I’ve searched Google up and down for days and I was surprised to find very little articles that discussed how to flip or profit off of clothes from online consignment stores.  Since we already know that it’s possible to find new clothes with tags for sale within thrift stores, at garage/yard sales and also in boxes at flea markets – it’s hard to picture why most people skip over consignment stores.  These days browsing consignment stores can be done with mouth clicks online and it is definitely something that you should not ignore.  Online consignment stores are fantastic and great for finding new clothes to resell!

Buying Clothes From Online Consignment Stores to Resell

Ever since a few years ago, online consignment stores have been popping up left and right due it’s popularity.  But today only a few are left standing.  ThredUp, TheRealReal, and SnobSwap are all great options, each differentiating themselves from other just by a little bit.  And if this post is about where you should sell your clothes, I would focus on them.  But since this post is about buying clothes from online consignment stores to resell, I am going to focus on the best place for that which in my opinion is Swap.com. It’s not that you can’t buy clothes from any other online consignment store for resale, it’s just that it will be extremely hard to do so without all the coupon and cash back rebate stacking that Swap.com offers. On top of that, there are a few tricks that Swap.com offers that no one else does.  Let me show you what I’m talking about.

Finding New Clothes is Easy

A great thing about Swap.com is the ability to sort the clothes by the condition.  In our case, we want to only concentrate on clothes that are “New with Tags” since the end game is to resell them as new. And since the clothes are professionally handled by Swap.com’s staff, be sure anything marked as “New with Tags” will be new. This ability to sort the condition makes the process of finding flippable clothes much easier than some of the other online consignment stores and traditional physical stores.

Clearance Section

Just like any retail store, Swap.com also has a clearance section with new clothes discounted significantly.  I’ve seen ranges from 10% all the way up to 35%.  Keep in mind this is already on top of discounted price the clothes are already selling for compared to retail price.  And just like the regular section, you can sort everything by the condition which includes “New with Tag” items.

Coupons and Cash Rebate

I’ve saved the best for last and this is the real reason why Swap.com gives you an edge over all other online consignment stores.  Sure new clothes might be discounted enough on Swap.com to be worth it to flip but when you combine another 40% off from a coupon and a 5% cash rebate on top of it – you’re now talking about substantial margins. Head over to my favorite site EBates and take a look at the offers currently for Swap.com.

Until 4/30/2017, there is a 40% coupon off your first order and this is as high as they come.  They usually fluctuate between 25% to 35% but this new discount is pretty enticing.  On top of that, after the total order is discounted, you still get 5% back as cash rebate with Ebates!   In total, we are talking about increasing margins by over 40% versus all other online consignment stores! If you haven’t signed up with Ebates yet, they are offering $10 dollars free after spending $25 dollars!  Click here to sign up.  When you combine all the savings together, the total discount level is insane.

Real World Example

Ok, let’s look at a real world example of an item for sale and see how much savings you can get from the clearance discount, coupon, cash back rebate and Ebates offer. At the time of me writing this post, I found this Ralph Lauren Lace Tank Top for sale within the clearance section.  It is “New with Tags.”

So let’s calculate how much we can get this tank top for.

Coupon Code:  $27.90 – $11.16 (40% off) = $16.74.  

Cash Rebate: $16.74 – $.84 = $15.90.

Ebates Offer:  $15.9 – $10 = $5.90.  <- Granted I know you have to spend $25 dollars to get this $10 dollar off.  But I’m using it as an example anyway to show you what it can be.

Ok so now you might be thinking, what does this prove?  I did a quick search on eBay and found the very same tank top being sold with 2 watchers. The seller is selling the tank top for $20.80 + $3.00 dollars for shipping. $20.80 – $15.90 – $.21 (eBay fees) = $4.69 cents profit.  If you count the Ebates offer, you are now looking at $14.69 profit.  

In Conclusion

In terms of the total effort I’ve spent looking for the above example, I would say less than 5 mins of browsing.  And in reality, by the time you read this, the tank top might be already sold.  But hopefully, I’ve demonstrated my point that buying new clothes from Swap.com is definitely profitable and worth your time with clearance discounts, coupons, and cash rebates.   Now some of you might be thinking that the coupons listed are only for new customers and not for repeat buyers…not to fear!  Swap.com will periodicity email you coupons and post up other coupons on Ebates for use. For those who are not signed up on Ebates yet, please do so asap or your going to be missing not only substantial savings here but also with other online retailers.  For those who are interested in taking a look, Swap.com is definitely worth your time.  Good Luck!