If running short on cash is giving you a severe case of
summertime blues, here's a sure-fire way to revive your
spirits.
Weed out some stuff you don't ever wear (be honest!), throw
them in a bag and head to a resale clothing store where--shazam!--your
cast-off clothes turn to cash before your eyes.
If you know what you're doing, that is.
It's no big secret that there's gold in them thar closets,
but few of us are experts in the fine art of resale.
Still, there are seasoned pros who make their living this
way. You see them digging through the Goodwill bins on weekend
mornings in search of treasures they can buy for a buck
and sell for a pretty penny.
But amateurs are the ones who need guidance.
I want to save you from the humiliation and frustration
of watching buyers dig through your pile, unimpressed, offering
to buy nothing; telling you, effectively, that your clothes
just aren't cool enough to make the cut. That is why, my
fashion-forward friends, I've done some of the legwork for
you, taking one pile of summer clothes to each of two of
the most popular and highest-volume local resale shops,
which happen to be located within glaring distance of one
another: the Arizona-based resale giant Buffalo Exchange
and a Northwest indie veteran, The Red Light Clothing Exchange.
Here's a look at what I learned from buyers at each.
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1. Style M.O. |
2. What they want. |
3. What they don't want.
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4. What they offered me
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5. What they pay.
(in cash).
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Buffalo Exchange
(1420 SE 37th Ave., 234-1302)
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1. Good basic pieces, more current styles
than vintage.
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2. Men's clothing in good condition;
labels like Gap, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Nordstrom
in men's and women's styles; dark denim jeans; summer
wear (come back with your sweaters and wool coats in
late August); knee-length skirts in techno-inspired
fabrics; "wearable vintage" (i.e., sizes that real people
can actually fit into); T-shirts in solids, as opposed
to prints; hip shoes. |
3. Mini-skirts, garments in poor
condition (no missing buttons, broken zippers or soiled
garments). You can leave your rejects behind to be donated. |
4. 35 percent of the retail price
they intend to charge for each garment or 50 percent
of that price as in-store trade (part-trade, part-cash
is an option). |
5. Khaki, sleeveless women's Nordstrom top,
like new: $4.37
Vintage French viscose blouse: $4.55
New, gray Express knee-length skirt: $5.25
Knee-length, gray knit skirt: $5.25
Asphalt Blue dark denim jeans: $7.50
Black '60s shift dress: $5.95
Total: $23.10
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Red Light Clothing Exchange
(3590 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 963-1823, 963-8888)
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1. Vintage and retro styles and select contemporary
labels. |
2. Summer styles; fitted, '70s-style and T-shirts;
'80s rock T-shirts; larger men's vintage styles; Levi's
501s; '70s Calvin Kleins; plastic and novelty jewelry;
Diesel jeans; youth-oriented, newer labels like Urban
Outfitters, Gap; relatively contemporary boots and shoes
as well as antique shoes; occasional off-season pieces. |
3. Basics with flaws (a black T-shirt has to
be in great shape to make it to the racks, whereas an
amazing, rare vintage blouse could be forgiven more
damage), big '80s-style T-shirts. |
4. 40 percent of the retail price they'll charge
in cash or 50 percent in trade (they tend to round up
on the dollar; $4.80 pays out at $5). |
5. Izod Lacoste red and blue striped shirt:
$5
New, gray Express
knee-length skirt: $5
Knee-length gray knit skirt: $4
Total: $14
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