Okay, I’m going to be honest with you: if I could turn my love of thrifting into a personality trait, I totally would. I love the experience of treating myself to a day of thrifting where I get to sift through all the racks of clothes and try on my favorite pieces. When the pandemic hit and my favorite thrifting spots temporarily closed, I had to find a way to satisfy my urge to find cute staple pieces for cheap. I had shopped through thredUp a couple times before quarantine, but my visits to the site really spiked in March of last year.
thredUp is one of the largest online consignment and thrift stores in the market. They sell second-hand clothing, accessories, shoes, and handbags for women and children. Currently, thredUp has 5 different warehouse locations across the U.S. where customers can send their new or used clothes for store credit. Customers can create an account where they are able to save items that they like and track their reward points to earn deals like free shipping or waive restocking fees for returned items.
One of my favorite aspects of thredUp is that they almost always have a sale whenever I visit the site. Each time, I have been able to get at least 20% off my items. These sales typically last for weeks, so there is no rush to buy your finds. Since thredUp has a few large warehouse locations, you don’t have to worry about the selection of the items on sale being slim.
Looking through the 35,000+ items on thredUp’s site can be overwhelming, but they have excellent filters to help you find what you need. When you create an account, you can set your sizes for clothes and shoes into a personalized filter called, My Sizes. This is helpful for you to not waste time on falling in love with pieces that might not fit you.
While there are thousands of items on the site, some of the items go very quickly depending on the brand and style of the item. You do have to move fast if you see an item that you really like and if it has a lot of favorites on it. The site does have shopping cart limits, so you can only keep items in your cart for 3 hours before it can be bought by someone else. I do like to use this feature if I know I really like a piece, but I’m not sure if I will purchase it. Trendy brands or items tend to be bought quicker than other items, so you have to decipher how lucrative the item is to other shoppers.
Just like other online shopping sites, not everything you buy and try on will be perfect. Unfortunately, every time I have ordered clothes from thredUp, I have had return at least one piece. However, this is just the nature of buying clothes online. Since thredUp carries so many different brands, it is hard to gauge whether the item may run small because not all the brand names are recognizable. In addition, all the clothes are displayed on a mannequin, so it is not easy to see how the item may fit or hang on a human body.
I recommend thredUp to anyone who is an avid thrifter and loves to spend time shopping online. If you’re looking for good deals on already discounted clothing, then this is your place! From new to old clothes, there is something for everyone to find on thredUP!