Is Selling Your Clothes Online Worth It? Tips To Help You Out
This post was last updated in 2023
My wardrobe was the first space I decluttered and as a former shopaholic, I had my work cut out for me!
Initially, I got rid of bags and bags of stuff, dumping them at my local charity. Then I learnt where these clothes end up and I put a stop to that. I started to declutter more consciously and responsibly. And selling clothing online was a part of this.
It was not something I looked forward to doing – I was time poor working mum and the last thing I wanted to do was to spend hours listing items and dealing with stupid enquires, just for a couple of dollars.
But I did it and I eventually got the hang of things. It became a painless process that made it all worthwhile.
I’ll be sharing more details on this in this blog post.
In this blog post you will find answers to the following questions:
You will find important information about:
Is selling your clothes online worth it?
Selling your clothes online is worth it – under the right circumstances and if you go into it with the right mindset. Your clothes need to be in good condition and you need to simplify the selling process And you need to realise you won’t make as much money as you would like.
But you will make something, which is a whole lot better than nothing!
Some other benefits to consider...
There are several other benefits associated with selling your clothes:
- It’s good for the environment – by selling your unwanted clothes, you can be assured they will be going where it is wanted. Whereas, if your item was donated to charity, it could end up halfway around the world. This is what happens to a third of all clothing donated to charities. And once it is there, it’s likely to end up in landfill. Read What REALLY Happens to Donated Clothes in Australia for more information on this
- You are taking steps to minimise your wardrobe – and there is nothing better than that. This is the space where I started my minimalism journey and it is well worth the effort.
- You get a boost from selling – when the money starts coming in, it can be motivating and can help keep the momentum going in your decluttering journey. I got well over $1,000 selling my clothes on eBay. Motivating.
If these are aspects you value, then putting the time into selling your unwanted clothing is worth the effort.
Some reasons NOT to sell...
There are some circumstances where it is not going to be worth your while to sell clothing online.
Clothing in the following condition won’t sell online (or if it does sell, you may find yourself having to deal with upset customers):
- It is torn
- It has holes
- It has rips
- It is stained
- Parts are missing
- It’s mouldy
- It has an offensive smell
- It hasn’t been washed
- It shows signs of heavy use
- It has warped or sagged
- Material has stiffened or overly softened
- The colour has faded
- There is excessive pilling
That doesn’t mean these clothes need to end up in the trash – please don’t do that! And don’t donate these clothes to charity either – they don’t need poor-quality clothes sent their way.
If your clothes are in poor condition, check out What to Do With Clothes that CANNOT be Donated for where to send your worn-out clothing.
How to make the selling process work...
Selling clothing online is not going to be worth it unless you make the process of selling as painless as possible.
Some common complaints people have when it comes to selling clothing online include:
- Listing and sending items can be time-consuming
- Clothing takes up space in your home until (and if) they sell
- It can be a pain dealing with customers
Now I’m not here to say I can eliminate these issues, but I do have some tips to share and I do challenge you to look at this whole process differently.
Here are some tips that should help:
- If you have a massive pile of clothing that you want to get rid of, yes it would be time-consuming to list one-by-one. So I suggested you sell these items in bulk.
This is what I do with my kid’s clothes – instead of listing them for sale one by one, I gather items that are the same size, lay them all out, take photos of several items at once and put them up for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Gumtree is a great place for bulk clothing sales as well. This process doesn’t take so long since you aren’t taking photos of every item or even describing each item (let the photo do the talking!).
- Set a time limit for how long you spend on this. I set aside 15-30 mins each Saturday to sell items I have decluttered – anything more than that, then it’s a time suck. And I find I can list so many items and deal with so many messages within that time. This is time I am happy – and mentally prepared – to put in.
- Set aside a small section in your home to store your items – somewhere out of the way but easily accessible.
- Set a time limit for how long you will hold onto the items and be mentally prepared to let go of the item for free after this time. That way you don’t need to get anxious about clothing hanging around your home indefinitely – you know in x time it will be out.
