How to Make Money Selling Your Clothes
Have you ever wanted to make some extra money by selling clothes? I’ve been flipping clothing for over 10 years now. I’ve sold on over 3 different platforms and over 1,500 items. I’ve made enough money in one year to pay cash for a new car, and I’ve learned quite a few things along the way! From cleaning out my closet and selling my old clothes, to owning my own full-fledged online vintage shop, I have some tips that I think will help you if you are just getting started.
Start in Your Closet
My online vintage store by the name of Tiny Acorn Co actually started in my closet. I was inspired after watching What Not to Wear and thought maybe it was time for a wardrobe purge. I pulled out so many beautiful vintage pieces that I had collected over the years that I just wasn’t wearing as much anymore. I remember staring at the huge pile on my bed and thinking, “Wow these are really great pieces. Even if I’m not using them, someone should. They are definitely worth something.” The thought occurred to me to sell them online, something I had tried to do years before but failed at because it was before the age of smart phones and resale apps. But a few years had gone by, and Etsy was a little more established online, plus I now had a smart phone that took adequate pictures. So I took self timer photos of myself modeling my clothes, and then listed them on Etsy. I sold my first dress for $32 and made $600 in my first month. After I sold all of my castoffs, then I began sourcing specifically for my shop at thrift stores. We will get into that later.
*The first dress I ever sold on Etsy
Before you decide to open up a full-fledged clothing resale business, it’s worth taking a stab at selling to see if it’s even something you want to pursue. Start with what you’ve already got. Start in your closet. Go through your closet and pull out the pieces that you haven’t worn in over a year, or the pieces that aren’t bringing you joy anymore, and put them in a bag. I always keep a bag in my closet for my castaways and then when I get a full bag, it’s time to sell!
Where to Sell Your Clothes
There are basically three ways to sell: You can sell through a consignment store, or you can sell the clothes yourself, online or in person. It really all depends on how much leg work you want to do. Let me break down each option for you.
Sell at a Consignment Shop
Maybe you’re looking to make a quick profit or you don’t have the time and energy it takes to list all your clothes online. Then you might want to try selling through a consignment shop.
If you have a local consignment store in your area you can sell your clothes there. I usually take mine down to Crossroads or Buffalo Exchange where I can get cash back or store credit. Crossroads pays you 30% in cash of what they price your items at in the store, or if you want you can opt to take 50% in store credit. You can watch me sell at Crossroads here.
Keep in mind that these stores are only interested in buying your clothes if they are in good condition, are in season, are current trends, and/or are well known brands and designers. You can find out which trends and season your consignment store is buying for by calling them before you bring your clothes in. Some places, like Crossroads, even have a selling guide online of what they are buying at the moment.
If you don’t have a local consignment store around, you can opt to sell your clothes to these stores by mail. Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange and thredUP all offer prepaid closet cleanout kits. Simply request a kit or bag, and then mail your used clothes in and receive cash or store credit. One thing to keep in mind is that you won’t be able to know exactly what they decided to price your items at or how many they decided to buy, as they do not send the rejected items back to you.
Sell Online
If your clothes don’t fit any of the categories these stores are buying for, consider selling them yourself online. It does take a bit more work but there are so many apps these days that will walk you through the process, you just need to be willing to put in the time. Some well known secondhand fashion apps are: Depop, Poshmark, Etsy, and Ebay. There are several others too, but these are my favorite. In this article, I do not cover selling on Instagram, but that is also another way that you can flip clothes fast. Start by selling to your followers through your Instastories, and go from there. You can take payments easily through Paypal (you can even print out shipping labels through them too).
Have Your Own Booth at an Event
You can also sell your clothing at flea markets and other community events. Usually these events will have an online application for vendors and you will have to pay a fee for your booth for the day of the event. It takes a lot of work to haul all your clothing to these events, but they can be profitable if you get the right crowd. Keep in mind you will need to bring all the equipment for your booth, including shade cover, clothing racks, tables, and chairs. Set up times are super early too, and events have longer hours. Keep in mind the 2 plus hours it might take you to unload and set up as well as tear down. You will also need to bring change and it’s helpful to be able to take credit cards as well (You can sign up for Square or have people Paypal you). If you are going to sell at an event I highly recommend enlisting a friend to help you.
