Do you love name-brand clothing but hate paying the price tag? ThredUP is an online consignment store whose mission is to help customers afford the brands and designers they might not normally be able to.
ThredUP sells high-quality, practically new women’s and kids’ clothing and accessories, with a range of great brands to choose from at up to 90% off the original retail price!
We’ve ordered many, many clothes from ThredUP over the years and many of the clothes we’ve ordered have been items we’ve worn over and over again.
I love getting great deals and shopping secondhand, but honestly, at this season of my life, digging through racks at the thrift store or going to garage sales just isn’t really my cup of tea. So I love that there are options to shop secondhand clothes online. ThredUP is one of my favorite online sites to buy secondhand clothes.
Some of my favorite things about thredUP:
- They have a HUGE selection. Seriously. It would take me hours and hours and hours to get through all the clothes they offer just in my size alone!
- They allow you to search by size, color, and brand. Because they have such a massive number of options, I love that you can really drill down to very specific searches — you can refine your search in great detail if you choose: what colors of clothes you want, what brands you want, and what price range. This allows you to really find exactly what types of things you are looking for.
- The box is always well packed. ThredUP prides itself on the “unboxing” experience. When you receive your thredUP box, all of the clothing items will be hand-folded with cute thredUP tags attached to each. The items are wrapped in nice tissue paper and delivered to your doorstep in a cute polka dot box. Kierstyn was SO excited to get a box from ThredUp in the mail and begged and begged for us to open them ASAP! She has already worn the dresses I ordered for her again and again!
- They often offer coupons. Some of their normal prices are a little on the high side — especially when it compared to thrift store and garage sale prices. However, they often offer coupons which make it much more affordable.
- They offer good deals on high quality items. One of my favorite ways to shop thredUP is to search for deals on high-quality brands I already know that I love and adore but would never pay full price for. You can often find name brand items that are in like-new condition (or even new with tags!) — for up to 90% off the retail price! I was really excited this time around to get the kids some brand-new with tags items plus a number of other items that looked like they were brand-new. Kaitlynn loves Altar’d State dresses and I found one way marked down that was still in like-new shape! They also had some really great prices on Lululemon, which is another of Kaitlynn’s favorite brands! I’ve found that they have especially good prices on name brand jeans for kids and women. I prefer to buy high quality jeans that will last a long time, so being able to buy them like new at a fraction of the cost is a huge win!
- They have lots of items for $5-8 each. ThredUP has so many name brand kids’ items in the $5 to $8 range!
Thred UP can be a good experience when purchasing an item. I have only purchased a couple of items, and they all worked. I will state that consigning with them is a great way to get rid of clothes for FREE. It is NOT a money-making program for the seller, however. The pay out is a very small percent….barely 10%, I’d guess. You’d be better off trying to sell on a local consignment website OR your local consignment store if you’re going to go through the trouble. I would not recommend sending clothes in to sell, send them in to get rid of.
Thank you so much for sharing your insight and experience with thredUP. We love getting reader feedback to see how these programs are working for you! -Jordan, MSM Team
Let’s see how they will value my nice unused and once-used items. It will be my first time to use ThredUp and I have already ordered a bag from them before reading so many negative reviews. I hope the horrible reviews will prove wrong and ThredUp won’t rip me off.
I have seen a few items I like at ThredUp and hoping to buy them next week! Thank you very much for your insightful article and comments about the company. Happy new year! —- Angela Perez
Angela, just curious – how did it work for you? I saw so many bad reviews on them that I have been afraid to order clothing, but I’ve seen cute items on their website so – just wondering if I should take the chance?
I use to make some good money when sending my clothing to them, but recently they rarely accept anything and the things they do accept I only receive pennies for their true. I’ve also tried selling to local consignment stores but they pay too little as well. Now I consign all of my clothing. Sure, I need to wait to get paid (although a lot sooner that ThredUp) but I make a lot more than selling outright or to ThreadUp.
