My Own Personal Thriftstore

July 27, 2009 7:00 AM

I have a lot of clothing to get rid of, but am too disorganised to sell online myself. Given that my friends are time-short too, how can I feel better about the money I've wasted when discarding unworn clothes?

I went through a big buying binge on Threadless a few years ago (I have more Girly Large tees than I can ever wear) and with high-street sales and charity shopping too, I now have a heck of a lot of stuff to sort through and pare down in order to give myself a wardrobe and room that isn't covered in mismatching items. I know there are companies that can sell things for you on eBay, but I don't know of any that sell for smaller-value items.

I ended up with four big laundry bags full of clothes once I'd amassed everything together - many of which had been bought on a whim, because in my brain I seem to think little of spending £50 on an amazing-never-to-be-repeated-bargain when I'll balk on spending that on a haircut or food, and never worn, perhaps never suited and fit either at the time, still with the tags on. I feel overwhelmed by it all.

For some reason, selling things feels psychologically easier in terms of letting things go - has anyone else found this?

posted by mippy to home & garden (33 comments total)

Selling things feels better because you get money out of it.

Donate them to a women's shelter.
posted by oinopaponton at 7:01 AM on July 27

Have you tried a clothing consignment store?
posted by Leezie at 7:04 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]

I took a lot of stuff to a charity shop at the weekend. I don't have an objection to doing that. It just feels...easier to let things go if I've recouped some of the money wasted. Maybe this makes me selfish, and maybe I need to get past that.
posted by mippy at 7:05 AM on July 27

You might not be able to feel better about this in the short-term. Seek your healing through making better shopping decisions in the future.
posted by Rykey at 7:10 AM on July 27

I don't know if it makes you selfish or not. Is the time you'd have to spend sorting, cleaning, photographing, listing, and shipping the items worth what you spent on them? I don't really mean literally, exactly; I mean, how valuable is your time (to do other things) now, compared to what you spent cash-wise on the items then? Think about it this way: if it takes you (pulling numbers out of the air, here!) three hours to put a batch of stuff up on ebay, then another two hours to track the auctions and pack and ship the stuff, what would you rather have been doing with that five hours that could have brought you as much - or more - pleasure than the money you got from selling the stuff?
posted by rtha at 7:10 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]

You could always post on Craigslist...

"Four big laundry bags of nice, lightly used women's clothing, $100 - MUST TAKE ALL OF IT."
posted by Salvor Hardin at 7:13 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]

Some people do seem to hold onto things because they see them as having some monetary value, and then get stuck keeping the stuff because they don't have the time or energy to deal with the trouble of selling it. I don't experience this myself very much (I love to freecycle, or give things away to people or to charity) but I certainly have experienced it second-hand with friends. "I really need to get all this stuff out of my house." "Why don't you just give it to Goodwill?" "It's worth money! I could sell it!"

Two years later: "I really need to get all this stuff out of my house..." rinse, repeat, as they say.

My partner is stuck like that with his comics collection.
posted by not that girl at 7:13 AM on July 27 [1 favorite]

Donations are tax deductible, so you've done something good for others and satisfied your concern for "recouping cost".
posted by B-squared at 7:14 AM on July 27

That doesn't make you selfish at all - that makes you logical. If you spent money for it, and it could still have value to somebody, why should your only instinct be to give it away?

Don't get me wrong, giving to charity is great, and I do it all the time, but you shouldn't feel selfish for wanting to recoup some of your money here.

Try some of these places, if they're near you. Even though your clothing is not necessarily old enough to be "vintage", I've found that a lot of retro/vintage stores will carry a selection of funky t-shirts as well. Go to the store first without your clothing and ask if they'd be interested in the slightest (some will probably a flat out "no", others might want to take a look). If they're interested, bag up everything you want to get rid of and be prepared to accept a low price for the whole lot.
posted by davey_darling at 7:18 AM on July 27 [1 favorite]

"You need a buddy, someone who can come in and say "miss lynnster, this Bing Crosby album is MOLDY, I will put this in my car for later..." and then at some point drive away with your things."
posted by ocherdraco at 7:21 AM on July 27

Donations are tax deductible, so you've done something good for others and satisfied your concern for "recouping cost".

Not in the UK, unless you're a higher-rate taxpayer (not sure about this one?) or a company. You can do Gift Aid (though I'm not sure if this works for donations of stuff rather than money) but this benefits the organisation you give to, rather than your tax bill.

I get stuck like this too, but I reckon the potential monetary gains do not outweigh the time spent listing things on ebay and then going to the post office. I still have the stuff, but I plan to get rid of it by giving it away to Freecycle or charity shops.
posted by altolinguistic at 7:26 AM on July 27

I like the idea of giving to a women's shelter, but having looked online it doesn't appear that a similar system is in place in the UK.

