Sell Clothes Online: The 5 Best Platforms for Selling Your Clothes

There are now more options than ever to sell clothes online. Some of these places are better than others, and it really depends on what you are looking for in a selling experience.

For example…

• eBay is great for those who are looking for a reliable platform with a lot of buyers. You can also get your money fairly quickly after the sale is complete.
• Poshmark is perfect for those who want to sell designer or name-brand items. It is also simple to use and ships items quickly.
• Etsy is a great option if you’re looking to sell handmade or vintage items. Their fees are fairly reasonable, and they have a large audience of potential buyers.

To help you get started, I’ve compiled a list of the 5 best places to sell clothes online.

Let’s get started…

Thred Up:

Looking to clean out your closet and make some extra cash? thredUP is the world’s largest online consignment & thrift store and makes it easy to sell your clothes online without all the upfront work it takes like other apps such as eBay and Poshmark. With thredUp, they took the work out of you having to head to a local consignment shop and they give you the opportunity to have your items on their site where millions of buyers are shopping secondhand.

best for ease of use

How It Works:

• Step 1:
  Request a Clean Out Kit from thredUP. They’ll send you a box with a prepaid shipping label..
• Step 2:
  Fill up the box or pre-paid polybag with any clothes, shoes, and accessories you no longer wear. Check out their site to see brands they love and accept.
• Step 3:
  Send back your bag/box using the prepaid shipping label and thredUP will do the rest! They’ll sort through your items and decide which ones they can sell in their online store.

Pros

• ThredUp’s mission around sustainable fashion and conscious living 
• Easy to order clean-out bag and send it in
• They do all the work, ie. pictures, listing, storage, shipping, marketing
• Even though my profits weren’t the greatest, it beats the time I would have spend either having a garage sale, running around to local consignment shops, or even donating. They have an option to dontate as well.
• The payouts are fast. Once you have cash available, it was a super simple process to get access to funds quickly!

Cons

• The time it takes from when they receive a bag takes a long time to process  
• In my experience the money you make is not the greatest. Over the span of a few years that I’ve been sending things in to ThredUP, they’ve accepted 211 of my items and I’ve made a total of $457 to date. That comes out to a little over $2 bucks a piece.

Final Thoughts:

Are you going to get rich with thredUp? In my opinion…No! However, I still think it’s a great way to get rid of things you no longer wear or need. If you’re in a pinch to make some quick cash then thredUp may not be the best option, but if you’re planning on donating and aren’t in a time crunch then it could be worth it. Especially if you’re wanting to shop on their site with your credits. 

Try thredUp

Poshmark:

Poshmark is one of the most popular places to sell clothes online. It’s a great platform for those who want to declutter their closet and make some extra cash.

You can also follow other users to see the items they are selling making it more of a social selling platform making it a very engaged and social community of buyers. Most people buying on Poshmark are also sellers so you see a different vibe of camaraderie between buyers and sellers.

best for Fashion

Why I Love It:

• Can Be Managed All From Your Phone
  Selling on Poshmark with your phone is easy and convenient. With the Poshmark app, you can list items for sale, track your sales, and communicate with buyers – all from your phone.
• Super SIMPLE Shipping
  When you make a sale on Poshmark, they provide you with a pre-paid, pre-addressed label ready to be put on the box. Once your sale has been packaged, you can drop it off at a USPS mailbox or even have it picked up for free from your home!.
• You Can Make Some Serious Cash
  Although I have to put a disclaimer here that results aren’t typical, Poshmark is definitely a viable option to make good money. If you price your items well, take good photos, and really put in some effort to learn the platform you can make a decent profit on Poshmark.

Pros

• The easiest platform by far to list items. They make it SUPER SIMPLE and fast!
• Great for selling higher end items. Right now Poshmark offers free item authentication and free shipping on all items $500 or more. This could change
  
• Customer must pay when they purchase an item. There’s no lingering or waiting for them to pay.
• Quick payments and deposits once customer receives item 

Cons

• SHARING! You have to stay very active on the platform by sharing your closet and your items to help bring your items to the top of the search feed and can be very tedious. It’s definitely not a set it and forget it type of platform and be super time consuming. 
• Fees: They’re pretty transparent and straight forward about their fees. From my experience, for all sales under $15, Poshmark takes a flat commission of $2.95. You keep the rest. For sales of $15 or more, you keep 80% of your sale and Poshmark’s commission is 20%. 
• You don’t get paid until the customer receives their item. 

Final Thoughts:

To sum it up…Selling on Poshmark is quick, easy, and convenient- perfect for anyone looking to make a little extra cash by selling their clothes. It’s great for those who don’t have a ton of time because they make it super easy to get listings up, and you can do it all from your phone. Poshmark is fun and known to a super social marketplace which keeps people engaged on the platform. 

Try poshmark

Etsy

Etsy is an excellent option for selling handmade or vintage items, as well as unique jewelry and clothing. You can also sell homemade beauty products, art, and home decor. What’s great about Etsy is that it’s easy to use and they have some great learning tools & resources to help get you up and running.

So, if you’re looking for a creative and entrepreneurial way to make extra money, then selling on Etsy is perfect!

best for handmade/vintage

Why I Love It:

• It’s “Shop Local” Vibe
  Etsy offers a unique shopping experience, as most of the items for sale are created by individual sellers. This allows customers to support independent businesses and find unique items that cannot be found elsewhere.
• SIMPLE Payment Processing
  Etsy handles all of the payment processing, so sellers don’t have to worry about setting up their own payment system
• Easy To Use Seller Tools
  Etsy provides sellers with tools to manage their shops, track their sales, and communicate with buyers.

