When it comes to online thrifting, Thredup is one of the first that comes to mind. With their affordable prices and hundreds of thousands of items available, it’s no wonder they’re so popular. But, is this brand really all that it’s made out to be? Today, I’ll be sharing my in-depth Thredup reviews as I’ve been shopping (and sometimes selling) on this site for years.
If you’re ready to break apart this brand and learn all its secrets, let’s get started.
Sections
What is ThredUp?
Thredup is a company all about making thrift shopping easily accessible from your couch. With an eye on environmental impact, ThredUp works to prevent pollution by recycling clothing from thousands of brands for up to 90% off.
They offer styles for women and kids, including maternity and plus-size options. They also have accessories such as bags, watches, belts, sunglasses, and more.
Overall, Thredup is full of unique pieces for everyone and aims to inspire future generations to think secondhand first and to help support recycling become a norm in the future.
Average Prices
ThredUp prices are determined by the brand, condition, quality, and estimated retail price. You can find pieces from $2 to thousands of dollars (for designer pieces).
Is Thredup Legit?
ThredUp is absolutely legit, I have placed 10+ orders from them. They are a great place to shop for discounted pieces from the comfort of your own home.
When it comes to selling your items on ThredUp, their practices do start to get a little suspicious as shared in more detail below.
Goody Boxes
A Goody Box was a clothing subscription box offered by ThredUp that was delivered to your door. Unfortunately, ThredUp no longer offers Goody Boxes.
Thredup Reviews
ThredUp Buying Reviews
Is it worth it? Although reviews of ThredUp are all over the place, I personally love shopping here. Even without the extra coupon, prices are usually affordable and there are so many things to choose from.
They have so many search filters that can help you find exactly what you’re looking for. At first, I was overwhelmed by them having hundreds of thousands of items in their inventory, but I learned that you should search by as small of filters as possible.
Are ThredUp Clothes Washed?
Unfortunately, clothes are not washed at ThredUp. A lot of people wonder if you can get bed bugs from these unwashed clothes. Honestly, it’s possible.
However, it’s easy to avoid. The most important thing to do once you receive these clothes is to wash them and dry them in heat.
Thredup Selling Reviews
Now, time for the bad part.
Having sold my fair share of clothes on ThredUp, I would not recommend it.
First off, payouts are very bad. Overall, I got an average of 50 cents per item. These were brand new items from mid-range brands (think Madewell, BDG, etc.)
Being someone who has also sold on Poshmark and Mercari, I know for a fact I could have profited at least $50 on the 15 pieces of clothes I sold to ThredUp for about $5. This includes shipping and fees!
Their payout estimator gives this breakdown:
- Items listed under $20 – 3% to 15% of the listed price
- Items listed $20 to $49.99 – 15% to 30% of the listed price
- Items listed $50 to $199.99 – 60% to 80% of the listed price
- Items listed $200 or higher – 80% of the listed price
The real profits are when you start getting into luxury items (you get 80% of anything they list for over $200).
Also, unless ThredUp decides to buy your item before it sells, you don’t get paid until your product sells. For cheaper brands, you have 60 days to sell, and more premium brands get 90 days.
According to their FAQ, you have to reclaim your item within the final 7 days of the listing window. If you don’t, the item becomes “property of ThredUp.”
Being someone who leads a busy life, I could easily see myself forgetting to check back in time. They bank on this!
RELATED: 14 Best Luxury Resale Sites Everyone Should Know About
Denied Items
I didn’t experience this myself, but ThredUp can actually deny your items if they don’t live up to their quality standards. They even state themselves that they accept “an average of 40% of clothing sent to them.”
When you’re ordering the Cleanout Kit, you need to click the guarantee that they will return your items to you if unaccepted (this costs $10.99 upfront).
If you don’t select this option, you can’t get them back and they will “donate” your items for you (I’m suspicious that they still sell these or they go into their rescue boxes that they still profit on).
Most other seller reviews are pretty bad, so it’s not just a one-time thing.
