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???
OMG! I sent 1 bag with jeans and blouses and jackets. I got lesss than $10. I regretted sending the cleanup bag I should have donated it to goodwill or Salvation Army. I even washed everything before sending it. I have 1 more bag, I’m donating it to a goodwill store.
Yikes. I love the fact that you still want to do good, though, and are donating it elsewhere! Thank you! Those in need will greatly appreciate it in your community!
ThredUp rips you off. Anyone who has a good experience must’ve gotten lucky, is sponsored or sent something worth at least thousands of dollars.. if they get back hundreds of dollars for one item. I sent them a bag many years ago and got an OK payout. I can’t remember the amount of items, but it was around $40 for the whole bag. Beats having to list everything myself on eBay. But last year, I packed 2 bags with much better brands. Most of the items were not worn because I transitioned my wardrobe. I got back $5 and some change for both bags. I could’ve made more money selling one item on eBay than what ThredUp credited me for the entire 2 bags.
Ever since then, I never recommended them. And every time I see a blogger being sponsored and getting paid hundreds for their clothes, I just roll my eyes. Sometimes I wish I could’ve said something to prevent their followers/readers from getting ripped off, but my comments would probably get deleted or people would just bash me. I have only seen 1 good experience with ThredUp per 100s of bad ones.
Janet, Yep. I agree. I’ve seen FAR too many fashion bloggers talk about how great ThredUp is in sponsored blog posts. Frustrating.
Definitely! I’m glad to have read your honest review. It’s also much more recent. Your blog post was I think third or fourth on Google search! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
I don’t think folks would’ve bash you. This place take your expensive clothing and give you literally pennies… This place need to be investigated….
Yes They are a ripoff. Will never sell or buy through them again
SCAM ALERT!!!! I had the same experience after sending in 3 BAGS of high quality designer label women’s clothing in excellent condition. It took MONTHS before I was notified that they had accepted maybe 3% of my clothing and then months later I received a Visa Debit card for $16.55! I did not use it for about 6 months and when I verified the amount and then tried to use it that SAME DAY the amount was reduced to only $10.60!! The card clearly states “FUNDS DO NOT EXPIRE” and the website states there is no fee however the card does have an 2024 expiration date. Thred up is making some major $$$ with this site…. highly recommend to just donate locally. DO NOT USE THIS C0MPANY – IT IS A TOTAL RIP OFF AND A SCAM!!!!
YIKES!!!
I think it’s safe to say that tredup is a one big scam. I send them 2 big polka dots bags fool of clothes and I get 4.57$ for it and it took over a month for them to processmy bags!. Definitely do not recommend it!
Wow! Only $4.57? What did you send? Women’s clothing or kids?
I wanted to chime in with my experience with thredUP, which for the most part has been positive.
I’ve sent 2 boxes in containing a total of 89 items. Of the 89 items sent they accepted 76. Of those 76 items, about half were paid out upfront and the other half taken on consignment. They’ve sold 30 of the 39 consignment items so far. The average payout for the 67 items sold is approximately $25 per item with individual payouts ranging from $0.65 to $200.
My recommendation for anyone considering sending items to thredUP is to figure out what your goals are and do your research. Are you looking to quickly purge items from your closet and as a bonus get a little money back in the process? Great! thredUP might be a good option. Are you looking to get the most money you can for those items and are less concerned with how much time it takes to do it? You might be better off selling it yourself on a site like Poshmark or Mercari. There’s always going to be a tradeoff between money earned, time, and effort. thredUP allows me to get the items out of my house, not bother with photographing, writing descriptions, answering questions, and shipping, and still get a little money back for those items.
In terms of payouts, thredUP’s prices seem pretty reliably formulaic – a percentage of retail price that’s then adjusted for condition. Similar items from the same brand are typically priced the same. Take a look at how they’re currently pricing items from the brands you have and compare that to their payout chart to estimate how much you’ll earn. If you’re not satisfied with that amount, save yourself the disappointment. Sure I wasn’t thrilled to only receive 75 cents for some items, but I wasn’t surprised either.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with my experience with thredUP. There have been a few bumps along the way but it’s a service I’ll likely keep using as both a buyer and a seller.
