This is an unsolicited review of my experience with thredUP‘s clean out service. I shipped my first clean out bag back in early March and they finally processed it on March 24th. It took just under a month for thredUP to go through what I sent but I’ve heard that it usually takes 5-6 weeks from other ladies I’ve chatted with that have also tried out the clean out service. I neatly folded every item and my first bag was mostly old jeans and pants in good to excellent condition that no longer fit me correctly or comfortably.
For example, over the last few years I amassed a small collection of white jeans because I’m constantly searching for the perfect pair. I now prefer jeans with a narrow ankle for a lengthening effect since I’m only 5′ 2 1/2″. In the picture below, they ended up taking the two white jeans from the LEFT and both pairs have since sold. I held onto the other pairs in the middle to sell myself while the very first pair on the RIGHT is a new purchase this year (last seen here).
I was curious about thredUP’s tolerance for items with stains since some of their listings are described as “This item is gently used with minor signs of wear (minor stain, needs washing).” The lace dress you see at the top of the pile below had a light visible stain on the skirt and I noticed their team didn’t accept this item. They did take the other two dresses beneath it. At this time you can only order one clean out kit at a time so I was only able to fit the pants, dresses and two scarves in my first clean out bag (items in the first two vertical rows from the left pictured below minus the camis).
They accepted 16 items and paid me $59.22 upfront. You can use the funds immediately as store credit to make purchases on their site or wait two weeks to cash out the balance as a Visa prepaid card.
Note: thredUP deducts a 2% PayPal transfer fee.
How do they decide what to pay you upfront? They pay 10-40% of the initial selling price for items they expect to sell at $59.99 or less. Items with an initial listing price of $60 or more qualify for a consignment so you can earn 50% to 80% of the selling price once an item has sold. You can read more about their consignment service here. Items they didn’t accept from my bag are either resold to third party sellers or up-cycled by textile recycling partners since I didn’t select return assurance.
I ordered more clean out kits (note: they now charge a $9.99 processing fee per expedited bag) but due to their lower payout I try to sell on Poshmark (sign up using my referral code WHATJESSWORE to get a $5 credit) first before sending items to thredUP. It takes about a week to receive a new clean out kit in the mail so I recommend ordering a few at a time if you’re culling your closet and need to free up space/hangers immediately.
Once your bag is processed they will provide a direct link to each item they accepted and listed for sale. You will also receive email notifications once each item is sold.
Update 6/12/18: I noticed that thredUP now offers a LUXE consignment service. I’ve also sent in more clean out bags since I originally wrote this review back in March 2016. My current average payout is approximately $105.62 per bag. Below is the breakdown per clean out bag that I’ve sent in to date:
Bag 1: 16 items accepted for an upfront payout of $59.22.
Bag 2: 12 items accepted for an upfront payout of $112.71. 1 item accepted with a 60% consignment payout of $63 (item sold for $104.99)
Bag 3: 17 items accepted for an upfront payout of $67.35.
Bag 4: 8 items accepted for an upfront payout of $11.85. 13 items accepted with a consignment payout of $84.45 (8 out of 13 items sold, note: I did not claim back the 5 remaining items)
Bag 5: 26 items accepted for an upfront payout of $69.05.
Bag 6: 40 items accepted for an upfront payout of $250.96 (this was after deducting $9.99). For this bag they charged $9.99 for shipping and handling since I think I ordered this particular bag when they were charging for clean out kits.
Bag 7: 5 items accepted for an upfront payout of $7.88. 20 items accepted with an estimated consignment payout of $81.89). As I write this update I just received an email that they processed this latest clean out bag. I will update the consignment payout for this bag once most of the items sell. Fingers crossed as this bag was my worst upfront payment to date due to seasonality.
Bag 8: 11 items accepted for an upfront payment of $8.61. This was the most disappointing bag I’ve sent in and I have no idea why I received such a low payout this time around considering I sent in a lot more items than what they accepted.
I heard about thredUP via previous collaboration (read about it in this post) where I chose a few items that were in excellent or like new condition. I was pleased with my experience as a buyer since both items arrived exactly as described. I usually prefer to have exact measurements if I buy pre-owned items so I was nervous that the items I selected wouldn’t fit but luckily both items worked out. You can get 40% off your first purchase so make sure to search the web for a valid coupon code. Their website will also present you with a 40% off coupon code as a first time customer.
Reselling pre-loved clothes is always a painful process so remember to buy less and choose well!
Thanks for reading!