“With 17 items, I’m gonna make at least like 15 bucks, right? I made $6.10. I didn’t even make enough to cover the shipping, so ThredUp waived the fee for me.” – Kierstin
ThredUp Returns
Unfortunately, ThredUp doesn’t have the best return policy. Their official policy states that they will accept returns with original tags attached for up to 14 days after your item has been delivered.
On top of that, you will be charged a restocking fee of $1.99 per item plus the return label fee of $8.99. If you just want to return a couple of items, it may not be worth it.
However, you can avoid the $8.99 fee for the return label if you opt to receive your refund in store credit. I have actually done this quite a few times since I know there will always be something on ThredUp I want to buy.
Final sale items will not be refunded under any circumstances, however.
First Time Order Deals
In addition to all the other great things Thredup has to offer, they also feature an up to 50% off deal for your first order.
This means they have thousands of styles that are an extra 20% off – 50% off. You can filter these deals when searching for products.
All you have to do is sign up and enter the code listed (right now it’s “NEW”), and then you will receive your unique coupon deal! Talk about a warm welcome!
Free shipping is available on orders over $79 for Star members, over $59 for Superstar members, and over $29 for VIT members. Each membership is solely based on how much money you spend on ThredUp—the more you spend, the higher your membership tier.
Bottom Line
Overall, the experience as a seller was so poor it almost made me not want to shop there. However, I do make purchases occasionally because they have some great deals (and buying secondhand is always better than purchasing from fast fashion brands).
Before you sell your clothes here, make sure to read ThredUp reviews. There are plenty of other websites and apps to sell your clothes online and actually make a good profit, or even consider donating instead since you won’t make much money on ThredUp anyways (unless you have designer items).
However, ThredUp is a great place to shop for thousands of items at a discount!
Nice review, sorry the payout is so low. I have bought many beautiful things for cheap from ThredUp without issue, only one return. But I cant find out how to review the items, I did it before and have forgotten apparently and it isn’t listed in their FAQs, sort of ridiculous. I always have to contact their customer support on how to use my points etc and they take a few days to get back. Any help is appreciated!
~~Chanel
The return policy is ridiculous. You either pay $8.99 return after you just paid to have it shipped (and it took awhile to get to me)OR take their credit for free shipping. Problem with this is I’m on day 11 and my credit is still not processed. If I knew it would take this long, I would’ve just paid they 8.99 and look elsewhere. I have a wedding to go to and honestly between their slow return processing and slow shipping, no idea if I’ll actually have a dress.
I can’t say enough bad things about Thredup. I have been shopping with them for 4 years. At first I loved them. I bought almost all my clothes from them. Then they started sending me items with problems. Some that were the wrong size, others not as described, and they were so rude when I contacted customer service. No apologies, just telling me to “send picture so we know you’re telling the truth”. I shopped a lot less frequently after that happened a few times.
Selling with them was a terrible experience too. I sent them high end designer clothes, Oscar de la Renta, Mulberry, Versace, etc. and earned $6. My clothes just sat in peoples baskets day after day without a purchase. I know they were holding them for a price reduction and there was nothing I could do about it. Finally my time ran out and the clothes belonged to them. There’s a certain time limit to sell your clothes, and after that Thredup keeps the sale and you get nothing. I wish I had donated instead.
AT the beginning of lockdown I ordered some “at home” clothes. They took over a month to arrive, which I assumed was related to the world circumstances. When the clothes arrived the “excellent condition” clothes were severely damaged. I tried to see the damage in the pictures on the website but they looked like perfect condition. They either photoshopped the damage out, or used pictures of different items. Either way, that’s dishonest. I tried to contact them multiple times with no response at all.
Now, a year and a half after my last order I ordered some jeans because I couldn’t remember why I hadn’t bought anything for so long. It couldn’t be that bad, right? I used to love them and tell everyone about them. 10 days since I ordered and my order is still listed as waiting to ship. I contacted them on Twitter and they told me they’re experiencing delays and hopefully my order should be shipped to me by the end of next week. WTF? The website says 1-2 days. That’s a lie. While I was on Twitter I saw all my old customer service tweets and was reminded that yes, they are that bad. They are worse than I could have imagined.