Choosing Your Platform
If you decide to sell online, there are several things to consider when choosing which app you would like to sell through. The most important is knowing which app will draw the customer base that will buy your clothing.
Here are my app recommendations based on the type of clothing you are selling:
Vintage clothing (Anything before 2000) - Etsy, Ebay and Depop.
Name brand clothing and current trends- Poshmark, Ebay and Depop,
Designer or high end labels- The Real Real, Tradesy, and Poshmark.
After selling vintage clothing on Etsy for over 6 years and having a successful vintage store by the name of Tiny Acorn Co. I eventually closed my store down. It was a lot of work to maintain and I decided to start pursuing other things in my life, my YouTube channel being one of them.
Eventually my closet got too crowded again and I decided it was time to sell my castoffs. This time I switched to selling on Depop. I felt like there was less pressure, compared to Etsy, for a professional looking shop with perfect product photos, and more just everyday people like myself selling from their closets trying to make a few extra bucks on the side. Plus, a lot of the clothing I wanted to sell wasn’t technically vintage, so selling on Etsy was out of the question. Etsy is an online marketplace for handmade or vintage only (items 20 years or older).
When it comes to selling on Depop, I like that they make it fairly simple and straightforward. Anyone with a smart phone can do it! You take a few pictures of your clothing (more about this later). You upload your photos and title your listing. Price it, size it, list the brand and give a short description. Then post your item for sale!
Turning a Profit
Making money selling clothes can be very profitable if you are smart about it. You will learn as you go, but I think there are a few things you definitely need to know about if you want to make money.
The Actual Product
Make sure your clothes are sellable. Ask yourself a few questions:
“Is this garment good enough for me to wear?” If it’s not in the best condition and you personally wouldn’t pay more than $5 for it, then consider having a yard sale and selling it there, or donate it to your local thrift store, or homeless shelter.
“What makes this item special?” Is it a unique vintage item that you can’t find anywhere else? Is it that one coat that sold out almost immediately on Zara and is now highly coveted? Is it in line with the current trends? Are people wearing this style right now? Are people searching for this online? For example, there was a time when you could buy a secondhand Harley Davidson shirt for a few bucks, and now you can’t find those anywhere for less than $30 (unless of course you thrift one). Why? Because they are on trend and in demand right now. One of my most profitable clothing flips was finding a vintage 1960s Harley Davidson shirt for 10 cents at the Goodwill bins and selling it for $140. The higher the demand and the rarer the garment, the more you can profit.
Good Product Photographs
Good photographs are key! A picture is worth a thousand words. This is the first (and may be the only) chance you get to capture a buyers attention. Let me break it down for you…
DOs:
Use your best photo as the thumbnail image. This is the image people see before they decide to click into the product page. It should include a full shot of the item.
Use natural lighting. Avoid using overhead indoor lighting as this can change the color that your garment looks in the photo. Shoot inside near an open window, or pick a shaded space outside. Overcast lighting is actually better for photographs than full sun.
Make sure your camera is in focus. Enough Said.
Model your clothing. People want to be able to envision themselves in the garment. Show them what it looks like on a human body, not just hanging lifeless on a hanger. Note: Please don’t over-pose. Natural poses will show the garment the best. I recommend standing straight in front of the camera with a hand on your hip, rather than seated or slouched.
Choose a simple backdrop. Your messy room is not an ideal backdrop image. Try to pick a blank wall if possible, so the item is clearly visible.
Photograph from all angles. The front and back of the garment, as well as close ups of any special details (fabric, buttons, tag, etc.)
Include a picture of ANY damage on the garment. It’s fair that people know about the condition of the garment before purchasing. You need to disclose this in the listing description as well. This will also help you avoid nasty reviews if you clearly disclose damages in the photos for the buyer to see.
Include a photo to scale if relevant. If you are selling a small handbag or accessory, photograph it on your body or next to something that will show the scale of the item. There’s nothing worse than buying what you thought was a big tote bag, and getting it in the mail only to realize that it’s actually only 10” long.
DONTs:
Use poor overhead indoor lighting that casts a yellow light on your clothing and distorts the color.
Edit with filters. Use only natural edits like contrast and exposure when editing. The goal is to keep the colors as close to what they look like in real life as possible.
Photograph wrinkled garments. Steam or iron your clothing if it is wrinkled.
