Episode 213: The Clotheshorse Guide to Secondhand Shopping, part 2: The internet is a secondhand mall.

Welcome to Clotheshorse, the podcast that is for the first time ever, recording with two cats in the room!

I’m your host Amanda and this is episode 213, recorded as (almost always) here in my office at Clotheshorse World Headquarters in scenic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  This week’s episode is part two in a two part series “The Clotheshorse Guide to Secondhand Shopping.” In part one, we talked about tips for shopping secondhand IRL.  And this week we’ll be talking about shopping secondhand online! 

So what are we talking about this week?

• I’ll walk you through a lot of different options for finding just about anything secondhand.  Some names will be super familiar, and others will probably be new.
• I’ll share best practices for shopping secondhand online: from how to search, the little tricks I use to track down the measurements and other information, how to make offers without being a jerk, and so much more.
• And we’ll wrap it all up with a visit from Dustin, who is going to give us some advice about how to buy secondhand electronics online!

We have a lot to cover, so let’s just jump right in!

Without a doubt, we live in the golden era of shopping secondhand.  Sure, there are more places to shop IRL than ever before, but it’s really the rise of so many secondhand platforms online that makes it relatively easy to find just about anything you need secondhand!

These secondhand platforms fall into two different categories:

• Big platforms where people send their unwanted clothing.  These companies sort through it, photograph it, list it, ship it, provide the customer service.  The Real Real and ThredUp are the big ones here.
• Platforms where where individuals list their items, then sell them to other individuals.  This is called peer-to-peer selling. The platforms exist solely to create a space for people to sell their items.  And they take a cut of every sale.

So let’s talk about the first type:

ThredUp:  Massive selection and low prices.  Also easy to shop by brand. Great for kids’ stuff. However, I find the measurements for products to be wildly inaccurate, so I recommend only shopping brands where you know your size well. The photography here can be hilariously bad, so it’s good to try to find the item on the original brand’s website to see what you are really getting.

The Real Real: similar to ThredUp, but with exclusively designer brands. The site assures customers that everything is authenticated, but there have been many stories of customers being sold knockoffs.  And I still see items that are part of diffusion collections (like a collab at Target) being sold as the real brand on The Real Real.  

What about the peer-to-peer options?

Poshmark:  If you’re looking for specific brands/styles (or you’re just a big fan of a particular brand), this is a great place to start.  Searching by brand and size is fairly easy.  This is also great if you’re looking to buy a second pair of your favorite jeans, work clothes, kids stuff, and shoes.  You can also find vintage here. Great for sneakers!

Mercari:  Another platform that is great for looking for specific brands and items.  Also, an amazing source for home goods and other non-apparel items.  I actually find a lot of my secondhand gifts on Mercari, like nice glassware and kitchen stuff. However, lately I have found a lot more scammy listings on Mercari, so be careful and make sure that the listing shows the actual item (not just photos from a website). Also look for pricing that seems ridiculously cheap.  That said, I recently bought a new Bose bluetooth speaker from Mercari and the transaction was seamless.

Depop:  A great mix of brands, vintage, and handmade stuff. I have found that the sizes available here tend to skew towards the smaller end, but not always.  Depop is now owned by Etsy.

Etsy:  Find vintage and upcycled clothing and other items.

eBay:  Do not snooze on eBay! It is a great source for contemporary and vintage clothing. Both eBay and Etsy also have scammy listings for low quality drop ship clothing, so read listings carefully.

Vinted: Vinted is a lot more popular in Europe, but it is picking up in popularity here in North America. 

Style Crush:  Many of the platforms I have mentioned here really squeeze the sellers with fees and shipping costs, but Style Crush is working to change this.  I love what they are doing!

Brand-specific Facebook groups:  I love Nooworks and Selkie, and both brands have FB groups for swapping and reselling.  Just about every brand or aesthetic has a group just for this purpose!

Speaking of Facebook: Basically the only reasonsI still have a facebook is 1. So I can follow the secondhand groups, 2. Because Lancaster County has a yard sale group, 3. Facebook Marketplace.  While I have never bought clothing on Facebook Marketplace, I have over the years purchased the following: a computer monitor, desk chair, several pieces of furniture, a washer and a dryer, a dishwasher, a heat press for making upcycled Clotheshorse merch, and a puppet theatre.  Now, there are people also selling stuff that can ship to you on Facebook Marketplace, but I usually filter for local pickup only. The prices here are often infinitely lower than anywhere else because people are generally just trying to get rid of things.

And speaking of getting rid of things: your Buy Nothing group or Freecycle can also be places to find the things you need.

