For over a 12 months, I’ve been on a quest to promote a bunch of my stuff to make room in my closet—and, within the course of, earn cash for extra stuff.

I’ve encountered highs, lows, and lots of resale apps, a few of that are higher than others. Along with making me a bit extra cash, this endeavor has actually helped me scale back my muddle, too: Loads of the favored decluttering methods ask you to type your objects into three classes—maintain, throw, and donate—however by including the fourth class of issues to promote, I’ve cleared main house in my closet. What’s extra, I do my greatest to make use of my “stability” in every app to purchase any new objects I need or want, serving to me keep on with my very own model of the “one in, one out” decluttering technique.

In spite of everything these months and dozens of journeys to the publish workplace, this is what I’ve discovered about shopping for and promoting on-line and which apps I like to recommend most.

A number of notes on reselling clothes on-line

There are sellers on these apps who do that in a hardcore method, sourcing cool, uncommon, or costly objects and turning them for a revenue. They deal with this like a job and, in some instances, it is their job. You don’t must be like that. Don’t fear concerning the profiles that function professional-grade pictures and a whole lot of listings, as a result of somebody on the market needs the factor you’re promoting and can discover it by looking for it—it received’t actually matter in the event you’re displaying the merchandise on a model in studio lighting so long as it’s the appropriate measurement and value for the customer.

Listed below are my tricks to get you began.

1. Don’t record one thing except you’d truly wish to do away with it if it offered. That appears apparent, however this has occurred to me: I’ll get a bit overzealous, record one thing I nonetheless use, and really feel unhappy when it will get purchased earlier than I wished it to. One safeguard I’ve employed is itemizing issues I nonetheless wish to put on at increased costs than they deserve. patrons will nonetheless just like the listings and should ship gives I can take into account. If somebody truly buys it on the listed value, it was meant to be—and I get extra cash to assuage myself by way of the grief of dropping the merchandise.

2. Then again, don’t record one thing in the event you actually need it out of the home. You’ll be able to’t decide how briskly one thing will promote, even in the event you undervalue it in value and put it up for sale on the apps day-after-day. If ready for one thing to promote impedes your decluttering, take into account a brick-and-mortar consignment store if the merchandise is really precious—or simply donate it.

3. I nonetheless use my objects whereas they’re listed on my apps, however watch out in the event you select to do that. If one thing occurs to a bag, prefer it will get a scuff or a stain, it reduces its worth and also you’ll must replace the itemizing on the very least. Don’t attempt to trick individuals by showcasing one thing in good situation, then sending it to them in worse form. They will ship it again and this will have an effect in your vendor ranking. 

4. Take loads of footage. You don’t want fancy lighting or a backdrop, however I a minimum of attempt to set my wares on a pleasant rug and maintain different stuff out of the body. Take footage from just a few angles, close-up pictures of any injury, and a shot of the date stamp or serial quantity if it’s a luxurious or high-end piece. Tags, defining options, and particulars are necessary to incorporate. (In the event you do not do that upfront, be ready for potential patrons to ask for them later.) 

5. Be open to gives and reply to inquiries. More often than not, you received’t get the worth you ask for, a minimum of not in my expertise, however accepting affordable gives or being keen to decrease the worth will assist you to get the factor out of your home and the cash into your account.

6. At all times seek for the merchandise you’re promoting to see what different individuals are promoting theirs for. If yours is of comparable high quality, take into account itemizing it for rather less than your rivals to get it offered sooner.

7. In the event you record the identical factor on a number of apps, keep on high of what you are doing. A number of weeks in the past, I offered a wristlet that I by chance method undervalued on one app a day after itemizing it for its true worth on one other. I misplaced out on good cash! Plus, if one thing sells on one app, you might want to instantly take away its itemizing in every single place else. In any other case, it might “promote” once more, you will must cancel that order, and your vendor ranking could take a success.

8. Lastly, and maybe most significantly, be cautious of scams. This is applicable extra to you in the event you’re shopping for one thing than in the event you’re promoting, however as a basic rule, by no means talk with anybody off-app, not to mention conduct transactions that method. These apps are respected and well-run. Anybody claiming they’re having bother with the cost system is sort of definitely mendacity to you. All the apps I spotlight right here have high quality customer support and can be found that will help you in the event you’re offered a counterfeit merchandise or encounter a purchaser who’s mendacity concerning the situation of the factor you offered, however you might want to conduct your transactions on the app for them to have the ability to render service.

The primary app you want is Vendoo

Earlier than I get into my high apps for purchasing and promoting, I wish to spotlight one which has made my use of all of them a lot simpler: Vendoo. Primarily, it is a cross-listing app that allows you to create listings for all of your sellable possessions, then publish them to a wide range of marketplaces, together with Poshmark, Vestiaire Collective, Depop, Mercari, and extra. You’ll be able to change costs, monitor gross sales, and keep way more organized in case your objective is to do away with as a lot as you may as quick as you may.

