Secondhand clothes: what the seller keeps, and what protects the buyer
A bag of clothes you no longer wear has several possible next lives, and each trades money against effort. List each piece yourself and you keep most of the sale. Hand the bag to a store or a charity and they take a larger share, or all of it, for doing the work. When you buy, your protection depends on the app, and the window to use it is often a few days.
This guide is about clothing. For furniture, household goods and things sold locally, see the secondhand marketplaces guide.
The short answer. If you have time and a few pieces worth listing, peer-to-peer apps leave you the most: Vinted charges sellers no fee, Depop charges US sellers only a 3.3% + $0.45 processing fee, Mercari takes 10%, and Poshmark 20% on sales of $15 and up. If you want no work at all, Plato's Closet pays cash on the spot for what it accepts, and giving through Buy Nothing or Freecycle, or donating to Goodwill, costs nothing and pays nothing. When you buy, watch the clock: Vinted gives you 2 days after delivery to report a problem, Depop 30 days from purchase. There is no single best route.
What the seller keeps on each route, in our data:
Four routes for clothes you no longer wear
| Route | Examples | What you do | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell it yourself | Vinted, Depop, Mercari, Poshmark, eBay; for designer and streetwear, Grailed, StockX, Vestiaire Collective | Photograph, price, ship | Most of the sale |
| Consign | The RealReal | Send it in | A commission set by the company |
| Sell to a store | Plato's Closet | Walk in, no appointment | Cash on the spot if you accept the offer |
| Give it away | Buy Nothing, Freecycle, Goodwill | Post it, or drop it off | Nothing in cash |
What the seller keeps
| Platform | Seller fee, US, per its own page |
|---|---|
| Vinted | No selling fee. The buyer pays a protection fee of $0.70 plus 5% of the item price |
| Depop | No selling fee in the UK, US or Australia; US processing is 3.3% + $0.45. Sellers elsewhere pay 10% |
| Mercari | 10% of item price plus buyer-paid shipping. The buyer pays a 3.6% protection fee |
| Grailed | 9% at $120 and above; 6% (minimum $1.99) under $120 from 20 May 2026; processing is separate |
| StockX | 3% processing plus a transaction fee of 9% at seller Level 1, falling to 7% at Level 5 |
| Vestiaire Collective | 12% for items from $83 to $16,667, a flat $10 under $83, plus 3% processing (minimum $3) |
| eBay | 13.6% of the sale up to $7,500, plus $0.30 or $0.40 per order |
| Poshmark | A flat $2.95 under $15; 20% at $15 and above |
| The RealReal | Its 2025 annual report: 20% commission on items under $100, up to 90% on watches over $7,500, about 62% overall |
A low seller fee often moves the cost to the buyer: Vinted and Mercari both add a protection fee at checkout.
What protects the buyer
On Vinted, Mercari and Poshmark the payment goes to the seller automatically when the window closes, so open the parcel the day it arrives.
| Platform | Time to report | What it covers, and the limits |
|---|---|---|
| Vinted | 2 days after delivery | Did not arrive, arrived damaged, or significantly not as described |
| Mercari | 72 hours after delivery | Not as described |
| Poshmark | 72 hours after delivery | Never shipped, not as described, not authentic. "Not your style" or does not fit is not covered |
| Grailed | 3 calendar days after receipt | Inauthentic, materially different, or the wrong item |
| Vestiaire Collective | 72 hours from private sellers, 14 days from professional sellers | Does not match the description |
| StockX | 14 days after delivery | Materially different; orders bought without verification are resolved with the seller |
| Depop | 30 days from purchase (UK, US, Australia) | Did not arrive, damaged, or significantly not as described; the programme "is not an insurance policy, a warranty, or a guarantee" |
| eBay | Money Back Guarantee | Automatic on eligible purchases, covers price plus original shipping, no extra fee |
If you care most about...
| Your priority | Kind of route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping the most money | Vinted, or Depop in the UK, US or Australia | No seller fee |
| The least effort | Plato's Closet, or donating | Cash on the spot, or a drop-off |
| Clothes staying local | Buy Nothing, Freecycle | Neighbors collect gifts directly |
| An authenticity check on designer pieces | The RealReal, StockX with verification | The RealReal's annual report says every consigned item goes through brand-specific authentication |
| The longest time to spot a problem | Depop, StockX | 30 days and 14 days |
| Your clothes funding a local cause | Goodwill | Local nonprofit Goodwills say purchases fund their programs |
Before you list or buy
- Check the fee page on the day you list, and price after fees. Several of these changed in the last two years.
- As a buyer, pay inside the app. Vinted's and Depop's protections, for example, cover only payments made through them.
- Photograph the item on arrival, before you wash or wear it.
What we are not telling you
Protection scores describe what each platform states, not how often it pays claims. Figures are US rates unless noted. Plato's Closet does not publish what it pays on its selling page, so it has no fee score. ThredUp is in our data, but its payout page sat behind a security check when we tried to open it, so we give no figure for it here. And the route that needs no platform at all is keeping and mending what you already wear.
How we made this
Nobody paid to appear here. Every figure comes from the platform's own page, or The RealReal's SEC filing, opened on 29 September 2026. Corrections are welcome and get applied with their source.
Sources
- Vinted: is selling on Vinted free?, checked 2026-09
- Vinted: buyer protection, checked 2026-09
- Vinted: price list, checked 2026-09
- Depop: seller fees and charges, checked 2026-09
- Depop: Depop Protection for buyers, checked 2026-09
- Mercari: fees, checked 2026-09
- Mercari: buyer protection, checked 2026-09
- Poshmark: fee policy, checked 2026-09
- Poshmark: Posh Protect, checked 2026-09
- Grailed: what are the fees?, checked 2026-09
- Grailed: purchase protection, checked 2026-09
- StockX: fees for sellers, checked 2026-09
- StockX: Buyer Promise, checked 2026-09
- Vestiaire Collective: seller selling fees, checked 2026-09
- Vestiaire Collective: item doesn't match its description, checked 2026-09
- eBay: selling fees, checked 2026-09
- eBay: Money Back Guarantee, checked 2026-09
- The RealReal: 2025 annual report (Form 10-K), checked 2026-09
- Plato's Closet: sell to us, checked 2026-09
- Goodwill: shop secondhand, checked 2026-09
- Buy Nothing Project: about, checked 2026-09
- Freecycle: about, checked 2026-09