Photograph poorly displayed garments. If you can’t model the garments on yourself or another human, then hang them as nicely as possible and lay them flat out on the ground so the shape is visible. If you have a dress form, or a mannequin that’s even better.
Be a bad model. For the love of God, please pose naturally! Simply standing straight in front of the camera will do. This is not the time for fancy camera work or editorial poses- you are trying to sell clothes, not a magazine. The most important thing is for people to see how the garment will fall when standing straight. If you want to include other posed photos like seated or more editorial looks, that’s fine, just make sure that you have at least two natural ones that show the front and back of the garment while standing.
Forget to include important shots. Do not forget to include photos of the back of the garment as well as closeups, and any damages. And please capture the entire garment from head to toe- don’t crop it so that it is not fully visible.
Listing Titles, Tags, and Descriptions
The more accurate you can be in your title, tags, and description of the garment, the better. SEO- or Search Engine Optimization- uses your key words to help identify what your page is all about and recommend it to people in Google search. The same goes for all the resale apps. When listing a garment on Etsy I would ask myself “What are all the possible words that someone could search for that my item could pop up for?”
In the title I would list:
Vintage or brand name? Vintage
If vintage, what era is it from? 1970s
Type of garment? Sweater
More specifically, what kind of sweater? Cardigan
Color or pattern? White
Style? Slouchy
Other features? Fuzzy with Pockets
Also make sure to note if the item is New With Tags (NWT) or Deadstock (Vintage with tags still attached)
In the description I would list:
Using the same words that are in the title in the description helps reinforce to the search engine what your page is about. However you don’t need to do it word for word like I did here.
Why should they buy my garment? Is it on trend? What could they style it with? Make it sound like the item they have always wanted!
What size is it? Sizes are never the same between brands or eras. Sometimes I would write something like “Tag is marked small but it fits more like a medium” or “Tag marked Large but can fit a small- large depending on how tight or loose you’d like it.”
Include the garment measurements. You can get a cheap seamstress measuring tape and lay the garment flat and then measure (making sure to double measurements like bust, waist, and hips). Important measurements to include are: Bust, Waist, Hips, Shoulders, Length, Inseam, etc.
Include the model’s measurements. Adding your model’s height and weight (and/or measurements) helps people get a better idea of how a garment will fit them.
Include garment details. Fabric content, zippers, pocket placement, collars, buttons, and anything else that is special about the garment!
Note any damages so there are no surprises when the buyer receives the item.
List anything else you might want the buyer to know. Is there free shipping? Do you do bundles? Are you accepting offers? Do you do returns or exchanges, or is it final sale?
Using Tags:
Most of the time customers can’t see tags, but the algorithm uses tags to categorize products and organize search results for customers. Make sure to list anything you think someone might search for in which your product would be relevant. Brands, styles, trends, and garment details are all important tags. I’m not an expert on tags but I did find it effective to list similar tags as in your title and description. i.e.: Vintage, Retro, Sweater, Cardigan, 1970s, 70s, seventies, small, S, white, pockets, fuzzy, slouchy, acrylic, knitted, knit sweater, long sleeve, etc.
Pricing Your Clothes
When deciding what to price your clothing at it’s important to take everything into consideration:
What are similar garments selling for right now? You can search online to find similar items and see what others are selling them for.
Is the item in good condition? Is it new with tags? Only worn a few times? Or does it have a missing button or a hole somewhere?
How much will the item cost to ship? You might have to do a little research on this, or you can always check and see what other sellers are charging and go from there. Don’t forget to include the cost of whatever shipping materials you use (bags, boxes, tape, etc.). If you are printing your labels at home don’t forget to include a small portion for the cost of paper and printer ink.
What percentage will your app take as a fee? Depop takes 10%, Etsy takes 5%-8%. You can price your item higher to account for this.
What is your time worth? Only you can put a price on this.
Each piece of clothing that you sell will take work and time. Based on my many years of experience, I want to you consider a few things:
Consider the fact that you are the one who initially bought this garment. You found it- or sourced it, using your great sense of style and taste. People out there will pay more money to not have to search for a garment themselves. You take half the work out of it for them. After all, if they wanted to hunt for it themselves then they would be at the thrift store, not shopping online from the convenience of their own home.