- Ensure notifications are turned off and set a time to deal with messages from customers. Don’t deal with messages as they come in – that will tiring fast! At the end of the day (or whenever you choose) spend a couple of mins to zip through your messages.
- You can ignore any rude or overly demanding customers. I rarely ever get weird messages – even on Marketplace – but when I do, I just don’t bother responding, delete their messages and move on.
- The Big One: Accept the process for what it is. Some customers may bug you with questions. Some customers may fail to show up. Some items may not sell. Be patient and go with it.
I will be covering a full list of selling tips in a separate blog post and that will show how simple it can be. But essentially, decent photos and a title that provides all the information a person needs to know is all that’s needed.
How profitable is selling clothes online?
If you are selling clothing you originally brought second-hand, it is possible to earn a small profit from selling clothes online. But in most cases, while you will make some money, you are unlikely to make a profit.
If you describe profit as the difference between the money you get from selling and the price you paid for the item – it is very, very unlikely that you are going to make a profit in that sense.
However, if you are wondering if you can earn some money from selling, well that all depends on the quality of your item, the brand, the style and the fees charged by the platform you use to sell. More information on these aspects can be found below.
Depends on quality
As mentioned earlier, it’s not worth selling your item if it is damaged. On the other end of the scale, if your items are near new or well-made, they will sell very well.
People rely more on the brand, and less on the photos, to judge whether clothes are well-made or not. Brands known for their quality workmanship will sell well. The stitching won’t come undone, the lining will stay in place, it holds up well on washing – some brands are known for their quality.
But it is also about material type. Those that regularly sell second-hand clothing note that clothes made of natural materials like wool, cotton and linen sell very well.
And denim will always sell well. Denim is durable and, provided it’s not made in some wacky style, they tend to be in demand in any decade.
Depends on brand
Connected to quality is brand – brands known for their quality and longevity will do well on the resale market. Fast fashion and high street items won’t sell well (Kmart, Target, Asos, Boohoo etc) while luxury designer clothing (Fendi, Zimmerman, Chanel, Gucci etc) can fetch hundreds.
But it’s not only the luxury designer brands that do well – any well-known brands can be a selling point that will help bring in some money.
Here is a list of the most searched brands on eBay for 2020 and the average sale price for each brand:
- Country Road – $36
- Gorman – $74
- Zimmerman – $187
- Spell – $184
- Witchery – $28
- Aje – $103
- Cue – $30
- Review – $45
- City Chic – $26
- Zara – $23
This gives you an idea of popular brands and also what price you can (roughly) expect from selling (there is a tool that can help you find the average price for the specific item you are selling. I’ll cover this in the sections below).
When it comes to vintage items, branding tends to matter very little. Vintage items generally sell well, but with vintage clothing, it is more about the style.
Depends on style
As mentioned, denim is always going to sell well. Second-hand fashion retailers note that jackets also have a high resale value.
Classic pieces that are not connected with trends are things that do well – a jacket well made, a little black dress, straight-leg pants, pencil skirts, plain tees, plain anything really.
I have found trendy items from the last 10 years tend not to do well. Peplum tops, off-the-shoulder tops, boleros, three-quarter pants, super distressed denim… the trend of plastic windows in your jeans??? Clothing that was slightly gimmicky and trendy for the time. They aren’t going to sell.
But trends from more than 10 years ago are considered vintage and are often sought after. For me vintage meant clothes from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Now vintage is clothing from the 80s, 90, 00s and early 2010s.
Trends from the 00s and 2010s that are now sought after include the “twee” style with peter pan collar shirts, ballet flats, cutesy prints, pinafore dresses and Mary Janes. But the resurgence of trends can die as fast as they appear so it is hard to know if your vintage item will do well or not. You just need to do some research online to check (see the next section for more info on how to do this).
Depends on the platform
Your choice of platform to sell will lock in the type of people looking at your listing and the fees you will need to pay to sell.
