Andrea H.

I have bought multiple times and sold clothes twice on ThredUp, so I will offer my opinion. It's pretty good for buying (why I've ordered 10+ times), but I usually donate any unwanted clothing.

SELLING: I sent in a bag stuffed with clothes in very good condition, some were new with tags. I was realistic about what the payout was, and expected to get about $15. My payout was $15.06. Good, right? Yes, but it took two weeks for them to process my bag and the items they accepted and rejected surprised the heck out of me. They rejected most of the best looking items, including NWT, and accepted the older and more worn clothes. It just didn't make any sense to me, and it makes you wonder where the rejected clothes are going. Unlike Twice, there is absolutely no information given to you on where the rejected clothes go. My second bag was processed last week and I got ZERO payout for that one. There were at least 4-5 pieces they SHOULD have accepted, and I expected $3-4 from that, but they rejected everything. I was a bit miffed, but not all that upset since nothing of substantial value was sent and it would have been donated anyway. Bottom line, don't send anything expensive or any item you would be upset to get little to no payout for. If you do that, then you'll be happy with your payout. I've never consigned anything, but to me it seems like the consignment policies won't benefit the seller in many cases. Frankly, the 20% off coupon they send to you when they receive your bag is worth a lot more… $25 for me since I knew it was coming and I had an order queued up. Just make sure you check your e-mail often because it is only good for 24 hours.

BUYING: Mostly good experiences here, although returns are a big hassle. A few items were ripped or not as advertised, but most clothing that I ordered was consistent with what I was expecting and I've been happy with the quality. Pricing is inconsistent even within the same brand, many items are miscategorized (e.g., many shirts in the girls' dresses section), very light and very dark items are almost impossible to see in their photos, and little to no consideration is given to how old an item is when it is priced. If you are very familiar with the brands you like, you'll notice this quickly, so look with a critical eye. I like the fact it has so many brands in one place, however, there are few rewards given to loyal customers other than 10% off Mon-Wed on mobile app orders only. Other promotions for existing customers are not publicized well. For example, you'll find the coupons codes on retailmenot.com, but not on ThredUp's website or on its Facebook page. I've opted in to receiving promotional e-mails, but I've never gotten a coupon code from them via e-mail. Customer service is slow to respond to e-mails. Shipping is very slow, and quite expensive if you do not buy enough to earn free shipping. Bottom line: I will continue to shop here but it's not my go-to site. However, I wouldn't be surprised if this company was investigated for deceptive business practices, so shop while you can!

EDIT TO ADD: Through a Facebook conversation with one of their CS reps, they admitted to me and another couple of shoppers that they 'work with wholesale thrifting companies' and that they are 'not currently donating clothes directly to charitable partners'. You will NOT find this info on their main website, and if you ask in no uncertain terms where your rejected clothing is going, they are very evasive and keep referring to their generosity to their 'charitable partners'. So in other words, you may end up seeing the stuff you send in but are not paid for on eBay. Keep that in mind as you stuff that convenient clean-out bag they send you unsolicited... they are making money off of you whether they pay you or not. Based on this, I lowered my review to only two stars, due to a lack of basic business ethics.

UPDATE (10/23): As of yesterday, ThredUp:
1) Stopped offering free returns for orders made through the mobile app, so you will have to pay return shipping on ALL returns
2) Will not accept returns on items less than $10 unless the items is defective
3) Lowered the threshold for consignment items to $20, putting the risk of not being paid back on the seller for MANY more items, and also buyers cannot use discount coupons on consignment items

This is in addition to:
1) No longer offering a 20% off coupon when they receive your Clean Out bag
2) Raising, sometimes doubling and tripling, the price of thousands of items since the summer, many times just days after they are listed, effectively cheating sellers out money that should have gone to them
3) Quality control has taken a nosedive in the last few months
4) All of the above changes were made without notifying customers first

As consumer, I deleted my account because I was disgusted with its ever-changing policies and quality issues. As an entrepreneur, I can't take my eyes off the inevitable train wreck that is ThredUp. You'd think with two major infusions of capital and high-powered business advisors (Netflix, eBay execs), this company could at least demonstrate basic business sense/ethics. But I guess money cannot guarantee success, so I keep watching for signs of the crash...