I’ve also purchased some things from ThredUp but returned them all (I’ve heard that more than 47% of all clothing ordered online is returned)! I guess I learned that there’s nothing like shopping at local stores.
Thred UP is great to purchase from, although I think they charge more than most used clothing sites. BUT selling is a whole different story. I could go on and on here, but I will simply say they paid me under $4 for some lululemon tops I sent it and they are selling each top for $30. So they will make $120 when they paid me under $4. TOTAL RIP OFF. Read the other reviews online before sending any clothing in to this place. I wish I would have….
For sellers, it is a total rip-off. I was initially impressed with ThredUp – no charge for the bag, quick processing and fair $ amount offered for what I sent. Now it is the complete opposite. The last bag I sent in contained about 8 items – including shoes, coats and brand new items with tags. I was paid just over $12 for all of it – subtract the processing fee I essentially made nothing. Kicker is that ThredUp charged close to $100 for all of it – nice profit for them – totally not worth it for me. I’m waiting for my final bag to be processed (which now takes around a month…) and will be cashing out my account and saying goodbye.
I’ve bought and sold through Thread Up.I wish I could use the coupon code, but alas,I’m not new to it.
I have sold on there up and over the past couple years received good payouts. I raved about their company. However recently that has changed. I am very disappointed that they are now charging sellers 6.99 to send in clothing. I was selling to thred up because I made more on the site than garage saling. Now once subtracting the 6.99 and receiving lower payouts than in the previous year, I have decided to sell my items at a garage sale or donate. So disappointed in this company. They were great to sellers but not anymore
I’ve had mixed experiences with Thred Up.
My most recent order was $100-some worth of clothes to help me in the post-partum period as I transition back to my normal size.
I LOVED that I was able comfortably order used clothing from the privacy of my own home, holding a baby (and not having to worry about him crying in the middle of the thrift shop), saving time and effort hunting through clothes.
I like the concept of thrift shops, but I sometimes find it so discouraging to weed through so much bad clothing for a few good things. ThredUp’s system makes it really nice to find exactly what I want.
(I found that the Dressing Your Truth course, which I learned about from MSM, really helps with this too, as I know my Type so much better and can easily search for just shirts in my color/style.)
But, I had such a crummy customer service experience with them. They don’t have a phone number. So, when I had a shipping issue (order was sent to wrong address and didn’t arrive as expected), I wasn’t able to call them. My email wasn’t responded to for several days, and the response was a little snarky, unfortunately. 🙁 They said there is live chat available on weekdays, but I hadn’t been able to find it on their site (though maybe that is the post-baby fog??)
Finally, my box did arrive, and it was not packed well. Clothes thrown into the box with one piece of tissue crumpled on top. I’ve previously ordered and had the nice individually wrapped ones with tags like in your picture, so I am guessing maybe they were just too busy right now? Mine didn’t have any tags from Thred Up (though honestly, that was nice to not need to remove).
I was feeling pretty hostile at this point because it had taken SO long for the box to arrive (weeks!) and had such a crummy customer service experience… but I’ll be honest, the clothes were great!! I am so happy and have been wearing basically an entire ThredUp wardrobe, for $100ish.
So, I’m disappointed in their customer service, but maybe that’s the price you pay for a cheap, nice quality wardrobe from the comfort of home. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your honest review. I really appreciate it!
I will never be a ThredUp customer. Based on the experiences shared here ThredUp’s business model appears to be “take advantage of sellers”. That is not ethical!
Just wanted to add some perspective to this review as an ex-employee of ThredUP:
The main reason between the negative/positive reviews concerning the selling/buying paradigm is the cost for processing an item to put on the site is high. If an item is shown on a mannequin it is far higher in cost to process than if it is on a plain white background. There is a lot of tech involved. Hence the low payout.
Another reason for the negative reviews concerning selling items to ThredUP is due to a very ambiguous system of defining what is acceptable/unacceptable. Definitions can change and on a whim and might not be communicated in a timely matter.