I'm not thinking in the sense that I want money back for everything. More that I used to spend £100 a go on Threadless (hello, unmedicated bipolar disorder) and I have two formal dresses, RRP £150 each, that don't quite suit or fit and aren't awaiting a special occasion.
posted by mippy at 7:33 AM on July 27

You need to have a clothing swap.

My female friends and I do this about every 3 months. Everyone gets their unwanted clothing together to trade. There's lots of wine, gossip, and trying on of garments. It's great for several reasons--you get a chance to get clothes for free, which makes it feel as good as shopping. You realize how weird women's clothing is (seriously, I've gotten clothes from people who I never thought I would share a size with). And, at the end of it all, the host piles all the clothes into her car and, the next day, drives it to the salvation army, so you're no longer burdened with the albatross of clothes you don't want.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:34 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]

For the formal dresses, I don't know if a similar organization exists in the UK, but in the US there are organizations that provide used formal dresses to poor teens who need one for a formal dance at their school (prom, homecoming, etc.) I feel like its always easier to give away something like that when you know they're going to a person who has a specific need.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 7:57 AM on July 27

If you donate to a registered charity, you get a tax credit quite often, so that's a little more money recouped. I've donated suits to Suit Yourself, and as long as the value is more than $20, there's a tax credit.
posted by Kurichina at 8:04 AM on July 27

Clothing swaps are awesome. So are yard sales--if done properly. You could also do both. Get together with a bunch of friends and clean out closets. Swap as appropriate and have a combined yard sale for things no one wants.

I like giving clothes away though. Figuring out a way to get money back for them and putting the work into doing it is rarely worth the time and energy it takes. I get satisfaction out of knowing that something that has been hanging in my closet unworn for months and months is going to go to someone who really needs it and will wear it. Also, it makes more room for stuff I actually like.

Honestly, I think your time and effort would be much better spent figuring out ways to get your bipolar disorder under control--and perhaps by extension the binge spending. (I had a friend with this and it was painful watching the incredible swings and the self-destructive behavior go unchecked when she was unmedicated.)
posted by Kimberly at 8:05 AM on July 27

PhoBWanKenobi - I have about three cup sizes, four shoe sizes and six inches on my friends, so clothes swapping is tricky! However, the friend who came to help me on Saturday left with a wee bag of things, most of which looked far better on her!

wuzandfuzz - Just googled that, we don't have these here yet - proms have only just taken off in the past few years. However, similar suggestions very welcome.
posted by mippy at 8:11 AM on July 27

I've co-organised a Naked Lady Party, which is basically a clothes swap that's open to the public. Quite a few finds were sourced there. Don't limit it to your friends - get them to bring their friends too, and so on! One couple saw our flyer on a wall somewhere and brought a whole box of stuff!
posted by divabat at 8:22 AM on July 27

Yeah, I second Leazie, especially for the dresses and any unworn or barely worn clothing, consignment stores might work. At the one I go to (only to buy, usually), I see women bring in a bag of clothes. They drop it off, and the staff goes through it and figures out how much it's worth. Then the client comes in at a later time, and they hand her an itemized receipt and a check (and if she's not ok with the amount, they give her back her clothes). I think they sometimes give clothes back they don't think they could sell, but it's usually clothes that are very badly worn or so old as to be utterly out of style. But those you could just drop off at the charity store.

Some places require appointments and you probably won't get as much money as you could if you sold them yourselves, but you'd at least get something.
posted by bluefly at 8:40 AM on July 27 [1 favorite]

Have a yard/stoop/porch sale. You don't even have to price everything. T-shirts could be one flat price each, same with dresses, jeans, etc. I've made a couple hundred dollars doing this in the past. You have to promote the sale with fliers, ads and signs.

It is so much work to sell clothes on ebay that unless you have bags of amazing high end designer clothes or unusual vintage dresses in great condition, that it is not worth it.
posted by pluckysparrow at 8:43 AM on July 27 [1 favorite]

A couple years ago I went to look at an old guy's electronic components collection. Stuff he'd amassed over decades but never really used (resistors, capacitors, old transistors, things like that). We were looking over it and he kept saying "There's value here, there's value here."

It was a huge collection. He may have been able to get a few hundred, and perhaps even approaching $1000 if he'd listed everything on eBay, good pictures and descriptions, small auction lots of like (or same valued) items. I would have paid $75 tops for what would have been to me a whole lot of work sorting through the boxes and boxes for the few things I'd really have been interested in.

I told him "I don't think we'll be able to find a price that will make both of us happy." He gave me a bag of resistors and I left.

His kids are going to toss the whole lot in the trash when he dies.

There may be value in some of your used clothing, though my impression is that used clothing is not a strong market outside of a few select areas, but if you aren't going to do the work of sorting, photographing, and listing each item you'll be hard pressed to find someone who'll give you much money for it. Maybe put the dresses on Craigslist separately and put the rest in a few bags, for free or cheap.

