As a hobby, I love to sell clothes and contribute to making the fashion industry more sustainable. By all means, I am not perfect- I LOVE to shop at the mall. Like its bad. On resale platforms, however, I feel I am making some change and have since tried to become more sustainable in other aspects of my life (more to come in another post). For now, here’s a simple guide for how to get started on selling your clothes and get that bread.
Step 1: Pick Your Platform
I recommend websites such as Mercari, Poshmark, and Depop. I started selling clothes first on Poshmark. It is simple to upload pictures of your clothes and the app sends you a free shipping label! As for Mercari, I recently started selling clothes on this site, too. Note- you can use multiple platforms!! Mercari is great because you actually get more money than on Poshmark and the app has features to help you price items correctly and sell them. A downside I’ve noticed is that there may be less users on this site. On Depop, the site super popular for teens and young adults if your clothes fit that age group.
Step 2: Take Pictures of Your Clothes
All apps, no matter which one, require you to upload your own photos of your clothes that you are selling. It is often pretty simple to do- you can either usually click a camera on the app and take photos from there or click on a “plus” sign to upload pictures from your camera roll (this may vary depending on the app). Make sure to take good pictures that have quality lighting and a solid background that contrasts with your clothes. Here’s my fun tip- I usually put a succulent near my clothes to make pictures more aesthetic!
Step 3: List Your Clothes and Start Selling!
Once you’ve taken all your pictures, make sure to upload them! Then, provide some details about each item such as the size, color, brand, measurements (if needed), fit, and condition. Your customers will appreciate the most detail as possible and it is better to be honest and disclose all imperfections of the clothes so you can have the reputation of an honest and loyal seller. Good luck!!
Step 4: Check for Comments and Answer Questions
It’s important to look on the platform you are selling on from time to time to check in with how your clothes are selling. People often leave comments/questions about items such as what the length of an in seam on a pair of pants are, how tall you are, or if you could possibly post more pictures to share a few common ones I receive. You want to respond as quickly as you can as time is money. Also, your customers will appreciate you being super helpful and may want to buy from you again or give you a good rating, which will help you sell more in the future.
Step 5: Be Realistic
It’s important to have patience while selling clothes and know that sometimes, not everything is going to be bought. You ay simply have some clothes that nobody on the platform needs at the moment or maybe it is currently out of style. It is best to let things sit for awhile and if they don’t sell in perhaps a year even for a super low price, it is time to get rid of them. I recommend dropping these clothes off to a thrift store like Goodwill so that someone can still use them. If someone buys your clothes, try to ship them as soon as possible and maybe even include a handwritten note from you in the package. Anyways, good luck and have fun selling!!
P.S. Follow me on Poshmark and Mercari!
My Poshmark: @emilyquesada4
Link: https://poshmark.com/closet/emilyquesada4
My Mercari: @emily44
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