Another reason is the “human nature” aspect. Many people have their own pre-conceived notions of what they believe is acceptable/unacceptable even though their training at ThredUP might dictate something completely different.
Another barrier on the selling side is the fact that the people who are inspecting and taking photographs are people off the street basically and most have no background. The company hires like most, through a temp agency which means a huge spectrum of people and puts them through training(basically 2 days, maybe 3) and they are off and running. If they make it 3 months then they come on board. Not to mention they are required to process so many items an hour. Turnover is extremely high. In the 6 months I was with them I saw about 125 people come and go.
For all those saying they find such awesome items to buy I can tell you that ThredUP employees will find the really awesome stuff first and will have no doubt bought it minutes after it goes up on the site. They also have a discount.
Items that are not accepted are given to 3rd parties either to be recycled or given to those less fortunate in 3rd world countries. Either way it is probably a good tax write off.
Hope you find this information useful.
I have purchased clothing through Thredup but I find they are a little overpriced. I haven’t bought anything for a long time because they never offer coupon codes for existing users.
Disappointing. Unfortunately, code is only valid for new users.
Don’t ever send them clothes, my experience was horrible. I sent them items new with tags and they claimed things were damaged with holes in them and offered me next to no money for what I sent them. I tried emailing customer service and was basically ignored and sent links to their policies on their website. The links had nothing to do with the fact that I sent them new stuff they claimed was damaged. They also kept items they didn’t pay me for and listed them for sale in their store anyway. Check the reviews on this company before you consider supporting them.
Same here. The payoff stinks. I sent super nice clothes, top brands in great condition and barley got but literally change for them
I’ve noticed recently that about the same time I sent a bag and got my credit, that items I had not received credit for happen to be listed for sale. They just so happened to be in my exact size, color and condition (missing accessory, button). Too convenient when multiplies of your type show up at same time. The pay out is not enough for me to use them again but if I did I would be taking a picture and list of items sent in. Not that they’d admit what they didn’t keep and listed anyway.
After reading this post I went on to Thred Up and spent $100 on lovely items! I bought 3 pairs of shoes for myself (2 were designer brands), 2 pairs of jeans for my son (11 years old), a winter coat and nice button-down shirt for my son as well and 2 long sleeved shirts for my daughter (8 years old). I can’t believe the pricing! I’ve been needing to update several items in our scare wardrobes! This was perfect! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
WooHoo! So glad you found some great buys! -Meg, MSM Team
I’ve ordered from Thred Up in the past. Haven’t done so lately. I think they are over priced in most things. I found Swap.com and they are great. I will continue to look at Thred Up, but have been very pleased with Swap.com.
I have sold items to Thred UP in past. A few women’s items with tags, but mostly gently used or almost new boys clothing. I carefully checked maker labels to be sure on their allowable list. At the time, they’d send a giant bag free to home. You fill and mail for free. Option for them to get rid of leftover clothes no charge. My three shipments may have combined totaled $25 payout. Easily over 25 items combined were shipped. I had no emotional attachment to clothes and easy way to unload. (but took a while.) NOW, if you want them to get rid of leftover clothes-clothes they do not purchase-they charge $6.99. So I will not being selling to Thred UP anymore. I’ll have more satisfaction donating used clothing…
I haven’t ordered from them but from looking at the site I didn’t think their prices were very good at all. I can get Old Navy jeans , new. on sale for $10.00 for my sons and I saw a pair of used for $18.00?? Am I missing something with this site?
it shows the code “summer” for 40% off when I created my account.
I have ordered from ThredUp once and absolutely loved everything I got! Each item fit perfectly and I have worn them all over and over again. The prices were great and the descriptions of how much each item had been worn was accurate.
Did you get the Green Ember shirt through them?
If not for Thred Up, I’d be naked after KonMari. For realz.
