You don’t have to live in clutter. Here are 6 places where I’ve learned I can donate or sell used clothes!
Over the past year, I’ve been on a mission to declutter my home, and it’s been a complete game changer for my family.
2 Reasons I Have Been Inspired to Declutter
1. I traveled out of the country.
Last summer my family traveled to Costa Rica for five weeks. Each time I leave the country, I am intrigued by how much less people get by with than we do in the U.S. I have been burdened by the amount of excess we have in our house.
Your home can feel like a prison if you are spending so much time managing your things that you can’t even invite people into your home. I’ve been there, but I don’t want to be any longer.
My grandmother, who passed away when I was in college, was a hoarder. When I say “hoarder,” I mean she was a hoarder like those on the TV show. Although I loved her dearly and have extremely fond memories of her, I was never allowed to spend the night in her home because it was not safe or sanitary.
I have been terrified that I would become like that. My mentor told me that knowing I could be prone to hoarding is the first step, so I have been on a mission to get rid of excess.
2. I listened to The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
I kept hearing this was such a wonderful book. Last year, my friend Crystal from MoneySavingMom.com did a homemaking challenge going through each section of the book.
I got the audio book from the library and listened to it in the car. My girls listened to it with me. They would say, “Mommy, can we listen to the clean-up book again?”
As I decluttered our clothes, I used a combination of six resources for donating or selling our clothes.
6 Places to Donate or Sell Used Clothes
1. ThredUP
ThredUp is an online consignment store that will buy your clothes.
To get started, go to ThredUP.com and request a bag. They will send you a big bag that is already postage paid, and you fill it with clothes.
A potential downside of ThredUP is that your clothes have to be nice brands. I don’t normally buy the best brands or expensive stuff, but I’ve been given hand-me-downs. Some hand-me-downs are in really nice condition, but I can’t wear them for whatever reason, or they just don’t spark joy in my life.
If I’m not going to wear something and it fits the requirements of ThredUP, I will put it in the bag. You can go to ThredUP.com to see the approved list of brands, so you only include items in your bag that are likely to be accepted.
When you’re finished filling your bag, just put the bag in my mailbox. You don’t even have to leave the house!
2. Schoola
Schoola is very similar to ThredUP, but with Schoola, you don’t make any money for yourself. Schoola accepts both children’s and women’s clothing and shoes.
You can choose a school to receive money from anything you send that is sold through Schoola.com.
Schoola is more relaxed in what they will accept than ThredUP. Anything that I can’t put in the ThredUP bag that is still in good enough condition to sell, I put in the Schoola bag.
Once again, the bag is postage paid. I seal it up and put it in my mail box.
3. Local Consignment Sale or Shop
Each consignment shop is different, but it is worth asking what their process is if you have a consignment shop near you.
At my consignment shop, you don’t have to tag the items or price anything yourself. You get a percentage of whatever sells as cash or store credit.
All we have to do is put the clothes on hangers. For anything I run across that is in good enough condition and meets the sizes requirements my shop accepts, I put on a hanger to take to the shop. My local shop also takes toys and shoes for little kids.
An alternative to consignments shops that is likely to make you more money (but also be more time intensive) is selling at seasonal consignment sales.
4. Local Organization or Shelter
I donate clothes that are still good enough to be worn but not quite good enough to be resold. I take those to our local Christian mission. You could also take them to a local homeless shelter.
5. Specific Needs
In her book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Kondo writes about receiving hand-me-downs and feeling guilty about getting rid of them.
She encourages you not to simply give your clothes to a family member unless you know that person is already looking for those items.
I have been the person who has gotten hand-me-downs from people, and I felt guilty getting rid of them after that. They were weighing down that other person’s life, and so they gave them to me thinking they would be a blessing me.
Then why should I let them weigh down my life, too?
I am keeping in mind for the future to not just hand my stuff off to somebody who might not need those items.
6. Garbage or Recycling
I have struggled with this in the past. But it is OK to toss items with holes or permanent stains. There is no reason to feel guilty. An alternative to this is to recycle old clothing through an organization like PlanetAid.
A reader recently told me about PlanetAid, and I was excited to learn about how this organization is helping rescue people from poverty around the world!
Aimee
I love donating my kids’ clothes to our local pregnancy center! I miss volunteering there and feel it’s a small way I can still be involved.
Erin
I LOVE that, Aimee!
Becca
I used to donate my kids’ outgrown clothes and toys to the social worker where I worked, because I knew she was dealing with several families that were really doing it tough and she’d know who would need them and who wouldn’t. I always told her if she couldn’t find a home for something to give it back to me and I’d give it to the op shop instead; but she always told me that she could find a home for anything I gave her – and then she’d often report back to me, “I saw this little girl from a family you visit wearing those gorgeous green pants with the lady bugs. Every time I see them I smile, and she says they’re her favourite pair of pants!”
Erin
That is SO neat that she shared with you how your donations were blessing individuals! I love that, Becca! Thank you for sharing!