This is an honest, unpaid review of five luxury consignment online stores where you can sell clothes for cash: TheRealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Poshmark, Etsy, and Noihsaf Bazaar.
Sell your clothes for cash
This is a seller's review of the top consignment sites including Vestiaire Collective, Noishaf Bazaar, TheRealReal, and Poshmark [Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash]
I spent the last six months Marie Kondo’ing my apartment. I admittedly didn’t take as aggressive of an approach as she does. However, this means that I now have my drawers organized and in small boxes, and there is a pile of clothes and household items that need to find a new home.
You will now benefit from my months of experimentation and testing of different marketplace websites. I took my assorted designer clothes, and tried to sell my clothes for cash on various sites.
The goal was to figure out where I could sell my items for a good price with the least effort. Here are the results:
1. THEREALREAL
TheRealReal is one of the top consignment sites for high end designer items. They are very particular about the brands they take, and only accept high quality inventory.
- Sales Success: Low.
I found their prices to sellers to be low, so I didn’t list my items here. However, they were one of the first online luxury consignment store, and have over 9 million users. If you have great quality items and designers, and are most interested in a quick, easy sale, TheRealReal might be the best place to go.
- Ease of Listing: Very easy.
They make it as simple as possible for you to consign your authentic designer items. You can 1) mail your consignment items to them, 2) bring your items to a TheRealReal retail location, or 3) Schedule a pickup in 21 cities. Items are authenticated, so buyers are assured that they are real. If you are thinking of selling, make sure you understand TheRealReal model, and read the terms and conditions, especially #6 here closely.
- Sales Success: Low.
There are two seller policies that I did not like. 1) When selling, you send your items into TheRealReal. If they consider your item to be “unsellable” or if you don’t like the price they propose, they require you to pay return shipping to reclaim your item. 2) TheRealReal also aggressively discounts to move items out of inventory. Some sellers have complained that TheRealReal discounts too aggressively and without warning, resulting in very slim payouts.
TheRealReal sets the resale price for your item, and when the items sells, they pay approximately 40% of the resale price to the seller (for higher ticket items, they pay up to 70%). I did not sell on TheRealReal, but I was able to get an estimated resale price from them on a few items:
2. VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE
Vestiaire Collective: For the best prices, I preferred Vestiaire Collective. They require you to do a bit of work to list your items, but upon sale, they consistently pay more than other sites. Vestiaire Collective also optimizes search engines and surfaces your item in the Google commerce bar during a search:
- Sales Success: Very good.
I sold a few things for very good resale prices. My sales included a Levi’s jeans skirt, where I received $53 within 10 days of listing it. I listed a Mark Cross Bag and received an $85 offer ($68 to me; theRealReal had offered me $30 to $50 for the same Mark Cross bag). I also sold a Courreges handbag, and received $142 for it. This is one of the few consignment shops that will also allow you to sell items that are in just “good” (not perfect) condition.
- Ease of Listing: Do it yourself.
To sell clothes for cash, Vestiaire Collective requires more work than other sites. You need to upload your own photos, provide a description, list measurements, and propose a price, etc. When you make a sale, they provide a mailing label, and they inspect the item at their offices before sending it out to the buyer
- Sales Success: Very good.
Clothing Resale on Vestiaire Collective:
Very good resale values and good sales success. Requires the seller to post their item and take measurements. As a result, consignment payouts to the seller are higher than other sites.
I still have several items I am selling on Vestiaire Collective, including a St. John jumpsuit, Size 12 ($110), Emilio Pucci handkerchief ($89), and cotton Helmut Lang beige pants ($65).
3. ETSY
For vintage and one-of-a-kind items, you may want to try Etsy. Since items are unique, resale value can be high. However, there are so many items listed on the site, that it may take a buyer a long time to find yours.
I posted a vintage Kenzo jacket from the 80s in May of 2018 for $159, and found a buyer in January of 2019. Unfortunately, I had already given the item away.