I just ordered for the first time–kids clothes, and I loved that under Boys-Jeans, I could click on a box for Adjustable Waist Only! 🙂 Whoo hoo! 🙂 No need to search thru jeans that can’t be adjusted!
Hmmmmm! Am I missing something here??? LOTS of turn-offs for me re ThredUp. 1) Have always wanted to peruse ThredUp’s website to see what the hubbub was about but was turned off by the fact that you had to submit your e-mail first. Reluctantly gave in a few minutes ago and submitted my e-mail. 2) After a few minutes of perusal, I thought the VAST majority of the clothes were U-G-L-Y as well as overpriced! 3) The retail values they list are GROSSLY exaggerated. 4) When I do a search for a particular item/size, MANY more items come up than what I specifically searched for. 5) Thought the “badassmoms” name for a category was inappropriate. Really??? Couldn’t they have thought of a better category title? Sorry for a bummer of a review, but just keeping it real. I immediately unsubscribed once I received their ‘welcome’ e-mail. I’ll GLADLY stick with the thrift stores on military bases–they’re BEYOND awesome! 🙂
I’ve sold with them plenty of times and have been happy, though the shipping fee for selling is new, so we’ll see how that ends up influencing my decision. I’m very picky about what I send them (NO flaws, for upcoming season, and brands they sell a lot of), and I’d say on average they sell 75% of what I send, at an average of $25 a bag. It’s way to much work to set up an appt at a local shop, or post individually on a swap site. I figure I get some $ for items I would have donated anyway, so it’s been a win. However, if my average payout declined significantly due to pa you changes (they are constantly changing it, and it doesn’t seem like for the better), I would decide to just donate and do some good.
I do like how you can narrow down what you are looking for really specifically with thredUP and have had halfway decent success with that. But looking at my order history, I’ve had more misses than hits on finding clothes that fit me well and that I like (as opposed to looking really cute on-screen). I don’t like how you have to pay to return things which sometimes causes me to lose money overall with their somewhat pricey shipping. Also, don’t think you’ll make ANY money selling to them because they only accepted and paid me $3.75 for 3 like-new brand name items I sent them.
We have had pretty good success with thredup. I also got some items once that were clearly mis-marked. for example stating girls but were boys. When I contacted thredup re this they refunded the price and offered free shipping on some replacement items. One thing that I love about shopping used for my kids clothes that I don’t think anyone has mentioned yet is the selections. Not that they had tons to choose from which they do but that my child gets to truly pick what she likes and what suites her style NOT what the current ads or store displays say is in style. She is really developing her own and the confidence of her own identity that comes with that. Also she is learning that used is just as good and sometimes better 🙂
I haven’t been impressed with Thred Up. If I had free credit sure, but even with “low” prices the shipping adds up. I tried it a couple of times and the items weren’t all that great. One long sleeve shirt was pictured with boys items, looked like a boys shirt in the picture, but was clearly a girls shirt (ruffly cut in the shoulder part of the sleeve) when I tried it on my son. Not worth returning though, so hopefully it will fit my daughter in a few years.
Thanks so much for sharing your honest review. I really appreciate it!
Oh my your daughter Is so gourgeous in the blue dress!
Crystal, I tried as a returning customer and the code says it’s specifically for new customers only.
Thanks SO much for letting us know!
Also, your girls are naturals as models. Your kids are precious!
They had so much fun modeling for this post!!
I was going to send some clothing in to clean out my closet, but you have to pay $6.99 for the shipping! No thanks! I doubt I would have had $6.99 worth of things, when it looks like they pay $0.25- $0.50 each item. Besides eBay, does anyone know of a site that pays for you to send in clothing? I tried Loteda, but they are not accepting sellers at this point.
YIKES! Thanks so much for mentioning that.
I’ve mailed in clothing several times and never had to pay shipping?
I’ve never paid shipping with sending clothes…? Just sent a bag yesterday.
The shipping fee is new, and they will take it out of whatever your payout ends up being. It’s not paid upfront.
