Name:
Amy

Age:
64

Location:
Washington D.C. metro

How long have you been shopping and/or selling resale?
10 years

What are your favorite places (physical and/or digital) to shop fashion resale?
The RealReal, thredUP, and any place I see something that catches my eye.

What are your favorite places (physical and/or digital) to sell fashion resale or consign?
The RealReal and thredUP.

What is your favorite piece you’ve ever purchased resale?
Tiffany Paloma Melody five band sterling silver ring from The RealReal.

What makes you feel confident?
Great hair and nails and makeup (the COVID-19 pandemic has actually had one benefit for me - the learned ability to leave the house without any makeup whatsoever), but generally, presenting my best self does the trick.  

What’s something you’re proud of?
My career, my gorgeous new house, my husband’s three year old new heart. Qualifying for and surviving heart transplant surgery is no joke.

What is one of your current ambitions?
Some more career success before retirement. Staying chic!

What makes you laugh?
Sometimes mocking myself or the craziness of life. Sometimes a good joke, particularly an inside one.

What’s your go-to resale shopping or selling tip/advice?
I first dipped my toes into resale to get a little cash out of clothes that were a mistake or just did not do it for me any more. There’s not a ton of money to be made there, unless the pieces are pretty high-end, but even then, it’s not amazing. It is a little cash to spend on a new-to-you item.  Also, for me selling can assuage buyer’s remorse or guilt over items that just did not work out.  A great example is a Mulberry handbag I bought wholesale in London through a family friend with a connection, as the Brits would say, yonks ago. I loved it, but it turned out to be quite heavy, just too much of a load on my shoulder when schlepping to and from the metro.  I finally put it up for sale on The RealReal and was pleasantly surprised with the yield for the bag that was more than a decade old.

The lesson here was to know your market. I had tried a few years before to sell it with thredUP and they rejected it. Luckily, I wondered whether that might happen, and paid for the return service on that bag.  So, take a look in your closet and be honest with yourself. Is there stuff you’re not likely to use again? Let it go. You might just end up with a nice pocket full of change.  Or a different bag or dress.  Seller beware though: thredUP only keeps your items posted for so long. If you don’t ask for them to be returned (which reduces how much money you get from what you do sell) then they disappear; thredUP donates them. 

As for buying clothes on the resale market, as a not-so-young women whose middle has not benefitted from menopause or COVID-19/teleworking, it’s often hard to gauge sizes, so my experience has been hit or miss. Selling handbags and jewelry through The RealReal (a lot of vintage from my mother’s collection) has been at times rewarding and at times frustrating. Vintage styles are harder to authenticate and I have had things returned to me because they could not be authenticated, even though I know they are the real deal. Also, if for example, you have an Hermes scarf to sell, it better still have all the sewn-on tags or it won’t be accepted. I get it, but when you’re the seller, it’s disappointing.  But the sales of one vintage Chanel bag of my mother’s and her collection of vintage Guccis were wonderful, and buys like the Tiffany Paloma ring make my heart sing.  I got it for about a third of what it sells for retail.  Similarly, I got a particular David Yurman bracelet (so I could have a coordinated stack of three) for less than half of what it would cost to buy new.  

My best advice for buying: know your style. Does the item seem like something you will enjoy wearing?  You can take a risk too and try out a new look. Check the return policy, always.  

My best advice about selling: If you’re selling it yourself, be honest about the item. If you’re selling through a business, make sure your items look current, are clean, and in very good condition.