thredUP

This is not a traditional consignment arrangement. Literally, based on what I sent in, some of which thredUP didn't take, I ended up making about $1 per item. If you include the clothes they didn't take, I made less than $1 an item. It's not worth a closet clean out and trip to the post office for that. Sorry! My bag totaled about $14. From what I hear this is the average payout. What they do not make clear on the web site is that if your item is not LISTED by them at $60 or more (meaning, it has to be worth that much in used condition), you are only getting the pay out, which is tiny. So unless you shop at Saks Fifth Avenue for all of your clothes, you aren't making jack squat off of them. It took me digging around to figure out what the pay-out meant vs. the consignment. The information was very absent in the instructions and explanation of how things work.

Some other squirrely things: I sent in a brand new pair of Naot pumps, never worn, in the original box, and they were neither paid out up front nor consigned. These shoes retail for $150 and up, and I saw far uglier and more expensive shoes for sale in gently used condition on their web site. I did not pay the $12 to have my items sent back to me and it's a good thing, because that would have meant I netted about $2 for all of my trouble. Another squirrely thing was that the items that they paid me 'up front' for, I never saw listed when I went to shop on the web site. As of today, all but one of my items (a Tahari dress new with tags) has sold, according to them, but the last dress is nowhere to be found on their web site and that is just weird. My things are cute and sold within about a week, but I checked repeatedly and never saw one item up there. Do they have a store front somewhere or something? I don't really get how I can send things to a consignment website and then never see the listing posted on the actual catalog. Weird.

If ThredUp could have given me $25-$35 for my bag, I would have been a lot happier. I am not vain about my clothes or think they are worth more than they are when used, but including shipping and processing, getting the price per item for nice things closer to $4 or $5 an item would leave people a lot happier and probably have them do business with you again. $1 an item isn't good enough for my trouble and I won't be back. I wouldn't order a Thred Up bag again unless the items I put in it were on their way to the trash. Then it would be worth it.

I understand that there is a cost to shipping the items in, as well as the man-power needed to process and list the items, but this is not what I would call a true consignment arrangement which usually gets you at least 40% of the sale price. They call themselves 'Consignment and Thrift', when it should really be Thrift and Consignment. The bulk of what they do is thrift-store pricing for stuff they didn't pay much for. The convenience of their business model means it costs you a lot more than if you just figured out a way to sell your items yourself. So take this into consideration when you decide to send clothes in. Maybe this is just a really expensive business to run and they can't help it, but that doesn't mean I'm doing business with them again.

Thredup isn't bad, but there is a lot of room for improvement. I sent in some items that I normally would have just donated to a local thrift shop. My clothing was from middle of the road retailers, not high end but not Walmart quality either, think Kohls, American Eagle, Lane Bryant, etc. I sent around 25 items that were all in good shape but none had tags. I got just over $12 for my bag. I was satisfied enough with that payment because, as I said above, I otherwise would have just dropped them in a donation box somewhere and got nothing. Thredup also donates the clothes thredUP don't buy, which is good.

One thing that worries me is the bag fee. Right now, it's waived but apparently they sometimes charge you $5 as insurance that they will get their bag back. If this fee continues to be waived then I will definitely send in more clothes later on. If not, then I probably won't send any more because you could actually end up with less money that you started with. I couldn't see this working unless you are guaranteed to get at least $5 for your clothing. There is also one other thing I didn't like: the wait times. You should be prepared to wait almost two months for your bag to be inspected because it takes them that long. I was really surprised by that! They should definitely try to speed their process up quite a bit.

My advice would be to only send in items that you are okay with losing so you won't be upset if your bag only gets a few dollars or even nothing (which I've heard can happen). If you have the option and desire to bring your clothes to a local consignment shop for appraisal first or the time to try to sell your clothes at a better price at a yard sale, then go for it because you'll probably make more money that way. But if you're like me and don't have any consignment shops around and are too busy to have a hard sale, then this is a great option.

Overall I would recommend Thredup if you would be happier with a few dollars than nothing for your old clothes. I would not recommend it to people who are looking to get back a significant percentage of the money they spent on the clothes. I haven't bought anything from the site yet, but I imagine it will be fine. They have cute stuff and it's available in all sizes including juniors and plus.

Written 03. 23. 18

Thinking this was somewhat of a conspicuous consumption business which was charitable and interested in the environment and its effects,

I ordered a clean out bag and sent approximately 14 items. Out of the 14 items, six of them I was paid an initial payout of 11.86. When I reviewed the six items, which had already been posted on their website with the selling price potential for them being over $300.00. This would indicate, I received 11.86 and Thredsup received 289.00 - the cost of taking the photo, labor and posting the item on their website. When I contacted customer service, who responded to me promptly, since I told them I was listing bad feedback, ThredUP provided the same documentation, which appears on the website, over and over again, with the Customer Services Rep stating in the email that I would receive a payout initially and then a percentage of the selling price when the item sold. This is not what was listed in the documentation provided or on the website. Both of them stated, the customer would receive an initial payout or a percentage when the item was sold. The more I thought about it, I realized there is no charity in this organization. From a business model, this is a win-win. They take the acceptable clothes give the customer a small payout price and sell the clothes online for a sizable profit, also they donate your clothing for you (how charitable) and take the tax write off against their revenue, bringing down their net sales and the amount of income they must release. If they do not accept clothing they donate them and get a tax write off or they take a majority of the profit from there sale. Also, another question that came to my mind, how do we know they are not selling off the donated clothing for profit to a brick and mortar resale establishment? Is this just another spin on the opulence of the 1980's and 1990s, which is criticized by minimalist individuals? Yes, these people purchase resale items, used clothing and appear to be assisting the environment while representing themselves as a do-good organization. Do-good for who, certainly not the customer. Hold on let me put my hoodie on...
Written 03. 27. 18

The VP of Marketing wrote me note last weekend asking how could Thredup do better at their business. I appreciate you asking me. I sent in 22 items and Thredup accepted 11 of them and provided me a payout of $11.86. The following were accepted and posted on your site: 2 Carlisle tops, Lilly Pulitzer cocktail dress and brand new polo, Rebecca Taylor silk skirt, Ann Taylor iridescent popover top, Oscar de Laurent wool blazer, long silk taffeta shirt Talbots, 100 percent satin sleeveless blouse French Vendor, J Crew wool sleeveless gray dress and a pair of American Rag Black suede wedge shoes.

I do not need any insight on your payout option.

My payoff was. 95 cents per item... Do I really need to tell you how Thredup could do better in their business? Honestly, can you call this a business?

I found this site by mistake and it is really fun. One could literally spend hours searching through the available items, put quite a bit in their shopping cart and still not spend a lot of money. For those who get bored sometimes and online shop, this is perfect b/c you can still get the "fix" w/o spending all the cash. A few things: the items will in fact be described in what condition thredUP are in but nothing specific. It may say: stain or piling. But there is no picture of what that means. That is HUGE. It would be so wonderful if there were a picture of the wear and tear or stain. Someone may be able to live with a stain on a sleeve they will be rolling up anyway but may not be able to live with a stain on the middle front of the dress that may or may NOT come w/washing. B/c of this, one has to be patient b/c there may be some back and forth returns when this happens. The details are far too general like "will PROB come out w/ cleaning". That is pretty vague. If people cleaned their own stuff before sending it or if somehow that could be verified, that would be nice. Much of what said will prob come out did NOT at all. You can return for store credit and shop some more if you have the time to do so. But BE WARE! This does not work for "final sale" items. I ordered a really big order and 40% did not fit or was not able to be used. Of those things only ONE was able to be returned b/c the others that happened to not work were all "final sales" and were not able to be returned. Example: very pretty grey FCUK sweater type dress. It said minor wear. It in fact looked fine but when I put it on there was a shiny type stain right on the front. It almost looked like someone spilled popcorn grease or something. You could see it very clearly at certain angles. This was something that would be worn to a nice event and out, not just "around the house". I would not be able to wear this and not be embarrassed like I have stains on my clothes. It was a final sale so I was unable to return it. I did try to wash it just to see and of course the stain remained. So for may things I ordered they went from my box to my own donate pile. It really needs to be more specific. If someone wanted to wear that dress w/a cute belt, that stain may have been ok but they really need to say where stains are and what the flaws are. Another dress came that was a runway style BCBG dress. It was way too big for the size it said and also was being held together w/ safety pins. This should have also been noted. I realize buying 2nd hand is not buying brand new and the discounts are amazing but when there is not full discloser it just makes it more frustrating to have to send things back. There were so many final sale items I wanted but won't buy anymore b/c then I am unable to return and so many of the final sale items were the ones that were not wearable. I wish for at least the final sale items pictures were taken of the flaws and issues so one has a better idea of what they are buying.

