ThredUP Reviews: Is the Online Consignment Store Worth It?
Getting rid of clothes and want to try to make some money from selling your clothing online with ThredUp? Consignment stores are the best way to easily get money for your old clothing. What if you don’t have a consignment store near you, though – or the time to go to a thrift store? ThredUP is an online consignment store offering to buy your clothing and sell gently used clothing online.
But is thredUP worth it?
After I saw the online resale shop promoted on nearly every blogger’s site that I knew, I was intrigued. Why were so many people suddenly writing about thredUP clothes and how wonderful the online consignment store was?
So I decided to do a thredUP review that wasn’t sponsored.
I had a lot of really nice clothes that I no longer fit into anymore and I wanted to make some money off of them. So I decided to try to sell clothes to ThredUp. Here’s what happened.
This article has been updated most recently in March 2021. Over the years, there have been more than 200 comments of real-life ThredUp reviews from other people who sold clothes to thredUP and how much money they made. Be sure to scroll down and read their comments, too!
ThredUP Consignment
I tried selling some of my Express clothing on a private Facebook group for my HOA community. A few things did sell for about $30-40 profit. I sold Forever 21 dresses for $5 each, and my Express clothing for $10 each.
There was still a huge pile of clothing left, though, including Express pants, shorts, tops and more. And it was all in really good shape. Some stuff was barely worn. I am pretty gentle with my clothing. In fact, there are still things from high school in my closet that I can wear. That’s how little wear and tear my clothes get. Especially my dress clothes (I work from home after all. My dress pants might get worn 10 times a year.)
I wanted to make some money from selling my clothes. That’s when I heard about ThredUp.
What is ThredUp?
Before I start telling you about my experience selling clothes to ThredUp, you might be wondering what ThredUp is.
ThredUp is an online thrift store. Or you might call it an online consignment store. Either way, it’s a website that buys used clothing from you and sell clothes to buyers online. You can just sell to the website, or you can just buy from the ThredUp thrift store. You don’t have to do both.
You can buy discounted clothing via their website, www.ThredUp.com, or via the ThredUp app.
It is a sustainable way to buy clothes, since you are purchasing previously worn clothing.
Selling Clothes on thredUP
So, I ordered a free Clean Out bag to sell my clothes to ThredUp. (In April 2020, the Clean Out bags or mailing label for your own box are free. However, the secondhand resale shop once charged for these bags. So be sure to look on their site to see their current policy, which changes frequently, in case there is a ThredUp clean out kit cost.)
I filled the Clean Out bag with what I couldn’t sell on my own and hoped for some money for selling my clothes. I knew that ThredUp is very picky when it comes to accepting clothing, but they don’t send your clothing back that they won’t sell unless you pay them a fee. For instance, I had some clothes from Synergy Organic Clothing, too, but I knew (based on thredUP’s guidelines) that there was likely no way they’d take them. I decided to keep those items to donate to charity instead.
ThredUP will take women’s clothing; children’s clothing – both boys and girls; handbags; shoes; plus size clothing and maternity clothes.
How Does ThredUp Work?
Once you decide to sell your clothes to the online thrift store, you will request a ThredUp Clean Out Bag. This is a large bag that they send you that you will stuff with all of your clothes that you want to try to get money for. Alternatively, you can use your own box and request a free mailing label to send them your clothes. Up to 15 lbs. can be in each package.
Not all of your clothes that you send to ThredUp will be bought. In fact, ThredUp clearly states that with their Quality Standards they only accept an average of 40% of clothing sent to them. So your odds of actually making money on a piece of clothing is 4 in 10. While you might *think* that your clothing will definitely be accepted because it’s in mint condition, don’t be so sure. (You’re definitely going to want to read all of ThredUp reviews in the comments section for real-life stories about this!)
Will you get back the clothes that ThredUp doesn’t accept? No, not unless you pay for the option, which is $10.99 (April 2020 pricing). Otherwise, the great quality clothing that they say they won’t take will be given to other sellers to sell, or used in their ThredUp Rescue Boxes. Poor quality clothing will be given to textile recycling partners to recoup money.
