Raid You Own Closet

Purge your dresser and/or closet of all the things that have been sitting and collecting dust. And, as Marie Kondo would suggest, be honest with yourself as to whether you’ll actually wear it. Once it’s all in a pile you can move onto the next step of cataloging each piece—i.e., pricing everything and providing a detailed description.

Research Your Costumer and Buy Accordingly

The pressure to reduce costs and speed up production time means environmental corners are more likely to be cut. Fast fashion’s negative impact includes its use of cheap, toxic textile dyes—making the fashion industry one of the largest polluters of clean water globally, right up there with agriculture.

Select a Fashion Reselling Website or App

The pressure to reduce costs and speed up production time means environmental corners are more likely to be cut. Fast fashion’s negative impact includes its use of cheap, toxic textile dyes—making the fashion industry one of the largest polluters of clean water globally, right up there with agriculture.

There are SO many out there! But be sure to read into how they work before putting effort into it. For example, some sites like The RealReal and ThredUP will require you to ship items for inspection, and then they’ll take care of the images for you. (Nice, huh?!) But usually, most will have you do the heavy lifting up front. The plus of this though is that you’ll have more control over the pricing, the execution, and the look of your page. See the list below for all the resell sites to take advantage of:

• Poshmark
• Depop
• ThredUP
• The RealReal
• ebay
• Mercari
• ASOS Marketplace
• Facebook Marketplace
• Tradesy
• Etsy
• LePrix
• Crossroads Trading
• Beacon’s Closet

Just keep in mind that many of these sites do take a commission from each sale, so be prepared that you won’t get 100 percent of the money you’re selling it for. (These companies gotta make some dough too you know!)

Offer good Customer Service and Fast Fulfillment

You made a sale! Congrats!!! Once that happens, sites usually send you a shipping label, but you’ll have to take care of boxing the item(s) up carefully before sending out to the buyer. Pro tip: I go around my neighborhood and look for cardboard boxes that people throw in recycling. You’ll save money on supplies and get rid of your neighbors unwanted boxes. A win win! Once it’s taped up with the label attached, drop it off where it specifies, whether that be in a mail box or at a UPS store.

You definitely want to be OVER-communicative. If you’re a little late with shipping it out, let them know! If there’s a USPS delay (as there often is), also let them know! It typically takes a couple days or more for it to be delivered, depending on where you’re both located and what carrier you use. And even if you’re notified that it’s been delivered, check in with them to make them aware and ask if they’ve received. The customer service element really helps make one-time buyers repeat ones, trust me.

You can also engage with buyers to negotiate prices and answer any other questions they might have.

Make your Products Stand Out with Great Pictures

When you’re reselling clothes online, your pictures have to do all of the talking. Your images should showcase the clothes in the best light. They should also be able to show the customer exactly what they’re purchasing.

You’ll need to take pictures of your clothes from various angles since the customer won’t be able to look at it in person. It’s always great to take product photos in natural light, but if you don’t have good lighting you’ll need studio lights. You can grab an inexpensive product photo kit from Amazon to help with your lighting.

The great thing is that you don’t have to have a DSLR camera to take product photos. A smartphone will do just as well with the right lighting.