Having your items on the market throughout a number of platforms is useful as a result of, whereas there are loads of consumers who peruse a number of apps, each additionally has a fairly devoted fanbase that solely makes use of one particular market. By cross-listing, you improve your possibilities of a possible purchaser working throughout your merchandise.

One other app that’s actually useful is PrimeLister, however actually provided that you are promoting on Poshmark. This one automates all the tedious little duties you may (and may) do to spice up your gross sales, like sharing your listings to touchdown pages and the homepages of your followers, plus it offers you the choice to bulk-complete duties, like altering costs or sending out low cost gives to patrons.

Vendoo and PrimeLister each price cash—about $30 per thirty days, relying on the companies you want—however, in my expertise, are value it for enhancing gross sales and making this course of straightforward.

The perfect apps to promote garments and equipment

Although I solely actually received into promoting a couple of 12 months in the past, I have been shopping for on these platforms for a lot of, a few years and made the sporadic sale right here and there again within the day, too. I like to recommend Poshmark, Vestiaire Collective, TheRealReal, and Depop. To me, these 4 have the perfect interfaces and are best to make use of for purchasing and promoting. Let’s go over their particulars. 

Poshmark: Greatest for promoting just about something

Once you promote on Poshmark, you retain 80% of your gross sales so long as they’re over $15. For something below $15, you pay the app a charge of $2.95. On this app, patrons can provide decrease costs than what you’re itemizing your merchandise for and also you’re free to just accept or decline their gives.

Declining offers you the prospect to submit a counteroffer, so you could find yourself negotiating for a bit bit, however the app at all times notifies you of what, precisely, you’ll make in the event you promote one thing at a sure value. The app additionally permits potential patrons to “like” objects, enabling you to ship personal low cost gives to all of a list’s likers directly. Decreasing the worth of an merchandise is straightforward, too, and you’ll share listings to “events” that match your merchandise’s description. As an example, Poshmark recurrently hosts luxurious bag events, making a touchdown web page for consumers on the lookout for these, and I share my listings for baggage to these events after they’re taking place.

Creating a list may be very straightforward in the event you’re doing it in-app, not utilizing a third-party service like Vendoo. Add your pictures, fill out a type that features easy particulars like measurement, model, authentic value, and asking value, and also you’re good to go.

If there’s a draw back to Poshmark, it’s that you simply do should be fairly energetic and engaged. Affords expire after 24 hours, you may solely share listings to a celebration when the get together is occurring, and customers count on well timed responses to their feedback. 

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

Like I mentioned, you may put something on right here. You’ll be able to promote a Louis Vuitton bag or a Nike T-shirt. Some individuals promote housewares and handicrafts. I’ve purchased just a few Diptyque candles and as soon as offloaded a Yankees bobblehead I by chance acquired on a visit to the Bronx. If you would like an app the place you may promote the whole lot, not only a sure sort of clothes, it needs to be Poshmark. 

In my expertise, promoting higher-end objects on Poshmark is hit and miss. Sure, I’ve finished it, however individuals on there are searching for all types of issues. I principally purchase baseball jerseys there and save my very own luxurious resale shopping for different apps. Poshmark does not authenticate designer items the way in which different devoted luxurious apps do, so patrons are much less assured and extra more likely to lowball you to make up for his or her lack of religion in your wares. You probably have mid-tier stuff, like Lululemon, Uggs, or Skims, Poshmark goes to be particularly useful for you.

All that mentioned, Poshmark is by far my most-used resale app and I would say I conduct over 90% of my enterprise there. The interface is straightforward to navigate, the number of listings and various person base lend themselves to a surprisingly excessive quantity of gross sales on even essentially the most random issues, and promoting is very easy. After I make a sale, Poshmark generates a QR code that I merely have to point out to the individuals on the publish workplace. The transport charge is paid by the shopper and features a precedence field or envelope. I haven’t got to print a label, purchase a field, or do something however present up on the publish workplace. A day or two after the customer will get the merchandise, the cash seems in my stability. Crucially, Poshmark permits you to use your gross sales stability to buy issues on the app, which I actually love, however you can even very simply switch it out into your checking account. Learn my full Poshmark assessment right here.

Vestiaire Collective: Greatest for higher-end objects to maximise earnings

Vestiaire Collective is supposed for higher-end objects, which often means luxurious items, however I’ve seen it embrace loads of different high quality stuff, like Gymshark. The place this one shines is its authentication course of. A lot of the time, objects you promote can be shipped straight to VC, the place a staffer will authenticate them and ship them out to the customer. This further safety is nice, particularly for actually high-ticket objects, and VC has low promoting charges: You pay 10% on each sale, plus a 3% cost processing charge. You don’t get charged in your first one, both, so long as it’s beneath $2,000.