****for those that wish to send clothes in and 'sell': if you are looking to simply contribute to the site to share and give others the opportunity to buy in this way, then you will not be disappointed. However if you are looking for an easy way to cash in on things you don't want anymore, donate to your local Salvation Army. They have a donation price list online for what each type of item is worth for the tax write off and you can arrange a pick up from your porch and don't even have to be home. They leave the receipt. I donated a bag of high end items including clothes and shoes and had a write off of $600 according to their own price list. A few more like that and truthfully one will benefit far more from the write off at the end of the year for taxes then they will getting that small amount of money back from here. I will in fact still use this site again to buy b/c I still think its fun but won't sell on it. I def get more of a benefit from/the write off and saving my receipts****

I was referred to thredUP by a friend of mine who received $45.00 for a bag of her unwanted, used clothing. I have always donated my clothing to local charities, however I am in the second trimester of my first pregnancy and in dire need of maternity clothes. I planned to use my payout to purchase maternity clothing through thredUP. Apparently, my friend was part of thredUPs initial bait-and-switch campaign, when the payout for bags was fair and the workings of their business more transparent. ThreadUP paid several clothing bloggers and youtube personalities to spread the word of this wonderful service. Fast-forward to their current practices

On May 17,2017, I received an e-mail notification from threadUP that my polka dot bag had been received. A polka dot bag STUFFED with high quality, name brand clothing items. As the thredUP website suggests, Do the D. O. T. Defect-free, on-trend, and top brands. The more D. O. T.-like your items, the bigger the payout, eh? Not so much

The thredUP notification e-mail stated that thredUP expected to have my bag of clothing processed by June 28,2017. I did not receive communication again until July 7,2017. Ready for the results?! I sure was They accepted six upfront items and two consignment items. Bag Earnings Subtotal: $5.00, Bag Fee: -$9.00, Payout: $0.00, Consignment Payout: TBD. Thats right PAYOUT $0.00. And consignment items? I was never made aware that my items could be placed on consignment. Until I read the fine print on this VERY SAME e-mail Note: In an effort to ensure that we can continue to deliver an amazing experience for both our buyers and sellers, and to provide the best overall sustainable fashion service in the world, we have recently made changes we payout. Oh changes! How about that?! They go on to say, Generally speaking, the more on-trend, in-season, and great condition items you send us (regardless of price now!); will be paid out upfront. Items that may not be in-season, but are still in great condition, and may take a bit longer to sell, will now be paid on consignment. Did this policy suddenly change in the weeks it took them to process my bag? They have finally made this information available on their website.

A few more facts on thredUP that will make you cringe

- The thredUP website is inaccessible without providing your e-mail address or logging in with Facebook or Amazon. Dealing in the business of selling information, thredUP? Stealing clothing hasnt earned you enough profit? Stay away and protect your private information from these scammers!

- Customer service?! Ha! It took me a lot of searching to find a Cambridge, MA customer service phone number (when they are based in San Francisco, CA). Upon calling I received the following message, Thank you for contacting thredUP. Your message is very important to us. If you have an urgent support issue or a general question, the best way to reach us is by e-mail at *******@thredup.com. If you would prefer to leave us a message here, we will return your call as quickly as possible. We look forward to serving you. The ole run around, eh thredUP? For those that wish to complain to this joke of a company, that phone number is *******676. Please join me in letting them know that were on to their practices.

- thredUP has several sales regions. For example, a buyer from Texas would not be able to purchase items available to a buyer from Michigan and so on. My items, for instance, are shipping to buyers from thredUPs Mechanicsburg, PA location. Think about this those clothing items I sent that were not accepted for sale could have very well been sent to another region, posted to the website, and made available to other buyers. I would not be able to see these items listed for sale, as I am not located within that particular region. I have NO DOUBT this is happening to all sellers across the board.

- Besides a payout, thredup also leads the seller to believe wonderful things are being done with their clothing items that are not accepted for sale. Catch phrases like do good, environmental, social, and sustainable are used in abundance on their website. What really happens? Their website suggests, Unaccepted items are passed onto third party sellers or our textile recycling partners and repurposed into new, useful products like carpets and pillow stuffing. The proceeds we recoup help us cover some (but not all) of the shipping and labor costs. They are profiting additionally off of items that they deemed unacceptable. They did not pay the seller! And shipping costs?! Are they not charging each seller a $10.00 Bag Fee?!

- They charge the buyer shipping for any return items!

Am I going mad?! Why have these practices been allowed to continue?! This company is a front for plain and simple THEFT. Someone at the top of this SCHEME is laughing hysterically while they lounge in their California beach front home. That I helped fund.

I am not even close to finished. I will continue to post my experience until this scam has been brought to light, exposed, and SHUT DOWN. I encourage all, who have been robbed like myself, to join me in my efforts.

Dont get too comfortable, thredUP.

I use ThredUp primarily for the deep discounts on the items. I have sold a bag of clothes there before and received $5.61 for 10 items (one thredUP did not accept, which is funny because I bought it from them but missed the return window). I received yard sale pricing for the majority of these clothes - less than 50 cents on everything other than one item sold on consignment that went for $2.06. I would be more on board with the "clean out bag" concept if they were actually donating what they don't take, but they sell a "reject rescue" box, so they are making money (around $2) on items they did not pay for. To me, that seems a little sleazy.

Since I did not care for the selling aspect, I stick to buying. The items take a while to ship, and are not always adequately described. I have received many errors with sizes or descriptions, which used to be fine because I would just return it for store credit. I would also be more willing to buy a brand I wasn't sure about because I knew returns were simple. Returns are still simple; however, they have now added a "restocking fee". It was just 99 cents, but now it's crept up to $1.99 *per item*.

They also increase the price if they are shipping from a warehouse further away from you. You can't actually see what this upcharge is, but it's just another way they tack on additional fees.

I wasn't happy with the initial restocking fee, but accepted it. But with the $2 loss on items that I am buying without being able to try it on - well, I need to draw a line somewhere. No where else do stores charge a fee for trying on an item, which is what I am doing when I order. I have actually never been charged a restocking fee for clothing items I have purchased online. I have about $40 in store credit and as soon as I use that up, I'm going to be done with ThredUp. I have purchased nearly $1000 worth of clothing from them, over $800 just since May, and was happy to do so! But with all the nickel and dime return fees, in addition to prices becoming much less competitive as they have in the past, I'll go back to shopping elsewhere.

ThredUp used to be such a great concept, but I feel the company has become much too greedy. They don't pay nearly enough, they overcharge for many items and the additional return fees are just too much.

I have bought multiple times and sold clothes twice on ThredUp, so I will offer my opinion. It's pretty good for buying (why I've ordered 10+ times), but I usually donate any unwanted clothing.

SELLING: I sent in a bag stuffed with clothes in very good condition, some were new with tags. I was realistic about what the payout was, and expected to get about $15. My payout was $15.06. Good, right? Yes, but it took two weeks for them to process my bag and the items thredUP accepted and rejected surprised the heck out of me. They rejected most of the best looking items, including NWT, and accepted the older and more worn clothes. It just didn't make any sense to me, and it makes you wonder where the rejected clothes are going. Unlike Twice, there is absolutely no information given to you on where the rejected clothes go. My second bag was processed last week and I got ZERO payout for that one. There were at least 4-5 pieces they SHOULD have accepted, and I expected $3-4 from that, but they rejected everything. I was a bit miffed, but not all that upset since nothing of substantial value was sent and it would have been donated anyway. Bottom line, don't send anything expensive or any item you would be upset to get little to no payout for. If you do that, then you'll be happy with your payout. I've never consigned anything, but to me it seems like the consignment policies won't benefit the seller in many cases. Frankly, the 20% off coupon they send to you when they receive your bag is worth a lot more… $25 for me since I knew it was coming and I had an order queued up. Just make sure you check your e-mail often because it is only good for 24 hours.

BUYING: Mostly good experiences here, although returns are a big hassle. A few items were ripped or not as advertised, but most clothing that I ordered was consistent with what I was expecting and I've been happy with the quality. Pricing is inconsistent even within the same brand, many items are miscategorized (e.g., many shirts in the girls' dresses section), very light and very dark items are almost impossible to see in their photos, and little to no consideration is given to how old an item is when it is priced. If you are very familiar with the brands you like, you'll notice this quickly, so look with a critical eye. I like the fact it has so many brands in one place, however, there are few rewards given to loyal customers other than 10% off Mon-Wed on mobile app orders only. Other promotions for existing customers are not publicized well. For example, you'll find the coupons codes on retailmenot.com, but not on ThredUp's website or on its Facebook page. I've opted in to receiving promotional e-mails, but I've never gotten a coupon code from them via e-mail. Customer service is slow to respond to e-mails. Shipping is very slow, and quite expensive if you do not buy enough to earn free shipping. Bottom line: I will continue to shop here but it's not my go-to site. However, I wouldn't be surprised if this company was investigated for deceptive business practices, so shop while you can!

EDIT TO ADD: Through a Facebook conversation with one of their CS reps, they admitted to me and another couple of shoppers that they 'work with wholesale thrifting companies' and that they are 'not currently donating clothes directly to charitable partners'. You will NOT find this info on their main website, and if you ask in no uncertain terms where your rejected clothing is going, they are very evasive and keep referring to their generosity to their 'charitable partners'. So in other words, you may end up seeing the stuff you send in but are not paid for on eBay. Keep that in mind as you stuff that convenient clean-out bag they send you unsolicited... they are making money off of you whether they pay you or not. Based on this, I lowered my review to only two stars, due to a lack of basic business ethics.

