Spring Cleaning: Closet Edition
As the seasons change, so do the clothes we wear. Gone are the oversized sweatshirts, fuzzy socks, and boots. Instead, we fill our closets with sundresses, shorts, tanks, and the ever so beloved flip-flop (comfort never dies people!). However, this wardrobe transition often makes people realize how little they wear, what they’ve grown out of, and just the simple fact they need more room in their cluttered closets.
“I wanted to sell my clothes because they were out of season, out of style, and they were just taking up excess space in my closet. Also, I wanted money to buy new clothes,” said Renata Syzmanski, a sophomore who has sold her clothes through the Northwestern Free and for Sale page.
Selling old clothing is an appealing option, especially for college students with struggling bank accounts (like myself). While living on campus may make shipping clothing difficult, it also provides ample opportunity to market clothing in other ways.
“I chose to sell my clothes through the Free and for Sale page because it was the easiest and fastest method I could think of,” said Sysmanski. “The process isn't great because there's no structure to filter requests. I usually get a lot of messages indicating interest, but it's hard to coordinate because we have to arrange a time and place to meet. Sometimes the item doesn't fit the buyer, or they just don't like it, or they want to drastically renegotiate the price.”
Despite the wide outreach of the Free and for Sale page, selling clothing can be difficult due to the reasons Sysmanski mentioned—no sale is guaranteed. Therefore, other options such as Crossroads and Poshmark may be more effective depending on the student and the clothes.
“I sold a good amount of clothes through Poshmark,” said Maxine Whitely, a freshman at Northwestern. “I still think it’s best to donate clothes when you can, but for some things I thought it was the best choice to sell them because they were in really good shape and rather expensive.”
Poshmark, an online clothing resale site, allows customers to purchase worn clothes as well as sellers to set their price. However, the company does take a fraction of the costs—up to 20% for items over $15. Yet, unlike the disorganization of the Northwestern Free and for Sale page, sellers can communicate and negotiate directly with buyers.
“It can be labor intensive to take photos of all the clothes, write descriptions, and ship the items out,” said Whitely. “I would only do it when you really think it’s an item worth selling.”
Another option for Northwestern students to clean out their closets and still make a profit is the recycled clothing store Crossroads located in downtown Evanston. Crossroads will buy worn clothing in-store for 33% of what they consider the resale value. While the profit for the seller may be small, Crossroads is in a convenient location and also doesn’t require negotiations with buyers.
Whichever method one chooses, selling clothing is almost easier than participating in Kellogg research studies, and I guarantee you will be making more than $10 for your time. Plus, you can downsize your closet, which means more space for the latest spring fashion trends.