The Complete Guide to Selling Clothes Online Through Apps

The global peer-to-peer resale market for apparel is exploding. According to research firm GlobalData, it‘s on pace to become a $51 billion market by 2023, more than doubling from $24 billion in 2019. Powering this growth is the rise of online apps and platforms that make reselling used clothing easier than ever.

Why Sell Clothes Online?

Selling used clothes through apps offers many compelling benefits:

Make extra money: Apps provide instant access to a huge buyer base, allowing you to quickly convert unwanted clothing into cash. Casual sellers can make hundreds to thousands per month, while full-time "power sellers" scale up to six figure businesses.

Clean out your closet: Reselling is an extremely convenient way to declutter and make room for new clothes. Apps handle photographing, measurement, shipping and everything in between once you simply box up the clothes.

Upgrade your wardrobe: Take advantage of the profits from selling old items to fund new purchases. Poshmark even offers credit towards future purchases.

Environmental impact: The fashion industry severely pollutes waterways and lands toxic waste in landfills. Reselling extends the lifespan of clothing, lowers production needs and benefits the planet.

But with new apps launching constantly in this gold rush-like landscape, how do you even know where to start? This guide will walk you through…

Choosing the Right App to Sell Clothes

With so many options to consider, selecting the ideal app to sell your used items comes down to a few key deciding factors:

Target Audience

Who will be most interested in the specific brands, styles and sizes you‘re looking to sell? For example, young streetwear enthusiasts are drawn to Grailed and Depop, while working women flock to Poshmark. Match your inventory accordingly.

[Insert image of someone selling clothes online]

Fees

Most reselling apps charge between 10-20% selling fees per transaction. Some also implement small listing fees. Consider what cuts make economic sense for you based on average selling price. Upscale consignment platforms take higher percentages in exchange for luxury buyer access.

Learning Curve

Look for an intuitive platform that won‘t overwhelm you as a beginner. Sorting through inventory and creating listings needs to feel manageable, not tedious.

Type of Inventory

Certain apps permit all clothing types, while some specialize. For example, Kidizen focuses specifically on children‘s apparel. Factor where your inventory of womenswear, vintage items, athleticwear or other garments will best fit.

Below we break down the 10 best clothing resale apps available now across these deciding factors.

The Top 10 Clothing Resale Apps

1. Poshmark

With over 80 million registered users, Poshmark leads among mainstream resale apps for volume of buyers and sellers. It‘s specifically tailored to all things womenswear, shoes and accessories.

Target Audience: Women aged 25-54 seeking deals on everything from Forever21 to Louis Vuitton. Tight knit communities form around shared tastes and budgets.

Fee Structure: $2.95 shipping charge per order. 20% selling commission fee per item sold.

Ease of Use: Streamlined mobile-first posting flows to add new listings using Poshmark‘s templates and photo tools. Easy self-sharing to followers.

Ideal For: Mid-market contemporary brands like Anthro, JCrew, Madewell, where value can be driven.

2. Depop

Focused heavily on Gen Z users, Depop harbors a youthful artsy vibe. It‘s the destination for trendy streetwear and vintage pieces from the 90s/2000s. Over 90% of active users are under the age of 26.

Target Audience: Teen and 20-something urban hipsters seeking unique statement pieces often not found elsewhere.

Fee Structure: Flat 10% selling fee. $2.99 shipping label charge. 3.9% + $0.30 payment processing fees.

Ease of Use: Very intuitive mobile app catered to Mitennials and Gen Z. Clean UI with Explore page to tap into latest trends.

Ideal For: Vintage tees, designer logo pieces, heavily branded athleticwear, collectible sneakers. Limited older demographics.

3. ThredUp

For hands-free clothes consignment, ThredUp is the most frictionless solution. Simply order a Clean Out Kit, fill the bag with clothes you’re looking to unload, and ship it back. They handle photographing, measuring, pricing, picking warehouse storage slots and everything else end-to-end.

Target Audience: Anyone looking for maximum convenience without effort. Site/app traffic skews female.