UPDATE (10/23): As of yesterday, ThredUp:
1) Stopped offering free returns for orders made through the mobile app, so you will have to pay return shipping on ALL returns
2) Will not accept returns on items less than $10 unless the items is defective
3) Lowered the threshold for consignment items to $20, putting the risk of not being paid back on the seller for MANY more items, and also buyers cannot use discount coupons on consignment items

This is in addition to:
1) No longer offering a 20% off coupon when they receive your Clean Out bag
2) Raising, sometimes doubling and tripling, the price of thousands of items since the summer, many times just days after they are listed, effectively cheating sellers out money that should have gone to them
3) Quality control has taken a nosedive in the last few months
4) All of the above changes were made without notifying customers first

As consumer, I deleted my account because I was disgusted with its ever-changing policies and quality issues. As an entrepreneur, I can't take my eyes off the inevitable train wreck that is ThredUp. You'd think with two major infusions of capital and high-powered business advisors (Netflix, eBay execs), this company could at least demonstrate basic business sense/ethics. But I guess money cannot guarantee success, so I keep watching for signs of the crash...

1 star for selling, 4 stars for buying, for an average of 3 stars.

I've sold and bought clothes on ThredUP for about 4 years now. As a buyer, it's a lot of fun. Yes, thredUP now add a restock fee, but it's relatively low compared to the money I save on purchasing clothes. That said:

SELLER BEWARE. Since I started selling clothes, they have changed their policies at least 4 times. To begin with, they paid for the clothes they took up front. Not a lot, but they paid. Then they paid up front for some, and sold others on consignment. Now, everything is on consignment and the return is literally pennies.

I NEVER send anything I care about to them without paying for return assurance (I have sent a perfect silk jersey DVF dress twice now and they won't take it - no clue why, you never do find out). I'm going to sell it on Ebay. At least with return assurance I got my very expensive dress back - I learned my lesson at the beginning when they didn't list an expensive bag and I didn't pay for return insurance (it was donated). Also, it's truly hit or miss as to how they decide to list things. Not worth the time or effort, IMHO.

Finally, as a seller, your branded dress that has 2 pieces (or a 2 piece suit) is sold as 2 pieces, not marked with the brand (many skirts or underdresses aren't marked when they are sold at retail with the jacket or 2nd piece), so no one has a clue what they're getting. My pretty 2 piece dress (black underdress with lace-up bodice) from Hearts & Roses? It's now listed as "assorted brands" and in 2 pieces. The underdress is so expensive it will never sell (it's plain because it's meant to be worn with the other piece (which I sent attached, btw!) and, of course, everything is consignment now so that's money that won't end up in my pocket. I've attached a photo of the 2 piece dress, in case ThredUP cares.

On this point, I've seen beautiful 2 piece tops (sheer, with a camisole) broken into 2 pieces. Good luck trying to match the top with the cami! That's a stupid way of handling clothing if you're trying to sell things, so the lack of care doesn't help ThredUp either. But I suppose from their POV it's all about quantity. Not to mention I've purchased a supposedly "unbranded" purse to discover it's actually an expensive brand. All I can conclude is that the folks who check the clothes in are doing it so quickly, they don't have time to really look the item over. That's unfortunate, because sellers like me are going to take our nice clothes elsewhere...

Bottom line: sellers stay away!

Unfortunately, my first and last experience with your company was not a pleasant one. I had heard of your company from two friends in my daughters girl scout troop and thredUP raved about it however, I later found out they had only purchased and never sent anything to you to be sold. I ordered my first bag, received it and was feeling pretty excited about doing this. So I scheduled time in my calendar to go through my daughters and my closet, which you can probably imagine with three daughters and a husband that travels is no easy task to manage. So, after narrowing down the clothing, fitting it into the bag and scheduling a pickup I was excited to let it go. A few weeks pass an I start to worry, here I am sending this bag and I have no way to track it, no email confirmation that it was received by the post office, it was just gone and I had to hope that it would just find its was to you and if it got lost then I was just outta luck as I didn't have anyplace in my email a tracking number associated with the bag I sent. THEN, I finally got an email that it was received and it could take some time to go through everything and I will be notified once its been gone through how much I would be receiving. Now this is where I really got upset. I sent in well over 30 items, some still with tags and I was excited to possibly getting some credit to shop within your online store. So the email read, your company decided to keep 22 items and I would be receiving a whopping... $19.33! That is less that $1 per item, and I was thinking. That has GOT to be a mistake! I log in online and look at the 22 items your company decided to keep and added up how much you would be selling all these items and that total came to $158! Just WOW! Your willing to give your customer a measly $19 but have no problem selling it for $158. Now I understand the process, setting it all up, taking the pictures, writing all the information as to name brand-size. Etc, I really do as I have sold my items online before and had to do that very same thing, so I know it is time consuming. I was excited to send my bag in and not have to do the grunt work, but mostly to get away from having to schedule the drop off times and meeting some scary people in unsafe places. But COME ON, $19 is not even worth the time and energy I put into sending the bag in the first place. I could of pulled the same clothing, sold it at our neighborhood garage sale and made way more than that. I know you are probably thinking "then why didn't you". Well, honestly it was a nice idea to be able to send in bags to your company year round as yard sales are typically in the spring so I wanted a test run instead of grabbing a garbage bag and throwing it in the attic to sit until Spring. Then the kicker, I asked for my items to be returned to me since well I didn't just send in bad clothing and could sell them myself at a yard sale, so out of that $19.33 you took over $12 out to ship it back... so my grand total credit that I was excited to get and spend...$6. I am very disappointed in this company and will not shop nor ever be ordering another sell bag.

What a horrible experience! Oh get a bag and send in your clothes and make money... yeah right! Make money for who? Not us that send in bags thats for sure. I sent in my first bag and noticed that one brand new dress with tags was not listed. Ok I let that go but shame on me for sending in another bag, again mostly name brand clothes with tags and never worn. (I do admit that I am a shopaholic). All the brand new items with tags were not shown to sell from my bag, in other words, thredUP were missing. I even sent in sterling silver marked 925 jewelry of which they kept that also. I had a ten dollar credit and had to fight with them in emails in order to even get that!
There is NO phone number to call, only an email and you don't get anywhere with them either. They in turn state they have qualified sorters and sort thru everything... in my mind they are sorting thru to what they want to keep for themselves. Makes you wonder where your items are going... brand new with tags? Sterling silver? Do they have a store that they in turn sell these items too?
And they claim they donate items... hhhmmmm ok who is getting the tax write off on this? Why cant we learn who runs this business or talk with anyone on the phone... someone is hiding something. Why not be out in the open, let us see who you are and what you do with these brand new items that you take from us.
Not to mention that you get pennies on the dollar... something sells for maybe 10.00 you might get. 30... thats right 30 cents!
I have another bag that I was sorting through to send however they will never get another thing from me to make money off of. I will take this to the local Salvation Army or local shelter. At least I know I am not being ripped off. I have no use for people like you in my life. I sure hope this helps the next person in sending in their bag of clothes for you to make money off of.
My daughter sent in a bag during the summer and I just learned that she got zero dollars... not even a red cent and I know I seen brand new items in her bag also. What gives with you that you feel that you can rip us off?
PLEASE THINK TWICE BEFORE SENDING YOUR BAGS OF CLOTHES INTO THESE PEOPLE. THEY ARE MAKING MONEY OFF OF YOU... YOU GET MAYBE IF YOU ARE LUCKY 30 CENTS OFF OF A BRAND NEW SHIRT. PLEASE PEOPLE WAKE UP AND STOP SENDING YOUR CLOTHES TO THIS RIP OFF ARTIST... DONATE TO YOUR LOCAL SHELTER AND TAKE A TAX WRITE OF FOR YOURSELF... YOU WILL BE FURTHER AHEAD!

I started to use thredup a few years ago, when it was still operated in accordance with its original model: To sell, you sent in one of those PO-provided medium sized flat rate boxes stuffed with items... listed the box, yourself, on the website, and waited for someone to claim it... sent it off when thredUP did; to buy, chose one of the listed boxes... all you paid was shipping. It was on YOU: if you filled boxes with good items and gave good descriptions, recipients were happy and posted positive reviews. Fill a box with junk and get a bad review... fill a box with fabulous stuff but don't bother to itemize the listing no one will buy it in the first place. Honestly, it was very inexpensive... when you received your box it was a fun surprise to unpack it, and typically I'd have a couple of items that were "eh" in a box and a surprise goody. It really was FUN.

This model... I don't like. It started out okay. But the quality of my experience has declined. Steadily. Now, it takes months to process a bag when I send it in. The number of items that are not accepted is arguably ridiculous: I check every single item for stains, for wear... I check the list of "brands we do not accept" but as this list keeps expanding, by the time my bag is processed there are things that, apparently, they no longer accept. I try to send in items that are "in season," as requested, but again, buy the time the bag is processed those items are no longer in season, which results in a lower payout or complete rejection. I have sent in NEW and unworn high end (Calvin Klein, I believe) women's trousers and had them rejected. I have sent shoes -- Stride Rite patent leather Mary Jane's, worn all of one time -- that were rejected for "wear." Really? You know, I'll wager a bet that you could look at the soles and see that yes, those shoes were worn once... but surprise, this site holds itself out as handling used items. Great condition, yes. But not new or unused (for the most part). As far as purchasing, the prices are generally too high considering it's used clothing. I've purchased only a few things since they switched to this model, and they were fine, but they were not inexpensive, the website is not easily navigable and the entire endeavor not really worth it.

My most recent experience left me sufficiently dissatisfied that I am considering just freecycling our items: the payout I'm getting from thredup -- on good quality, good condition items -- is, frankly, sad, and with so much being "not accepted" for reasons I find neither understandable nor predictable, I would rather give the items away to people who will use them.

