How to Get Cash for Your Clothing Castoffs

Poshmark

I tend to use this service for higher-quality items, because for just a little more work I can make more money per item. You use your smartphone to snap some pictures (the more the better), add a description, set a price, then post it. If your item sells, Poshmark emails you a prepaid, preaddressed mailing label so you can box it up and send it to the buyer. Among resale sites, Poshmark and ThredUp have the biggest pools of customers, but to maximize sales on Poshmark, it helps to be active in its social media community by frequently posting listings, following other sellers and sharing their posts. In return for your efforts, you get 80 percent of the sales price, or, for items less than $15, the sales price minus $2.95. There's no fee to cash out, whether you spend the money to shop on Poshmark or request a check.

Tradesy

This site, which offers payouts similar to Poshmark's, has a smaller, more designer-focused audience but is easier to use. It guides you through the listing process, enhances the photos you take and can suggest a selling price. You'll receive about 80 percent of the sales price for items that go for $50 or more; for less expensive ones, Tradesy will instead take a $7.50 cut, which is one of the reasons I don't sell cheaper items here. Like ThredUp, Tradesy charges a fee for cashing out that's waived if you spend your profits on its site.

Lisa Lee Freeman, cohost of the Hot Shopping Tips podcast, was founder and editor in chief of ShopSmart magazine from Consumer Reports.

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