In with the old

Decluttering a New Year’s resolution? Online resale is one of the fastest growth areas in fashion, with an array of platforms to choose from, but finding the right one depends on what you’re selling. Here, Vogue’s guide to paying it forward. By Amy Campbe

SELLING SECOND-HAND clothing used to be an intuitive activity. Previously, a pre-loved coat, dress or shirt found its way to eBay, or it was taken to the local market in the hope of exchanging it for money. Not anymore. Today, the resale arena is a high-growth economy propelled by an overwhelming number of online businesses. According to analytics firm GlobalData, the global fashion resale market is estimated to be worth a whopping $68 billion dollars by 2023. The company gathered data from Thredup, an online resale store based in San Francisco, and found it is a market growing 21 times faster than the sale of new clothes.

This is a positive development – evidence fashion is becoming more circular. But with so many avenues for selling, it can be hard to pick the right one, especially if there’s an eclectic mix of luxury designer, contemporary brands and more wallet-friendly items to shift. To save trial and error, we’ve compiled a guide to what type of clothing sells best on which resale platform. Because where you sell also determines how you price, photograph and describe (and in some cases barter over) whatever you’re selling.

LUXURY LABELS

It’s important to do your research before you go to sell anything by an international luxury brand – there could be a really big demand for your piece on the secondhand market, and you want to price it accordingly. It’s also important that you list your item where those shopping for pre-loved luxury are going to see it – just like a brand-new Jean Paul Gaultier coat is unlikely to find a buyer in the bargain basement, your as-new Missoni dress probably isn’t going to sell on a thrift app like Depop.

The two biggest players in the luxury resale space are American platform the RealReal, and Parisian company Vestiaire Collective. Unlike peer-to-peer resale platforms (more on those later), both the RealReal and Vestiaire have fairly rigorous authentication processes in place to eliminate fakes. While Australians can purchase from the RealReal, it doesn’t have an international seller program in place yet. Vestiaire, on the other hand, does. It’s free to sign up, and listing an item is easy – you can set the item price (though the platform suggests a going rate based on similar products) and you don’t even need to photograph yourself wearing whatever you’re selling if you prefer not to – the standard requirement is a flat lay or hanging shot. Be aware of the platform’s commission rates: it takes 25 per cent of the sale price for anything that sells for between $170 and $2,300. Also, given Vestiaire’s network of international members, it’s likely you’ll need

to ship whatever you sell overseas. We recommend factoring in the cost of this when pricing.

eBay works well for luxury pieces, too – opt for setting a ‘buy it now’ price rather than listing your item for auction. A last-minute low bid that wins the auction can disappoint.

CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN DESIGNER

Australian brands may be less familiar to some overseas buyers, so consider the thriving market for them right here. It can be unregulated, however. Most selling activity takes place on brand-specific buy, swap and sell Facebook groups, which are moderated by unpaid admins who do their best, but sometimes illegitimate buyers and sellers slip through.

The groups themselves can be hard to find – search the name of the particular designer followed by ‘buy, swap and sell’ into Facebook – and most groups will require you to request entry, which sounds much more exclusive than it is. Once you’re in, make sure you read the ‘announcements’ section, which usually contains a document on that group’s buying and selling etiquette. Then, you can start posting your listings. Unlike Vestiaire, items that are photographed on the body tend to sell quicker in Facebook groups. A mirror selfie does the trick.

Bricks-and-mortar consignment stores like Goodbyes in Melbourne and Sammy & Sid in Sydney are just some of the places to sell. Like Vestiaire (and unlike Facebook groups) consignment stores do charge a commission, so make sure you’re familiar with those rates before you sign along the dotted line.

NON-LUXURY VINTAGE AND THRIFT

No platform has disrupted the fashion resale landscape quite like Depop. The app’s fun, user-friendly interface means it appealed to a younger generation of fashion fans who are already used to looking at pretty things on their phones. Today, the bulk of Gen-Z uses Depop like they do Instagram – as a means of expressing personal style and gaining social clout, with the added objective of selling the clothes in the images being uploaded.

But you don’t need to be under the age of 23 to sell on Depop (though having an understanding of the dollar amount twentysomethings are willing to part with definitely helps). A treasure trove of thrifted finds – especially those with a 90s or ‘Y2K’ aesthetic – it’s great for selling anything that’s not designer, including ‘vintage’ sportswear by brands like adidas and Nike. On Depop, it’s all about the styling. The more of-themoment you can make a pre-loved knit sweater look, the more likely it is to sell.

Depop is a peer-to-peer marketplace, meaning buyers and sellers can message each other and negotiate prices directly. Be prepared to receive offers that seem laughably low, but if you want to sell here, haggling is the name of the game.

SNEAKERS AND STREETWEAR

If you’re selling a sought-after streetwear brand like Supreme, eBay can often yield the best results – the platform’s listings tend to show up in Google search pages, meaning people searching the specific brand can find your listing quite easily.

Streetwear-specific bricks-and-mortar consignment stores like SWOP, which has outposts in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and Irreplaceable Store in Sydney’s Newtown, can also be good to sell through. If you’ve got a really rare pair of Balenciaga Triple S’s, however, there’s always the big international sneaker marketplaces like GOAT and StockX. Again, just be prepared to pay for shipping.