Pros

• Etsy gives you the opportunity to build a loyal customer base, as buyers can browse through shops and find items that they connect with.
• Etsy has seen tremendous growth over the last few years. Their marketing efforts have been able to reach a very large, organic, and built-in audience for your to grow your business.
• They make it super easy to set up shop and maintain it with little to no tech skills
• Etsy is well known and trusted by a loyal following of customers.

Cons

• Competition is higher than ever making it tough to stand out from the crowd. With so many sellers offering similar products, it can take way more effort to make your shop stand out.
• You may have to deal with some pretty strict guidelines when selling on Etsy that they can change at any given moment because it’s their platform.
• SEO expectations are a bit of learning curve if you’re new to it. It takes time to learn how to optimize via the search engine your listings in your shop.
• Branding and not being able to build your own email list.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, selling on Etsy is a great way for creative entrepreneurs to reach a large audience of potential customers at a relatively low cost. Unlike eBay where you have to pay for a subscription to open a store, I love that from the moment you decide you want to sell your items on Etsy, you become a shop owner. You create an account, come up with a shop name, and then they have you list your first item immediately after opening your account in order for it to be active. It’s a pretty simple and seamless process. 

Mercari:

Mercari is an online marketplace that allows users to buy and sell new or used items. It’s a great place to find deals on clothes, shoes, and accessories, and you can even earn money by selling your own gently used items. Here’s everything you need to know about using Mercari to buy or sell clothes.

best for Selling In Multiple Categories

Why I Love It:

• Convenient And Not Over-Complicated To Get Started
  Mercari is convenient because it’s all done through the app – you can list items for sale in just a few clicks, and buyers can pay through the app.
• Mercari Prepaid Labels Make It Easy To Ship Items
  You have an option that when a buyer purchases your item, a Mercari prepaid label will be automatically created and sent to your email address, or you can simply go to the Order Status page to easily download and print it out.
• Simple Fee Structure
  Although subject to change, from my experience, listing an item has always been free on Mercari. Fees are charged when an item sells or when a service is used. You can check out their current fee structure on their site.

Pros

• Great for the everyday seller that wants to sell in mulitple categories  
• Easy listing on both mobile and desktop
• Have the option to offer promotions (offers to likers)
  
• They limit low-ball offers

Cons

• Mercari is fairly new (2013) and does not have as large of a customer base as some of the other online marketplaces, so in my experience it may take longer to sell everyday value items.
• Lack of seller standards
• The chronological search algorithm pushes old listing down making them difficult to find in search creating the need to re-list older items
• The 40 character title structure limit

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Mercari offers a convenient and easy way for people to declutter and earn some extra cash. It’s great for buyers because they can find unique items at Mercari that they may not be able to find anywhere else.  Additionally, Mercari has a user-friendly interface that makes listing and buying items simpler than other e-commerce platforms.

Try mercari

eBay:

There is no denying that eBay in my opinion is THE BEST OVERALL!! (and my favorite)

eBay is an online marketplace that allows people to sell new, used, and vintage items. You can sell just about anything on eBay, which makes it a great platform for people who are looking to declutter their homes or earn some extra money. One of the best things about selling on eBay is that it’s relatively easy to get started. All you need is an email address and a desire to learn the platform, and you too can start listing items for sale in just a few minutes.

best overall

Why I Love It:

• Millions of Buyers
  There is no denying that eBay has been around a very long time (1995 to be exact), making it one of the world’s largest marketplaces, connecting you with buyers all over the world. With over 180 million active buyers, chances are good that you will be able to find a buyer for your product no matter where you are in the world. 
• Sell Right From Your Phone
  The eBay app makes listing and running your business even faster and more convenient
• Seller/Buyer Protection
  eBay offers protection for both buyers and sellers. This protection includes buyer protection against fraud and seller protection against non-paying buyers.
• Free Listings
  Every month, you get up to 250 zero insertion fee listings, or more if you have an eBay Store, which I absolutey recommend having if you’re serious about making it a side hustle business. The eBay Store features are worth because it allows you to take advantage of eBay’s marketing tools to help promote your items to potential buyers!

Pros

• The ability to check solds from desktop or mobile makes it SUPER POWERFUL.
• eBay offers a level playing field for all sellers, so you can compete with the big businesses without having to invest in expensive marketing or advertising.
• Low investment: It doesn’t take a lot of money upfront to get started. In fact, most people have a couple thousand bucks of stuff they no longer use that can be easily sold on eBay to get started.

Cons

• There can be a learning curve when it comes to learning about the Seller Fees. 
• It can be time consuming. Depending on your niche or if you’re selling goods out of your home, the time it takes to prep, photograph, list, and ship takes up a good chunk of time in the beginning until you put systems in place.
• It can be very mundane as you start to scale and go from hobby seller to beginning to build out a business model and go full-time.

Final Thoughts:

Selling on eBay is a great way to earn some extra money, or even make a living. Never did I dream that back in 2009 when I listed my first item on eBay, I’d create a full time stream of income part-time from home. For me, selling on eBay started off as a hobby while I was working a full time job. To date, I have sold thousands of items online and am ranked as one of the top sellers in my category on eBay. What I love most about eBay is the ability to test whether or not you want to sell certain items. You will find that the more you list and sell, you organically start to find a niche you love to sell in and what you don’t.

To sum it all up…

Each site has its own unique benefits that make it the best in its category. So whether you’re looking for the highest prices, the widest selection, or the most convenient platform, one of these sites is sure to be the best fit for you.

So what are you waiting for? Start cleaning out your closet and make some extra cash TODAY💸!