It's too bad, too. I really did love thredup, once upon a time. Like so many things, they seem to have become a victim of their own success.

I've sent in 3 different cleanout bags over the years. It's always been a risk and an interesting study in their quality control practices. I've had many brand new items (with tags still on them) flat out rejected; I had one bag full of high end designer denim rejected. Yet somehow, they've accepted and sold (at a major markup vs. my payout) plenty of my obviously worn items while rejecting many perfect, mint condition things -- something definitely isn't adding up. Where's the good stuff really going? Not back to me, not for a $12+ return shipping cost. ThredUP clearly know their customers; we're not going to pay that much to get our cast offs back -- we're going to chalk it up to a donation and move on, at which point they can do whatever they want with our high quality items since we've released our ownership of them. They know this and it seems they're taking advantage of it. Formerly, I'd use thredUP to clean out my closet, knowing full well they were going to kick me down a few dollars in store credit and sell my items at a dramatic markup; I was more or less fine with this. I told myself it wasn't much different than donating to Goodwill, with a slight monetary benefit (except it takes threadUP *many* weeks to months to process your bag)... I'd use the small store credit from my dozens of items and buy maybe one or two things at their retail prices. (I've never been terribly impressed with my purchases from them. Most had obvious wear and fading; one pair of shorts had a completely blown elastic waist and were unwearable.) However, now they're charging $9.99 for a cleanout bag or offering users a "donation" option (Verbatim, "Don't send me money. I want proceeds from my bag to support thredUP's waste reduction and charitable donation program. *Note: At this time, thredUP does NOT issue tax receipts.") and I'm not sure I understand how this strategy benefits the customer at all. What if your bag is deemed worth less than $9.99? Will you then owe them money on top of having given them your stuff? What is going on here anymore? I don't want to find out the hard way. I'll put my good things on eBay, drop everything else off at a local thrift store, and be finished with threadUP for now. This service is a great idea in theory but it needs some tweaking.

It's been A LONG time since I've sold to ThredUp, it's had to be a few years ago when thredUP first started out. But back then, I thought getting the $50 something was a great deal for what I sent in. I haven't sent in anything recently, and probably won't after reading the reviews on here. How sad when things change for the worst. Unfortunately, I have to say, do the work yourselves so you reap the rewards.
That being said - I have purchased a few things recently, and the first order I cried over because when I went to my shopping cart, the gorgeous cocktail dress I wanted wasn't there. It hadn't been 24 hours yet (the time items are supposed to be held for you) so I couldn't figure out what happened. I had been busy adding items (close to $100 worth!) during that day and when I went to bed it disappeared. I tried searching for it by brand, type, you name it. Couldn't find it. The only way I did was to go into my history and to find the page I visited. How ridiculous! I added it back to my cart, took out several items, so now instead of spending over $100 I only spent $40. I am very happy with the items I got however. They are as described and oh so pretty. I know that I couldn't get them somewhere else. Possibly even on clearance, that cheap.
Second order went a little better, but as I added items to my cart, the "retail price" caught my eye on an item. They said it was $71 for a BCX blazer, now on clearance for $2.99
Now, $2.99 is cheap. I'm not arguing with that. But $71.00? I googled it, it's a Macy's brand, and even the fancier blazers don't run over $40. Where are they getting these overly exaggerated retail prices? The only thing I can think of, is inflate the prices to make you feel like you're saving more.
Bummer, I really like buying clothes from here, I don't have time to run to town every time i need something and spend the day shopping. Come on ThredUp, please shape up.
I also hate that if you return something, you end up paying the 'return fee' aka shipping fees if you want your cash back. Sometimes, I don't want store credit. I won't be returning anything, I will take it to a local resale or sell it myself if I don't like it.
P.S. I'm a shopper who likes to buy everything on clearance and with coupons. I am very attentive to pricing and what items are worth, etc. I seldom spend over $8 for a pair of name brand jeans. (Just to give you an idea of how much I watch the retail biz)

I've been both a buyer and a seller on ThredUp and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that their customer service is absolutely terrible. ThredUp doesn't care about their customers, whether they're on the "selling" or buying end, all thredUP care about is profit.

If you sell, you're obviously giving up profit you could've made on eBay for the convenience and ease of just shipping it off and calling it a day... right? Wrong. They take so much profit it isn't even funny. Your bag sells for $200 you might not even see $20 from it, and don't tell me they're using so much of the difference to run the site and ship it. Half of your stuff they don't take and if you want it back you have to elect to have $16 deducted from your earnings. The stuff they take and mark as consignment doesn't always sell and you have to pay shipping if you want that back, otherwise they'll "properly recycle it" or whatever or "sell it at a later date" which means they make profit off of something you don't. I made pennies and dimes while they saw $10-30 for each item. The only pro to selling is when they offer you compensation upfront but that's rare, I've had whole bags of like 50+ items go as consignment, and when it is upfront it's still the measly change they give you. It's not worth the convenience unless you wouldn't mind practically donating everything after sending it off. Don't try to sell on ThredUp for profit, they'll always benefit more than you, and I'd recommend only using them if you were planning on trashing your clothes or donating them anyway. Oftentimes I'd contact them about a mistake on the selling end, to no response or a not-a-response response.

Buying is hit or miss. Some deals are great - you can get some decent brands starting at 99¢ - but as with any thrift store, some of these items have issues they overlooked. They might be listed or might not, and actually it's 80-95% of the items i've bought have had no problems whatsoever. Just be careful and read. Once something smelled sickeningly of smoke and I contacted ThredUp because that's against what they accept, then waited weeks for a response. The one day I didn't check my email they responded offering credit but hours later closed the case basically saying they assumed everything was fine because I didn't respond. Just recently, I placed an order quickly (and they emphasize the quickness with their 24 hour cart reservations and other people auto-buying once it expires) and found out that an item went up somehow while it was in my cart and another was an accidental purchase. They were a part of a bundle order so they did not ship yet. I messaged them, and they said sorry no cancellations it's being processed, I said no it's not, it literally says it's not since it's a bundle, and then they said "It looks like your order was already labeled and ready to be shipped so we were not able to cancel it. Additionally, orders cannot be modified once they are placed." Which is ridiculous as the bundle option is waiting to see if you have any other items you buy to add to the same box to save on shipping. They just wanted me to receive these items, pay for return shipping, and most essentially the restocking fee... all in the hopes I'd just keep the item so they could keep their tremendous profit. They don't care. Just buy on eBay really, they have a satisfaction guarantee and will actually cancel your order. EBay doesn't always side with sellers, but they always have the buyer's back in nearly every dispute, so if something like this happened you'd get all your money back and not have to pay for return shipping if it were the seller's mistake.

You can't call selling on ThredUp actual selling, as that'd imply some kind of profit. I've probably sent over $2000 worth of items in great or brand new condition which I probably would've gotten $1000-$1500 on ebay for if I weren't so lazy, since so many of them had tags. I'm aware that clothing depreciates tremendously, but you'd think that 5 full black trash bag sized clean out bags full of luxury brands and things with tags would've given me some decent amount back, but I've made well under $200. I've sold on yard sale websites, eBay, thrift stores, and ThredUp and can say that ThredUp is the least satisfying and least profit making venue of selling, even compared to thrift stores. At least you know where your stuff goes and what gets accepted, and you get it back for FREE. Don't sell here unless your fine not seeing any of it again for maybe even nothing back.

Buying is fine if you don't mind the hit or miss of it, eBay is safer honestly and has better customer service. Keep in mind that ThredUp won't cancel.

Bottom line: Find somewhere else. There are some deals to be found, and I've been happy every once in awhile but it is NOT worth the horrible customer service for when it doesn't work out - which is half of the time. I'm going out of my way to tell people not to use them, so you know it's bad as I don't write reviews like this. Avoid.

I have bought several items over the past 2 months from them. First, I hate the fact that there are only 2 pics of each item and you truly have no idea of what the "wear" or "damage" is to an item before you purchase. Second, I have received what was described as "new" or "perfect condition, you might mistake it for brand new" and this was false. More than one item was described that way but came with a spot or stain or other damage. Third, their prices for these used items are ridiculous. When listing an item that comes from Kohl's or another department store, it should be cheaper than the typical sale price at that department store. We all know Kohl's runs sales ALL the time. So don't list a J-Lo shirt, tell me the retail is $54 and want me to pay you $30 for it. I can almost guarantee it was purchased for about $15 from the store when it was new.
Now, onto the sellers. It takes about 2 months for them to process your bag of goodies. ThredUP nickel and dime you with regarding to bags, shipping, etc., only to take all those fees and deduct them from what they are going to be giving you as store credit (or money, for those who go that route.) You'll never get a reason why they discard certain items and you have to pay a pretty penny if you want the rejected items back. They basically, in my opinion, keep the really good things and unscrupulous employees keep them for themselves or sell them for profit elsewhere. This happens at our local Goodwill store, too. The higher end designer stuff never makes it to the racks. I actually tracked a Prada purse that I donated to Goodwill. Knew someone who worked in receiving. The purse never made it to the floor. Guess it went home with someone and ended up on ebay. I think that that may be a possibility with Thred Up too.
Returns are listed as "easy". Nope. And good luck getting your credit quickly.
So, to summarize, the items aren't always listed accurately. The prices for the majority are high, in my opinion. The descriptions and photos are too basic and lacking in any detail. You will see the same amount of info on a blouse from Old Navy as you see for a designer $300 blouse (and yes, I've seen some items on thred up in the hundreds of dollars). When selling, you will get next to nothing for your items and their fees will eat up any real money you might see. It takes FOREVER for them to process your sellable items. So buy and sell with a skeptical eye and DO YOUR RESEARCH. There are no checks and balances in this system so you can easily be taken advantage of.