Consider the time it takes you to prepare the item to photograph (steaming, modeling, setting up the shot). Then to actually photograph the item, to edit the photos, to list it online, and to fill out all the details for each piece you sell (this can be time consuming). You will also have to create a space in your home to store the item until it sells. How much time will you take to package the item once it sells? Will you write a note to include in the package? You will also need to print and affix the label to the package, and eventually drive to the post office and wait in line.
When you think of all of that work, is pricing your garment at just $8 really worth it to you? In my opinion, after selling clothes for over 10 years, I would never price anything for less than $10 plus shipping. My time is worth too much to me. Only you can be the one to decide what your time and effort is worth. That’s why nowadays it’s more convenient for me to just sell at Crossroads. Sure, I probably could get more money selling each item individually online, but currently, my time is more valuable to me than the extra $3 I might make on a garment. It all depends on what your priorities are, and what is valuable to you! Don’t undervalue your time or effort by pricing something too low. On the contrary, if you price too high, your items might never sell. This will be something you will need to feel out as you go along.
Sourcing Product
If you decide that you like selling and that you want to continue then it’s time to think about sourcing more product for all your future listings. One of the main places I sourced my clothes was thrift stores, but you can source other places as well. Poshmarker Arlene has a great article on 19 Places to Get Clothes to Sell on Poshmark.
Here are some of my recommendations:
Thrift Stores
When I owned my vintage store, I mostly just sourced all my product from thrift stores. My favorites were the ones with the cheapest prices, the small hole-in-the-wall thrift stores in the mountains, and basically all the ones that weren’t picked over. Soon after 2010, thrifting and reselling became more popular and that’s when Goodwill hiked all their prices up. I typically did not shop at Goodwill when I was sourcing, as I found their prices too high for me (around $6-$15 per item). If I shopped smarter and bought lower I could increase my margins and make a higher profit.
Even though I avoided the standard Goodwill stores, there is one Goodwill I would shop at. In fact, I would consider it one of the BEST places to source- The Goodwill Outlets, A.K.A. “the bins”, A.K.A. “the dollar pound”. To see what it’s like watch my Thrifting the Bins video. This is honestly one of the BEST places to source because you can get some screaming deals! Nothing is individually priced, instead it is all weighed by the pound and usually sells for around $1-$1.50 per pound. This is an outlet that basically sells all the items that never sold at Goodwill, or were donated to Goodwill but unsellable in the stores for whatever reason.
There are no clothing racks at the Goodwill outlet. Everything is thrown into massive blue bins that are lined up warehouse style. They are constantly refreshed throughout the day with old bins being taken in the back and new bins being brought out. I always find it comical to see all the eager customers lining up waiting for a new bin to come, then when it comes they go crazy sifting through it, clothing flying in the air, it’s chaos!
Tips for sourcing at Goodwill Outlets:
There are no returns or exchanges. There are also no holds.
Make sure to grab a cart as soon as you get there. Carts go fast. My method was to throw everything I thought I might get into the cart and then sift through it all and make final decisions at the end.
Plan to stay for a few hours. Digging through everything takes time and patience.
There are no dressing rooms. You can try things on over your clothes if you need to. However, I would recommend washing everything you buy before selling it.
Bring water and don’t shop on an empty stomach. I’m serious you guys, this kind of shopping is NO JOKE. It takes a lot of energy to dig through and move all the clothes and after a short time you will get tired and thirsty.
Wear gloves. Hand sanitizer is a last resort if you don’t have gloves. Things aren’t exactly sorted through before being put in the bins. I have found dirty diapers mixed in, snot covered clothing, broken lightbulbs, etc. Guys, nothing will make you want to puke more than putting your hand right into a massive loogie… trust me, I know. WEAR GLOVES!
Go in with the right mindset. Remember, you are trying to get the best deals for your shop and that means you aren’t paying extra for things to be laundered, sorted by size and hung neatly on racks by employees of the thrift store. You are literally going to be digging through a bunch of wrinkled clothing to find the diamonds in the rough. Be patient and keep digging. Sometimes you will dig for hours and only find a few things worth buying. Other days, you will find gem after gem and quickly fill your cart. When you are finding amazing vintage clothing and only paying $1.50 per pound, then you might find that running into a dirty diaper or two might be worth it. The Goodwill bins is where I found my epic 1960s vintage Harley Davidson tee that after being weighed out probably cost me around 10-25 cents. I then turned around and sold it for $140. That’s almost 100% pure profit.