VC usually runs specials, too, the place the place you will pay no vendor’s charges on sure manufacturers, for instance. Like Poshmark, patrons can ship gives, however right here, you could have two days to just accept, decline, or counter them, somewhat than one. One distinction that may throw a little bit of a studying curveball is that when you settle for a suggestion, the customer has to make the acquisition. On Poshmark, a purchaser who sends a suggestion agrees that in the event you settle for it, their stability or card is charged. On VC, simply since you settle for the low value doesn’t imply you have made the sale. The client then has two extra days to determine in the event that they wish to undergo with it. Promoting on VC, in my expertise, is a a lot slower course of than different apps, particularly due to the additional time required for in-person authentication.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

General, I really like shopping for on right here as a result of I do know I am at all times getting high-quality items, however the gradual tempo of gross sales stops me from promoting on VC too usually. Once you make a VC sale, you do not get a useful QR code to ship the merchandise. Somewhat, it’s important to print the label, purchase a field or envelope, and ship it your self. It takes some time for the cash to get to you, on condition that the merchandise has to go to VC for authentication earlier than being despatched out to the customer. And if you do get that cash, it goes into your Venmo account, not a stability that you should utilize to make new purchases.

It is value noting that VC is essentially the most international app on my record. Individuals all over the world purchase and promote on right here, which is superior as a result of it actually broadens the market from which you should purchase and the inhabitants to which you’ll promote, however not-so-awesome as a result of international transport definitely takes some time. In the event you purchase, do not count on your merchandise to return in shortly—and in the event you promote, do not count on your cash to return in shortly.

Consumers on right here wish to spend on good stuff, so you will not get lowballed usually and objects that would not promote on a extra mid-level app get far more consideration. Promoting on VC requires you to measure your baggage, take extra particular pictures of things (together with ones that clearly present model labeling), determine the fabric your merchandise is fabricated from, and wait—generally, in my expertise, as much as two or three days—for the pictures to be authorised by a staffer. Like I mentioned, this isn’t a fast-money app, however one good factor is that the app suggests a value to your itemizing based mostly on costs comparable objects in comparable situation have offered at, so you do not have to guess. For all the additional work you might want to do on this one, it does assist you to out with little options like that—plus, its minimize of the revenue is decrease than rivals’, so in the event you’re keen to place in additional effort and wait a bit longer, you do find yourself making extra money. Learn my full Vestiaire Collective assessment right here.

TheRealReal: Greatest for fancier stuff you simply need out of your home

TheRealReal is just for designer, luxurious objects, and it operates extra like a consignment retailer than direct promoting. How a lot you truly make depends upon your “loyalty tier” on the time of sale, so in the event you’re simply beginning out, you get 55% fee on something offered for greater than $195. In the event you earn $1,500 in annual internet gross sales, you progress as much as a brand new tier and earn extra. You may also simply fork your items over to TRR in alternate for web site credit score and allow them to promote as they are going to. I received’t lie: It’s a bit complicated, so solely go along with this one you probably have actually costly objects to promote that require authentication and may nonetheless herald a hefty chunk of money, even with charges. 

I take advantage of this app nearly completely as a purchaser, not a vendor. Since TRR is answerable for the costs, loads of very nice issues inevitably go on a deep low cost if they do not get offered shortly. If you would like a high quality piece which you can put on for a bit after which resell, attempt trying right here.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

Depop: Greatest for eliminating something you could have, from mall finds to extra luxe objects

Depop is one other web site the place you may promote something. It may be fancy, it may be primary, it may be handmade—you may promote no matter. You don’t pay a list charge, however you pay a ten% charge for the whole lot you promote. That’s it. It’s tremendous simple, and Depop helps you fill out the itemizing by populating solutions based mostly in your footage and textual content inputs. This quickens the method so that you’re not spending 5 minutes on each itemizing, pulling model names and sizes from drop-down menus. You’ll be able to provide likers reductions and, like Poshmark and VC, subject gives from potential patrons. 

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

I’ve had success with Depop as a vendor and a purchaser, but it surely’s undoubtedly a crowded market. I consider it extra like a thrift retailer than something. You could find fancy issues, sure, however they don’t seem to be authenticated and I’ve seen pages and pages of very apparent fakes (and, doubtless, much less apparent fakes I did not hassle investigating), so beware. (As a facet observe, in the event you ever need assistance figuring out if a listed luxurious product is genuine, you may attain out to me. This can be a enjoyable passion I genuinely get pleasure from.)

