You know I am a big fan of consignment sales and shops for kids clothing. Recently I discovered an even COOLER way to buy and sell high quality gently used clothing…without ever leaving my house. No more dragging my clothes to a store and waiting months for a paycheck!
My friend Kelly introduced me to a company called thredUp.com and I jumped in during the seed phase. The concept is that you stuff one of those flat rate USPS boxes with quality name brand clothes your kid has outgrown, and list it on their website. Then you can “shop” for someone else’s box from the list with clothes in sizes you do need. All you pay for is shipping of the box to you, currently $13. At an average of ten items per box that’s just over $1 per piece. When someone chooses your box, they pay for shipping and you simply print out the prepaid mailing label and ThredUp even schedules a pickup at your door with USPS! I love that.
Joining thredUp is totally free, but they do have a Pro membership for a fee. I recently became a Pro member and I love that now I can see more detail on the clothes within the boxes. With a Pro membership (only $29.99 per year) you can not only see more details on the boxes, you can have an unlimited number of friends in your “Inner Circle”, an unlimited number of “Favorite Senders” and access to Golden Threds boxes (brand new clothes from select retailers), plus many more benefits.
So I thought I’d show you a little video of my recent experience receiving a box I picked from thredUP.
There are lots more interesting tidbits on the thredUp blog, and also (speaking as an avid Twitterer) their Twitter account is really useful and worth following as well. So I highly encourage you to check them out, especially if you are shopping for kids clothing on a tight budget.
What have you discovered that works for getting rid of your kids’ outgrown clothing?
Disclosure: I was provided with a six month Pro membership to thredUp and a free box swap to try out the service, however all opinions are expressly mine with my own words.
I joined thredUp a while back when I first heard about it, listed a few things… and then they dropped the adult clothes and decided to focus on just kids :o( Oh well, I didn’t really want someone else’s clothes anyway, I just wanted to get rid of mine!
I joined thredUp a while back when I first heard about it, listed a few things… and then they dropped the adult clothes and decided to focus on just kids :o( Oh well, I didn’t really want someone else’s clothes anyway, I just wanted to get rid of mine!
I didn’t even know they did adult clothes. Have you tried local consignment shops? My favorite is Charmingly Linda’s in Frazer. I sold a TON of clothes there. There was a small one in Collegeville I used a bit but they didn’t sell nearly as much stuff.
I didn’t even know they did adult clothes. Have you tried local consignment shops? My favorite is Charmingly Linda’s in Frazer. I sold a TON of clothes there. There was a small one in Collegeville I used a bit but they didn’t sell nearly as much stuff.
Yeah, this is where I first heard about thredUp, it was only adult clothes and the kids part was in beta. Guess they saw it was doing better than the main site. Thanks for the consignment recommendations, I’ll have to check them out. The only place I’ve ever sold is Plato’s Closet in Paoli, and they are so picky!
Yeah, this is where I first heard about thredUp, it was only adult clothes and the kids part was in beta. Guess they saw it was doing better than the main site. Thanks for the consignment recommendations, I’ll have to check them out. The only place I’ve ever sold is Plato’s Closet in Paoli, and they are so picky!
My kids were hip to the consignment store, thrift shopping until they hit junior high. It’s really frustrating watching the peer pressure working. Though there is one consignment store that is cool to the tween set. One.
My kids were hip to the consignment store, thrift shopping until they hit junior high. It’s really frustrating watching the peer pressure working. Though there is one consignment store that is cool to the tween set. One.
Bummer. I just wish there were more adult consignment stores near me, because I am constantly buying new clothes for myself and I’d love to have a place to resell the older stuff. I wonder about ebay, but I’ve never tried it. Mostly because I hate shipping stuff…which is why thredup being so easy is great!
Bummer. I just wish there were more adult consignment stores near me, because I am constantly buying new clothes for myself and I’d love to have a place to resell the older stuff. I wonder about ebay, but I’ve never tried it. Mostly because I hate shipping stuff…which is why thredup being so easy is great!