Fee Structure: Payouts range from 5-80% of what your items sell for based on brands, with luxury items capturing up to 95%.

Ease of Use: As easy as it gets. Box up clothes, ship, and funds get deposited. They do literally everything else.

Ideal For: Sellers short on time and patience that value simplicity over maximum payouts. Wide range of everyday brands and minimal effort empowers cleaning out your closet.

4. eBay

eBay remains one of the largest marketplaces for all secondhand goods thanks to its entrenched reputation over decades. Buyers browse eBay daily specifically seeking hidden gems and deals.

Target Audience: 182 million largely US-based shoppers accustomed to buying used goods across categories. Even spread across genders and age groups.

Fee Structure: Flat 10-20% selling fees based on specific auction-style listing formats chosen for each item, plus Paypal payment processing charges.

Ease of Use: Dated UI and flows, but benefits from buyers deeply familiar with the eBay process. Managing variables like shipping and returns is overly complex.

Ideal For: More valuable niche pieces where savvy buyers hunt for undiscovered steals, and sellers can bypass app commission minimums through auctions.

5. Facebook Marketplace

Tap into hyperlocal buyers that can simply drive and pickup items. Meet in safe public spaces and avoid all shipping logistics.

Target Audience: Existing friends, friends of friends and local buyers active on Facebook in your city.

Fee Structure: None whatsoever. Facebook doesn‘t take any cut of sales or charge miscellaneous fees. Paypal is integrated for seamless local cashless transactions.

Ease of Use: Listings are basic but effective, integrated natively into the Facebook app which makes posting a cinch.

Ideal For: Bulky items like furniture where pickup is a must. Also great for parents that quickly outgrow expensive kids clothing.

Optimizing Listings For Sales

Crafting compelling listings is an art and science that takes some practice to perfect. Implement these proven best practices:

Shoot Quality Photos

Clear, bright, high-resolution photos allow buyers to inspect details like textures and condition. Shoot against clean backgrounds in natural lighting. Capture multiple angles – front, back, detail closeups and modeled shots to showcase drape and fit.

Write Detailed Descriptions

Don‘t let buyers guess about what you‘re selling! Include ultra precise specifics like sizes, materials, damage details, measurements and more. It not only sets reasonable expectations about item condition, but also helps convey sizing and fit nuances that ensure no returns. Honesty is key.

Price Competitively

There‘s an art to smart pricing. Research completed eBay and other platform listings to gauge true market rates for similar items in comparable condition. Remember to factor in the app‘s selling fees. Consider pricing on the higher side to leave room for buyer negotiation and offers.

[Insert infographic summarizing listing optimization tips]

Scaling Up With Powerseller Strategies

For sellers that want to get serious by running a full-time reselling businesses, implementing a few powerseller strategies separates the pros from the dabblers.

Source Inventory at Scale

Leverage apps like OfferUp that list local inventory available for immediate pickup. Sort by clothing categories and be ready to buy popular items priced low from users exiting the platforms. Storage units can provide plenty of room to build up inventory.

Cross-post Across Multiple Apps

Manually cross-posting each item across all the relevant platforms where it will sell best is tedious and time consuming. Services like ListPerfectly integrate with apps to auto-post your latest eBay or Poshmark listings to Depop, Kidizen and more automatically.

Analyze Competition

What brands and specific items are selling out fastest around you locally? Seek them out first when buying inventory. Download the LikeAlyzer browser extension to analyze likes and sales data for top eBay sellers in clothing niches. Reverse engineer what‘s working for them.

Promote Outside the Apps

Have an existing audience on Instagram or TikTok? Direct traffic to your listings. For local pickup clothing, plug them in relevant Facebook Groups. Apps provide exposure, but you control your media reach.

[Insert Image of someone managing multiple clothing listings]

By implementing these pro tips in your own shop, consistent sales velocity and profits selling used clothing is achievable.

Additional Online Selling Resources

Beyond the major apps above, specialty shops and services can open up additional opportunities.

