing out of the house.
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