Clothing that is accepted for sale will be on consignment for up to 60 days (for what they call Value or Mall brands) or 90 days (for Premium and Designer brands).
You get paid if your clothing sells.
What if your clothing doesn’t sell? What does Thredup do with the clothes?
You can choose to reclaim your clothing. Otherwise the clothing becomes the property of ThredUp.
ThredUp Estimator
When I sold my clothes to ThredUp, there was no examples of the payout. Now, there is now a Payout Estimator on the thredUP website. It gives general examples of what you could expect to receive from selling your clothing.
I think you’ll be shocked if you put in some of your clothing brands into they calculator and see how much is being offered. In a search during April 2020, here’s what the ThredUp Payout Estimator was saying:
- JC Penney Khaki Shorts: $0.48
- Old Navy Jeans: $0.90-$1.47
- Express cardigan sweater: $1.08-$1.26
- LC Lauren Conrad Casual Dress: $1.92-$2.43
- Athleta Active Pants: $7.09-$7.87
- Calvin Klein Cocktail Dress: $11.88-$15.00
I can’t fathom getting paid $1 or $2 for a piece of clothing rather than donating it in my community to an underprivileged women trying to reenter the workplace.
ThredUp Processing Time for Clean Out Bags
After I sent in my big bag of a clean out kit, I waited. And waited. And waited.
Yeah, it took about 30 days. I sent my bag in on August 6. My credit wasn’t processed until September 10.
Over the years, nothing has changed. In fact, it might take even longer for ThredUp to process your donation.
As of April 2020, ThredUp processing times are up to 7 weeks. That’s almost 2 months before you even know if you can make any money! Of course, if you want to pay the company some money, they’ll let you know sooner. If you want to pay $16, then your clean out kit will be processed in one week.
Does ThredUp Sell Shoes?
Yes, they do!
ThredUp takes shoes, including women’s and kids. For children’s shoes, they take both boys and girls.
I’ve personally found quite a few good pairs on never worn Vionic shoes on the site. Just like everything, their shoes used to be a better value. Now a lot of the shoes I like are about the same price as I could get on the company’s website with a good sale.
Does ThredUp Take Men’s Clothes?
After seeing how awesome the clothes and shoes are that come in the mail from ThredUp, my husband often asks if he can buy clothes on the consignment store.
Unfortunately, no he can’t.
ThredUp does not take mens clothes or shoes, so they won’t pay for men’s clothing and they do not sell men’s clothes. I don’t know why they don’t sell men’s clothes. Maybe men just don’t shop as much online? I think it’s a wasted opportunity for donating clothes.
ThredUp Payout Options
If your clothes do sell, you can get your payout in three different ways (after a 14 day window has passed):
- PayPal credit (with a 2% processing fee deducted)
- Cash back via Stripe
- Shopping credit at partner brands, such as Athleta
Related Posts:
- ThredUp Goody Boxes Review – What’s Inside
- Buying Clothes on ThredUp’s Sale Site
- Sustainable Fashion on Amazon
ThredUP Reviews for Selling Clothes
After I sent in my bag and waited for a while, I was shocked at the payout they said I would get. My massive polka dot bag of high quality, name brand clothing only scored a grand total of $7.40 of thredUP credit (back then, they used to give you credit in the store as an option). That’s all.
WHAT?!?!?
Yeah, I was pretty upset.
That’s less than $2 per item.
Here’s what was accepted – only 4 items.
For less than $8, I would have rather donated all of my things to a local thrift store who could have made three times that money for worthy programs for the needy.
The amount was truly an insult.
Especially when the pants were now selling for $18.99 (that’s just ONE of the items):
Wondering what clothes I sold to ThredUp? Here’s the clothes that I sent in a Clean Out bag. They all had no rips. No sweat stains. No pilling on most items. Hardly any wear or tear on most. All were Express except for the lemon dress:
Is ThredUp Legit?
Once you receive a very low amount of money for great clothing that you sent in, or you find out that most of your clothes weren’t accepted, you will likely start asking yourself is ThredUp legit?
Many people have wondered that. Especially not knowing why clothing is rejected or where the clothing is being sent.
