ThredUp

Dear readers.  When you are clutching each piece of clothing that you own to your chest, asking yourself the age-old question, “Does this bring me joy?” allow me to introduce you to a site than can help you with the pieces that sadly, do not.

ThredUp.

Have you heard of it?  It’s an online thrift store that accepts name-brand clothes from people all over the country.  Myself included.  And now maybe you.  Here’s what you do.  You go online, and ask them to send you a clean-out bag.*  And they do.  It’s a big plastic bag with polka dots.  You take it, and fill it with your gently, gently used items from places like JCrew, Gap, and Anthropologie, and you send it back at no cost to you.

ThredUp will go through your clothes, and take only the very best of what you send.  They tell you in big letters on their site that they take less than half of what people send.  But if they take some of your items, that’s great.  Because they’ll give you credit for them.  Like a consignment shop, but all online.  Whatever they don’t use, they “responsibly recycle.”

I have held onto a bunch of clothes for a while–things like Vera Bradley bags I’ve barely touched, or J.Crew clothes that still have tags–because I know I could get some cash for them.  I could list them on eBay.  But I’ve been sitting on them for years, and haven’t done a thing.  Hello, ThredUp.  You are the answer to my problems.

I sent my first bag to see how things worked a couple months ago, and tried desperately not to get my hopes up.  It took the ThredUp team a few weeks to go through my items, but then I received an email that about half of my bag was accepted.  Even better, I had over $60 credit to use on the site.  As Gooplet is bulking up like it’s his job (which I suppose, it is), I took the money straight to the kids’ side of the site, and spent money on clothes for him.

Again, ThredUp really only takes name-brand stuff, so it was easy to load my cart.  I even sneaked a new, white J.Crew sweater in for myself.  It still had tags!  Everything shipped right away, it was clean, and I’m thrilled I have a jumpstart on fall clothes for Gooplet.  The whole experience was so great, I went through my closet again, and have a new stash of clothes ready to send.  My next bag shipped this week, and I can’t wait to fill it and ship it as soon as it arrives.  And in the meantime, if you’re so inclined, give them a try.**

*ThredUp is taking off right now, so while they sent me my first bag as soon as I asked (a couple months ago), I had to wait about 3 weeks to get the one that’s on it’s way to me right now.  I don’t care.  Worth it.

**If I did that right, that link gives you $10 to spend, and gives me a kickback if you spend it.

(Mackenzie’s killer closet picture here)