The FJ Guide To: Selling Your Old Stuff

Because garage sales are no longer a thing.

There are a number of reasons to sell old clothes. You’re at the end of a spring clean, your wardrobe explodes on top of you every time you open it, you want to sell the loved possessions of an ex or you simply need the money. Whatever your motivation, FJ is here to help.

Deciding where to sell you pre-loved items all depends on what the items are and how committed you yourself are to selling them.

In our opinion the days of garage sales have pretty much come to an end, but in their place has sprung a multitude of options.

Online Marketplaces

The most obvious choice is of course Ebay. The retail giant is the birthplace of the online marketplace. With access to global markets, and the capacity to sell everything from old socks to the most prestigious of designer items there isn’t much stopping you from offloading your unwanted goods to the rest of the online world. However, if your piece is lacking a well-known name or logo, you can often be sorely disappointed by a lack of bids.

That’s where Etsy comes in. Kind of like the Ebay for Indies, Etsy is a website where you can sell and buy handmade items and unique vintage pieces. The crowd of shoppers on Etsy aren’t looking for a brand name that they know, so it’s a better alternative than Ebay for selling your unheard of items or granny knitted sweaters. Be warned though, its very, very niche.

If you are looking for a more professional touch and think your clothes have what it takes, retail megastore ASOS has also launched its own ASOS marketplace. Here you can sell clothes much like you would on Ebay, or if you have a lot of clothes, you can set up your very own boutique on their site. With a much broader reach than Facebook groups and a more specific target market than Ebay, this new initiative could be exactly what you are looking for. And potentially the future for the selling and buying of fashion. 

Social Media is increasingly gaining traction as an effective channel of selling vintage clothes. You always have the option of selling the items direct from your own Facebook or Instagram account.

If you have the time, connections and stock, you’re readily able to set up your own Instagram or Facebook group to offload your unwanted items. Depending on what you have to sell and how good you are at marketing, this could be the best way to get rid of a lot while keeping all the profits. But if your friend count is too low or too picky, there are an abundance of groups that will bring the market to you.

Facebook Groups

One of the larger ones going around is Penny Lane. The closed group has a large number of shoppers, giving you the benefit of more potential buyers. Penny however has strict guidelines of who and what can sell on her page (no fur etc.) and the invitation-only group is also not the easiest to get accepted into. So if you would rather avoid the rigmarole of guidelines and becoming a chosen one there are few other more relaxed groups out there.

Penny Lane’s female dominated group also doesn’t leave many options for male clothing. For the boys, there is the ‘clothes for sale Melbourne: men’ group, which has an abundance of men’s clothing to be sold and picked up around Melbourne. Selling everything from Nike to Acne to Iphone’s this page is a good option for selling Australian designers, streetwear and sneakers.

If you are a bit more alternative, there is the aptly named ‘alternative clothes for sale Melbourne’. Which as you can guess, is a better place for selling alternative pieces.

Markets and Stores

If you have a lot of junk that you are willing to hoard off for a few dollars a box, then you can’t really go past your age-old trash and treasure. There’s a bunch of Saturday and Sunday markets around where people flock to buy and sell second hand apparel and goods, often at extremely low prices. But if getting up at 5am on a Sunday and haggling over 50 cents isn’t for you, then don’t worry there are plenty more options (see above).

But what about that prized vintage Chanel jacket you need to sell to pay for an overseas flight? One word: Eurotrash. The high-end designer boutique on Melbourne’s Chapel Street specialises in selling unique and luxurious vintage pieces. All you have to do is drop in your item and you will receive a cut of the profits once its been sold.  

Whatever channel you choose, there’s no better feeling than shedding some of the dust collecting pieces of yesteryear. And by sharing the love you’re also set to make a happy profit.