Thredup has started to punish their customers by charging them a restocking fee even when thredUP do not provided the necessary and realivent measurements to know if the item is going to fit for sure. The clothing sizes here in the states very so greatly that I can't say I wear only 1 size so when something like a waist measurement for a skirt is omitted there is NO WAY to actually know if it fits or not just by a number or a letter size. For skirts they provide the length but not the waist measurement. I was told by customer service that it is too time consuming for this information to be provided. Customer service did recommend at one time that i could look up on the particular company website and see what their measurements were for their sizes. So my take on that. The company doesn't pay the employees to make an ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE measurement to know if a garment is going to fit. Then I, the customer, order the garment in a size that i usually wear. Then if the garment doesn't fit and i return it I have to pay Thredup a restocking fee because they DID NOT do the job the RIGHT way to begin with. They say they need to charge a restocking fee because how many things come back to the warehouse and they have to pay the employee's to be put away all of the garments. Well if they would provide ALL of the realivent information then they wouldn't get so many things back because customers like myself wouldn't have to go with my" about" size when ordering skirts and coats etc. So for something that would take them less than 30 seconds to measure when they are prepping the garment to be posted online they put their responsibility for providing the garment product information for their customers onto me. This has taken me any where from 5 mins to 30+ mins. But not any more. I will no longer do their job or pay them for being lazy and unprofessional by not providing the realivent garment information. Isn't the job of an internet company to provide the realivent information?, and if they don't then the fault is that of their own and not of tge customer? So why am I paying for their decision that they have made over and over and over again and refuse to fix this problem. I'm so tired of working with customer service where they make it MY fault for their lack of information.

ThredUP was never great for sellers, but generally ok for buyers. Recently, the purchasing experience has really gone downhill. ThredUP has always been plagued by poor/inaccurate item descriptions such as size and measurement errors, wrong color descriptions, and general mistakes such as shirts being described as dresses and vice versa. (If thredUP only focused on fixing these problems, their returns rate and costs would surely decrease.) Add to that prices on some items that are higher than new retail, damaged goods trying to be passed for "excellent condition," (again driving up return rate and costs) and just a lot more junk for sale on the site. These issues have increased dramatically over the last few months as it seems like ThredUP has grown took quickly for its own good. Recently I returned white shirts from two different orders which were well worn and discolored from age and improper washing. Hard to see in the item listing photo, but real disappointments in person. One had small dark pilling on it and a hole. Totally unacceptable. Both were listed as "excellent condition." Another item ordered was described as "excellent condition" yet upon receipt had about a quarter of the beadwork missing and tiny loose threads everywhere from the missing beading. How are these things missed? Add to this a credibility problem and horrible customer service. At the beginning of June, ThredUP seemingly overnight rolled out a restocking charge that was listed on item description pages. AFTER the roll out, the policy was added to their web site "frequently asked questions" section. Apparently, it was PR fail because it disappeared as quickly as it came but, in it's place, was yet another round of significant overnight price hikes. Additionally, ThredUP previously led sellers to believe that goods sent in, but not accepted for sale or consignment, were donated. This is inaccurate. ThredUP pays sellers nothing for these items yet the website states ThredUP sells these items to customers as part of their Rejects program and sells them to third party partners. No donating here. The only thing that has improved the last few months has been the shipping. Fedex appears to be the new shipping partner and shipping delays have decreased significantly.

My first clean out bag was actually a pretty good payout (even though I only got $4 for a pair of Micheal Kors heels) ThredUP took all but 2 items, and the majority were paid out right away (so it added up)- I paid for the return assurance, so my items were returned. One of my items on consignment even sold, and that was great. I had 2 items on consignment that didn't sell. Now keep in mind, these items were consignment die to the high value- and had they sold, I would have gotten a pretty penny. But, they didn't. Oh well, right? I can choose to reclaim them, which of course, I did (it was 2 items worth close to $400, of course I want them back)- then I find out I have to Pay to have my Own items returned to me!?! Wth? This is after I already paid $11.99 for them to send me back a pair of slacks and a cami. If you don't pay the s&h fee, then your clothes become property of ThredUp. Do you really think they're gonna donate those? No. So, I paid. For the return of My own items. I sent in another clean out bag and they accepted All of my items, but still charged me the return assurance fee. And- the upfront payout this time was a whopping $4.30. For a Micheal Kors dress and shirt- both with tags still on and 2 more designer items. $4.30. The rest was put on consignment. I went back and forth with the people from thredup regarding refunding my return assurance fee as I didn't use it. They kept insisting they didn't charge me even after I sent multiple screenshots of my account clearly showing the charge. Then they finally credited my account And Then took the refund Back when my consignment items sold, meaning I actually didn't get paid for those items. That's why I say they are basically thieves. After numerous emails, I finally said, you know what- just refund the $5.99 I would need to get my items back so I can be done with you guys. They had no problem doing that. I reclaimed my items and will never give them a chance to make money at my expense again. I'd also like to point out that although they claim the items they don't accept get donated to charity, that they have what are called Goody bags and also sell different 'grab bags' of those items. So they aren't donating your items that they didn't pay you for. They're still making money just now they got around having to pay you. It's a brilliant scam.

DO NOT SEND CLOTHES TO THREDUP! I sent in 3 bags, about 150 items, of mostly brand new with tags Gymboree and Gap. Thredup paid me less than $1 for almost every item and didn't pay me for some of the items. After numerous emails and phone calls, thredup refused to pay me a reasonable amount for my clothes. I notified every consumer complaint site I could find. The San Francisco Attorney General's Office opened a criminal investigation into thredup after I complained to them. Thredup responded to my BBB complaint with a lie. Here it is:
On July 26,2013, the business provided the following information:
At the time Leanne shipped three bags of clothing to thredUP there was a period of time in which our price calculator was not operable. This was a bug we were aware of and actively fixing. Over the weeks that had elapsed from the day we received Leanne's clothing and the day we fully processed the items, the price calculator was fixed and was working again.

In addition to our price calculator we have our bag feed showing what other customers have earned for their clothing (http://www.thredup.com/bags/feed). This feed is live and is in no way manipulated to inflate payouts. Lastly, it is stated in multiple places that thredUP may not be the most profitable way to earn money by selling used clothing because we pay up to 40% of the resale value.

In efforts to resolve this issue, I explained I would double-check and correct any mistakes made on the pricing of the items we accepted, and offered to pay for the 20+ items we did not accept based on what would've been earned. This equated to an additional $45. I apologize but an additional $45 is still the only offer I can provide.

Leanne has continued to contact other organizations in efforts to resolve this issue. Now damages have exceed $300.

Thank you,
Daniela

MY RESPONSE SENT TO THE BBB:

Daniela states with this response, that there was a problem with the website that thredUP were aware of before I sent in my bags. I started emailing Thredup with questions a month before I sent anything to them. AFTER I complained on Gymboree's Facebook website because of what little reimbursement I received for clothing I sent to Thredup, I was then contacted by a representative of Gymboree who then, on my behalf contacted Thredup to forward my complaints. It was well after several exchanged emails and finally a phone call from Daniella, where I made her aware of the website issues (which she told me thredup had been UNAWARE of), that the website issues were finally repaired--more than 2 months after she says they were aware and trying to correct it? They were aware of the problem for sure! There had been no attempt to repair the website because in doing so, people would have been able to see how little Thredup was paying for clothing and no one would have sent anything to them! It has been their intent all along to keep customers from discovering their true payout amounts. Sure, thredup had a few posts on their website showing what other were paid for their clothing. These posts clearly showed thredup paying a lot of money for even used clothing. I went by those posted statistics (which was all that was available at that time)--thinking I would receive even more money since what I was sending in was brand new with tags attached clothing. As far as Daniela's statement regarding people being able to make more money sending in used clothing because they pay up to 40% of the value, is absolutely absurd! Since when is used clothing worth more than brand new clothing? If that was the case, every store would be a resell store and there would be no market for new clothing. Daniela made an utterly ridiculous statement regarding that. Daniela did go through my payout amounts and found many that were inaccurate. She offered an additional $45 for those errors which is nothing considering I had sent in about 150 mostly new designer clothing items. This works out to about an additional 30 cents per item. It does not even begin to reasonable compensate me for my clothing. Initially, when I requested an additional $300 over what thredup had said they would pay me, I was trying to make a point. I wanted them to take full responsibility for their deception. I was asking very little reimbursement. However, after thredup refusing to properly compensate me and discovering many other people who were victims of Thredup's scheme, I asked for a more accurate compensation. This was a deliberate tactic on Thredup's part to deceive customers, pay pennies for valuable clothing, then resell it on the Thredup website for a HUGE profit--all without the customer's being able to accurately discover what they would be paid PRIOR to sending clothing to Thredup. I want to be compensated the full monetary loss for my clothing. In addition, after filing my complaint with the Better Business Bureau, I continued to pursue the case and notified the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. They found enough evidence to open a criminal investigation into Thredup's business. It is very clear that Thredup designed their business to scam people in order to make a huge profit reselling clothing sent in from unsuspecting people. It is only because of my continued pursuit of my complaint, that Thredup repaired their website to disclose more information regarding payouts. However, if that disclosure had been made PRIOR to my sending in my clothing, I would never have sent them anything! I am still seeking an appropriate compensation for my clothing, as well as an end to Thredup's website.

