While any time is a good time to do a wardrobe sort-out, the new year feels like a particularly appropriate moment for a fresh start. However, sorting your wardrobe will inevitably result in finding clothes you no longer want, use or need, and there's no better way to repurpose those items than to sell them online.
Why? Well, firstly, it's the perfect way to practice circular fashion (opens in new tab), or at least offset the money you spend on clothes (opens in new tab). And secondly, it's great to send unwanted clothes off to a loving new home.
What you might not realise is that eBay isn't the only way to do it. There are plenty more options out there to ensure you get the best experience (and £££) possible. With that in mind, keep scrolling for the best sites to sell clothes online.
The best sites to sell clothes online:
1. Depop
Best for: Instagram hits. If you've seen an items you love all over on Instagram, chances are you'll find it on Depop. Many influencers also sell their clothes on there, and it's super quick to use.
What's the commission? 10% of all sales. You also get charged straight away meaning you don't have any nasty surprises later on.
Sell on Depop. (opens in new tab)
2. Vinted
Best for: High street clothes. This differs from eBay in that there is no auction, so your item will go for asking price, though buyers get the option to try and negotiate the price. You can also swap items with other sellers.
What's the commission? It's free to list and sell on Vinted, which is a big bonus (though buyers are charged a small fee). However you do only get paid when your item is received (you have to post a picture of your Post Office receipt as proof of postage), however, I've never had an issue with this.
Sell on Vinted. (opens in new tab)
3. Vestiaire Collective
Best for: Designer clothes. Selling designer items on eBay can be tricky, I've had authentic items taken down before as the site didn't deem them authentic. Vestiaire authenticates everything for you. You can either list it yourself and then send it to Vestiaire once it's sold so they can check everything and send on to the buyer. Or you can send the item for Vestiaire to list from the start.
What's the commission? Yes, it's quite high but worth it for the hassle. If you sell yourself you get about 80% of the purchase price, and if Vestiaire sells it for you that goes down to about 75%.
Sell on Vestiaire Collective. (opens in new tab)
4. Reluxe
Best for: Founded by stylist and industry veteran Clare Richardson, Reluxe is all about luxury clothing items (Ghesquiere era Balenciaga, Phoebe Philo era Chloé, Isabel Marant...), and customers and celeb ambassadors already include Amber Valletta, Bella Freud, Zinnia Kumar and Carolyn Murphy.
Working with customers, independent designers and brands, Reluxe authenticates every item and takes care of the entire process to minimise effort on the seller's part, which is great if you are time-poor.
The concierge service ensures a collection directly from your home for ease (you can see a list of the brands Reluxe accepts here). The expert team then look after the rest including; photography, product description, pricing, listing of your items and shipment.
What's the commission? 35%-50% depending on the value of the item(s) in your total collection (50% for items under £500, 45% for items between £500-£200 and 35% for items over £2,000). Once a month you will receive a summary of your pieces that have been sold and completed (this means that the customers' 14 day returns period has passed) and the funds will be deposited straight into your bank account.
Sell at Reluxe. (opens in new tab)
5. Thrift+ For Browns
Best for: Good quality pre-loved clothing, designer or high-street. Browns has launched a partnership with on-demand donation service and secondhand retail platform, Thrift+. This service allows you to easily donate unwanted clothes and accessories, giving them a new life elsewhere, all whilst making a pledge to your chosen charity and in turn earning Browns credit.
All you need to do is order a bespoke Thrift+ x Browns (opens in new tab) donation bag, pack up your pre-loved clothing and book a free collection service. Thrift+ then handles the rest, from photographing the product to listing the sales online.
What's the commission? One-third of your sales goes to the charity of your choice, another third goes towards Thrift+ costs, and the remaining money is converted to Browns credit. So if you sell an item for £120, you'll get £40 as credit in your Browns account, after the £40 Thrift+ and £40 charity deductions.
Sell at Thrift+ for Browns. (opens in new tab)
6. The Collabory
Best for: The Collabory allows you to sell a range of high-end designer brands, as well as a mix of contemporary mid-priced brands. They make the re-selling process as seamless as possible and will send you a pre-paid label and an eco-friendly shipping bag once your products sell.
What's the commission? You can keep up to 65% of the value of the item sold, while The Collabory's fee is 35% of the resale price.
Sell at The Collabory (opens in new tab)
7. Reselfridges
Best for: The new Resell service at Selfridges is perfect if you're looking to sell pre-loved designer handbags. It works a little differently than a normal resell site in that instead of getting paid, you get store credit to spend in-store or online at seldrifges.com. Great if you want to refresh your style.