I know too well how easy it is to amass things and create an emotional attachment, and how hard it is to let it go. But perhaps, after you've gone through and gotten rid of what you'll never wear, a one-in–one-out policy would be helpful, so you never buy a new item of clothing without getting rid of something at the same time.
posted by 6550 at 8:59 AM on July 27

PhoBWanKenobi - I have about three cup sizes, four shoe sizes and six inches on my friends, so clothes swapping is tricky! However, the friend who came to help me on Saturday left with a wee bag of things, most of which looked far better on her!

Other than the shoes, I wouldn't worry too much about it, especially if your primary goal is getting rid of stuff. Plenty of people like baggy/loose stuff, and things like pants can always be hemmed (I had an especially tall friend for whom some of my old favorite jeans became perfect capris!).
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:17 AM on July 27

There are people who sell clothes on consignment on eBay.

I recommend dinosaurdrygoods and leora*, both of whom have sold expensive handmade clothes for me on eBay. It was easy.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:20 AM on July 27

NB: I am not in the US. If USians (sorry) can make good use of tips, though, bring them on!
posted by mippy at 9:34 AM on July 27

Ah, the "Threadless" bit made me think US, and I didn't notice the pound sign later on.

To find an eBay trading assistant in the UK, start here. I don't have any personal recommendations, but the way I found the trading assistants I had good luck with was to look at what different people had for sale and pick the ones who were selling stuff I'd like to buy.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:43 AM on July 27

Give them away.
posted by rahnefan at 9:54 AM on July 27

For some reason, selling things feels psychologically easier in terms of letting things go - has anyone else found this?

Yes. It's hard to let go of the fact that it cost X amount to collect this stuff, so it seems like a lot of money would be wasted by giving it away or selling it off really cheaply. Perhaps you need to think more in terms of current value. Clothes with tags still on have NO current value because you aren't using them. Giving them away effectively costs you nothing. If you sold a dress or suit or whatever for £5, that's still more than what you're getting out of it now. I suspect you will be disappointed by what you could get for each individual item, but a bit of ruthless culling could add up to real money.
posted by Eumachia L F at 9:59 AM on July 27

Do you have anything from M&S to give away?

If so, take them to Oxfam, which will give you a £5 M&S voucher for your clothing donation if it includes an M&S article of clothing. I just did this last weekend and had I been less lazy, I could have done like four different trips and gotten four vouchers (as I has several M&S things to donate).

Note: the vouchers are good until the end of the month only, so wait until the beginning of August to go if you're going to do this. Also, you may not be able to use multiple vouchers on one purchase. The Oxfam site will have the details.
posted by triggerfinger at 1:02 PM on July 27

Salvation Army takes clothing donations, for their Sally Ann stores.

I really like the Salvation Army, because they are charity stores in two ways - first, by raising money, but also second, by offering affordable clothing, furniture, etc, to poor people in your immediate neighbourhood. I shop at the Salvation Army no matter what country I'm in, and I take anything I don't need back to them - including things I bought there, and later realised didn't look good/feel good on me.

And if I feel bad about "wasting" money, I just think about how the $5 I originally gave them for it was essentially a donation to a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter. I also suffer from "waste guilt" which has me wasting much more in renting storage, etc, instead of just getting rid of the stuff. But if I think about how what I'm donating is helping those who are more needy than I am - and no matter how poor you are, there is almost always someone more in need - that makes me feel better.

Also, I enjoy my new space, and excuse to get clothing that I do like. At the Sally Ann, of course.
posted by jb at 1:55 PM on July 27

I don't know how much the stuff you want to clear out is work wear but the charity dress for success works in the UK and would welcome serviceable work clothes you don't want anymore. It's a great cause, giving disadvantaged women a professional wardrobe that will help them snare the job and keep it.
posted by Skaramoosh at 2:33 PM on July 27

I understand wanting to recoup some of your investment, especially since you never really got your "money's worth" out of the clothing.

I had this sort of relationship with a pair of shoes. They were awesome, but I knew when I spent money on them that they did not fit. I thought I could change them, that I just needed to break them in or that somehow my feet would shrink.

They sat useless in my closet for two years. Finally, I decided that yes, I did pay a lot for them but I certainly wasn't getting any value out of them now. So I donated them to a thrift store that uses its proceeds to help victims of AIDS. I look at it as "money" that I donated to a good cause, so in a way I did get my money back, then used it to help a good cause.
posted by firemonkey at 7:41 AM on July 28

Firemonkey - that's exactly why I've been hanging on to some things. I've put weight on of late, I'm working at losing it, but in the meantime I'm deluding myself that I'll drop three dress sizes, or my shape will change, or my feet will get smaller.
posted by mippy at 10:24 AM on July 28

does threadless have forums? if so, i bet lots of people there would be interested!

when i do clothing swaps, i ask everyone to invite friends that i don't know, and sometimes i even post online inviting random people. the chances of someone super sketchy showing up at a house filled with 30+ people are relatively minimal. i do this because that way it's more likely that somebody will be my size.
posted by groovinkim at 12:24 AM on August 10