No one platform is better than another – each has its pros and cons.
In the blog post The BEST Places to Sell Clothing Online in Australia I provided a review of each of the online platforms available in Australia. There you will find the information to help you decide which is best for you, if you don’t already have a preference.
As a summary, the table below provides key information about each platform – how easy they are to use, the fees you will be charged and what type of items tend to sell well.
Some popular platforms:
| Platform | Ease of Use | Fees | It's great for selling... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facebook marketplace | Easy | None | Bulk clothing for free/very low price or unique pieces at a reasonable price, to someone local. |
| Carousell | Easy | None | Individual items of clothing or a small number of similar items, to someone local. |
| Depop | Medium | 10% on sales | Individual items of clothing or a small number of similar items, to a younger audience. |
| Ebay | Medium | 30c plus 13.4% of the sale price | Unique or highly sought-after items, to a wider audience (but warning: their customer service is THE WORST) |
| Yordrobe | Medium | 10% on sales, $2.50 on swaps and 50% if you send the item to them for sale | Specific high-end or designer clothing, if you want to avoid eBay or if you want someone to take care of the selling for you (online consignment). |
And others to consider:
| Platform | Ease of Use | Fees | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gumtree | Easy | Free | You could get lucky selling a bulk lot of clothing, otherwise this is not the best platform for second hand clothing. |
| The Closet | Medium | % fee varies with sale price (from 44- 96%) | An alternative to Yordrobe, especially good to use if Yordrobe does not accept the brand of clothing you have on hand. |
| Reluv | Medium | $27.50 for 10kg bag and shipping covered, $5.50 for 10kg bag only, $24.50 for shipping only, f% fee varies with sale price (from 40 - 80%) | An alternative to Yordrobe, especially good to use if Yordrobe does not accept the brand of clothing you have on hand. |
| Etsy | Involved | 30c to list plus 25c and 9.5-10.5% of the sale price | Unique or highly sought-after items. |
Your final choice comes down to familiarity and ease of use – you want the process to be easy. And because you don’t want to hold onto the items for too long, you want to choose a platform with a lot of users.
On that basis, I would recommend Carousell or eBay for brands and vintage pieces, Yourobe for your high-end items and Marketplace for everything else (ideally items you can bundle together and then list as a bulk item sale).
Carousell is great because it connects you to people in your local area and tends to fetch better prices than Marketplace. So choose this if you don’t want to deal with shipping but be prepared to deal with customer messages to organise pick-up times.
Otherwise, eBay is great because there is such a large audience. But the selling fees are just terrible and if there is a dispute about an item, eBay provides full buyer support and very little support to you as a small-time seller.
So no one platform is better than the other – it’s about what you are willing to accept and deal with in the process of selling items.
What is a good price to sell used clothes?
The general rule of thumb people like to give is to list your items at around 30 – 40% of the original price. However, based on experience and data from eBay, I have found that your item is likely to sell if it is around 15% of the current recommended retail price for a similar item.
The two could lead to the same price – 30% of the original price could be the same as 15% of the current recommended retail price. For example, a blazer 8 years ago would have cost you $150. An equivalent item now would cost $300 – 30% of the first and 15% of the second is $45.
But I have found the 15% markdown to be more accurate than 30% as it is less dependent on the age of the item you are selling and more dependent on WHAT you are selling, which is what buyers are actually focused on.
The exception to this general rule is of course vintage items.
To understand what price to sell vintage items, you need to check out the competition: Do a quick search on the platform you plan to sell your item on and have a look at what price they are going for. Price your item around the same amount.
You don’t need to price your item significantly lower – I find people will buy the item if you price it the same as everyone else.
Note: If you have an eBay account, there is a nice and easy way to check out the competition. I’ll get into this in the next section below.
How much do you get for old clothes?
The price you get for old clothes can vary depending on the item, brand, quality and style. On average you can expect $20 for tees, $20 for pants and denim, $50 for outerwear, $50 for suits and $70 for dresses. Typically I find items sell for 15% of the current price.