As the world’s largest fashion resale platform, ThredUp is partnering with many notable fashion brands in collaborations. In 2020, the online thrift store had partnerships with the Gap, Macy’s, Banana Republic, Athleta, J.C. Penny and J. Crew.
According to Forbes, the company received more than $300 million in funding.
From a business standpoint, yes ThredUp is a legitimate company that employs hundreds of people and receives investment funding.
Is Thredup Good?
Now, that’s a very personal question with a very personal answer. Whether you see it as good or not depends on how you use the online thrift store.
Will I ever use thredUP again to sell my clothes? No.
I would rather sell my clothing in local stores, through online groups that I know and love, or donate to worthy charities.Thre
Most ThredUp reviews that I read all end up with the same story of people expecting to make a decent amount of money by selling their clothes, but being shocked with how much they actually receive months down the road.
So it depends on your expectations and how you are using the thrift store.
If you just want to get clothes out of your house, it’s a great way to get rid of them without having to drive to a consignment store or donation center. Keep in mind, many donation centers will pick things up at your door, too, if you arrange for a pickup.
However, if you think that selling half of your wardrobe will help pay for a vacation or pay off debt, you might be sadly mistaken. If you are comparing ThredUp vs. Poshmark, you will likely find that Poshmark will give you more money. Here’s more websites where you can sell your clothes online.
You also better have ponied up for some high end brands to begin with. They are very label conscious and brand oriented. I personally don’t like that, because paying a high price for name brand clothing doesn’t mean anything.
I want great clothing, no matter what the brand tag says.
Is buying clothes on Thredup good? It depends.
There are a lot of really great prices to be had. It depends on if there is a sale, and how much the seller is pricing their clothing, shoes and accessories for. However, I have found that the really good deals of name brand clothing that used to be plentiful a couple years ago are now long gone. Much of the name brand clothing is priced higher than what I could buy it for with a sale or discount in another store or online website.
However, there are deals to be had, definitely. And I do buy some clothing in the thredup clothing store.
If you want to see what thredUP is like, I’d suggest buying clothes with the company before trying to sell them your clothes to see how it is.
Have you ever used thredUP? What did you think???
I have sent clothing with tags, not accepted, sets-pant/jacket, dress/jacket and they split them up, they don’t mention they’re a set, they mislabel clothing-call jackets, cardigans, say things are slightly used when they’re new without tags, and clothing in excellent condition they donate, or so they say. Thred Up is good for buyers, not so good for sellers.
Yes, the deals for buyers are great! Wish it was the same for sellers, too, but I guess then it wouldn’t be a deal for buying.
Hi Kimberly,
Thanks for creating this site and I hope many more will read it before getting scammed by Thredup.
I sent in my bag with very gently used items (I get bored and sometimes only wear an item 1 or 2 times). Some items were gifts that still had tags that I didn’t want. I also sent in about a dozen pieces of very nice costume jewelry.
After holding onto the items for 2 months, I finally saw them online and all except 1 piece of jewelry and an Elie Tahari dress sold. My big payout was $8.30. And I had to reclaim the unsold dress (which they are shipping back to me for $5.99) so I have a whopping $2.31 left in my account.
Very sad experience and I emailed them to tell them how dissatisfied I was and will no longer do business with them or recommend them. I agree with everyone who has posted on this page it is better to donate to a local charity and feel good about the experience.
Lena, Wow! I’m so impressed with the way you kept track of every item that you sent in and if it sold or not. Making $2.31 for all of your work and keeping up with things is crazy. Thankfully so many people have shared their personal stories, so I hope more people can learn about what really goes on before deciding whether or not to donate. Thank you for sharing your story!
I sent ThredUp a bag FULL of name-brand clothes. When the items finally showed up on my account with ThredUp, it didn’t show several items that I had sent. Turns out the Gap jeans in perfect shape were denied because they already had too many? The other items sold and after paying almost $10 for the bag to ship the clothes in, I received nothing…..$0. What a disappointment. I will never waste my time sending clothes to ThredUp again. I would much rather GIVE them to an organization that I would at least get a tax donation from.
