What the Tech? ThreadUP Working with Walmart to Sell Used Clothes

With more time on our hands these days while being at home, many people have decided to do more spring cleaning than they’ve done before.

While you can (and often should) donate unwanted items to a nearby charity, apps that turn your closet into a virtual thrift store are growing. One will actually put your gently used items for sale on Walmart.com.

One of those apps, threadUP has partnered with Walmart to sell items sent in by its users on the Walmart website and app.

Here’s how it works and what it means:

thredUP will send you a clean-out kit. You’ll put anything you want to sell or donate in a bag and ship it off with an included shipping label. The items cannot show signs of wear or have holes or faded colors.

thredUP will take photos of the items, write out a description and put it up for sale. You get a percentage of what it sells for.

In addition to being posted to the app, the item will be displayed on the Walmart website in a new thredUp shop. Shoppers can search by price, brand and category, sizes, patterns and when something is purchased thredUP takes care of the shipping.

One the first day of the threadUP store going active on Walmart I found a Coach handbag for $39 and an Ann Taylor dress is $36. all from someone else’s closet. Several items sold quickly once it posted to Walmart.com.

thredUP is exclusively for women and children. Men can shop and list items on some of the similar thrift shop apps. And there are several to choose from. Poshmark, LetGo and Mercari have gained a loyal following of sellers and shoppers, along with the app Depop that has over 20 million downloads.

But thredUP is the first to partner with a major retailer. The company also partnered with Macy’s earlier and items are for sale in thredUP departments at select Macy’s locations.

Using the thredUP app, users can order a seller’s kit or a kit to donate items to a charity. Not every item sent in to thredUP will sell. According to the app about 40% of each shipment will be sold while the rest will be donated. Users can also pay a fee to have unsold or unlisted items returned to them.

If you’re doing some spring cleaning during the pandemic and you don’t want to fool with a yardsale, any of these apps can help you make some money and clean out your closets.

Categories: News Video, What The Tech