Run away. Fast.
If you do send items to them, take pictures of what you sent them, pay extra for the fast processing time, and pay extra for the return assurance. Trust me. Then at least you are only out those fees, when you tell them to return your items to you, after you see the payoff amount. ThredUP will cheerfully do so at that point, because they already made a profit on the bag fee, return fee, postage, and return assurance bs.

********* I AM UPDATING/EDITING MY REVIEW because I am still so mad about my recent experience with THREDUP, I contacted them for some clarification. OMG, they are worse than I thought.
Let me explain how it works with them (read the fine print on their website).

You can order a "free" (LOL) cleanout bag, which will be processed in two to three
Months ( don't believe them if they tell you it's faster), and then you will be charged $ 6.99 fee for it once they process your items for a payout. Or pay $ 9.99 for a bag that will be processed quicker.

That $ 10.99 (optional) fee for " return assurance", don't pay it. That only means that IF they don't accept any of your items for whatever reason, they will send them back to you. You pay shipping. Plus the $ 10.99 fee.

Even WITH the $ 10.99 return assurance, if they DO accept your items, and offer you a payout amount, and you don't like the amount, too bad. You can't have your items back. Period.

Also, if they decide that they won't accept an item, and you DIDN'T pay for the return assurance, you not only can't have your item back, they don't even tell you that they didn't accept the item. Its up to you to find out WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THAT ITEM.

Like a very expensive designer dress I sent them in my bag (I didn't pay for return assurance), worn once for just a few hours, not a mark or flaw on it, truly "Like New". No mention of that dress when they contacted me with the measly amount they were giving me for the other like new items in my bag (some of which sold immediately, by the way). Finally after me pushing the issue, they told me, "Oh, that expensive designer dress? Yes, it WAS in your bag, but we didn't even mention it when we sent you your payout email, because there was a STAIN on it, so we gave it away to charity, since you didn't pay extra for return assurance on unaccepted items ". There was NO STAIN on that dress. Period. It was perfect.

The payout I received on my other items? (All LIKE new), $ 6.00. Total. I honestly couldn't believe it. And since I was being charged $ 6.99 for the bag, that means my payout was ZERO. And, I couldn't tell them to shove it and send me my items back (I would have gladly paid return shipping) because the fine print states, once we get your stuff, if its acceptable for us to sell, you either accept the dollar amount we are offering you, or, well, there is no other option.

OMG, run, run, run, away from this company.

I'm a fan of thredUP, at least in concept. And I have no problem admitting that I made a mistake on my recent order - 100% my own oversight - but that mistake brought to light some really unfortunate truths about my formerly-favorite service:

1) thredUP opts to utilize FedEx SmartPost which is inexpensive but notoriously frustrating. Plenty of other companies, small and large, utilize more user-friendly shipping services so I'm not sure what thredUP's justification is here, but SmartPost doesn't allow you to do ANYTHING with your shipment. Not hold it at the facility, intercept delivery, apply special delivery instructions, etc. None of that.

2) thredUP will not let you edit your orders. Again, plenty of online retailers will allow you to do this within a reasonable window. I saw (too late) that unlike other retail fronts that allow Paypal payments, thredUP does not default to Paypal's home address, but the one they've saved in your account. That's fine, but a little odd. When I realized my old address was in there within seconds of placing the order, my ONLY option was a straight-up cancellation. I was immediately refunded but lost all my items and a day later thredUP still haven't been restocked. An 'Edit' option (again, not an unusual feature in online ordering by a long shot) would have saved me and the seller a whole lot of frustration.

3) This is the real clincher: thredUp is absolute crap at communication. I emailed them immediately, taking full responsibility but asking for their advice (I cannot possibly be the first customer who's run into this). No response. If I thought they might actually have responded quickly then I would never have felt the need to cancel my order, but I couldn't trust that they'd get back to me. And they haven't.

Remember the company that sent a personal welcome letter with your first order, and encouraged your thoughts and input? This isn't them anymore.

**UPDATE**

Received a response from thredUP which pointed me to a response from their customer service rep regarding my canceled order, which did address Concern #2: there is no edit option, only a cancel option, and your items will be lost if you can't beat another customer to them. Fair enough. ThredUP can run their storefront however they'd like.

I do think my larger concerns still stand: their shipping options are not designed to make things easier for their customers. Their order options are not designed to make things easier for their customers. Their options for being contacted are not designed to make things easier for their customers. I like the idea of thredUP, but they have truly lost even basic customer service.

Bought several hundreds of dollars of clothes here a year and a half or so ago. Probably in four or five separate orders. I wanted to like this store so badly! A great online consignment store! A dream come true.

Unfortunately, you know how friends always remind you of why you and your ex broke up when he's texting you and calling you late and telling you how he's watching tv and looking at the models and, maybe it's just him, but you are more beautiful than almost all of them... and, God, he really wants to give it another try -- whatever you want, he'll do. He'll change his hair, his clothes, his house, his car, his entire personality if you just give him one more chance -- one more teeny weeny little chance. And then, if you've got good friends thredUP start reminding you of all the things you fought about. And, if it were just one or two issues, well, maybe you'd try it again, but you start thinking about how impossible it was to agree about ANYTHING, and so you sadly turn him down.

Well, these clothes are here because there is a reason that someone else had to break up with them :) They look so good online, and they even look good in the box, and at least half the time, they look good the first time you put them on. But... you can tell yourself that the former owner just grew out of them although you'll have a hard time believing it after a while. LOL. Some of the clothing even appeared to be taken back a couple times before they were well and truly through. And those clothes shouldn't be at an upscale consignment store, they should be at6 Good will. I'm talking about a pilled sweater that hangs oddly because someone has pulled at it so long. Even with a brand name, you should never get pilled sweaters with uneven droopy hems for $40. I wear it to clean house in when it's cold. Many of the clothes are like that. They've been loved, or someone tried so hard to love them, but... they hung oddly off the body or the fit was weird. I mean I purchased a dress for a funeral and it was perfect. It looked like it hadn't been worn at all it was in such good shape. And... I suspect that it really had never been worn. Because it fit in the hips, in the waist, and then I was completely unable to to zip if over my chest. Now, believe me when I tell you that if the dress fits my hips and waist, it should darn well fit over my chest. I suspect the former owner felt the same way. Just thought it cool to have a dress that was actually too small in the bust and hung onto it until it was too late to return it.

I didn't do that. It's just a waste of money to pay to return it if you've decided you're not shopping there anymore, because they only let you have store credit back. Yep. And I could go on. Like about the yellow summer dress they sent to me with a broken zipper, It was from Banana Republic or The Limited or something and by the time I got the zipper replaced I could have bought a new dress. Or the gorgeous red Guess sweater dress I got that cost $20 more than the gorgeous black Guess sweater dress I bought new at Macy's. Or the silk overalls I LOVED that, for the life of me, just would never hang right. Or the black spaghetti strapped evening gown that was designed beautifully, fit beautifully, but is made of some kind of nylon parachute-like material. Not silk-parachute material mind you, a stiff, nylon type material that pretty much stands up on its own. NOT a good look for an evening gown. I'll never wear it.

Oh yeah, and the size medium gray Banana Republic sweater that was a little pricey for second hand Banana Republic (that's another thing -- the relatively high pricing of not-designer names. You could throw another $10 in and buy a lot of the stuff new. And that is my suggestion, Because my pricey, dry clean only sweater had clearly gone through the dryer at some point and the only medium it would fit is a medium sized 8-10 year old girl, So, great idea. And I did get one dress I absolutely love. It cost three figures, but it is lovely. And I have a lovely pair of reasonably priced clothes. Those are the only items out of about 5 orders, approximately $750-$800 and 15-20 pieces I received that I would actually buy again.

I would simply suggest that if this store is not to be crushed by a consignment store that takes its customers and merchandise a bit more seriously, it do a few things differently, First off, get the heck out of San Francisco! I grew up people watching in San Francisco cause everyone dressed so beautifully, even just going to work. Not anymore, Yuck. San Francisco is NOT a style mecca any longer. I realize you get a lot of your goods from people around the country and not just from The City, still you buy a lot of your own merchandize, and, like everything else you're paying $25 more than you would for the same, the exact same brand name and style in Sacramento. Plus, the overhead must be killing you! Maybe you think that San Francisco's name still holds some cachet, and maybe it does elsewhere, but not anywhere in California I've been. And I've been everywhere in California. Even Yuba & Crescent City girls are wearing H&M they bought online -- for less than you charge for H&M products -- at least those I saw. So, move to Oakland and cut your overhead by 50 percent. That will allow you to charge what used clothes should be charged, and, for god's sake! Check the clothes! Paying to get a dress with the zipper broken should never happen in an elegant consignment store, And finally, it'd be helpful if staff could try the clothes on to make sure they are not cut oddly or hang weirdly. Those are my sincere suggestions. Cause I've started shopping Revolve, which is pricey --although NOT that much more pricey than you are, considering they sell new clothes, and I am thrilled with everything I've gotten there.

