Most lucrative way to get rid of 40+ pairs of Levi's?

December 16, 2014 7:40 PM

I have dozens of men's Levi's that I would like to sell in bulk if possible. I do not want to sell on ebay unless I can be convinced otherwise.

I do not want to make a listing online for each pair of jeans. Most of them are 501's in good shape but faded. Any ideas or experiences are welcome!

posted by futz to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (17 answers total)

Unfortunately, the obvious choices are craigslist or ebay. Since ebay is annoying and expensive, might as well throw em up on craigslist and see what sells.
posted by zug at 7:59 PM on December 16, 2014

I'm not completely clear from your question - you can sell them in bulk on ebay. You don't have to piece them out, you can sell them as a "lot." You might already know that, not sure.
posted by Miko at 8:02 PM on December 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

You could take them to a consignment seller.
posted by srboisvert at 8:05 PM on December 16, 2014

I'm not sure how much they police it, but many retailers try to keep a tight reign on unlicensed wholesellers. So I'd probably avoid selling in lots. If they're old enough, you might see if the Levi's historian has any interest in them.

(Work for Levi's, but in a different department.)
posted by politikitty at 8:08 PM on December 16, 2014

Response by poster: The jeans are from the 1980's onward. What would be a fair asking price guesstimate per pair? Might it be better to just take them to Goodwill and claim a dollar amount on my taxes?
posted by futz at 8:16 PM on December 16, 2014

Might it be better to just take them to Goodwill and claim a dollar amount on my taxes?

I don't think so. Goodwill assumes a flat value per piece (like, they have a standard amount for a pair of men's jeans, say, which might be $6 or $8) and that is all you are legally entitled to claim, whereas your jeans are fairly collectible, I think, and might fetch a much better price as a sale than you'll get as a deduction.

Are there vintage clothing dealers in your area? They might be interested in buying them as a lot.
posted by Miko at 8:26 PM on December 16, 2014

EBay buyers are going to want details. It is possible that a style from 1988 is hot right now. I'd take a few pairs and search on the style number to see what sort of market is there.
posted by k8t at 8:44 PM on December 16, 2014

Response by poster: Levi's used to be a coveted item in some countries. Not sure if that still holds true but if it does how would one even hook up with a middle man? There are businesses online but many don't look legit.
posted by futz at 8:44 PM on December 16, 2014

Are they used jeans? I sold some used clothes on eBay once and whatever I made was not worth the fees and hassle of mailing the clothes. You could do craigslist, but to me the amount of scams and idiots you will need to put up with for a low value sale like a bunch of jeans hardly seems worth it. Personally, I'd donate to people who could use them and get the tax write-off. Old jeans just aren't worth that much money.

I don't know why Levi's would be especially valuable. Look on eBay and see if you have some sort of collector's items. If not, just donate them. I've had a ton of shit I wondered about the value of and though might be valuable, from Beanie Babies to old magazines. Each time I looked up this stuff, there was a bunch of identical others on eBay. The value just wasn't what I thought was possible. I'm guessing these jeans aren't as rare as you think.
posted by AppleTurnover at 8:46 PM on December 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

If they are Levi 501s from the 1980s, they go for a good bit on Etsy as a vintage favorite - whether they're men's or women's. Many stylists and fashionistas consider it the one jean that is flattering on every cut. You can get about $30-$50 for them depending on the condition, although I've seen some go for as much as $100 (unusual washes/colors, etc).

I'd recommend Etsy over Ebay for the 1980s 501s just because of the appeal that Etsy has for vintage clothing buyers - Ebay sells everything, whereas Etsy is just handmade and vintage. Serious vintage buyers will be on there and looking.

I'd sell any that aren't 501s/vintage 80s 501s as a bulk lot.
posted by nightrecordings at 9:03 PM on December 16, 2014 [5 favorites]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=levis+501+1980s&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc

Those are recently sold (not just completed, but sold) listings for 1980s 501 Levis on Ebay. Some went for $150 each. Several others for $85 each. So as a correction to my previous note, it looks like Ebay may work out just as well as not better than Etsy.

Again, this is why I recommend you seriously reconsider selling the 501's individually, not in bulk. I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with AppleTurnover that Levis 501s are valuable and a collector's item among fashion lovers. It's worth the trouble.
posted by nightrecordings at 9:06 PM on December 16, 2014 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks nightrecordings!

Now I need to figure out how to tell a pair of 80's jeans from my 90's ones. Google can help me with that I am sure.
posted by futz at 9:18 PM on December 16, 2014

You're going to need to do some research. Take decent photos of the patches and care labels (with a macro lens for the labels); tie labels to them and put together a spreadsheet so you can keep track of what's what. The people who'll pay money for these will be searching by those criteria and looking for those features: look at listings on Etsy to see the kind of detail sellers provide.

I'd agree with nightrecordings that you should divide up the collection into "vintage 501s" to be sold individually and "everything else".
posted by holgate at 2:47 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Old jeans just aren't worth that much money" is not true as a blanket statement, not even close. +1 nightrecordings.

You can sometimes use Pinterest to get an idea of what things have sold for on Etsy -- unlike eBay, once a thing is sold on Etsy, Etsy loses the price info. But if it was pinned on Pinterest, Pinterest will still show you the price. Etsy can be a bit less hassle than eBay; it's sort of a friendlier marketplace, and cheaper. Things take longer to sell on Etsy but usually one can ask for better prices there. Your photography should be as good as it can be.

There is no "lucrative but easy" way to jettison goods -- you either have to go to the hassle of listing individually with stuff like 80s 501s, or lose a great deal of the value by selling to a middleman. I Etsy/eBay as a job and would give you roughly what the charitable donation tax write-off value would be for them, because so much of the value is in them being on the internet in a place where they can be easily found and purchased conveniently. The only way to extract the eBay/Etsy-level price for these is to put them on eBay or Etsy.

If you have no feedback at all on either site you might want to buy a few bits and bobs mailed cheap from China -- there're lots of $1 stationery/craft items -- so you have a feedback rating greater than the buyer-driving-away 0.
posted by kmennie at 3:29 AM on December 17, 2014

I don't think so. Goodwill assumes a flat value per piece (like, they have a standard amount for a pair of men's jeans, say, which might be $6 or $8) and that is all you are legally entitled to claim,

Not sure if this varies from state to state, but in my area, Goodwill will not give you a value on your donation and has no say in what you can claim. The loading dock guy is not expected to be able to give you a market value appraisal.
posted by spaltavian at 6:17 AM on December 17, 2014

in my area, Goodwill will not give you a value on your donation and has no say in what you can claim.

Here's Goodwill's guide. The IRS expects some kind of basis for valuing donations, and thrift store prices provide some kind of basis.
posted by holgate at 9:20 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Depending on brand, fit, size, color, and amount of wear, you could sell each for $10-50 individually. Here is a site that sells vintage jeans to give you an idea on price.

Before the mid 80's, Levi's had a red stitch running up the inside of each pant leg. Those are known as Levi's redlines, and are worth more. I'd say late 80's and early 90's are probably worth about the same, as long as they are all made in USA.

It might be difficult to find a buyer that wants to purchase in bulk, as most are interested in 50's through 70's Levi's. Your best bet would possibly be to put them up in one ebay listing, and see what you get, or try to contact places that sell vintage denim, such as the one I linked.
posted by Skephicles at 1:12 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]