The average prices I mentioned above are based on information from eBay. They have a research tool available to anyone that has an eBay account. It’s really easy to use, as demonstrated in the video below.
If you plan to sell clothing and are confused about how to price your item, use this tool. Just type in the brand and item you plan to sell and eBay will tell you the average price that the item has sold for. Remember to set the condition as “used” and this will give you an idea of what price to set for your item, based on past sales on eBay.
The table below summarises information I was able to get from this tool. This formed the basis of the average figures noted previously:
| Item | Ebay Average Price | Country Road - eBay | Country Road - new | eBay price as % of current RRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T shirt | $20 | $15 | $50 | 30% |
| Blouse | $15 | $25 | $200 | 13% |
| Band tee | $35 | |||
| Pants | $20 | $25 | $150 | 17% |
| Jeans | $20 | $20 | $140 | 14% |
| Sweatpants | $20 | $15 | $100 | 15% |
| Activewear | $25 | |||
| Leggings | $30 | |||
| Skirt | $30 | $30 | $120 | 25% |
| Shorts | $25 | $20 | ||
| Coat | $65 | $55 | $450 | 12% |
| Blazer | $45 | $55 | $300 | 18% |
| Cardigan | $25 | $30 | $180 | 17% |
| Puffer jacket | $55 | $45 | $300 | 15% |
| Suit | $50 | |||
| Dress | $70 | $30 | $190 | 16% |
| Jumpsuit | $30 | |||
| PJs | $30 | $20 | $140 | 14% |
I also conducted a detailed search to prove the 15% rule of thumb mentioned earlier.
I searched for Country Road items that have sold recently and noted the average sale price. Then I went to the Country Road website to see what I would need to pay for a similar item. When comparing the two prices, the average sale price on eBay is roughly 15% of current prices.
I know it doesn’t sound like much – 15% of what you would currently pay for an item is all that you will get. But if it’s an item you have not worn for years, that no longer suits you and – yep I’ll say it – it doesn’t give you joy, at least it can bring you a couple of bucks that you would not have had otherwise. It’s a little financial reward for your efforts in decluttering.
And I think it is the responsible thing to do. By selling an item, you can be assured the item will be used. You are contributing towards a circular economy and supporting the second-hand market.
I know from research that clothing donated to charity does not always end up with those in need. But by selling an item, it does not go to waste.
So if you are hesitating, let this be the push you need to give it a go. Keep the process simple, keep your expectations low and you will be pleasantly surprised.
Happy selling!
xxx Tahsin
After more information? You may be interested in....
What to Do With Unwanted Old Clothes – A Complete Guide – for a full list of options, based on how many items you have and what condition they are in
The BEST Places to Sell Clothing Online in Australia – a full guide that will help you choose the best place sell your clothes, covering all clothing types and situations
Where to Donate Clothing In Australia – A Full Guide – the best places to donate your fit for wear clothing, including what to do with a bulk lot of clothes
What REALLY Happens to Donated Clothes in Australia – an exploration of the second hand clothing market in Australia and whether its a good idea to donate clothing to charities
Donating Clothing? Know What You Can or Can’t Donate – if you need to know what charities do or do not accept and the condition clothing should be in before you donate
Do charity and thrift stores wash donated clothing? – if you were wondering if charities wash clothing and why clothes from charities smell the same
Throwing Away Old Clothes – Can You and Should You Bin Them? – if you want to know what happens when clothes are thrown into landfill, charity or recycling bins
What to Do With Clothes that CANNOT be Donated – a full guide on what to do with clothes that are not fit for wear
Where to Recycle Clothing in Australia – All Options Covered – a full list of places that accept clothing for recycling, along with details on what REALLY happens when they take your clothes
What To Do With Old Underwear and Bras – Practical Tips – if you want to know whether you can donate underwear and bras, as well as practical reuse and recycling options
