It all works out in the wash ...

David Meister Dress

So, you've read my previous post (hopefully) about selling to the online consignment store #ThredUp. Well, they accepted (and paid cash up front) for 15 items I sent and are consigning two higher ticketed items for me. Yes, its true they paid me only $103 for all 15 items which works out to less than $7 an item. And I can see how some people would get really angry about that (you can view some reviews about ThredUp at http://www.complaintslist.com/websites/clothing/thredup/ ). But I am not.


To tell you the truth, I used my experience with ThredUp to pay closer attention to what I purchase and what earns (that's right, EARNS) a place in my closet. Let's look at a few reasons why I am not angry about getting less than $7 an item on the clothes ThredUp bought from me:

1. I cleaned out my closet -- My closet should be a reflection of me but lately that reflection has been pretty ugly and cluttered with JUNK (remember, one woman's junk is another woman's treasure)
2. I made money -- albeit not a lot but more than I had with clothes sitting in my closet that I never wore or if I had donated them to the charity thrift store
3. They did all the work -- sent me a bag, photographed my clothes, took payments (on consignment orders), shipped the items to buyers, marketed my items to hundreds of thousands of shoppers
4. Online transparency -- I actually got to see how much my clothes were listed for (honestly, the prices they charged for some high-quality stuff like #JuicyCouture and #AnneKlein were really reasonable and they didn't make much more than $7-15 dollars on each of my items anyway -- so its not like they gave me $1 for a #Talbots skirt and sold it for $100, far from it) and which items sold 
5. Consigning made simple -- I got to control the price of the consignment items (see photo above of my only remaining consignment item)
6. Store credit -- About what I said before about being more careful about what goes into my closet of reflection ... well, I used my store credit to really concentrate on buying high quality items that were timeless pieces

A few things I didn't like about selling to ThredUp:

1.  I had to pay $12.99 to get the clothes they didn't want back. Of course I didn't have to pay anything to ship the clothes to them so maybe that evens it all out
2.  The suggested retail prices for items was a bit too hard to believe -- I suppose its from the tags with the brand new items but I know I didn't pay $398 for the cute white dress (photo above) by #DavidMeister at #Neiman Marcus, it was more like $250-$300
3. The processing time for them to go through your bag of items is a little long -- it took them more than a month to go through and post my items
4. They don't contact you to let them know they received you I had to send an online form asking if they got it or not to which they replied they got it more than a week prior

Let's face it, ThredUp is a business to make money -- they provide a service and get paid for that service (i.e. providing sellers a place to show their wares and buyers a medium to purchase from many sellers). First of all, no one is going to pay you 50% of your purchase price for pre-worn clothes. It ain't gonna happen no matter how well you took care of them. Clothes are like cars, they depreciate 80% as soon as you remove the tags and wear it once. Secondly, no one values your clothes more than you do so you gotta let it go emotionally. That #BetseyJohnson tutu skirt has been in your closet for 5 years, you don't want it (or in my case should NOT wear it), so let someone else love it. Finally, think about the buying aspects. If your clothes are cheaply bought, so are someone else's and then you can go buy other people's clothes for cheap. Like my grandmother always said, "it all works out in the wash."

 

Time is money ...

I recently went to #Nordstrom Rack just to purchase some inexpensive sandals. As many of my readers know, 95% of the time, I choose quality over quantity and have no problem dropping good money for well-made goods. This just happened to be one of those 5% times where I needed a cheap pair of sandals quickly for a weekend away.


I didn't have time to wait for a cheap pair from Amazon and my foot is really difficult to fit shoes to properly so I needed to try them on. Besides, I had a $20 coupon for Nordstrom Rack and wanted to use it. I searched that shoe section for an hour trying to find something that fit my foot, was not made in China and that was under $50. I got two out of three (under $50 and fits really well, still made in China). I also found a cute pair of black flats for $40 as well


Here is where it gets interesting. The shoes (each cost approximately $39) less than $80 for both and I had a $20 off any purchase coupon. So, my purchase price went down to $60 for both. I found the same two pair of shoes for $15 cheaper each on #Amazon (with free shipping). So, did I spend the time, fuel and effort to take the shoes back so I can order them on Amazon or is my time worth more than $10?


This is a question I ask myself often. Do I go to three different grocery stores and spend an hour clipping coupons so I can save $20? Well, I don't know about you but my time, at least according to my tax records, is worth about $30 an hour and I have better things to do with my $30 an hour than trek around town to save $10. In case you are wondering, I ended up not taking the shoes back. So, the moral of the story is this, do you spend more time (which is money) trying to save money when you really only break even? And a second thought, do you know your real worth enough to know when wasting your time to save a buck really is wasting your money?

I'm a snob ...

I was recently called a snob by a "friend" who found my taste in clothes "snobbish." Now, I could have countered her quip with something like "I'm not a snob, I just have good taste." But I refuse to make excuses for my 5 top beliefs about clothes, which are:

1. Quality will always win over quantity (cheaply-made clothes have no place in my heart or against my skin)
2. I do not follow trends and fads (the grunge look and bell bottoms may be back in style but they will not be in my closet)
3. I will not be influenced by celebrities ( I don't care what Kim Kardashian wore to the Met Gala)
4. I will not be a walking billboard for designer brands (in other words, I won't be wearing "Juicy," "Nike," or any other words across my ass on a pair of sweatpants and even if I LOVE a designer, I will not be wearing Chanel's "CC" or the Nike swoosh if it is bigger than a dime anywhere on my body)
5. Fast fashion is for my wardrobe as fast food is for my waistline (i.e. not good at all!)

That said, let me explain the reason I was called a snob. I found a nifty website called www.snobswap.com which links luxury consignment boutiques online so I can just shop in one place. It's a step above in luxury than www.thredup.com which I profiled a few weeks ago. #Snobswap has the largest selection of luxury designer goods online from consignment shops across the nation. For example, I recently saw some pre-owned Jil Sanders sandals (originally a few hundred dollars when they are brand new) on sale for $75 which would have been a steal had they not been so worn. And they have a great selection of my favorite designers: Catherine Malandrino, Betsey Johnson and Diane von Furstenberg.

As with any other store, you can sometimes get good deals on both #SnobSwap and #ThredUp but then sometimes you don't. You have to read the descriptions of each of the items and you do have to do your research (e.g. a #Hermes purse will run you a thousand dollars or more USED, but they will last forever -- a zombie Apocalypse wouldn't hurt these purses; on the other hand Louis Vuitton has not been very kind to me in the past in the wear-n-tear department).

Anyway, because I was shopping on #SnobSwap instead of #ThredUp, my friend called me a snob. Well, I guess I am! Aren't you?