Consignment Shops

For investment-grade luxury goods, TheRealReal and Fashionphile handle everything from authentication to securely shipping items to buyers. For their white glove service taking the risk out of high-value goods, they charge increased commissions upwards of 50-60%. But for seldom-worn Chanel and Hermes, it maximizes what deep-pocketed shoppers will pay.

Sustainable Recycling

Concerned about the 10.5 million tons of clothing waste ending up in US landfills every year? Forward-thinking companies like For Days accept used apparel to break down and recreate new clothing from recycled fibers using less water, energy and dye. H&M likewise accepts used clothes to recycle into new fast fashion via donation bins in stores.

As consumers become more conscientious about fashion‘s negative environmental impacts, upcycling used clothes into new garments or other products helps complete the lifecycle sustainably. Expect more future innovation in this realm.

Customize Your Own Shop

For frequent sellers with loyal customer bases, the apps‘ fees add up quickly. Alternatives like Shopify make it easy to launch your own customized online store. With enough social media skill directing traffic to your shop, you can pocket most profits. But distribution, marketing and logistics becomes 100% your responsibility.

Size of the Online Clothing Resale Market

Selling secondhand clothes online continues seeing hockey stick-like adoption. Here‘s a snapshot of the market size and growth estimates:

[insert data visualization of market size and growth stats]

Key highlights:

• Clothing resale market to reach $77 Billion globally by 2025, up from $36 Billion in 2021
• US peer-to-peer clothing resale doubled from $14B to $28B between 2019-2021
• 90 million US shoppers bought secondhand apparel in 2021. Projected to hit 120 million by 2026
• 25% of resale shoppers transitioned in the past 1-2 years, signaling the behavioral shift underway

Demand is clearly surging. And with Gen Z/Millenial buyers especially focused on discount hunting and sustainability, the trend shows no signs of slowing.

Demographic Breakdown of Buyers

Poshmark and ThredUp commissioned a “2021 Resale Report” surveying over 10,000 consumers that reveals several demographic insights:

Age

• 18-37 years olds are 67% more likely to increase secondhand clothing purchases compared to other age groups

Gender

• Women led Early Adopters. But growth rates now highest among young men.

Income Level

• 45% of resale shoppers come from higher income households

Spending Changes

• 33% of secondhand buyers expect to trim new clothing budgets

Secondhand early adopters were predominantly women conscientious of values like sustainability and frugality. But notably, men and higher income brackets now demonstrate the highest growth rates as stigma erodes.

Will Reselling Clothes Work For You?

What does the typical seller profit selling used clothing online? After app fees, your average profitability can reasonably land around 65-75% of the final listing value. As your skills mature by sourcing smarter and optimizing listings, results closer to 80% are very achievable. For a $100 jacket, that means clearing about $65-80 for your pocket.

How long does inventory take to sell? Expect 60-90 days to sell through most clothing items, factoring seasonal demand changes. But hot trending brands and styles can move in under 30 days. Clearance priced items of course fly off shelves fastest! With billions in apparel now flooding these platforms, standing out requires work.

What volume of items do you need to make meaningful profits? Regularly sourcing and listing just 10-20 quality pieces monthly will easily generate an extra few hundred dollars. List 50-100 items and profits can reach $1000+. Top sellers move 500-1000+ units monthly, pulling in full time incomes. Start small while getting accustomed to flows that work for your lifestyle.

Getting Started on Poshmark, eBay, Depop & More

Now that you‘ve got an in-depth lay of the land across major reselling apps, niche outlets and power seller tips, it‘s time to get started!

Begin the journey by:

1. Downloading 2-3 apps catered to your target buyers
2. Cleaning out your closet for initial inventory
3. Creating your first listings optimized for sales
4. Sharing to followers and external channels

It will take experimenting with a few different platforms to determine what items sell best and which flows you naturally thrive within.

Be patient organizing chaos into an efficient system. But know that supplemental income and even full-time businesses have exploded on these apps with some grit and hustle.

Sell through the clutter, earn some cash and pay yourself in new clothes! Let the decluttering begin…