Etsy charges $0.20 per listing every 4 months, plus when you sell, they charge 5% for the transaction, and 3.5% + 25% for payment processing. I sold a gray knife-pleated skirt for $59 including shipping, and received $55 for it.
Sell Vintage and Vintage-Inspired Clothing On Etsy:
4. POSHMARK
Poshmark:Easy to list, but lowball offers.
Poshmark was one of the first social app-based consignment stores. They have a tremendously engaged and enthusiastic customer base of 50 million users and 5 million sellers, with some sellers making thousands of dollars each month.
It’s a mystery to me how to sell clothes for cash on the site. When I listed my items, I received many likes, but very few offers. The site seems to work for the seller that might be willing to put in the work to “like” other Poshmark seller items, to build a social following, and to take part in the parties. Poshmark might be best for the person that is able to figure out how to strategically drive sales to their store, or for the casual user who is willing to part with their items at low prices.
Marc Jacobs NWT Child's bikini sold on Poshmark for $20
The selling price on this NWT Marc Jacobs child's bikini was $20, and the price paid to the seller was $16.
5. NOISHAF BAZAAR
NoihsafBazaar: Easy to list, but haven’t had sales success yet.
Noihsaf Bazaar is an Instagram feed of items for sale. I love the idea of this site, and the listing process is easy. It feels like the future of resale. Fees are a low $3.80 flat for each sale. You set the price.
The feed is curated and has a very specific aesthetic – think clean, modern and midcentury lines, and designers including Doen, Rachel Comey, Reformation, Jesse Kamm, and Ulla Johnson. I submitted a few items, and none of them sold. However, my items admittedly were not the exact Noihsaf aesthetic, nor were they from the targeted designers. I have seen items from those names and other independent designers sell quickly and at good prices.
As of this writing, Noihsaf Bazaar has approximately 30,000 followers (as a comparison, Vestiaire Collective has over 350,000 followers with even more members on their app platform). As they gain recognition and build their business, I expect that they will attract more buyers, and build additional sales velocity. In addition to women’s clothing (IG: @noihsaf.bazaar) they have already expanded into Vintage, Kids, Mens, Activewear, Beauty, and Home.
Sell Clothes for Cash on Noihsaf Bazaar:
Noihshaf Bazaar is an Instagram-based resale site. Items are easy to post, and the feed is curated, meaning they only accept specific items and designers. Resale values are good. Here are a few things that I listed, but that did not successfully sell on Noihsaf Bazaar (bikini) and Noihsaf Vintage (boots, shoes). Contact me directly at IG @mmluh if you would like to purchase.
Overall, I had the most success on Vestiaire Collective, and their payouts were good. However, posting on the site does require some work creating the listing and uploading good photos.
If you are just looking to move your designer clothing with minimal effort, you might want to go with TheRealReal. However, due to their aggressive discounting policy, you might net a much lower than expected payment in the end. Their strength is that they make consignment simple for the person that just wants to clear their closet.
One strategy might be to 1) first post your best items on Vestiaire Collective or Noihsaf Bazaar to see if you can find a buyer at a good price. Then, 2) bring the designer items that don’t sell to TheRealReal to see what prices they offer. 3) Lastly, you can try Poshmark, or donate those items to charity that are still good quality, but that won’t generate high resale prices.
Note: Please consider that while stores like Goodwill and Housing Works will take older items, if the items is in poor, unsaleable condition, they need to pay a company to dispose of it. Here is what happens after you donate your clothing to Goodwill.
I hope you find this information to be helpful for the next time you want to sell your clothing for cash! Let me know about your own experiences, successes, and challenges with online consignment and resale in the comments below.
NEXT POST – These are the best places to sell used furniture online!
2 thoughts on “I Tested 5 Designer Consignment Sites — Here’s The Best Place To Sell Clothes for Cash”
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