mfad•14mo ago

Closet/Clothes Cleanout

How do you clean out your closet and purge old clothes?

How do you determine which pieces you want to get rid of?

At what point is an article worth selling vs donating? When does it make sense to sell vs donate?

I’m especially interested in your thoughts on Q3. I have a lot of decent quality clothes i want to rid of, but I’m curious where you personally draw the line for sell vs donate.

shuvi•11/4/24, 5:55 PM

Honestly I mostly just get rid of stuff I find I don't wear or don't like all that much

shuvi•11/4/24, 5:55 PM

kind of subjective but I don't think theres much of a better answer than that

shuvi•11/4/24, 5:55 PM

If you don't wear it often, and there isn't a specific reason you want to keep it, or theres a reasno you don't like it, then get rid of it

Soup•11/4/24, 5:56 PM

Do I still wear this item? if not when was the last time I wore it and why haven't I worn it since. Do I want to wear it again? That helps me determine if I want to keep an item or not.
In terms of whether to donate or sell, for me that comes down to whether or not the value I can sell something for is worth the effort of selling it. If not then I'll donate it.

shuvi•11/4/24, 5:56 PM

I sell clothes that I think can actually sell, but as Soup just said, if its not worth the money and effort then just donate it

shuvi•11/4/24, 5:57 PM

If its a mall brand or something I generally don't think you can sell it for much at all

calla•11/4/24, 5:58 PM

the way i do it is that i set a max amount of a certain item and i cull down to that number

shuvi•11/4/24, 6:00 PM

i do that too lol but only for boots since I'm very much into to leather boots/make my own

shuvi•11/4/24, 6:00 PM

have a rough personal limit of 14 pairs

calla•11/4/24, 6:00 PM

i try to offer clothing to friends over donating it so for the things i like but don't wear i get to vicariously live thru them

Ccalla i try to offer clothing to friends over donating it so for the things i like bu...

Yakkeks•11/4/24, 6:02 PM

Yeah, I usually offer stuff that some friends might be into to them first before selling. The exception are vintage purchases that I bought, realized were not for me quite quickly and try to resell to get my money back

raisinpie•11/4/24, 6:09 PM

If I don't wear it I get rid of it. If it's a nicer piece I like to figure out why I don't like it first. If it's something I can change, I might start wearing it more.

Clothes generally have terrible resell value and take a long time to move. If something's worth enough money that I'm ok letting it sit for multiple months, then I would sell it. places like Buffalo exchange or crossroads are also good for exchanging stuff that's too nice to donate but not good enough to sell.

Ccalla i try to offer clothing to friends over donating it so for the things i like bu...

anasthesia-•11/4/24, 6:09 PM

lol i just did a big ol clothing swap yesterday

miaiye•11/4/24, 6:09 PM

there is a lot of ramp up to selling, if you haven't done it. it's a lot of time and effort

miaiye•11/4/24, 6:10 PM

from a purely dollars standpoint, you'd be better picking up a gig job

miaiye•11/4/24, 6:10 PM

(assuming you can)

RaggieOP•11/4/24, 6:30 PM

Good discussion and feedback, thanks! I agree with all points above, although strangely donating to friends first never crossed my mind. I plan on trying that this winter as i cull my closet.

RaggieOP•11/4/24, 6:31 PM

as for selling- that’s what I figured. Especially in my case, as I’m starting to upgrade pieces many of my old pieces aren’t worth much, especially as many of them are mall brands (thanks grandma!)

Soup•11/4/24, 6:33 PM

One other point, if I have some old items that I don't think are even worth donating. I'll keep them for use as rags, usually for cleaning bikes or boots or something similar

zeometer•11/4/24, 6:52 PM

i usually have an ongoing culling with my partner - once we've accrued enough stuff to purge (either bcause it doesn't fit or doesn't suit me or because it's not worth the cost of repair/upkeep) we do so

zeometer•11/4/24, 6:55 PM

for donate vs sell i usually accept that the clothes i like have little resell value so i try to buy them as cheaply as possible and then either donate them, use the fabric for something else, or maybe sell on ebay if it's something worthwhile

zeometer•11/4/24, 6:57 PM

i think the actual best strategy is in looking at how you buy clothes - holding off on impulse buys and only buying what you like, but also trying to not be so attached that it's difficult to let go if need be

Gatan do rock•11/4/24, 7:13 PM

I had a pretty massive cleanout over the last two years of all clothes I've gotten since I was like a pre-teen. I think that I unironically culled my closet on 75%. Like I cut it down so much I actually need to buy new stuff rn.
My very first step was putting everything on and seeing how/if they fit me. If I didn't like it, if it was too small, if it grabbed my curves too much, if my binder straps showed, etc. it would go to the sell/donate/PJs drawer.