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There comes a time in every closet’s life when it heaves with old loves. Not another stitch can squeeze between the cracks. If you listen closely, you hear it wheeze, “Help me!”
When that time comes, the only cure is to give it space to breathe with a closet clean-out.
Donating clothing to a giant place like Goodwill may seem like the way to go, but they are overrun with our cast-offs. Anything unsellable in their thrift stores—which is most things— ends up in the ever-growing landfills worldwide. Think of it like your emphysemic closet on steroids. Our old clothes are choking the planet.
So what do you do with clothes that need to move on? You may be surprised by the number of options there are. In fact, there are so many options, that I had to break this newsletter into three parts. I hope you’ll join me for them all.
Consignment Can Help Resuscitate Your Closet
One of my favorite ways to clean out my closet is consignment. It’s fun and fairly easy and it keeps my things in rotation rather than in a landfill, which is good for the planet. It doesn’t hurt that I get a little extra spending money from the deal.
If you’re not familiar, a consignment shop is a store that sells other people's clothing and goods. For example, you have a pair of super cool vintage lug boots you bought in the ‘90s but haven’t worn in years. Or you have a pair of modern jeans you can’t fit into anymore, and the sight of them depresses you. Either way, a consignment shop can take them off your hands and sell them for you. They get a cut of the profit for selling your things, and you get the rest.
ThredUP’s Clean-Out Kit
It was a major miracle when I discovered ThredUP’s Clean-Out Kit in 2015. Back then, the program was free. It was as easy as filling a polka-dot bag and shipping it back to them. They did the hard work of sorting, photographing, measuring, and posting my items. In my mind, they earned whatever profits they wanted. My clothes got new lives, and I got a few dollars to shop on ThredUP. It seemed like a win-win-win.
Those were the heady days! In recent years, ThredUP has changed the way they do things. Now, they charge about $15 for their Clean-Out Kit, plus $3 if you want them to send you a shipping bag, plus $11 if you want them to return items back to you that they don’t accept. And they take the same profits they took before. The change in my little ThredUP piggy bank quickly dwindled from dollars to raggedy moths.
Still, this is a better option than donating because it keeps my old things in rotation rather than rotting in a landfill, so when I have no other options, I order a new Clean-Out Kit.
Linda’s Stuff:
Because I like you, I’m going to share the place I discovered that’s even better than ThredUP. It’s called Linda’s Stuff.
Linda’s Stuff is hands-down the best place I’ve found online, and I’m shocked I haven’t heard more news about it. Like ThredUP, they do all the heavy lifting, and they do all of it without charging me for it.
Here’s how it works: You sign up on their website to become a Consignor. They email you a shipping label. (Yes! They pay for shipping!) You print off the label and fill up a box. Then you ship it off, and they take care of the rest. Before you know it, they’re sending you an email detailing the items they’ve added for sale to their shop. Not long after that, you get a check with your cut of the profits. An actual check! Most of my checks have been around $25, but that’s not nothing.
The only downside to Linda’s Stuff that I have found is that they don’t accept all brands. You’ll want to check their lists of designers they accept and brands they don’t before you pack up your boxes.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what they do with the clothes they don’t accept or sell—you have two choices. You can pay to have Linda’s Stuff send them back to you, or they can donate them for you.
There’s that D-word. It’s not my favorite way of handling it, but Linda’s Stuff manages to sell the majority of my old things and only a few items end up getting donated. Until I can find a better solution, I’m going to call it a win.
If you have a consignment secret, please leave a comment below!
Local Consignment Shops
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention local consignment shops as an option for clearing your closet. In the name of transparency, you should also know that I have not taken my clothes to any local places yet. My excuse is that it intimidates me to carry my stuff in and watch while someone evaluates it. That said, I did come across a few unique things recently that I don’t want to send to a large warehouse, so as soon as I get my nerve up, I’m heading over to Alexandra’s here in Seattle to see what they think.
Don’t be like me. Seek out your local consignment shops and shop/sell there. I’m ashamed I have not done this myself. These are local businesses doing good. Finding local consignment shops is as easy as typing “consignment shops near me” into your favorite search engine.
Perhaps consignment isn’t for you. Perhaps you like having more control over what happens to the goodies gathering dust in your chest of drawers. If that’s the case, I invite you to subscribe to future newsletters. I’ve got ideas. Loads of ‘em! I hope you’ll join me.
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