You might remember this big pile of clothes from this post, where I dive into my “style evolution”! That phrase is still hilarious used in the context of who I am as a person – not one concerned about fashion or clothes, but deciding to make a change for the better, intentionally simplifying and using my clothing purchases to impact the world for good.
What did I do with this big pile, you might ask? With the shoes, not pictured, I distributed some to my similarly tall (I’m 6’0) and big-footed friends (I wear size 10-11 womens US)
I ended up sending most of my clothes to ThredUP. I got 3 “clean out” kits for $4.99 each, which I am not charged for until they have fully processed the bag upon return. I received 3 little envelopes containing three giant bags that fit everything I wanted comfortably. It came with pre-paid shipping labels so all I had to do was fill, seal, and drop off at a USPS location.
(Like a fool, I forgot to take pictures of the bags! I found two other lovely blogs that had beautiful pictures of how the clean out kits look currently, captions lead to the respective blogs)!
Why not try to sell them to a consignment shop?
I have tried, trust me. Locally, we have stores like Plato’s closet and Buffalo Exchange, and they are looking for smaller sizes than what I wear, trendy clothes (which I don’t really have), or high end designer items (which I don’t buy). I have donated lots of business wear to Dress for Success before, but consignment shops have never taken to my brand of boho weirdness 😉
Why not just donate them?
Those clothes represented a lot of monetary investment, and so a little recoup wouldn’t be entirely unwelcome. Also, I had been reading how 9 out of every 10 items donated to Goodwill ends up in a third world country landfill, and as I am learning and joining the slow fashion, ethically made movement, I did not want to further contribute to that problem.
Some great posts to read:
- FAST FASHION IS CREATING AN ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
- Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry
- Where Does Discarded Clothing Go?
- Here’s What Goodwill Actually Does With Your Donated Clothes
ThredUp’s website explains how upcycling is one of their business’ backbones:
“We have high quality standards and typically accept less than 40% of the clothing we receive. Items that are still in great shape but don’t meet the thredUP standards are sold to third party sellers. Items that are no longer in wearable condition are passed onto our textile recycling partners and upcycled. The proceeds we recoup through this process help us cover some (but not all) of the shipping and labor costs incurred for the unaccepted items we receive.” – what happens to unaccepted items?
Other posts from other bloggers have highlighted their experience: bigthinkster, vintage13. There is a lot of negative stuff online about ThredUP, and some people seem to have legitimate concerns, but the majority seemed to be monetary expectations not being met. I do not anticipate making hardly any money back from these bags, enough to cover the cost of the 3 x $4.99 clean out kits and maybe $10-20 more total. I will update this post when I hear more from the company!
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