Thanks for your experience, Lauren! Wow, $200 for one item? What did you sell??!?!?!? If people go into selling with ThredUp seeing all of these comments, then they’ll know what to expect. Unfortunately, many people assume that ThredUp is going to pay like other consignment stores or online sites and are quite surprised when they get .75 for an item (Which, I think, is horrible anyway considering a charity could do so much more with the clothing and what they can sell it for.) More people need to share their stories for an adequate representation of what to expect.
Tried Thredup – sent some of my better stuff – they sold all of it for about $140. I got a whopping $10.40. That’s about 8% – and it’s only that high because one of the items was actually consigned and not paid upfront. I was totally disappointed. I get that they have to make money and the shipping isn’t cheap…but seriously? But hey, that’s their business model and I guess it’s working for them…so they can certainly survive without my stuff. In my case, better off taking the tax write off for charity and I feel better about it. .
Agreed, Cynthia! Wow, a big $10.40. That is pretty high considering all of the other stories in the comments!
ThredUp has gone down the tubes. They started put paying well and there has been a steady decline ever since. The last (and truly will be my last bag) I sent it seems they have changed the rules again. My only option for payout was a prepaid Visa card that will arrive in two weeks. (Also should mention that I had to wait two weeks before a Visa Card that was even an option. Until then you can only use the payout as a credit to shop.) I did not even have the option for paypal. I’m grateful you wrote this post because nowhere else can I find an honest portrayal of the experience of using ThredUp. I’m not sure what is going on with the company. It is a good concept and it started out well and now you literally can only receive pennies for brand new designer clothing. PENNIES. I think they need to rethink their business model AGAIN. I have yet to find someone who has been pleased with the experience.
Thank you! Yes, I know that the payment structure keeps changing. And it’s harder to get money without it being a ThredUp credit. I can’t believe that so many people have had negative experiences, too. It’s sad, but thankfully everyone is sharing their stories so that others know what really happens when you send in your clothes or buy them from ThredUp.
I had the same issue with Thredup. When I first started selling to them, my payout would be between 60-70% of the listing price. These are all designer handbags in excellent condition I have sent in over the last three years. Over the last year, my payouts have steadily decreased with my last one being averaged at a 36% payout, out of almost $300 worth of stuff based on their listing prices, and my stuff sells super quick, so it isnt like items are not selling when Thredup puts them on the website. I have 5 things currently on there and two have sold, two are reserved and just one remaining after only two days of being listed. So never again.. I will either Ebay them or just sell to friends. I am done.
Melissa, It’s interesting that the pay outs have been going down for you. I hope you can find other ways to make a decent income from selling gently used clothes to others that want them!
I was robbed. Literally they lost or sold two pants under another name. They made 100 off my bag and my payout was zero…..they said my bag didn’t even cover the cost of shipping. They made 100 I got zero. I will never use any online consignment again. This shouldn’t be legal. Thredup treats sellers like shit it’s amazing anyone sends them anything. I hope they go out of business.
I agree they are terrible on percentage for selling your clothes!! I was very disappointed in what I sent them and my return as a seller. I will never send my clothes to this company again. I do however still buy clothes from them and have never been disappointed in what I purchased. So am am a loyal buyer for sure..but that’s it.
Leslie,
It is hard. The buying experience is nice because (usually) you can get great clothes for less. However, someone has to be selling their clothes for little money in order for others to have that experience. It’s not a win-win situation, which makes the choice hard.
I had the same experience as many of you! Would never ever recommend selling clothes to them. My payout was $14 and some change. I waited over a month for my bag to be processed and then had to wait another 14 days to get my money and then found out I had to pay a paypal processing fee if I wanted the money instantly. So frustrating and so not worth it.
Lexie,
Wow. A PayPal processing fee? I don’t remember having to pay that, but it was so long ago and they have changed a lot of things. That is certainly insult to a small payout. Having to pay to receive money. So sorry about that.
I sent a very large amount of expensive items to them, many of which still had the tags on it. Once they sell some of your items they WILL CHARGE SHIPPING! Also, even if you pay to have your bag processing expedited, there is a 14 day hold after ThredUP “credits your account” before you can actually cash out. They made hundreds of dollars in profit from my items, and they paid me less than $30 total.
Yes, the waiting for a pay out rule is a little odd, I think. You either have money or you don’t. Your story sounds like so many others who have commented. It’s important to share this post so that others can read the real-life experiences of those who have tried selling with-tags clothing and think they will make a lot of money.
I think the waiting period is in case a buyer returns an item. Once the return period has passed, you can get your payout.
Yes, I agree!