So they charge for shipping now? With it being 6.99 I don’t think I’ll be sending them anything else. Is this a very recent change?
I think they’ve always charged for shipping, but I could be wrong about that. -Meg, MSM Team
I was referring to shipping the bag to you for selling items. I had a bag sent to me about 3 weeks ago and it was free.
As to shipping items to me, I always save up my credit to have enough for free shipping or I wait until they send me a code, which seems rare lately.
I just tried to use their site, and sending in for a kit to use for shipping clothing to them for sale was always free before–now they want 9.99 for it, which they deduct from your payout! No thanks. I’m looking for another site now or I’ll donate it free to Value Village.
I love ThredUp, too! I’ve bought from them a few times and been happy overall. I haven’t tried their kids’ clothes yet but I should check those out!
The one thing I noticed in a lot of online reviews is that selling to them seems to get a lot more negative reviews than buying from them. I hope that changes because it really does seem easy! I’ve been reluctant to try it though. I usually sell on a local moms resale page on FB but it can be a hassle.
I’ve heard of people having mixed experiences with selling on ThredUp. Thanks so much for mentioning that!
Everything I’ve bought from thredUP has been really nice. I haven’t bought anything from them in a while though because I normally only buy 1-2 items at a time. I liked when they charged per item for shipping better than the flat rate shipping they have now. I would need to buy more to make up for the shipping cost (and I usually don’t want to do that). Make sure you download their app because you will get a lot of coupons with that (usually for 10% off). I would NOT recommend selling to them because they give you pennies for your clothes (I only got 50 cents for most items), and if they don’t buy all of your items you can’t get them back. My favorite site was Twice, but they’re unfortunately not around anymore. 🙁 They would give me $5-6 per item. I sell my clothes on eBay now and get a lot more for them compared to thredUP.
I was wondering about selling my items. It sounds like the payout is miniscule and they accept very little of what is sent in. It also states that you can’t get back the items that they don’t accept and they then resale those items to a “third party.” I’m all about donating the items but to resale the same items that they don’t take seems a little odd. Am I reading that correctly?
I agree. I’ve ordered clothes and I’d say half were decent. Boys selections vary greatly. A couple I noticed some flaws they didn’t mention and when I did they credited. However selling items to them is pointless. I sent 3 bags of kids and women’s clothes name brands some was excellent all were good condition I received $5.40. Yet they only took the off brand such as merona. The skirt I sent in sold for $17 but my payout was .75. I’d get more at a garage sale or on ebay! I won’t sell to them anything anymore.
Thanks so much for your honest review!
I have read that the ‘third party’ is various textile recyclers so they would technically be making money on your items and not paying you for it, but it would be a very small amount per item of clothing. At least the clothing is staying out of landfills and finding some other purpose!
I think there is also an option, for a fee, to have your unwanted items returned to you, which would make sense if you had a lot of expensive items to send.
I just read that the items that are still in “wearable condition” but that don’t meet threadUp standards are then sold to “third party sellers.” Only the items that aren’t in wearable condition are sold to textile recyclers. It looks like you can get your items shipped back to you for $9.99, if they don’t take them. Overall, it sounds like it wouldn’t be worth it to sell my clothing but maybe buy a few things if there was a great coupon code to use on my purchase.
My only issue is the returns. It’s not super expensive but it makes a difference, since I’m one that can’t just fit a straightforward size and can’t always tell how the shape will fit me from online. I do really like that they list length and chest on the site; that helps a lot! But still, I lost cash on my last order between shipping and items that didn’t fit. The net ended up being $35 for one top that worked great and two that were OK but picky to wear. That’s still not bad compared to retail, especially for the brand, but I do better at my local consignment shops where I can try things on, even if they’re a couple dollars more per item.
Thanks so much for this honest review. I really appreciate it!
