Ways to Thrift without “Thrifting”
One of the biggest barriers to thrifting and buying used is the actual time it takes to go to the thrift store and sort through all the junk to find those few coveted treasures. While I personally love the thrill of the hunt and could spend a whole Saturday perusing thrift store aisles with a cup of coffee from a local shop… I am also a busy mom who runs her own business — my free time is limited!
Already a fan of buying used, I committed in 2025 to focus on buying most of our clothes second-hand. This committment led me to explore many options for resale outside of a traditional community thrift store. There are so many ways to find the latest trends and specific items your family might need (uniforms, gymnastics leotards, and winter clothes were a few of those items for us this year); and streamline time by buying used straight from your phone with the ease of online shopping.
If you want to explore the reasons for buying used clothing, feel free to peruse some of these articles to learn more about the benefits to our planet when you choose to buy used…
Environmental Benefits of Buying Secondhand Clothing
Ways to Buy Used Online
ThredUp is an online consignment store that lets you filter and search by brand, size, and condition of the item. They also pay people for their closet items, by ordering a “clean out” bag and sending it in to sell your items online to receive store credit or a cash payout.
Thredup sells Women’s clothing (including designer and premium items); accessories such as handbags, shoes, and belts; and Kids clothing.
Use code FIRST50 for 50% off your first order!
Poshmark and Depop
Posmark and Depop are online resale sites where individuals or resale shops can list their items to be directly bought and shipped to your doorstep. I find Depop to have cheaper prices then Poshmark, but Poshmark can be easier to find super specific items. I typically use Depop for browsing things I might like, and then go to Poshmark when I want a specific item from a specific brand.
For example, for my 30th birthday I wanted this specific pleated, pleather mini-skirt from Abercrombie and Fitch that I saw online to complete my outfit. I searched for it in Poshmark, including my needed size, and actually found mulitple options! I bought it and wore it for my 90s themed birthday party, and it was exactly what I wanted (and about 1/3rd of the price of buying it new).
Use THIS LINK for $10 of cash towards your Poshmark order
Depop Finds
I bought this floral mesh top (Urban Outfitters brand) and the brown sweater vest (Zara brand) from Depop for under $10 each!
3. Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters pre-loved clothes through Nuuly Resale Network
This is the one I am actually SCARED to share because it is simply the best kept secret! If you’ve been on the internet at all the past few years, you probably know about Nuuly, the monthly clothing rental site (also a great way to explore sustainable fashion!); but did you know Nuuly resells their clothes for thrift store prices when they decide to discontinue them from their rental service?!
Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters brand clothes are sold on their own resale site, hidden inside their mainstream websites. (Don’t worry — I linked them both above for you to easily find!).
The clothes are previously worn from people who rented them, but quality checked, dry cleaned, and mended before being resold. And seriously, (apart from the designer items) this clothing is listed at the same price as many thrift stores I frequent but with the convenience of buying trendy items directly from the retailers themselves. Every item I have every received from them has been in new condition, and I wouldn’t even be able to tell it was used if I didn’t know.
The items do go fast, so if you find something you like, buy it quickly because next time you go on the site it likely won’t be there.
Nuuly Resale Find
This green and brown, thick sweater was bought through Urban Outfitters Nuuly resale site for $15! The original price for the sweater was $128 — and it has zero signs of wear!
4. Facebook Marketplace, Buy Nothing Groups, or Local Swap and Shops
While this option lacks the convenience of online shopping, I have been surprised by the amount of cute clothes and accessories I have “won” from Buy Nothing Groups or purchased off of Facebook Marketplace for both me and my family members. While you may have to deal with messaging and pickups, there are deals on very high-quality items to be found using social media networks.
Buying aside, free swap groups like kids clothing swaps, or local buy nothing groups, are great resources for EVERYONE. Many people have expressed to me concern about using up resources saying, “oh, I’d rather have someone in need get those items,” but I have found that many items are not claimed or used in these groups. There is so much secondhand clothing to be redistributed (some estimates think we have enough clothing currently in circulation to clothe the next six generations!), that any wearable items that be reused in any way, should be utilized.
My son’s school has a yearly free clothing swap, which helps us maintain the outdoor clothing requirements he needs to attend nature school; and my daughter’s school has a free uniform closet that we have used to procure almost all of her uniforms (there is ALWAYS an abundance of items available for any family that needs to utilize this resource), and we clean and re-donate her uniforms when she grows out of them for other kids to use.
You can also get friends together for a free clothing swap event, especially for those in the childbearing years where people’s clothing size fluctuates rapidly — this can be a great way to switch clothes back and forth amongst individuals who currently fit in items that are just wasting space in another’s closet.
I hope that this has inspired you with ways to buy secondhand and made you feel empowered to stop contributing to the textile and energy waste fast fashion leaks onto our planet. Buying used items for your whole family is accessible, affordable, and maintainable even if you have a busy lifestyle with modern technology and online conveniences. And remember, life doesn’t have to be all or nothing… Every purchase counts!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! — for a better world for our children.