I'd offer however much you had to in order to hire away their marketing director because he/she is the BOMB. And I'd like to get some stylish used clothes for a decent price at some point since you all are wiping thrift stores out of all their good stuff! So good luck with all that, Seriously, there is a need for your services out there -- girls starting their careers, going to grad school and working, single moms looking for a state job -- if you could follow through on your original vision? I'd be back in a flash (although now that I'm addicted to Revolve, my wallet would take a double hit!)

Let me preface this by saying I sent in a bag of clothes last year and had a great experience - processed quickly - the clean out bag was free to send in - and I ended up making about $300 for 24 pieces - some being upfront payouts and others being consignment pieces.

I didn't hesitate sending in more clothes a few months ago --- without realizing they'd changed their "payout system" - and now the company I once recommended to everyone I could, is one I can't encourage people to run far away from as fast as thredUP can.

First they charge you to send in your clothes (which can be 4.99 - 5.99 - 9.99 or 10.99 - it seems to fluctuate) -- then you wait - and wait - and wait - for them to even get to your bag -- unfortunately I sent in multiple bags at once -- with an estimated processing of a month... which came and went. Finally they got to my bags 2 weeks later. Then bam - you get hit with the insulting figure they tell you your bag of clothes is supposedly worth. Here's where I feel they mess people over...

They need to fix their "estimated payout calculator" - which they furnish and encourage you to use / you put in the brand name and type of item and it shoes you what you can expect to receive for a similar piece. For example - you type in Ann Taylor and choose dress - and it comes up with several dresses, indicating a payout would be $9.25.

It's a scam to have people using it prior to sending in items thinking they'll be receiving in the neighborhood of $9.25 for a brand new with tags Ann Taylor dress -- so you send in a whole bag of clothes... thinking "well according to their calculator - all these clothes I'm sending in should fetch around $166 ----- so of course it's a pure shock when you end up clearing $13! <--- cause don't forget you have to pay a $10.99 fee for the privilege of them stealing your clothes! Have I mentioned you then have to wait 14 days to be able to "cash out"?

Then they say "the payout calculator may not reflect our new payout system" - yeah I'd say. They're a scam and I'll continue to shout it until they're honest up front about payouts to people. Leading people to believe and make a decision to send in clothes based on an estimate calculator - they provide - that they know isn't correct - is bait and switch. Cause they know no one would bother sending in clothes if they saw $. 60 pop up (that's two quarters and a dime)... so they conveniently don't fix/update that calculator to reflect their greedy new business plan and continue to stiff those providing their inventory every day. Making matters worse, they send you random "good news!" emails when an item you sent in is sold --- so you get to not only see that the item they paid you $. 60 for was sold for $22 --- they remind you that you've already been paid for the item and won't be receiving more money. So why send that email? To let us see the profit you've made? They're ridiculous.

Then - to add insult - if you go to complain on social media, they give a canned "oh no - sorry you're sad..." response... then they'll offer to have you contact CS so they can tell you what was wrong with your clothes to only pay you $. 60... the clothes that were apparently so crappy that you received two quarters and a dime for... that they'll go sell for $22. That makes a lot of sense. So what's the deal - the clothes are soooo bad --- yet they sell them? They're either shafting the sellers by saying their clothes are so flawed they're only worth pennies --- or they're selling these flawed clothes to the public... which doesn't seem to be the case since the buying experience seems to be relatively positive from what I've seen.

I only wish people would read the seller reviews/comments on here and other places before sending in their items.

Their business plan must include "If we can get people to just send in one bag each - even if they never use us again because of our shoddy business practices - we still have that inventory!"

Give your clothes to a local charity & take the write off --- you'll make a heck of a lor more and feel better about yourself at the end of the day.

ThredUP? More like GreedUP --- I'll look forward to the day they're out of business - which will be sooner rather than later if they don't get it together.

I have done a significant amount of shopping on thredup, and while I do like it, there are many things that need to be improved. Here are a few things that would keep me coming back:

1. Display all clothing items on body forms. I recently purchased two sweaters that were photographed lying flat, so I had no way of telling how thredUP were supposed to fit. One ended up being a long tunic, while the other was cropped. I never would have purchased either if I'd known.

2. More photographs, please! I'd like to know what the back of those jeans looks like before I pay money for them.

3. More fit information, including measurements. I recently bought a pair of jeans that was obviously a petite/short size, but weren't listed as such. This could have been solved by someone getting out a measuring tape and taking ten seconds to actually measure the inseam. Additionally, pants should have more information about the cut and style. I accidentally bought my son bootcut jeans because the style wasn't clear from the listing.

4. Fabric content and care information should ALWAYS be listed. Those things matter to me when buying clothes, but it seems to be an exception on this site.

5. Here's the biggest one: Currently, if you need to make a return, not only do you have to pay for return shipping, but they also don't refund you the full purchase price for the item. So when I return those $35 jeans I bought (see #3, above), not only will they give me about $30 back, but I will also have to pay $5 to send them back. Suddenly, I'm out almost a third of what I paid for them in the first place, when I could probably resell them myself for what I originally paid. If they want to keep my business, they need to start either covering return shipping OR refunding in full.

6. Shipping and processing time for orders is super slow. Like, two weeks for an order.

7. Almost everything I've gotten smells like thrift shop. Like, stale laundry detergent and cigarettes. Gross. Why is service so slow for both buyers and sellers if you're not washing stuff?

Honestly, the only thing that keeps me coming back at all is that the prices are really reasonable. I've gotten cashmere sweaters for $30, jeans for my son for $5, and all of it's in great condition. Still, shopping on this site is a gamble, and I've lost more than a few times. Any other retailer would not get my business a second time.

Please DO NOT whatever you do use Thredup or any of it's Cleanout services. A cautionary tale for all who don't want to be ripped off. I like many have a lot of things that I don't like or want anymore and wanted an easy way of selling those items and making a decent amount of money off them. However this is not the site to do that with infact my journey with this company has been nothing short of a total nightmare. ThredUP are very very very prone to loosing your items and not telling you about it and they don't make you fill out an inventory list so there's no record or documentation of what was sent. It makes it easy for them to say oops your loss and they are no longer giving payouts for lost items anymore either per their new terms of service. Also I have gotten back tons of items completely damaged and not just mall brand items Armani, Chanel, Charlotte Olympia, Dolce & Gabbana all have come back completely destroyed. I literally had to throw away Chanel heels in the garbage they were so completely destroyed and I got no apology and very very little compensation for them. I got the price of a pair of Jessica Simpson shoes for a pair of Chanel Escarpin lambskin heels. Let that sink in. They also lost an entire box valued at 19000 with a Gucci coat that was 12-14000 retail. They gave me nothing for the Gucci coat at all. They said they were going to compensate me but then * the manager told me he didn't have to give me anything if he didn't want to. He tricked me and lied to me about giving me compensation for this item. They also are so sneaky now because they are not giving out payouts for any mall brand items and it's not noted anywhere on the website very sneaky. A company you definitely can not trust. So if you send them old navy, khols, forever21, and brands like these they will say thanks for the free merchandise but we aren't going to pay you. Very very wrong leading new people to believe they will get a payout when they won't get anything for their item. Before you use this service try selling to plato's or buffalo exchange or sell yourself first. 0 out of 10 highly don't recommend unless you are donating something and never expect to see your stuff again. You can let a corporation for profit that's valued at 400 million dollars make even more money for free if you want. Like this review to save people from this Thredup scam.

*Personal information redacted by admin

I just tried Thredup for the first time. If I can save one other person, it will be worth the time I spent to write this review.

Before I bought anything, I checked the return policy - here it is:

"thredUP's Return Policy
If you decide that an item that isn't the right fit for you, we invite you to visit your returns page to process a return request. All returns must be postmarked within 14 days from the date of delivery of an item. Please note that Goody Box returns are subject to a different return policy, which can be found here.
Refund Requirements:
To qualify for a refund, all items must be in the same condition in which you received them (New with Tags items must be returned with original tags attached)
All items are subject to a $1.99 restocking fee
Original shipping charge is not refunded when returning items
Final sale items are not returnable"

You know, I'm not high on the $1.99 restocking fee but what the heck, I have certain brands that I love that I know fit me, why not give it a whirl? Well, let me tell you how badly this went list the reasons why I strongly recommend you do not buy anything from them:

1. The first shot across the bow was when I got my order confirmation and noticed that one of the items was final sale. At no point in the purchase was this made clear. I thought about fighting it but the dress was $30 and and I thought someone I know would like it if I didn't. So I rolled with it, but I had a bad feeling.

2. Then the package came. Febreeze bomb. I mean like, I had just opened the box, my husband walked into the bedroom and said, "what happened in here?" Now, I know there are those of you who are just fine with Febreeze and, if you're one of them, then this will not be enough to put you off. But, in my opinion, Febreeze smells like flower vomit and I will do everything in my power to avoid it. So non-starter, right there.

2. Their "just like new, barely worn" clothes are old, stretched out rags. I mean, literally, hems and cuffs stretched and wavy. These are the dresses that you loved but one day you put them on and you realized there was just no turning back, thredUP lost all their shape and then needed to be thrown out. Or, as it turns out, sent to Thredup.