And also:  Don’t forget that there are a ton of amazing resellers selling just about anything you can imagine on Instagram.

More and more brands are starting their own resale platforms using Treet.

But wait, there’s more:

Unclaimed Baggage: Yep, it’s exactly what it sounds like. According to the website, “Our merchandise is a combination of unclaimed baggage and cargo, primarily from commercial airlines, but also from buses, trains, trucks, and other travel, hospitality and transportation sources.” They have a huge retail store in Alabama (which I would love to visit), but they also sell online.  And it’s an eclectic blend of clothing, luggage, outdoor gear, beauty products, souvenirs, and electronics. They even have vintage!

Back Market is a website that sells refurbished electronics, from headphones to computers to phones, and everything in between.  Everything has a one year warranty and the prices are significantly lower than buying something new.

You From Me is a platform for buying gently used (or maybe even never used, just sort of overshopped) beauty products including makeup, skincare, and hair care.

Make + Mend is a creative reuse shop in Somerville, MA that also has a very robust online shop, where you can buy all kinds of secondhand craft and art supplies!

I almost exclusively buy secondhand books, from many different places including Thriftbooks and Abebooks.  Just google “used books online” for many, many options.

This is for sure NOT an exhaustive list because there are just SO MANY online resources for secondhand shopping. So if there is one I missed, send me an email or an audio message. Clotheshorse is a NO GATEKEEPING zone! 

No matter which platform you choose for shopping secondhand online, there are a few best practices to follow:

• When it comes to clothing, shoes, accessories, etc…Always check the measurements for items for sale online.  If they are not available or seem wrong, either reach out to the seller for more info, or skip the item altogether. Also, let me give you a piece of advice that I have learned the hard way: if you reach out to a seller asking for measurements (or really asking any other question), and they don’t respond….this is the red flag to NOT buy this item. Why? Well, it could be a scam listing.  The person may have listed it a long time ago and since then has forgotten about or even doesn’t know where it is.  Or they may not even be active on that platform.
• When it comes to the large platforms where the inventory is being photographed, listed, sold and shipped (rather than sold by an individual, like on Poshmark or Depop), asking for help is more complicated.  I find a lot of incorrect measurements on The Real Real and ThredUp.  
  • In those situations, I do a few different things:
    • I look at the brand’s website to see if the item is still for sale and if the product page includes measurements.  More and more brands are actually starting to include garment measurements on product pages and it is a game changer.  
    • If this is a vintage item or the brand doesn’t do garment measurements or the item is no longer for sale on the brand’s website, that’s when I get super sleuthy.  
      • If I know the name of the style (like, the name given by the brand) I’ll google that exact name, look at the results under “shopping” and see if someone else is selling this item secondhand.  If I find an exact match in my size and the seller has provided measurements, I’ll probably just buy it from that person instead.  Why? Because providing measurements indicates an extra level of care and I want to support that! And furthermore, I would rather buy from an individual seller than a corporation.  Oftentimes I actually find that the item was already sold but the product listing is still there with the measurements.  Yay! In other cases I might find one size up or down, but I can gauge from the measurements on those pieces if the size I’m currently considering will fit me.
      • But let’s say you don’t know the name of the style or you’re coming up empty handed on your search.  I often try an image search instead. I’ll take a screenshot of the item I’m considering and then I’ll use google image search to find it.  I have had a lot of success there, even with vintage items!
      • And I want to call out here that knowing the measurements of an item that isn’t clothing is just as important.  A bag that looks like a tote-size in the photos might actually be a clutch! And btw…if you’re shopping for a bag online, be sure to look at photos of the inside of that bag because that is where you can find some gross stuff.
• Read the full product description and take note of any damage or wear that is called out. This will save you a lot of disappointment! Can we take a moment to take a vow together? I know that sounds culty, but I promise this is a good one.  Put your hand over your heart and repeat after me:
  •  “I do solemnly promise as a member of the slow fashion community that I will always read the product description of every item I am buying, whether it is new or secondhand. I’ll be sure to look for fabric content, measurements, and any important information that states explicitly what is for sale.” 
  • Thanks for indulging me on that one.  Something I have talked about here in the past is that brands are looking for ways to get us to buy stuff as fast as possible. Why? So that we don’t think about it too hard. The more we think and do our research, the less likely we are to impulse shop. And that’s bad for business! So you’ll notice more and more as you shop from different retailers and brands that the product information is lowkey hidden. And to read it, you have to expand certain sections of the page by clicking on a plus sign or other symbol.  There are a lot of things about slow fashion that are revolutionary: buying less stuff, making things last for a long time via care and repair, rejecting trends and social media tropes like wearing something new for every event, and so on. One thing to add to that list of revolutionary habits of slow fashion: getting all the details and taking our time before making a purchase.  That includes reading the product description!
• That also means examining photos closely. Look for damage, wear, stains, and fading. These things aren’t necessarily dealbreakers—I love a good stain removal challenge–but it’s important to know what you will need to fix and figure out if 1. It’s something you can do yourself or 2. Something you are willing to pay someone else to do.  Also another word of warning: be wary of any product listing that only uses photos from a brand website. I recommend skipping any item that doesn’t include a photo of the actual garment. This could be a scam, but it could also be a new seller who just doesn’t know what they are doing.  So you could also just ask to see photos of the item. That’s not rude or “extra” to ask. If you’re shopping for non-clothing items, it’s important to know if the item is missing a part or needs some repair or cleaning. Like, does that laptop come with its charging cable? Does the food processor come with its manual and all of the blades? These are things that can be a dealbreaker.
• Like every other part of the internet, the world of secondhand is full of acronyms and abbreviations. Know the lingo:
  • NWT: “new with tags,” the item still has its original tags and was only tried on, but not worn.
  • NWOT: “new without tags,” the item no longer has its original tags but was only tried on, never worn.
  • EUC: “excellent used condition,” worn once or twice, shows no sign of wear.

