The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Kids' Gently Used Clothing

Kids grow so fast; it doesn’t take long at all to find yourself with a mountain of gently used children’s clothing that your kids have outgrown. But the good news is that there are plenty of options for selling your kids’ clothing online when you find it is time to de-clutter, and even opportunities to earn a bit of money doing so.

In this guide, we’ll delve into the world of selling your kids’ gently used clothing online, exploring different options available to parents and giving you tips for success.

Decide how much work you want to put in.

The first step in selling your kids’ clothing online is determining how much time and energy you want to put into it. There are different options depending on your priorities.

If your primary goal is to maximize returns, it might make sense for you to create individual listings on a dedicated peer-to-peer resale platform, such as Poshmark or Kidizen. There is a fair bit of work involved because you must list, photograph, price, and manage the delivery of each item you sell – but the benefit is that you can control the pricing to ensure you get exactly the amount you want for each item.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to do the time-consuming parts of selling, an online consignment or resale shop might be a good fit as they make selling kids’ clothing super convenient. Online consignment shops, such as ThredUp, let you mail in a batch of clothes and then pay you a percentage of the final sales price if/when the items sell. Online resale shops, including Bounce Mkt, work in a similar way, though you receive the pay-outs upfront, regardless of if/when/what final price and items sell.

If you’re looking to balance returns and convenience, selling on Facebook Marketplace or in local Facebook groups, might work well for you. You can often batch a bunch of items together and sell for a flat fee to a single person. This lets you control the price, though without the work of creating many individual listings.

There is no one correct approach; it is just about finding the approach that best fits for your priorities. 

Determine which clothes you’re going to sell.

Not everything in your kids’ closet is well-suited for resale.

Start by weeding out clothes that are heavily stained or torn; these items should go to textile recycling. Even items in horrible shape can be diverted from the landfill with textile recycling. For example, they could be turned into industrial rags. Though be aware that not all textile recyclers are equal; some are notorious for shipping unusable textiles to poorer countries and contributing to environmental crises abroad. At Bounce Mkt, we give our unusable items to Helpsy, which is a certified B Corp and has a mission grounded on sustainability.

Consider if there are clothes that you’d like to donate. Basics, such as socks and plain tank tops, and clothing from fast fashion brands are unlikely to yield much in the way of returns when selling, even if they are in great condition. However, these items can be hugely valuable to children in need so have a think about whether there is a local non-profit that might benefit from these items. (Remember, even clothing for donation should be in great condition; as it takes precious volunteer time to weed out clothing that is in too poor condition to give to another child.)

Seasonality may also play a role in what you sell at any given time. You will likely get more for items that are in-season, particularly if you’re selling directly on an online platform. Though Bounce Mkt provides similar pay-outs for items year-round; we simply store off-season items and bring them out when the time is right so you can sell everything from swimsuits to holiday sweaters at the same time for easy closet clean-outs.

Show the clothes at their best.

Whether you’re selling your kids’ clothing directly or sending off to an online consignment or resale shop, clothes present better and are more likely to sell for more when they are clean and look good.

Start by laundering the clothes, as this always helps them to show well. Next, make sure any photographs for online listings are appealing; items should be centered in photo and well-lit with natural lighting (tip: take photo near a window) or extra lighting. If there are any defects, they should be included in photographs for full transparency.

Price to sell.

There is both art and science that goes into pricing secondhand kids’ clothing. Generally speaking, secondhand items sell for 10-40% of the original price. Exactly where a given item falls in that range will depend on brand, condition, and demand. For example, we find that we tend to have more incoming supply for infant clothing than demand, so infant items at our shop tend to price less than comparable items for more in-demand sizes.

An easy way to work out how to price your items is to see how similar items are priced on various online resale platforms. Just be mindful that the final sales price of an item might be different than the listing price as buyers often negotiate with sellers to reduce prices.  

Conclusion:

There are lots of options for selling your kids’ clothing online, so you’re sure to find an approach that works for you and helps you to realize the benefits of selling secondhand clothes. Giving your kids’ clothes a new life through resale not only helps you to earn back some of the money you spend on clothing and de-clutter your kids’ closets, but it also has environmental benefits. So, start selling!  

Want to learn more about selling with Bounce Mkt? Click here to get started.