This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
When it comes to buying or selling recycled clothes, it’s womenswear that gets the bulk of the attention. But there’s a market for men’s clothes, too.
There are plenty of men out there who want to make money off their old clothes. After all, they too have to put together a full outfit every day. And it’s time that their closet cleaning yields a few results.
The good news is that there are options, and the best place to start is with men’s consignment stores. If you’re looking to sell your threads online or in-person, here’s a comprehensive list of online and brick-and-mortar options to give your clothes a new home and some money in your pocket. We recommend focusing on selling either items that are commonly worn, like jeans or T-shirts, or designer items made by specialty brands.
5 Online Men’s Consignment Stores
Not having to carry your clothes around to a physical location will make your life easier. Some of these stores have both physical shops and all of them have online options.
1. Grailed
Grailed’s name is a nod to the Holy Grail, and it bills itself accordingly, as a “marketplace for incredible new and used clothing that you can’t find anywhere else.” This is a specialty seller that focuses on luxury and coveted brands like Rick Owens, Maison Margiela and Louis Vuitton.
If that feels a little out of your price range, fret not — Grailed offers other categories, including sweatpants and joggers, slip-on shoes and polos.
What makes Grailed popular with buyers is that it’s free. For sellers, the benefit is its low 9% commission fee. There’s no barrier to entry, but you set the price for your items, so they may take longer to sell than they would on a site that sets the price for you.
Grailed offers PayPal buyer and seller protection, meaning that any disputed charge can warrant a full refund. All offers are considered binding, a change to the previous method, so a buyer must purchase an item if a seller accepts their offer.
2. The RealReal
As its name implies, The RealReal prides itself on authenticity. While all of the sites on this list forbid replicas and knockoffs of brand-name items, The RealReal takes it one step further by employing trained professionals — from gemologists to apparel experts — to ensure every item it offers is the real thing. Your item must pass a rigorous inspection before the site will list it.
The RealReal’s structure works by rewarding sellers the more that they sell and the higher the price. The percentage a seller earns is broken down by item and price of item sold. Here is a full list — the highest percentage earned by the seller is 85%.
Some examples include:
If you sell men’s sneakers worth $196 or more, sellers earn 80% of the price.
If you sell sports and outdoor items between $196 and $994, sellers make 60% of the price. If you sell those items worth more than $995, sellers make 80%. According to the website, this is an exclusive offer that will run for a limited time.
All items under $195 are tiered by commission. Items from $1 to $95 earn the seller 30% of the price, between $96 and $145 earn 40% and between $146 and $195 net 50%.
There is also a tiered system that allows sellers to earn VIP status. Here’s how that works.
An Insider, or someone with annual sales under $1,500, can earn 55% commission.
An Icon, with annual sales over $1,500 and under $10,000, can earn 60% commission.
A VIP, with annual sales over $10,000, can earn 70% commission.
3. Menswear Market
Menswear Market touts itself as taking some of the guesswork (and legwork) out of reselling your items by offering services like photography and inventory management.
Menswear Market may sell your pieces on its own website or through its selling account on eBay. To get started, sellers must contact Menswear Market and see if their clothes are eligible. If so, they can ship them at no charge. Each month, the seller will get 60% of the total money their items net.
Menswear Market is a great option for the seller with no time and access to high-end luxury goods.
4. Linda’s Stuff
Don’t let the name fool you — Linda’s Stuff isn’t just for women’s clothing and accessories. It also has a sizable men’s section with everything from jeans to shoes to swimwear.
This company strives to sell your luxury items at a price that will net you the most money and interest the most buyers. The team does most of the work itself, from photography, to research, to pricing, to authenticating.
The team increases demand for an item by listing it at first for auction on eBay. If it doesn’t sell in seven days, they then choose a fixed price and create a listing. The fact that all items have free shipping is particularly enticing for buyers. The company lists items for one year, but if they don’t sell in that time, it is the consignor’s responsibility to initiate the return process.
Like many online consignment stores, Linda’s Stuff pays sellers based on how much they sell and how much money they make for the site. For items at $999 or less, sellers receive 60% of the sale. For items that go for $1,000 or above, sellers get 75% of the sale. If you hit $5,000 or more, sellers get 80% of the sale price.
5. Poshmark
You may have heard of Poshmark — it’s one of the most popular sites for secondhand resellers and buyers. But did you know they have a men’s section?
Listing an item on the platform is easy. It just involves making an account, uploading a photo of your item with a description and listing it. You set the price.
Poshmark takes a commission in a sliding scale form, much like other platforms. For sales below $15, Poshmark takes a commission of $2.95 per sale. For sales of $15 or more, Poshmark takes 20% commission.
A site like Poshmark is good for a seller who doesn’t have high-end designer items, is willing to put in a little bit of work and wants to keep the bulk of their earnings.
Brick-and-Mortar Men’s Consignment Stores
If you want to sell your clothes in-person, then we have the options for you. Well Suited and Crossroads Trading operate online, too.
6. Well Suited
From the same people who brought you women’s consignment site My Sister’s Closet and home furnishings consignment site My Sister’s Attic, Well Suited has retail stores in Arizona. It also allows shoppers to browse items online and place orders by phone.
You can stop by a store with items you’d like to sell or follow these instructions to ship them to the company.
To qualify for resale, your items should meet the “three C’s” My Sister’s Closet originally set forth:
Cute (or, one could argue, “handsome” in this case): brand-name designer items, whether classic or trendy, that retail for at least $75
Clean: in like-new, ready-to-wear condition
Current: stylish and no more than four to five years old
You can receive 45% of the item’s sale price in cash or 55% in store credit. Designer bags and jewelry can net up to 70% in commission.
7. Plato’s Closet
Plato’s Closet focuses on teen and young adult clothing and accessories — for guys, this includes jeans, jackets, shorts, sweaters and athletic wear in brands including Abercrombie & Fitch, Brandy Melville and Champion.
Check here to see if there are any locations in your area. If there are, you can stop by with your items and an ID, and a sales associate will review your stuff while you browse the store’s racks.
Unlike other consignment stores that pay you when your items sell and take a cut as commission, Plato’s Closet buys your items outright and stocks them for resale — so once you receive and accept its quote, you walk out with either cash or store credit.
The price per item will likely not be as high as luxury consignment stores. But if you’re looking for a quick, easy way to unload your unwanted stuff and get a few bucks, Plato’s Closet is worth checking out.
8. Buffalo Exchange
Like Plato’s Closet, Buffalo Exchange buys acceptable items upfront and pays you 25% of the selling price in cash via Paypal or 50% in store credit. You can drop your items off at one of its physical locations — stores no longer allow selling by mail.
Buffalo Exchange lists what each location is looking for here, but in general, stores are almost always seeking plus sizes and any menswear. That means guys are in luck! You can also call ahead to find out if there are specific pieces your store is seeking.
9. Crossroads Trading
Crossroads Trading offers flexible options for the most flexible of customers — sellers can sell in-store, drop-off their goods in store or sell by mail. The deal is simple: if you trade for credit, you get 50% of the sales price of your clothes. If you want cash right away, you get 30% of the sales price.
Like Buffalo Exchange and Plato’s Closet, Crossroads is a good option for a buyer who wants to leave the store with cash right away. The store has locations in various parts of the country.
Writer Elizabeth Djinis is a contributor to The Penny Hoarder, often writing about selling goods online through social platforms. Kelly Gurnett is a former contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.