• One of the pros of being able to shop secondhand online is it opens you up to almost an infinite offering of secondhand stuff. The cons? How do you find it all when its scattered across so many platforms? Searching for stuff online is kind of an art, but it’s also based in science. Secondhand shopping is a great way to use all of the features of the internet in one day!
  • If you have an exact item in mind, search using the brand name and the product name from the retailer’s website.  
  • But let’s say you saw something on Thred Up or The Real Real and you don’t know what the item is called? Once again, screen shot it and do a google image search! I find SO MUCH success there!
  • In fact, I also use that little hack when I’m secondhand shopping IRL.  Maybe I’ll find a dress and I’m like “this is perfect…except it’s not my size!” I’ll take a photo and use the google app on my phone to search.  Btw I’m aware that google is an evil company, but it’s hard to turn down a free tool that makes life easier.
  • Filter by size/color on every platform. You can usually also filter by brand, silhouette, etc.
  • Save searches for things you are trying to track down. Some platforms will send you a notification when a new item is listed. My eBay saved searches list is long and esoteric, but it saves me so much time!
  • This is also a great time to mention two tools that are also great for making the infinite size of the internet a little bit more manageable:
    • GEM is a great search tool janet
    • for secondhand and vintage items.  I’ve been looking for a white nightgown for my Halloween costume for months now, with no luck IRL. Thanks to GEM–I just typed in “cottagecore white nightgown,”  I am actually watching a few cottagecore white nightgowns right now and I’m just trying to pick which one is my favorite.  GEM uses API to access the listings on Etsy, ebay, Poshmark, Depop, basically all of the secondhand platforms, and vintage stores around the world. In fact, if you own a vintage shop and you sell stuff from your website, you should absolutely get yourself listed on GEM.  It is FREE for vintage/secondhand stores to be included in the search results. And of course, it’s free for shoppers to use, too.
    • I also love Beni.  Beni is a plug in that you install to your web browser. When you’re looking at new items on regular websites, Beni will recommend secondhand versions from around the internet.  Beni is also free to use.
• Follow sellers who share your size and aesthetic! It’s the equivalent of following your favorite brand/store. Many sellers also sell on IG or on their own websites, often with a wider offering and better pricing.
• Now let’s take a minute to talk about pricing, offers, and free shipping.  
  • Be aware that when you ask a seller for free shipping, you are asking for a discount. Why? Because the seller will still be paying the full price to ship to you.
  • Next, don’t lowball people just to lowball. The meaning of the word lowball in this context is “offer an unrealistically low price.” Like, if someone has something listed for $100, don’t offer $50.  My best advice is to never ask for more than 25% off the asking price.  And know that the seller might still say “no” or push back with a discount somewhere in between.  If that price still doesn’t feel right to you, save the item/”watch” it, and wait to see if the price goes down over time. Usually it does if no one swoops in to buy it first.  Or the seller might send you a discount.  It’s important to remember that while $100 might seem too high to you, it’s the perfect price to someone else.  And if it’s the wrong price for everyone, the seller WILL come down in price.  It’s worth the wait if it’s something you really want!
  • Also, real talk: lowballing is just rude and wastes people’s time. It’s also kinda hurtful.  Like “I don’t respect you enough to come in anywhere close to the price you are asking.” The internet is already filled with a lot of disrespectful, cruel behavior toward strangers, why add more it? Furthermore, slow fashion is all about community and care, along with respect towards people participating in the circular economy. Lowballing and being shitty are just not a part of that.
  • And speaking of community and care, don’t forget to rate and review your purchases. Here’s the thing: no one is looking for a critical review of the item and seller.  You are not the Siskel + Ebert of secondhand shopping.  If you received the item in a timely manner and it was in line with how it was represented on the product page, meaning: condition and fit…then give that person five stars. If something didn’t fit you well (but the measurements matched what the seller gave) don’t deduct a star. If the shipping carrier lost the package for a few days or it was delayed by weather, don’t deduct a star.  If it is anything less than a “I received what I bought” situation, you should be discussing with the seller before leaving a negative review.  Those reviews impact future transactions for them. We want people to thrive in the secondhand, circular economy, so its important that we are supportive.

