Ah that time of year....
Getting rid of some clothes......
Whether its because you're moving, lost or gained weight, had a baby, hate your clothes or simply doing some spring cleaning- we've all been there.
And there are a lot of options for deciding what to keep, hand down, take out, donate, or sell.
Focusing on the selling part of the process- there are a lot of companies or avenues to go with:
Facebook Marketplace
Thread Up
Poshmark
ASOS
Tradsey
The ReadReal
Vinted
Depop
Local secondhand/resale stores
Craigslist
eBay
Garage/yard/sidewalk sale
I’ve never had much luck with garage sales or FB Marketplace and haven’t tried the other online companies yet; local secondhand shops are my go-to.
My favorite here in Utah is Uptown Cheapskate. Plato’s Closet is always good too- especially since the closest Uptown to me is over an hour away.
I always try selling clothes there first before donating- as someone who appreciates and really enjoys clothing- an ideal situation is selling the stuff you don’t want in exchange for in-store credit for “new” (used) clothing.
For those who have never sold their clothing at these types of stores before- here’s a rundown of the process:
1. Gather your gently used clothing and accessories that you no longer want and prepare for buying. If you’re extra nice you’ll launder them and fold neatly. Extra points if you separate men’s, women’s, and kids' as well as sizes within baby & kids. Some stores don’t care if you sort or fold them but I’ve been told firsthand (pun intended :) that they’re more likely to buy if everything is as such.
2. Call the store and double-check buying hours/days.
3. Bring your items to the store, check in, and wait for the buying process. If this isn’t your first go around, you’ll know that Saturdays are the absolute worst day to try and sell your stuff. They get packed and the wait time can be hours.
4. The store will notify you that your buy is done (some stores just call your name while others text or email). Then review anything they bought.
5. If they did buy something you can choose either to get the value in either in-store credit or cash. The in-store credit is always more than the cash offer, as of course, they want you to shop there.
Overall the process is simple and it definitely gets people in the door. It can also be a hit or miss. I’ve scored big time and also struck out.
This reminds me of a friend's Plato’s Closet selling experience. She and her husband had spent a pretty considerable amount of time clearing out their closets and reevaluating what they did and didn’t wear. Folded and sorted everything, called ahead of time to ask if they were currently buying the type of stuff they had and still struck out. Plato’s didn’t end up buying anything!
It can be so frustrating but again- hit or miss. These stores in Utah are each individually owned and it's up to the owner to advise their team on what to look for, what styles they’re taking, and what to say no to.
This has been the only way to sell your clothes at a store (in-person) that I’ve been aware of until this past month. A friend told me about a new secondhand store in Layton, Utah called PreLoved. (Shoutout to Abby!) They have other locations throughout the Wasatch Front but this is their newest one. It's over an hour away from me but with my line of work, of course, I was interested.
Turns out, there’s another way to buy and sell secondhand! It’s marketed as a non-thrift thrift store with a boutique-style assortment. AKA: more on-trend stuff and less “wow, why would anyone wear that” vibe.
This business model is different, for sure! Here’s how they communicate the process:
And here's my own rundown after I went through the process (or at least most of it).
Rent a booth online (The booth cost for this store was $25)
Come to the store and pick up a tagging kit.
Tag your own clothes with the booth number, your price, and the size.
Bring your clothes in on a Saturday morning. (The Saturday you reserved while paying for the booth rental).
Set up your stuff!! (They provide hangers).
People can come shop your booth and the entire store during the week.
You come to pick up whatever didn’t sell the following Friday and get to keep most of the profits! (For this particular store, you get to keep 65% of the profits. They pay you via Venmo).
If you don’t make enough to cover the booth fee but ensure your setup is within the allotted time frame as well as offer at least a 50% discount by Thursday, they’ll cover the booth fee.
This entire process is very new to me.
The first resistance I felt was purely having the bandwidth to dig into it. The week my friend told me about it, I had so many other things going on and needed to actually sit down and take the time to look at their website.
The next hurdle was my mindset of paying for space.
“Wait….I have to spend money….to maybe make some money….?”
I was on the fence but when I considered the sometimes failed attempts of selling at Plato’s or Uptown, I realized there is something to be said for time. (Of course, the ol’ time vs money debate). And with this approach….. There is no hoping they’ll say yes- you just bring what you want. So I decided to try it.