Im having a problem too with returns. I ordered four pairs of pants a few days ago. Two of the items came already, and didn’t fit. I tried to follow their return directions, and noticed that they lowered the prices to about half of what I paid, and from what my return request said they are refunding me the sale price, not the full amount I paid!… even though I just bought them on Sept 11, and today is Sept 15… In addition I pay re-stocking fees, plus return shipping (That I expected). I tried to find a customer support number to speak to a person.. the number was “out of service”. I sent them an email detailing my complaint,. I hope they answer me, and refund the price I paid. I bought 4 items so I will end up losing quite a bit of $$ if they don’t give refund what I paid them! I have shopped online at various websites and refunds were never a problem.! Also there were no -“re-stocking fees”.. Either way, I don’t recommend buying anything from this website!
Will the coupon work for existing customers?
That’s a good question… I’m honestly not sure! Have any existing customers tried it?
Not for existing customers. 🙁
I just used the coupon and it worked fine for me as an existing customer.
Thanks for the review. I love Express jeans, but not the price tag. I was excited to see that they had a lot in my size. I’m excited to give it a try!
Are they easy to deal with on returns in your opinion?
I haven’t returned anything to them. Has anyone else??
Yes! It’s SO easy! You can return for free if you are getting store credit, but if you want a total refund you pay return shipping.
Thanks for sharing! – Meg, MSM Team
how long did it take for your credit to show up in your account?
Thank You for this, my daughter is tall and we have been looking everywhere for longer shorts and the site had some in her size for a great price after the coupon. Thank you!
Yay! You are so welcome!
looks good. will try it. although it will take @6 weeks before we see any $$$ coming in.
it does take a long time… and I don’t find that their payouts are very good…. 🙁
I sent them a huge bag with very almost brand new clothes– many with tags from stores like Talbots (so more high end)…and I only received a 2.70 pay out. I was very disappointed. So, if you want to sell clothes, I would try local consignment first….
I agree I sent 3 bags and only got 5.40. It was pointless I coukd have sold elsewhere for more or donated and taken the write-off. Very disappointed in their buy program. 🙁
I agree with this completely. I’ve sent them multiple bags over the past three months with some like new girls clothes that my daughter barely wore. The last bag I sent had several liz lange maternity shirts with tags that I had bought anticipating another child in the future, but finally decided not to hold onto them any longer. There was also a girl’s dress from one of those fancy denim brands. They were giving me less than $1 per item and I was highly disappointed. The only good thing about the service is that it’s so easy to sell to them once you finally get the bag.
I love to shop there and that’s really the only reason I sell them items. I like having the store credit.
I LOVE the site great clothes for a great price! I have ordered multiple times. And if it doesn’t fit you can return it. It’s a win win!!
Can you return for free?
Yes – you can return it for free if you get store credit! 🙂 But if you want a refund, you’ll pay return shipping.
The abdolute worst!!!
Just got a $40 lessen; NEVER BUY FROM THREDUP AGAIN!!!
Horrible clothes, No customer service, no chance with a valid return. Tried to return but they said NO.
Couldn’t wear it because it was 3 sizes smaller than description. Wouldn’t wear it to a dog fight. Definitely wouldn’t give it to a friend or even a thrift store. They said I could keep it, HA and do what with it?
so glad I read your review, just before I was going to order,
Thanks,
I had a similar thing happen. The mannequins they use to model their clothes are like a child size 10. I couldn’t even button a cardigan closed on a mannequin I have that is roughly the same size as me, around a size 4. They had it completely closed and the measurements they list are of no adult, EVER. I had to return two beautiful tops because they would have fit me at age 12, MAYBE.
Thanks so much for sharing about your experience! -Meg, MSM Team
I haven’t tried Thred Up yet, but your review may convince me to do so. I loved a similar site called Twice, but Ebay snapped them up last summer.
Yay! I hope you love the site and have a great experience with it!
The Thred Up Live Chat link is MISSING from the web site.
Do you have a contact Customer Service # ?
Thank you
I can’t find their customer service number, but you can e-mail them at [email protected] -Meg, MSM Team