Free coat. Free athleisure pants. All of these closet additions came from Athleta.
Now that I got your attention, I’ll tell you how to get the same deal.
By cleaning out my closet and bagging up my items to send to ThredUP, I earned store credit to spend at Athleta. Thredup is a consignment service that resells your items and pays you a commission on those items. You can choose to get a cash payout or, work through one of the Gap affiliates: Athleta, Gap, or Banana Republic. You’ll receive a 15% higher payout in gift cards vs cash, per the website.
Here’s how it works:
- Grab a closet-cleanout bag from one of the Gap affiliate stores or request one online.
- Fill the bag with unwanted clothing items in clean and good condition.
- Register the prepaid postage sticker on the bag through email and drop off at the post office for shipping.
That’s it. You will get an email confirmation when the bag is received and a few weeks later, another email with a gift card amount to spend at your chosen store. Any items that can’t be sold are either donated or recycled, zero waste.
I’ve always selected Athleta because I love the Brooklyn pant for travel or running errands. This winter, I invested in two winter coats, one for really cold events like football games or trips to the snow. The other coat, I’ll wear to run errands or to the movies or some casual event.
I actually posted about this opportunity months ago. Since I was just getting started with ohsofancyfrancie, I don’t think it made the impact. In talking with my friends, I could tell they somehow missed the post or it didn’t seem meaningful at the time. One friend was moving out of state. She couldn’t bear the thought of watching her clothes go for a few dollars at a neighborhood garage sale. Since she was moving in a hurry, the ThredUp bags made the move easy and quick.
Another friend was shopping with me when I picked out my free coats.
“Wait! How are you getting those coats for free?” A month later, she earned $60 for her first bag!
When you know you can make money cleaning out your closet, it’s a lot more motivating to do a tedious task. With dreary weather out there, it’s even more motivating to stay indoors and pull out all those things you just aren’t wearing or rarely wear.
For the higher-end items, you can make a little more money at your local consignment stores. It takes a little longer, but it’s a nice surprise when that payout check arrives. My friend Maureen, owner of ReChic, says it’s best to just get rid of things instead of holding on to something for years. The quicker you get it out of your closet, the more money you can make on consignment.
Technically, I got the Sam Edelman boots I’m wearing in the photo for free, using the money I earned from reChic. The boots are weatherproof, comfy, and cool. They are hard to get, Nordstrom is sold out. Head to Amazon instead. Link here.
Make a closet-cleanout one of your goals for 2022. In fact, put down a closet clean-out in your calendar with each new season, or at least spring and fall.