What's the commission? Once you upload your bag pictures, the quote you get is for the full amount you'll receive as a gift card. It's super fast as well, with the amount being credited to you within 24 hours of your bag being verified.
Sell at Reselfridges (opens in new tab)
8. Rebelle
Best for: Designer clothes. You can either list items yourself or use the concierge service that will do it for you, a great option if you're time-poor.
What's the commission? The commission depends on how much your items sell for. It's between 17% and 33% and if you sell items below €40, you get charged a flat rate of €20, so it's only worth selling if it's an expensive designer item.
Sell at Rebelle (opens in new tab)
9. COS resell
Best for: Cos clothing. Sure, it's a bit niche, but if you have loads of old clothes from the brand that you'd love to sell then it's a great way to do it. You're also supporting Cos's efforts to become more sustainable.
What's the commission? 10%, so you get a good chunk from the sale, more than you might get selling elsewhere.
Sell on COS resell (opens in new tab)
10. My Circular Wardrobe
Best for: Launched by a mother and daughter team, My Circular Wardrobe's 'preloved at first sight' aim is to encourage people to fall in love with buying second-hand instead of new. Whilst environmentally friendly, they want to make the experience of shopping second-hand inexpensive and luxurious. You can sell and buy items by designers and high-street brands including Chanel, Christian Louboutin, ASOS and Zara.
What's the commission? 50% of the sale.
Sell on My Circular Wardrobe (opens in new tab)
11. ASOS Marketplace
Best for: Bulk sales. ASOS Marketplace is a great place to establish your vintage online store, as you need to sell at least 15 items at a time. You'll need high-quality second-hand or vintage pieces, and to shoot them on a model, so it's a bit more time-consuming.
What's the commission? £20 per month, and 20% from all items sold.
Sell on ASOS Marketplace (opens in new tab)
12. Preloved
Best for: Local sales. Preloved is a bit like Gumtree, so while you can sell items to anyone, you can also search for items based on location, which will save you postage fees. You might not make as much on here as on other sites though, so it's better for high street pieces.
What's the commission? It's all free.
Sell on Preloved (opens in new tab)
12. eBay
Best for: It's pretty good if you want to sell clothes online across any category, but as eBay doesn't have an authentication team, it's safer to stick to high-street brands here and use specialised platforms such as Vestiaire for designer items.
What's the commission? You can sell up to 20 items for free, after that it goes up to £0.35 per item. Opting for a 'buy it now' listing instead of an auction will also cost a little more. If you're item sells, you'll be charged 10% of the sale including postage. eBay charges you once a month so make sure you remember as if you sell loads in a month it'll likely sting a bit.
Sell on eBay (opens in new tab)
13. Facebook Marketplace
Best for: Local sales. It's a similar system to Preloved, a quick and easy way to get rid of unwanted clothes, though again you might not make the most cash out of this one. This works really for things like clothing bundles.
What's the commission? There are no listing or transaction fees.
Sell on Facebook Marketplace (opens in new tab)
14. Etsy
Best for: Vintage items. Etsy is great if you're selling unique vintage pieces and anything that you've created yourself too.
What's the commission? You'll be charged a 3.5% transaction fee and a 3% payment processing fee.
Sell on Etsy (opens in new tab)
Best sites to sell kids' clothes online:
Kids o'Clock
Best for: Kids' clothes. How often have you bought or been gifted the prettiest baby clothes but have only managed to dress your tot in them once before he or she has outgrown them? This platform is the perfect antidote to this. You can shop or sell clothes and recoup the financial loss of unworn or barely worn items. There are loads of brands, from high-end (Bonpoint) to high street (Zara).
Plus, Kids o'Clock has joined forces with luxury fashion retailer Harvey Nichols to launch a first-of-its-kind childrenswear resale drop-off destination within the department store. The Kids o’Clock x Harvey Nichols resale concept is simple: called The Drop Off, customers will be encouraged to drop off their children’s pre-loved clothing at the drop-off destination in store. From there, items will be collected and re-sold globally through the Kids o’Clock website. As a reward for donating items, customers will receive a £20 voucher to spend on anything from the Harvey Nichols Childrenswear floor.
What's the commission? 30% commission taken when uploading and selling directly onto the Kids O’Clock website. No commission is taken when dropping off at Harvey Nichols.
Sell on Kids o'Clock (opens in new tab)