Additionally distinguished are really staple items, like Without end 21 tops. You could not suppose the fast-fashion, mall-bought shirts clogging up your closet are value attempting to promote, however you would be very shocked. Somebody on the market might want them, so attempt itemizing them on Depop earlier than donating or tossing them. Set a tough deadline for your self, although. If it does not promote in, say, two weeks, do away with it one other method. Once more, promoting is superior, however not if it stops you from successfully decluttering. Learn my full Depop assessment right here.

Greatest for set-it-and-forget it gross sales: Mercari

I’m very new to Mercari, because it’s the one app on this record I downloaded simply to assessment and had by no means used earlier than. That mentioned, I preferred what I noticed! The method of itemizing on Mercari is particularly easy, so this can be a stable entry level in the event you’re new to reselling and wish to begin with a extra manageable expertise. Tapping Promote on the backside of the house display screen brings you to a list creation web page that’s notably pared down when in comparison with the opposite apps on this record. You add your pictures, a title, an extended description, as much as seven hashtags, a class, a model, and a situation indicator. You could have the chance to supply free transport (which implies you pay for it) or make the customer pay the price. Then, you set your itemizing value. That is it.

Remarkably, Mercari will even deal with your discounting for you, which is one thing it’s important to do manually on the opposite apps or else recruit a third-party service like PoshLister to handle for you. Once you end creating a list, simply toggle on “Good Pricing,” set a minimal you would be keen to just accept for the product, and do nothing else. Over time, if it does not promote, Mercari will incrementally decrease the worth till it hits that minimal you set. Of all of the apps right here, this one is essentially the most hands-off from starting to finish.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

There’s one draw back: Whereas all apps take a bit minimize of your revenue within the type of vendor’s charges, not each app expenses purchaser’s charges, nonetheless, which Mercari does as of January 2025: Consumers pay a “Purchaser Safety Charge” of three.6% on Mercari, and that charge is displayed as a part of the ultimate value within the merchandise checkout part. Consider it like if you order meals off Uber Eats, however solely see the true price, with charges, if you get to the very finish.

In the event you’re a vendor, you may wish to maintain that in thoughts and, sadly, decrease a few of your costs to make your wares extra interesting in gentle of those value will increase. You additionally want to bear in mind the charges you will pay on the sale. Mercari takes a ten% minimize of your earnings and, relying on whether or not you elected to supply “free transport” to patrons, you will might additionally must pay round $9 for the transport price. Some excellent news is which you can spend your stability in-app, which you recognize I am an enormous fan of. Learn my full Mercari assessment right here.

Honorable point out: Hire your garments out on Pickle

This record is all about resale platforms, sure, however I’ve had unimaginable luck utilizing Pickle, an app that enables me to hire out my equipment and garments as an alternative of promoting them. I’ve solely been utilizing it for 2 months and few baggage in my closet have already been rented a number of occasions. Theoretically, they will maintain producing me cash over and over and I can maintain utilizing them myself, neither of which is true if you make a straight-up sale.

There are 3 ways you may hire out your stuff on Pickle: You’ll be able to organize a meetup with a renter and hand it off in particular person, the renter pays a $3 charge for a courier to move your merchandise to and from their location, or you may ship your items wherever the opposite particular person is within the nation. Meetups actually solely work in giant metro areas, however with the transport possibility—and since the courier system runs by way of established apps like Uber Eats and Doordash—Pickle works surprisingly nicely even in far-flung areas. Throughout a latest interview, the app’s cofounder additionally let me know that it is hoping to broaden the scope of Pickle’s market choices quickly, too, so you could possibly hire out musical devices, digital camera gear, or no matter items you could have mendacity round.

Credit score: Lindsey Ellefson

I’ve liked having the ability to put my items to work and some of my purses and footwear are near paying themselves off, so to talk. Like different apps, Pickle permits potential renters to ship you a suggestion, which you’ll settle for or decline, and it takes a 20% charge off your revenue, however once more, you get your stuff again and may hire it out once more indefinitely. In the event you’re apprehensive about sending your possessions out, take coronary heart understanding Pickle has a strong customer support group and care coverage. If somebody damages or fails to return your merchandise, the Pickle group works with you to get you the worth of the products. That is a rarity, although, as a result of the app has a powerful group really feel to it. Not solely have my issues at all times been returned in good situation, however they often include thank-you notes and, notably, one renter even despatched me a thank-you reward.

Pickle is admittedly useful in the event you’re beginning to declutter as a result of it’s akin to a purgatory field, or an area you set one thing in the event you’re not fairly certain you are able to do away with it. You’ll be able to expertise what life is like with out quick entry to that merchandise and you could even discover you did not miss it. In that case, record it on one of many apps above. Notably, Pickle additionally permits you to promote your stuff. All it’s important to do is point out an merchandise is on the market in its rental itemizing. Learn my full Pickle assessment right here.