The Closet Clean-Out Project is finally complete!
In this series, I went over ideas on how to clean your closet’s clutter, then took you through each step of the process of getting those things listed, sold, and out of your house. I got this idea from hearing readers say in the comments how their activewear wardrobes were getting a little out of hand. I absolutely love the process of editing my wardrobe, especially since I’ve figured out how to recoup (most of) my costs and thereby soothe some of the money guilt that sometimes comes with a closet purge. Since I’ve gotten a lot of experience buying and selling bits of my closet, I wanted to pass on what I’ve learned in a way that would be helpful to others dealing with closet overflow. But since selling can be intimidating, I wanted to break things down and make the process approachable even for newbies who have never sold online at all.
Here’s all of the posts in the series, in case you missed one:
Starting the Declutter Process
What to Do with Your Unwanted Activewear
How to Assess the Condition of Your Clothes
Appraising Your Activewear and Choosing A Selling Price
Tips for Taking Great Photos for Your Listings
How to List Your Activewear on eBay, Poshmark, and Tradesy
Thank you for being a part of the Closet Clean-Out Project! I’d love to hear from you on what was helpful as well as what could’ve been better. If any questions have come up, feel free to ask them in the comments.
If you’ve gotten some listings up for sale, feel free to share a link with us in the comments, too!
I hope that the series helped inspire you to trim your collection and provided you with some good info. If there was something in there that was helpful to you (and I really hope there was!), the most helpful thing to me would be to share any of these posts somewhere–with someone you know, on Pinterest, or wherever.
Thanks again for reading! :)
As a newbie I decided to go with Tradesy, https://www.tradesy.com/closet/5578909/ , because of the full service feel that it provides: as soon as a sell is made, Tradesy takes care of the rest including potentially dealing with unhappy buyers. I have three questions for AA and other experienced sellers. 1. It seems that things move much slower on Tradesy and the prices are lower. Am I correct? 2. Can someone tell me if my prices are reasonable? They were set to get the items out of my closet. We all become attached to our things, so I am not sure. 3. Can I post an item for sale on more than one site, say Tradesy and eBay? If so, what if two different buyers come through around the same time? TIA!
I have the same items on Tradesy, Mercari, Poshmark and Ebay. In all the years i’ve never had the same item bought at the same time. I’ve always been able to sell an item and then be able to delete it off the other sites immediately. Yes, Tradesy moves a lot slower – that’s why I have my items on all the different sites. Mercari is similar to Poshmark except that they don’t take a cut of the sale so what you sell it for is what you get therefore you can ask a little less. I move more items on Ebay than the other sites but have sold something on all of them. Re: pricing, a good way to figure out your pricing is to look on ebay. Type in the brand and name of the item (i.e. Lululemon Studio Pants). Click the size of what you have, click the color then scroll down and click “Completed”. This will give you a more accurate idea of what that item in that size and color is selling for. Green is sold. Black is unsold. Make sure you note the difference between a NWT’s item and a used item. You can now price your items accordingly knowing you are at the market value. Also, on Mercari, deduct about 12% off the sold ebay listings to get a price to list on Mercari. Mercari and Poshmark – be prepared for some really weird questions and low ball offers and people wanting to trade. I usually put “No Trades, price firm” in description if i’m firm on the price. If not I see what gets offered. Some make me laugh they are so ridiculous but i’ve been able to move stuff on Poshmark that hasn’t moved anywhere else so it’s all good.
Yes, like Guest said, you can have stuff listed more than one place at once! I usually have everything listed on both Posh and Tradesy at the same time, it definitely helps things move more quickly. When something sells on Tradesy, you get an email asking you to confirm the sale. So, if you have already sold the item, you can cancel the sale instead if you forgot to remove the listing. I’ve had to do that before myself. Obviously you don’t want to make a habit of it, but if for some reason the same thing sells at the same time (not likely), or you simply forgot, you’re covered. :) Also, your prices look reasonable at first glance, and your listings look nice too!
Thank you again for pulling all of this together, so helpful! I’ve got a big pile of Lulu and more I’m going to unleash onto Ebay in the next week or so. Mostly size 8s. If anyone is interested you can follow me on Ebay “Halahs_closet” if you want to get notified when I do!
You’re welcome! Good luck with your eBay destash party. :)
I’ve enjoyed this series a lot. I ended up selling some stuff to webuylulu.com. I am sure I could have sold the pieces for more myself but I don’t have time for that right now. It’s nice to get things I don’t wear out of the house and get a little bit of money since no one know could use them.
How does it work? How is/was your experience? I would like to unload all my stuff at once if it is easy.
I filled out a request form on their website and they sent me an email with a form to mail in the clothes.
I mailed in about 5 pieces-bras, crops, and a top-at my own expense. They emailed a list of what they would pay. I accepted and was mailed a check.
They paid me between $2-10 a piece-I had pretty standard things. Nothing rare or too special. They offer around 10-20% of what they list it for. I actually checked their eBay Store afterwards and saw my stuff selling for about that-some things they gave more than 20% and some stuff less than 10%.
You can reject their offer and they will mail clothes back at their expense. There are item they won’t take listed on website. They will also donate items for you if you don’t them back and they don’t take them. If you have more than 10 items and are in Chicago land area, they will arrange pick up.
I actually put together another box to send them. Losing pregnancy weight and have a few more things that don’t fit!
Thanks, Sara! I appreciate you sharing some solid numbers on webuylulu, since a lot of people have been asking. Like you said, if you don’t have time, a few dollars is better than zero dollars. :)
I am almost done selling all my lulu that is now too big. I went with a Facebook group and had a very good experience! Most of my stuff sold within a day and I got the price I was asking for. I made about $1500! Now, the hard part, not filling my lulu drawers back up :)
Wow, that’s amazing Lauren!! :) I’m glad Facebook worked out so well for you.
Oh!! Forgot to mention I bought a cheap fabrics shaver from target and it removed all the between the thighs pilling on my WUs. They look brand new and I was able to get more money for them!
I just wanted to thank you – I’ve used a ton of your tips on photos and pricing and have already sold a bunch of pieces through a Facebook group I’m in. Shipping is a pain but other than that I love selling this way because I avoid fees. Thanks for all the effort you put into these posts!
That’s awesome, Shannon!!! :) Glad you had some selling success.
Are there certain brands that resell well, in your opinion? I have used Tradesy for a few work clothes items and love it! Posted a few activewear items based on your post and was amazed how some of my old lulu stuff sold. I’m in finance, so it was amazing to me how some of my items only depreciated like 10-15% in 3-4 years! That’s kinda crazy. Which makes me rethink my future purchases and maybe sticking to brands that hold their value.
Lululemon definitely tops the list as far as resale value, although resale prices for lulu definitely aren’t what they used to be (though still good compared to most clothing resale!). The resale market for other brands is very hit or miss. Nike apparently does reasonably well, though I don’t have a lot of experience there. With other brands, often they are so off the beaten path that half the battle is getting people to find them! So, smaller-name brands tend not to sell so well for that reason, unless you get lucky.