In my particular situation, the tagging process was a pain. Since I live over an hour away, I couldn’t justify spending the time or gas money to drive down to the store just for a tagging kit. My family and I were already planning on heading down to the Salt Lake Valley that weekend and I wasn’t gonna drive twice. (Since tagging has to be done prior to setting up on Saturdays).
I did however feel fine about spending $10 bucks on some tiny safety pins and tags from Hobby Lobby. Again, still spending money hoping to make some money but it was considerably less than driving down there. Maybe in the future stores like this could offer to ship the tagging kits?
PreLoved’s website has a very helpful video demonstrating the best ways to tag your clothing and points out that it can be a fun to do while binging your favorite shows. And they were right :) While I was tagging I thought,
“Geez this is a lot of work for not knowing the return but hey I’m already sitting here watching my show. It’s nice to be somewhat “productive.”
(For those of us who like doing something while watching our stories:)
As far as price goes I listed everything comparable to Uptown, Plato’s, and Kid to Kid. Not as low as yard sales but of course not as high as retail. Think either at or below Ross or T.J. Max prices.
My setup process was rushed as it was their opening day and ideally we needed more time to get everything on hangers. Nothing on their end- we just should have gotten there earlier :) Thank goodness they provide hangers! Here’s my booth along with some others.
I reserved a kid's booth; we have nieces and nephews who have kindly given a TON of handy-down clothes to our daughter and son and it’s more than they need!
We had to leave as soon as we were done setting up but I did take a minute to walk around and get a feel for the place.
I think this store is fantastic! Right off a busy street, easy to find. The booths are beautiful and simple- wood fixtures with clean finishes and they had gorgeous balloons for the grand opening. But best of all they have a kid’s corner! Pretty much any store that has a kid's area gets my business. It’s quite the feat to take tiny humans shopping- especially if they’re toddlers. All they want to do is run, grab, touch, and explore, so a family-friendly environment is a lifesaver.
The family-oriented business was also another great factor. PreLoved is owned by an adorable Finish family with 5 kids who saw how the secondhand clothing market operates in Finland and decided to try and replicate it here in the States.
“People just live with a lot less in Finland. In design, it's very minimalistic, simple, and beautiful. Their mindset goes deeper than that too- it’s the mindset of peaceful living, being present, being focused on where we are, and letting go of what no longer serves us.
-Satu Kuyampa
The word thrift in the US- it’s almost got this negative connotation but in Finland, it’s not that way at all. And so bringing PreLoved to the States- one of our goals is to change the American mindset on how thrifting is viewed and thought about. It can be a very high-end, uplifting experience.”
-Joseph. Guianpath Minon
After learning more about them and why they started PreLoved- I was all in to give it a try! Conscious fashion is my bread and butter and because that’s not the norm here in America, I’m fascinated by other cultures' mindsets in regard to how they approach clothing.
I do agree that there is a learning curve and mindset adoption hurdle for this business model since the traditional secondhand selling experience has dominated the market here in Utah, (and probably most other states). I still haven’t picked up the remainder of my clothes yet (pick up is this Friday 4/7).
I thought this was the only "spin on secondhand " store in Utah but to my surprise, right here (much closer to me) in Logan is another cool little gem- Indy Clover.
Side note- that picture is from Google Maps. And it definitely didn't look like that as it's been snowing nonstop here :/
While driving by, it appeared to be just another thrift store but after actually going there I realized it was another “rent-a-booth” resale store!
Their logistics are a bit different- $30 for the booth fee and if you don’t make enough to cover the booth fee, they’ll refund you.
Huh. Interesting.
I've been on the hunt for some loose fitting jeans and found some here along with a great pair of light wash shorts - for when it isn't snowing :/ and a "splice" pair.
If I ever do sell with them, I'll appreciate their tags- instead of blank ones, they come somewhat pre-filled and branded.
There is definitely one thing that PreLoved has that Indy Clover doesn't - a kid's corner! It was so frustrating shopping at Indy Clover with my kids. Of course I should have just gone when they were home with my husband but I wanted to check out out badly enough that I decided it was worth the hassle. The lack of kids area and curtains for dressing room doors made it a pain but I still found some great items even if it was in a tizzy.
I'll add another short post detailing the rest of the experience and how much I ended up making.
But overall, this seems like a pretty cool spin on secondhand! I'm rooting for it!
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