Last Updated on May 8, 2023
Thrifting in person is always an adventure, and with so many online thrift stores and apps now available, purchasing (or selling) used clothing has never been easier. An online thrift store makes second hand clothing shopping more accessible and considerably less frustrating if you are having trouble finding your size or are on the hunt for a particular garment. For the best success, choose listings that include measurements, type of material, and condition, as well as photos showing all sides of the garment.
Below is a guide to buying second hand clothes through apps and online to help find your next preloved treasure. Happy browsing!
Disco
First off, I want to mention Disco, a Chrome browser extension that helps you find preloved alternatives while you browse popular clothing websites. This extension will pull options from thrift sites like Poshmark and Depop (described below), making it super simple to find secondhand and affordable versions of the garments you are browsing. Read My Green Closet’s in-depth review of Disco and how it works here.
Poshmark
Poshmark is a very popular and user-friendly website and app for secondhand items. Sellers and buyers have easy communication between them and it’s simple to find specific items through their search functions. You can sort item searches by item type, brand, price range, condition and shipping options.
Selling items is made easy with printable shipping labels and payment processing built into the app.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Kids, Accessories, Personal Care, Home, Pets, Electronics, Designer
Availability: United States, Canada, Australia, India
Size Range: XXS – 5X; petite, plus, maternity, junior
Can you sell your clothes on Poshmark? Yes, you can sell clothes through the Poshmark app. While it is free to list items, Poshmark does take a fee from any sales.
Vinted
Vinted is a European website and app focused on peer to peer sales. It has the feel of a social media app with the organization and details of retail websites. Buyers can message sellers to see more photos, ask questions and finalize a sale. The app features an icon to save favourites to your board for inspiration or to save for later. You can sort item searches by item type, condition, proximity to you, colour and price.
There is a comment section on each item page where buyers can ask questions publicly for the seller to answer about the product. Selling items is made easy with printable shipping labels and payment processing built into the app.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Kids & Baby, Accessories, Shoes, Beauty, Toys & Games
Availability: UK, Europe, United States, Canada
Size Range: XXXS – 3XL; No other size filters available.
Can you sell your clothes on Vinted? Yes, through their app. It is free to list items and Vinted does not take any fees on sales.
Teleport
Teleport is a fairly new and growing clothing resale app targeted toward Gen Z fashion lovers. Instead of posting photos of garments they’d like to sell, sellers share short outfit videos and other users can shop the tagged items from the outfit. It’s a community-driven, unique take on thrifting using social media elements from TikTok. Teleport is free to download in the Apple app store (so it’s only for iOS users right now) and new users get $10 toward their first purchase.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Accessories, Shoes
Availability: United States
Size Range: XS to XL+. One of the benefits of a video platform is that you can more easily see how the items actually fit and get inspiration for how to style them.
Can you sell your clothes on Teleport? Yes, through tagged items in your outfit videos. At this point, Teleport doesn’t have any selling fees. Sellers ship clothing and accessories directly to buyers using a pre-paid shipping label from Teleport, and they get paid once the buyer receives their order.
thredUP
thredUP is a thrift and consignment shop website that focuses on designer clothing and recognizable brands. thredUP often has very affordable sales, with some items advertised as less than $5. You are purchasing from the website directly, and will not have contact with the original seller.
If you’re looking to clean out your closet with some kickbacks, but aren’t as concerned about making money from your items, thredUP will send you a bag to fill up and they will sell the clothes on your behalf.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Shoes, Accessories, Kids, Designer
Availability: United States, Canada
Size Range: XXS – 5XL; petite, plus, maternity, junior, tall
Can you sell your clothes on thredUP? Sort of – thredUP functions like a consignment shop, where the company assigns the cost of items that sell and will pay you through cash or credit, or you can donate to charitable partners. Currently only available to residents of the United States.
Thrifted
Thrifted is a London-based clothing website that focuses on designer, vintage and retro pieces. They focus on styles from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s as well as sportswear. Items are priced higher than other thrift stores and are often based on brand recognition. You’ll find unique and trendy vintage pieces rather than primarily new fast fashion, as found on many other websites.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Mens and Women’s Vintage, Designer, Sportswear
Availability UK, Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and more
Size Range: XXS – 3XL; some categories only list up to an XL. No other size filters available.
