If you’ve ever packed up your clothes and hit a consignment shop like Beacon’s Closet or a Buffalo Exchange, you know the trade/sell struggle. It’s like you’ll bring last season’s Alexander Wang embossed tee, expecting a $75 resell value, and then get offered $20. To shoppers, the decisions seem nonsensical, buyers leave you like, WHERE YOUR PRIORITIES AT, BBs? And more candidly WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO HOLD ME BACK FROM PAYING MY RENT, THOUGH?! BUY BACK MY SHIT.
But there’s a method to all this buy/sell madness, according to more than one resale employee I spoke with. “The issue is that, people forget that we’re not just simply ‘buying’ your clothes,” said a worker at Crossroads. “This is a trade-off.” So I tracked down some buyers in the Manhattan/Brooklyn area to see exactly which pieces are a bonafide no-go, and how to succe$$fully sell all those old clothes, and pay rent buy more drinks.
Don’t bring in stained and disgusting things (!!!). Since we pay outright for clothes, we only want to pay for really rad, clean, and trendy things.
Do trade old good stuff for new good stuff. If you wouldn’t wear [what you’re selling] neither will anyone else. We get a ton of H&M and Forever 21 pieces. Fast fashion stores don’t retail very high, so we can’t price it high. Bring in clean, trendy items, or retro/vintage pieces. We love things that other stores don’t have.
Don’t bring in old J.Crew sweaters and Gap from the early 2000s. And we’re seeing way too many Chanel-inspired tweet jackets.
Don’t expect to have an item purchased or receive full-value for an item just because it’s a designer piece. Sometimes, even luxury items are just not that desirable at the moment. Especially if everyone is wearing a specific style.
Last year, a celebrity and her sister came in and demanded the exact amount she paid for an out-of-season Alaïa dress ($2,000). “People will buy it for any price because I was photographed in it,” she told me. LIKE, WHAT? It doesn’t work that way. No one will walk into a consignment shop, pick up a designer piece and just know it’s been worn by a celeb. Okay, maybe, if they’re Ms. Cleo.
Do pack strategically. Or just check to the store’s online site. Most of the time they have an updated list of what they’re looking for. Good condition vintage or ’90s centric stuff from our childhood will usually get purchased because nostalgia is so huge. Also, bring in trends that’ll be hot this season and the next. Try and bring things that are unisex. It’ll increase your chances of getting an item sold because we tend to get more womenswear than menswear. It’s no shade when we don’t take your stuff, we just want to stay stocked with the best gear possible for customers.
Don’t bring old H&M and Forever 21 pieces. That’s not considered “vintage.”
Don’t bring us counterfeit crap. We’re trained on what to look out for and how to tell if something is not the real deal.
Do remember that one-of-a kind items are always desirable. Aside from buying your clothes, we get a shipment of new merchandise everyday. Things we haven’t seen always catch our eye and we’re more inclined to buy.
Don’t bring us bras and panties. It’s disgusting and no one wants them. Even if they are [this season’s hottest brand name,] Calvin Klein.
Do bring in swimwear! Just remember to keep the lining in.
Coincidentally, all of the buyers I reached out to echoed the same piece of advice in their responses: “Don’t be rude to your buyers.”
Fair.
*Names have since been removed from this article.
