A New Way to Clean Out Your Closet: thredUP

Once a month (or so) we go through our closets and drawers and pull out the stuff we've stopped wearing. We fill a bag and take it to the local thrift store. Often, the clothes in those bags have barely been worn. Now, instead of giving away those gems, you could swap them for other pieces of gently-worn clothes ...

ThredUP is a pretty interesting concept. It works much like the book-swapping sites we've talked about here at Re-nest (Bookmooch, etc).

You create a profile that lists your size and describes your style, you list the items of clothes you're no longer wearing and are willing to swap, and then you send and receive items of clothing using thredUPs prepaid envelopes.

It sounds like a pretty sweet setup. We're definitely going to give it a try—we can already think of a few items that we'll be sending off very soon.

Via Treehugger

Image: ThredUp

Comments (6)

If you have enough hardly worn clothes that you can clean some out on a monthly basis, seems like changing your purchasing patterns might be the most sustainable option.

posted by Indy Jeffrey on September 28th 2009 at 6:23pm
view Indy Jeffrey's profile

Agreed.

posted by Jim L. on September 29th 2009 at 8:38am
view Jim L.'s profile

My thoughts exactly!

posted by bmb on September 29th 2009 at 10:19am
view bmb's profile

ha! that's what i was thinking. i do a thrift-store cleanout a couple times a year at most, and much of that is clothing my child has outgrown. still, a clothes swap is a cool idea; everyone has that nearly-new sweater from mom that you never really liked and barely wore...

posted by dahliamoon on September 29th 2009 at 11:47am
view dahliamoon's profile

I agree that it's good to minimize frivolous purchases, but I still think this is a clever idea.

posted by theninthcloud on September 29th 2009 at 1:03pm
view theninthcloud's profile

Hello?! Am I the only person who has been given many, *many* unwearable items of clothing by well-intentioned relatives who *always* lose the damn receipt?

Every single holiday, my mom gives me a t-shirt that is way too small, way too large, cut too low for my cleavage, cut too high on my neck, way too short for my long torso, etc., and she always loses the receipt. It's infuriating, since I need clothes but can't wear the ones I'm given (and she tends to buy 'em at stores that have nothing for odd figures like mine).

I know what I'm doing with the cute, but unflattering, Marilyn Monroe shirt she recently gave me.

posted by Stiletto on September 30th 2009 at 3:51am
view Stiletto's profile