One thing I was always super nervous about buying secondhand was electronics! I was just so worried about buying the wrong thing…although, to be fair, I did buy a secondhand Samsung flip phone on ebay back in like 2002.  And a secondhand iPod (also from ebay) a few years later.  So I wasn’t totally avoiding electronics, but it wasn’t something I did regularly.  But the reality is that we SHOULD be buying electronics secondhand when possible because e-waste is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.  And furthermore, creating these items involves depleting resources that are to be honest, limited in quantity.  The supply chains for these devices are also filled with ethical and human rights issues.  The impact of all of the gadgets in our lives could be an entire episode.  In fact, if you are an expert in e-waste or electronics recycling, reach out to me because I want to talk! 

So yes, we should be opting for secondhand devices.  Fortunately, I live with an expert in this area and his name is Dustin.  He agreed to share some of his advice for shopping online for secondhand electronics…let’s take a listen!

Thanks to Dustin for sharing his expertise with us! Fun fact: we actually recorded that conversation sitting at our kitchen table, using a device I bought secondhand from a company that rents out recording and camera gear.  We used it to record the audio for all of the videos in the livestreaming episodes, along with conversations at the Jamboree.  And I’m taking it to Japan to record some episodes there.  

So that’s all for this week’s episode of Clotheshorse. If you have more to contribute to the conversation–maybe a platform I missed or some advice that you think is important–send it my way via email or as an audio message.  Let’s keep this conversation going! My email is [email protected].

The last thing I just want to say this week–and while this is primarily focused on all of you Americans, it applies to everyone listening…VOTE! Seriously! 

I am pretty pragmatic about how government and elections really work.  Meaning: I’m realistic, tempering my expectations with reality. I was telling Dustin this morning that there will never be a presidential candidate in this country that is as progressive as me. I want free healthcare, free education, a $25 minimum wage, universal basic income, extremely strict environmental regulations on companies, a massive upgrade to our current public transportation infrastructure, EPR regulation, and so much more. Okay, maybe some day there WILL be a candidate who believes in all of those things, but we’ll never get there if we aren’t all taking an active role in our democracies by voting, communicating with our elected representatives, and TBH, running for office ourselves. 

And here’s something else that I know: I’ll never see a government with the kind of policies I want if I don’t vote for the candidate who is at least moving in that direction, who is on my side of the spectrum. We don’t have to agree on everything–after all, what I want may not be what everyone else wants, and TBH, I could be completely wrong. Progress takes time, and it takes a shift in policy that comes from voting for people who you think could move policy in the direction you want.  In every election, there has been a clear candidate who was on my half of the political spectrum, and one who was definitely not.  And never has that been clearer than now. Both sides are NOT the same.  I care about people and our planet.  I can’t sit this election out just because there isn’t a perfect candidate.  So please, check your voter registration. Do some reading about the other races in your area–out here we are starting to deal with school board candidates who want to ban books–all of the electoral races matter. 

What I have learned the especially hard way since 2016 is that it’s easy to be frustrated and disappointed by the options you have for voting, but it’s painful to live with the consequences of people not showing up to vote. Kids in cages at the border.  Legislation that targets trans people. The end of reproductive freedom in many states.  So many people dying of covid that just didn’t have to die. Life has been scarier and harder for so many people since 2016. Let’s not make it worse.  

 And the thing is: when we vote collectively, we win.  As I always say here, one person can’t change the world alone, but when we all work together, we can and will do amazing things.  That’s the same with elections: one person voting doesn’t do much, but voting as a community makes a big difference. Everyone on my road has a Trump sign in their yard right now.  And every day I tell Dustin, “At least our two votes will cancel out two of theirs.” Such is swing state life, I guess. 

So please: check your voter registration RIGHT NOW. Because slow fashion is more than just clothes and thrifting. It’s community. It’s action. And it’s going to change the world.