Can you sell your clothes on Thrifted? No, you can’t!
Depop
Depop is an app-based second hand clothing platform that has the look and functionality of social media apps like Instagram. Searching for specific items is more difficult than other apps, as each seller might list items differently and you may need to message them for more information. You can search by brands and item type, and you’ll see suggested or similar items pop up as well to customize your feed.
They offer a payment system or allow you to use Paypal, and the seller is responsible for shipping.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Jewelry, Accessories, Art, Home, Beauty, Kids, and more
Availability: UK, United States, Canada, Europe, International
Size Range: XXS – 4XL; some categories only list up to certain sizes. No other size filters available.
Can you sell your clothes on Depop? Yes. It is free to list items through their app. When it sells, Depop takes 10% of the sale.
Swap
Swap is a US-based online consignment shop that focuses primarily on fast fashion with some designer clothing. Clothing can be filtered by material, colour, brand, condition, and price for easy searching. You are purchasing from the website directly, and will not have contact with the original seller.
Sellers are subject to the consignment fees, but are able to print prepaid labels for easy shipping within the United States.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Kids & Baby, Shoes
Availability: United States
Size Range: XXS – 4X; plus, short, long, petite, maternity, juniors
Can you sell your clothes on Swap? Sort of – Swap functions like a consignment shop, where the company assigns the cost of items that sell and will pay you through cash or credit, or you can donate to charitable partners. Fees depend on the price of the sale, cash or credit methods and processing charges.
Beyond Retro
Beyond Retro is a UK-based vintage clothing company that features used and upcycled garments. While shipping is available worldwide, there are also storefronts available in the UK, as well as options to shop online and pick up in store. You’ll find unique and trendy vintage pieces rather than primarily new fast fashion, as found on many other websites.
The website lists garment measurements, condition and fabrics for each garment, and also provides sorting by era and brand.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Sportswear, Accessories, Shoes, Vintage, Designer
Availability: UK, United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, International
Size Range: XS – XL; many sizes are estimated due to the nature of vintage and specific garment measurements are available.
Can you sell your clothes on Beyond Retro? No, you can’t!
Netflea
Netflea functions like an online flea market for European customers and sellers. Sellers send items to a warehouse, and from there they are sent to the buyer. Buyers can order multiple items from multiple sellers and receive their items in one parcel. Items are listed with size, colour, brand and condition.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Children, Accessories, Shoes, Sport Equipment, Designer
Availability: Europe
Size Range: XXS – 5XL; No other size filters available.
Can you sell your clothes on Netflea? Yes, you send items directly to the warehouse, which are then sent to the buyer. Once your items are sold, you receive a money transfer directly into your bank account.
Worn Wear (Patagonia)
Patagonia is well known for crafting products that are aimed to work for life, and their Worn Wear project continues this by reselling used items that no longer serve the purchaser. Although only based in the United States right now, they are looking to expand the resale program. Items found on the Worn Wear website tend to be durable, high quality pieces such as jackets, fleece sweaters and gear, and they choose not to resell t-shirts, swimwear, socks and underwear.
-The Breakdown-
Great for: Women, Men, Kids & Baby, Gear; all items are used Patagonia brand
Availability: United States
Size Range: XXS – XXL
Can you sell your clothes on Worn Wear (Patagonia)? Sort of – Only Patagonia products are accepted for resale. The company will inspect each item and assign it a value if it fits their quality standards. You will be paid in credit once your items sell, which can be used on their websites or in their stores (US only).
For more sustainable brands with secondhand online resale stores check out our guide to circular fashion brands.
Marie
I shopped at almost all of these before. But your missing my favorite… EBAY! Now a days I really just buy from one store on ebay, Thread Rush. Mostly because they do not waste so much packaging. They just ship in a bag and don’t include extra garbage. Plus they add new stuff all the time. Sustainable clothes is the way to go.