I agree with you on the tax donation aspect of giving away clothes to charities in your community! If you are not going to make any money, help someone in need and get the tax deduction.
I sent 20 items, 12 were brand new with tags. I didn’t consider having my rejected items being returned to me as I knew they were all good items. I received 55 CENTS for my items. I saw one item sold online. Price tag said $49.99 as the sale price for a Ralph Lauren denim skirt. It sold for $10.99 and I got 55 CENTS! The rest of the items don’t appear online at all so I guess they were rejected. I’m in shock!
I don’t know what happened to the rest but someone got some freebies.
DON’T USE THIS COMPANY.
Wow, Sherri! If that was your denim skirt it is so frustrating. Your story sounds so similar to so many of the comments. Was it 55 cents after the bag handling fee or just 55 cents at all?
Thanks for posting. I was just about to order a “kit” when I decided to read some reviews on their service. Sounds pretty awful and very big as I don’t have designer duds to give I’ll just donate to goodwill.
Smart idea to check for real life reviews Hilary! I love how you’ve decided to do good in your community!
Thanks for your article. I’ve been buying clothes from them for about a year now and in that respect they are great. But after reading a lot of reviews about them…I feel like I’m buying stolen stuff. Honestly it feels wrong when you think that you paid $25 for a skirt or whatever from someone who got ripped off..giving it up for a dollar or two at best. No more.
I have purchased from ThredUP once, keeping only one item and returning the rest. I then attempted to use their consignment services for both clean out and extra cash purposes while planning my wedding and moving to my future husbands home. I requested 3 clean out bags over a 2 month span. Nothing ever came. Ever. I contacted customer service 2 weeks after the last request, was told it would be arriving by the end of the week. The address was the same one I had already received deliveries at. The bag still never came. After that I gave up on this waste of time online consignment and have gone back to donating. It serves the local community better and I’ll get more on tax deductions than ThredUP buyback prices….
Sarah, Yes, the tax deduction would be WAY higher than the payout from thredUp! Especially hearing how many wonderful things everyone is trying to donate and yet getting no money for them. You seem to have come to the same conclusion that I personally did. I feel better donating to local charity. Everything happens for a reason!
Thanks for the article…good info!
Wish I would of read you post before I submitted clothes to ThredUP. I had been buying clothes from them for awhile and really liked the selection. So, thought, why not send some of my clothes to try to sell. I sent a big, polka dot bag and then had to wait 2 months for them to go through it. Out of 15 items, they took 8 so not that bad BUT I got a whopping ZERO dollar credit after being charged a $9.99 processing fee. In fact I was minus $1 credit! What a ripoff. Five of my clothing items so far have sold but didn’t find out what they sold for but you can bet it was alot more then I got credited for. I feel I got totally ripped off.
Linda, that is horrible. Waiting 2 months and then having to pay a processing fee?!? I understand too. Buying is so much fun! The prices are unbelievable sometimes. Hope that you find another way to donate clothes that makes you feel better! I totally get it!
OK found this website when I was searching for ThredUP reviews. Here’s MY experience, so far:
I recently changed from being an outside sales professional with a very nice wardrobe to owning my own business with my husband where I wear almost exclusively casual clothes; I no longer need nice blazers, heels, slacks, etc. I did a “hard edit” in my closet and literally gave away 2 huge piles of clothing to a teacher friend w/ a disabled husband on a single income. I kept a smaller pile of the “cream of the crop“ and thought I would try ThredUP. These were items that are brand name, expensive and nearly new condition – a little too nice to just give away to Goodwill. My thought was if I could make a little bit of the $$$ I spent on them I would be happy.
I ordered a free (at that time) clean out kit and stuffed it to the point of barely closing. In went things that still had tags on and gently used items like a beautiful Nordstrom leather jacket, a Karen Kane suede jacket, another designer suede jacket, Adrienne Vittadini jacket, and many many other very nice items. The bag was so heavy I honestly worried it might rip in transit.