So, as you can see, shopping at the bins isn’t for the faint of heart, but on a good day, you can make out with 3 full bags of clothes for around only $20 and then turn those clothes into $500+ profit.
Click here to find a Goodwill Outlet near you.
Yard Sales and Estate Sales
Another great place to source is yard sales and estate sales. You can get killer deals here! I recommend downloading a Yard sale finding app like Yard Sale Treasure Map. It takes all the Craigslist Yard sale postings and puts the locations on Google Maps so you can see all the yard sales happening around you. You can also check out this article on how to find Yard Sales near you.
Flea Markets
Flea markets can be a great place to source clothing. You’ll find many different vendors depending on the location of the flea market. When I went to Denio’s in Roseville, CA I would find lots of standard yard-sale type clothing. Not too much vintage. But when I went to the Alameda Antique Fair, I found a ton of vintage, though not all of it was at prices I would consider flipping (you can watch the video here). I’ve also been to the Treasure Island Flea here in the Bay Area, and they have a great vendor that sells all their clothing at $5 per piece. I found a fabulous kimono robe and some other vintage gems at that booth. You might have to go to a few flea markets near you to find the best ones for sourcing.
Click here to find flea markets near you.
Craigslist
This may be a more rare occurrence, but it is worth checking Craigslist for free clothes or clothing selling by the bulk. I hit the jackpot one day when I was searching for free stuff and came across a posting about a bunch of free clothes. There were some photos of the clothes but it was hard to really tell what was there. The main thing that made me guess there was vintage mixed in, was that the listing said there was lots of “old lady’s clothes”. Sure enough I was right! To watch this amazing story unfurl check out my Youtube video below!
Friends and Family
Once you start selling more, soon friends and family will start to offer you clothing. You can always ask too! Usually people have a bag of old clothes lying around that they might be needing to take to the thrift store, and they would just as well give it to you if you wanted to come pick it up. I have had several people connect me with either older people’ clothing who passed away, or vintage that they had been hanging onto for years and were ready to let go of. It’s worth asking around, and just letting your friends and family know that if they had any old clothing lying around that they wanted to donate to you it would really help you out with your new business!
Ebay and Consignment Shops
Once you get your shop up and running you may find that you aren’t locating the specific type of product you want at any of the above places mentioned. This is when Ebay and shopping at other consignment shops comes in. Maybe you want your shop to have a very specific aesthetic, like Rawson. They carry a lot of vintage deadstock and utility workwear. You won’t be able to find niche items like this unless you are a pro hunter. Ebay is a great place to look for deadstock, as well as other specific items. You might have to pay a little bit more, but if your shop is curated with your unique taste and design, your customers will probably be willing to pay more for these items anyways. Plus, customers will be able to easily identify you as a brand when you have a specific niche and carefully curated selection vs. a random selection of goods.
Wholesale, Auctions, and By the Bulk
I never knew about this when I was slinging vintage, but recently I have found some great sources for serious SOURCERS. Buying wholesale, auction, and by the bulk can be risky but it’s also a great way to increase your profit margins and get great product for your shop! If you are buying wholesale, you will need to obtain a wholesale license. Dust Factory Vintage is a great resource for buying vintage wholesale. A great place to buy clothing at Auction is Property Room. If you are looking to buy in bulk, Bulk Vintage Warehouse is an online shop where you can buy discounted vintage by the bundle or by the weight. If you buy by the weight, you can get around 20 pounds for $100, although it will be a mixed bag and you won’t know what you are getting. If you buy by the bundle you will have a better idea of what you will get, but might not get as great of a deal.
Have Fun!
This might all sound overwhelming, but don’t be afraid. Just start with what you have and go from there! I started with what I had- which was some old clothes, a smart phone, and the willingness to learn as I went. I will never forget how overwhelmed I was when my brother told me I needed to apply for a business license, when I had made enough money to report in my taxes. Take it day by day, and as you grow, continue to do your due diligence. If you need to get a business license, then do it! If you want to start an Instagram for your business, do it! If you need to call up some friends to model some of your clothes while you take photos, then do it! You don’t need a fancy camera or photo studio. Use what you already have and just do your best with it. You can always upgrade later on down the road. Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly- at first! You don’t have to be perfect right out of the gate, or even know totally what you’re doing. Just remember to have fun with it!