3. Sizes. W the actual F. I did not go to some crazy brand I never tried. These are staid stand-bys like Le Suit and Boden. I know what my size it. The non-returnable dress is a pullover with a zipper on the side and it was so tiny I literally could not get my shoulders into it to try it on

3. OK so I figure, I rolled the dice, I'll take my hit with the 1.99 restocking fee and I click on the returns page. Oh, yes, they give you a return label alright. But If you don't take your refund in the form of a merchandize credit, you have to eat the return postage.

That flim-flam move with the merchandize credit was the final straw for me - I will freaking challenge EVERY BLOODY penny with my credit card company because I actually hate them, they clearly make money sending out dirty rags that they know don't fit and are not in good condition.
Thredup. Just say no.

I am currently waiting for the other half of my order or the refund. Was told that even though I ordered on Feb 23rd and it's now March 15th that I have to wait 10 business days for them to issue a refund or locate my package... Sigh, I just... can't even with these guys. There is so much wrong with this company I'm overwhelmed with where to start:

1)I ordered about $250 in items. Only received the first package and no sign of the other 11- more expensive- items.

2) ThredUP have no contact number! What kind of business doesn't have a phone number to contact?! A shady one who doesn't care about customer support or standing proudly behind their company. I asked them during a 'chat' if they "had a number I could call instead of being shackled to my computer with my two young children running rampant, because it is after all breakfast time during their 'open hours', and I had been trying to get a hold of help for over a week!" to which I was informed firmly by a "Karly" figure: "No, we don't have phones." Laughable!

3) After contacting the chat window about not receiving my order my chat window mysteriously disappeared making it extremely difficult to contact them at all! I wrote a few emails that do this day are unanswered. The only other option I was left with was to write them an actual physical letter...(blank stare)... I'm shocked they don't suggest pigeons or smoke signals as means of contact as well... Might be faster, honestly.

4) The tracking number I received covered two boxes, so when I went to track down my other MIA box the USPS laughed at me and asked who the sender was, and why they would list two boxes under one tracking label. I made a claim with the USPS and was encouraged to 'call them' (Bahaha! Read # 2)

5) I had to create a NEW account to get the chat icon to pop up again... wondering if this means I was black listed because I had the gaul to ask where the other half was...? Can't be sure but it does make me wonder if they would do something like this. Have pictures to prove this shadiness, by the way.

I have been a loyal customer since they first made waves online. Loved the access to consignment, loved the green factor of recycling clothes and the ability to 'sell' even though that aspect is a total rip off in actuality. I would have continued to be a supporter and shopper if the customer service wasn't absolutely hideous and unrealistic. I will never spend money here again and risk not getting a $200+ order. I would highly recommend thinking twice if you're considering. ThredUP is risky business, friends, risky indeed. They have lost not only my business but my friends and family as they have seen this situation in all its ridiculousness unfold. Not a good look.

This is the worst site. ThredUP try to lure you in with the 40% off for new customers. One thing you should know about that- they block off about 25% of the merchandise, the good merchandise, while you have that coupon available. Once you have used it, magically, the better things become available. When I first joined they were not available- my family had the same experience. My daughter tried to buy things that were available on my account, but she could not. They said we were in different service areas- but all of us are neighbors! And once the coupon was used, the wanted items became available. We cancelled the order and asked for the coupon back, to buy the wanted items now that they were available. But as soon as they gave us the 40%, the items became unavailable again! SCAM ALERT!
Then we contacted them. My daughter has to live with me because she is disabled. And when we contacted them and they saw we have the same address, they closed BOTH of our accounts, saying we tried to scam THEM. We explained that we are separate households. She is an adult. I am an adult. Same address. Separate households. She needs living assistance, so has a place with me. They do not accommodate alternative households. I explained that this is discriminatory and very old thinking- many people live in multi-generational households, with roommates, and have other situations that vary from the nuclear one family per address household. They will not restore my account. And I am unable to log onto my account to cancel this order. My daughter and I each receive about 5 emails a week from them still, even though her account is closed too. We have contacted them daily to stop this. We click the unsubscribe each time, but because our accounts are closed, it will not let us log on to unsubscribe! Every time we contact them, we receive a form email that says they will reply in 24 hours but we have never heard back and we still receive the emails. We filed a complaint- about all of it with the Better Business Bureau. They did reply to that and said they would communicate about all of it through there. And they have not replied about any of it to the Better Business Bureau. Apparently though, many people have had problems with lack of access to merchandise, and other scam type behavior by them, which they claim to be 'glitches.'
Also, it says free returns, but that is only if you take site credit. And the information on the sizing is often wrong- particularly for children's clothing. If you search a children's 12, you may receive a 12 month dress or a 12 women's dress. Most things, you can tell from the picture, and style but once in a while, it is unknowable.

ThredUP has good deals. ThredUP offer up to 90% off retail. Yet, thredUP has some problems for both buyers and sellers. They tell consumers that they have a 12-point inspection. When I contacted thredUP support, they could not tell me what the 12-points were. Was the 12-points a fib? I did ask twice.
They do have good deals. So, I ordered three items. One of the items had a very large, obvious stain. They did allow me to return it and stated that once in a while something might be overlooked.

ThredUP touts their virtues. They reclaim clothing. On their Our Impact page, they state "Thrifting can help solve the fashion waste crises." "Buying one used item reduces its carbon, waste, and water footprints by 82%." This all sounds wonderful but there is a problem with their company. The problem is that they are reaping a huge profit at the expense of those who sell their used clothing to thredUP. So, thredUp is environmentally friendly but are they ethical?

Their payouts for sellers are low compared to Poshmark or even Ebay. I found this out when I was getting ready to send clothing that I no longer wanted to thredUP using their cleanout kit. It sounds so easy. You just order a cleanout kit, fill it up and send it to thredUP in the large shipping bag with the prepaid label that they send to you. Thredup sells the items for you. They take the pictures, write the description and post it on their website. After your item is sold, you receive your payout.

All well and good but I had to compare their payouts to other clothing thrift sites. What I found out was that they pay a very low amount for most items. Here is how it works. Anything under a resale price of $100 is paid much less by thredUP than Poshmark or even Ebay. Let me give you a couple of examples. Let's say that you have an item that sells for $50 on any of the three sites. ThredUP pays you $15. Poshmark pays you $40 and Ebay pays you $44 minus shipping of around $5. So, $39. Let's say that one of your items sells for $20. At threUP you will receive a payout of $3. With Poshmark, you will receive $16. With Ebay, you will receive $12.60 after shipping charges. So, let's say that you send in clothing with a resale value of $500 with an average resale value of $25 each. Your total payout for Poshmark would be $400. For Ebay it would also be $400. For thredUP it would be only $100. ThredUP has a good scheme going on.

This is not an innocent situation. They know what they are doing. They post on their Resale Report page "Secondhand Market Set to Hit $64B in the Next 5 Years" "thredUP Weathers Covid Storm Better Than Competition" "82% of America hasn't yet resold clothing, but most consumers are open to doing so. 67% of people who haven't are open to reselling their clothing."

Market Watch states that thredUP "listed revenue of $186 million in 2020, up 14% year-on-year. Net losses grew to $47.9 million in 2020 from $38.2 million in 2019, it said." I hope that the losses were because more people were recycling their clothing through thredUP. They will do this for free. Just mark that you don't want your items returned when you order your cleanout kit. If they really care about the environment, they won't mind.

Then go to Poshmark or Ebay to sell your gently used clothing.

When I first learned of Thred Up, I immediately thought what a great concept. Get rid of some of my nice unwanted items vs having to sit in a garage sale and sell for $1 each. I almost wish now, that I had held a yard sale and have sold items for $1 each. It would have been easier!

First, it takes darn near 2-3 weeks to get a clean out bag. Then you have to wait 2-4 weeks for stuff to go wherever (mine went to Illinois). Then it takes a 1-2 weeks for them to go through your stuff. Then you have to wait 14+ days (I am still going through this process for the first time with 2 bags currently) to get your money.

While I thought that it took extremely long to get through this process, I am more understanding of that, because thredUP pay the cheapest amount possible to ship your items to them. I am okay with that, this is a business.

What I am not okay with is that some of my items that were brand new and had tags on it (aka Loft denim jacket, Nine Britton knit dress), some were gently used like a Clarks purse, 3 piece Tahari suit, misc. Loft shirts), etc. But yet they took items like a pretty worn pair of nine west shoes.

It took me forever to find an actual way to contact Thred Up (you need to download the app on your phone and then you can chat with an employee) to ask them if they just flat out missed items in my bag (this happened to a girlfriend of mine and they just took her word that it was in there and paid her out some small amount of money) and included pictures of those items. This is what I was told: "I apologize we are not able to accept more items from your bags. Our goal is to accept as many items from all customer's bags as we are in the business of accepting/reselling and paying you for these items. However, we do have strict quality standards and acceptance criteria we must also screen for. It doesn't benefit us when we are unable to accept an item for resale".

So my response to them was, you couldn't sell items like the jacket or the dress that were brand new with tags, but you could take a pair of less than perfect shoes (which still haven't sold).

My advice to people who want to sell their stuff to thredUP, would be to just donate the items and take the tax credit or do some extra work and take pictures and sell your items on Poshmark. I will be doing the latter.