I was notified they received it October 15. Checking my account, the expected processing date is around December 15!!! 2 MONTHS?!? This is VERY frustrating, because they make it a point to remind you to send clothing that is “in season”, in excellent condition, and name brand. If I send winter items in October and they don’t even check them in until late December I’ve already missed half the fall/winter selling season! I am already less than impressed. I did request they return my clothing if they don’t sell it so we shall see what happens.
About their payouts: a few years ago, I sold professionally on eBay so I know it does take some time to properly stage/photograph a piece of clothing to get it to sell. I no longer have the time to futz with photographing & writing descriptions. I’m factoring this in what I expect to get paid from TU once they list my items. We all need to keep in mind that we aren’t doing any of the legwork. We are literally just folding clothing and putting it into a bag; we don’t even have to drive anywhere. I would assume the cost to ship the bags (based on weight) to be substantial (mine prob weighed 20 pounds!) Once received, somebody has to unpack it, inspect everything for stains and holes etc., then they probably steam or press the garments, then arrange on mannequins and photograph w proper lighting. Then someone has to write the description. When clothing sells, there’s a cost to package the garments to the buyer. So I’m sure there’s quite a bit of handling that goes into listing the items, which is probably why the payouts are so disappointing.
I actually factored in all of the above before I packed my bag. My inner skeptic told me this was probably a losing proposition b/c when you consider how much it has to cost TU to obtain, process & list the clothes, then sell them at “bargain” prices, there probably ain’t gonna be much left for momma. I know I could ABSOLUTELY get more for my clothing if I was to take the time to sell it myself, but as I stated I just no longer have the time or even the energy. I figured I would be happy with a smaller payout as long as it was in the realm of worthwhile. As I said, they have yet to process my bag almost 2 months later so we shall see! I will post an update once I get their email.
Patricia, great ideas and I love that you helped someone you know first!
I want to be getting your clothes! Wow, they sound amazing!!!!!!
I can totally understand your very valid points of the costs and markups for business. Very true. What I don’t get is why ThredUp constantly has sales – always offering 15% extra off their clothes. They’re giving away extra money. Also, the packaging for new orders – the polka dot wrapped clothing with 7 fold postcards promoting the benefits of ThredUp or the specialty hang tags. That stuff ain’t cheap. Neither is the custom oversized glossy postcard with a picture of an item I bought in the past, reminding me to come back and shop.
I would love to hear what happens on your payout – and see what they listed the stuff for for sale. PLEASE let us know!!!!
I sent Thredup 15 items, many which were NEW with TAGS. Many of the items I sent were dressy dresses made by brand names, some with tags of $200 and up. I received $55.91 for them as an “upfront” payout. Who is making all the money here?
I will never send my nice things or anything for that matter to them. They must sit back laughing at how much they pay out. I would love to know how much THEY made on my items. Also, I sent a blouse with a sash belt. They lost the sash and I know it was in the bag.
Ugh! That’s so frustrating! Especially when items have tags on them! So much more money could be made selling on eBay or even local consignment. Thanks for sharing your story. Every story tells us exactly what to expect when sending in high quality clothes and yet getting hardly nothing in return.
Adding my experience to the pile – I have used ThredUp 7 times, with a lifetime payout of $124 (essentially $17/bag). The highest amount I ever received for a bag was $37, and that was before they implemented the bag processing fee. I was generally fine with this, it’s easy enough to stuff a bag and send it in the mail, and it seems to be for a good cause.
But I am furious about my most recent bag – payout of $2.90, which got eaten up by the $10 processing fee. This bag included a pair of barely used Hunter rain boots (which are EXPENSIVE! and amazing quality! I just never wore them) and apparently those were deemed unfit to accept, but two pairs of boots from Target in the same bag were accepted. I do not understand the logic behind this. But am tempted to search for those rain boots on ThredUp to see if they appear anyway…..
I will not be using ThredUp again, and will find a way to benefit local charities instead.
Hannah, I would be so frustrated. Wow! Only $2.90 🙁 I agree with helping local charities. You know who you’re helping in your community. Thanks for sharing all of your experiences.
Hannah B – I will buy your Hunter boots if they’re a 9.5-10, lol!!! Those suckers ain’t cheap!