With free pickup service, a startup called thredUp is making consignment hassle-free for those who have cluttered closets. The company was established in 2009 in San Francisco and it has raised $131 million from numerous investors. Thredup has a partnership with both the postal service and FedEx. The Thredup app and website allow people to request a free “Clean Out Bag” for their unused clothing. Clients can fill up the bag with unwanted items and leave it at their door, this makes it a good place to sell on in comparison to its competitors platforms like Ebay and Poshmark. Through resale, reuse and responsible recycling, Thredup aims to reduce fashion waste. With sophisticated algorithms and personalised marketing, they make sure your items sell as quickly as possible. Thredup has approximately 1.24 million active buyers and almost half a million sellers from across the United States and Canada.Therefore, if you are looking to sell items on Thredup, we have compiled a list of Do’s and Don’ts to keep in check before listing your products.

DO – Understand Thredup’s Policies

Before you start listing your products on ThredUp, you may want to understand what you can and cannot actually sell on the site. The authenticity and style experts at Thredup will carefully evaluate your items to determine the resale value. “Clean Out Bag” will only accept high-quality items that meet their strict standards. Therefore, always understand and review the details provided by them before submitting your “Clean Out Bag”. Furthermore, you should understand that items not accepted by Thredup cannot be returned unless you add Return Assurance to your “Clean Out Bag” due to the cost of shipping and processing. You can check out the specifics here.

DO – Understand Thredup’s business model

Thredup is primarily used by women who are interested in thrifting. The marketplace only allows items classified under women’s and children’s clothing and does not list items like sleepwear, kids’ clothing without a brand, prom dresses, items without sizes, etc. Further, items such as men’s clothing and electronics are not permitted on the platform, along with many other things such as jewellery and other non-clothing items. Listing items on the platform uses a unique business model. Sellers should be aware that Thredup sorts the items sent to them before listing them, which means that an item from your “Clean Out Bag” may not qualify and will not show in bidding. Furthermore, sellers who wish to declutter their closets and who don’t care about making money can donate their clothes instead of selling them.

DO – Understand Thredup is different than most

Sellers on Thredup are not in control of how much shipping costs or shipping discounts apply to their items. All listings on Thredup are handled by the platform, which includes the shipping costs. A flat shipping rate of $5.99 and bundling at a specific price for buyers to avail of the free shipping is controlled by Thredup. The platform does offer convenience to sellers by processing their clothes until the items get listed on the platform. Thereby making sellers’ efforts negligible after sending in their clothes and checking their accounts for updates.

DO – Optimise and Share your listings on different platforms

Unlike Poshmark or Depop, Thredup does not specifically rely on social media when it comes to sales but you can boost your products by sharing them after they are listed on different social media platforms which not only maximises reach but directly builds a reputation as a seller. You can also make sure that you make your listings SEO optimised by creating a greater number of backlinks through social media, which is cost effective.

DON’T – Forget to claim your unsold items

If your items do not sell within 84 days, you will have an additional 14 days to reclaim your item. If you do not reclaim your item within this period, it will be owned by Thredup. You can reclaim an unsold consignment item by logging into your Thredup account and navigate to My Selling History. Once you have them you can sell them on other platforms and still earn a profit. So never fail to do so and always keep a track of your listings.

DON’T – Send flagged products to Thredup

Always remember to avoid a few flagged items like Clothing, handbags, or accessories showing signs of wear: rips, tears, pilling, fading, shrinkage or blemishes of any kind. Additionally when sending shoes, please check the top surface, interior and soles to ensure they are clean and free of scuff marks. Items with missing or broken parts, stains and odours or items that are shrunk, stretched or altered, Items missing sizing information. Lastly, avoid all first copy or counterfeit products.

DON’T – Depend on selling designer products

Thredup lets you sell women’s and children’s clothing, handbags, sunglasses, scarves and more in like-new or excellent condition. If your niche is high-end, designer, luxury brands or vintage, you may be better off with platforms that cater to that, such as Poshmark. Additionally, other platforms cater to this audience by authenticating brand names. While Thredup still offers designer items, the audience there isn’t as dedicated, so the earnings don’t quite reflect that when selling designer items.