Fashion is dangerous to the environment because of the time it takes for textiles to break down and the resources used, but as the interest for clothing rises rapidly, it’s starting to be produced twice as fast only to be worn half as long. Reselling apps became very popular to combat the effects that discarded textiles have on the environment and let sellers make money off of old clothing, but they all have their pros and cons.
Depop quickly became my favorite app because it was so easy to use. Clothing is easy to find and clothing feed is based on your own preferences. When it comes to actually selling clothes, Depop lets you use your own shipping or they’ll ship items for you; meaning, you don’t have to get a shipping label because Depop lets you print one off instead. When buying or selling, shoppers can chat with the other person to work out any details and later rate them to help other buyers or sellers know how reliable they are. It also lets you put on sales and discounts on your store whenever you want. I had a problem with a seller shipping me an item because of international regulations, but Depop and Paypal helped me resolve the issue quickly, and I easily received a refund. Overall, this app is definitely worth your time.
A friend of mine recommended another app called Curtsy. They offer you packaging to ship your items in, and they recommended to you clothes that would fit your style or sizes. When it comes to selling clothes on Curtsy, it has you list items similarly to how you would on Depop, by describing it and how much it costs. After posting the listing, Curtsy also tells the user how much you will make in profit as well as how many people see and like your product. You can use Curtsy to ship your clothes instead of handling it yourself, like Depop, but Curtsy lets listings circulate to more people, which might help them sell better because of the daily sales they offer on specific items. Unfortunately, finding clothes I liked wasn’t as easy on Curtsy as it was on Depop. Still, shipping was easy and items sold rather quickly.
I also came across two other apps that showed promise. I downloaded Miiriya, a reselling app specifically designed to benefit Black owned businesses. While it’s relatively new and not as developed as other apps, it functions just like them, and helps Black businesses earn a profit.
I also tried ThredUp, which seems very professional. Sellers send their clothing to a ThredUp facility, and they advertise the products for them. If an item sells, they send sellers the money. The only downside to this is that sellers have less control over the items they’re selling, but ThredUp succeeds in ensuring that buyers and sellers have good experiences.
Overall, each app had its values and I would recommend them all to anyone. I would say Depop is the best of these apps to buy from because everything is so easy to find. In comparison, I think Curtsy is the best app to sell from because Curtsy advertises your clothing items to more people and does more to promote your clothes. In addition, I think Miiriya is a great app for supporting Black communities and products, and even though it’s just getting off the ground, it’s doing a great job to help those sellers. Finally, Thredup, a bit more professional than other sites, is great at ensuring that transactions go by smoothly. They all succeed at combating fast fashion in that instead of old clothes being discarded to pollute the environment, they are able to find a home with someone else who will love them just as much. No matter what app you use, shipping is based off of the size of the item. Small, lightweight packages will most likely cost under $5 to ship, while bigger packages could cost up to $20. Clothing prices are determined by the seller, and they can also choose to put on sales to help their items sell faster. Depending on the seller, using reselling apps could be very cost effective in comparison to thrifting, but some may sell items at higher prices to make more of a profit. Regardless, each app has their pros and cons, but I’m sure that someone will find what they’re looking for on any of these sites.
