11 Places to Find Second Hand Clothes Online
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One thing I’m extremely passionate about is second-hand fashion. The majority of the clothes I buy are preloved and I wanted to put together a list of all the places I regularly buy second hand clothes online.
There are so many great reasons to buy second hand clothes. Fashion has a huge negative impact on the environment so buying clothes that have been previously loved is a great way to reduce our carbon footprint.
Buying second hand clothes can also mean you save a lot of money or are able to afford brands or quality pieces that might have ordinarily been outside of your budget.
There are also loads of brand new with tags items out there second hand too. This means your getting a new item, often at half the price and with a lower environmental impact which to me is winning all round.
11 Places to Find Second Hand Clothes Online
So, before we get started it’s worth saying there are definitely pros and cons to buying second hand clothes online.
I think one of the biggest pros is choice – I’ve found recently if I see a dress I like from a fast-fashion brand I can almost always find it somewhere online second hand.
This would be much trickier if I was only shopping from charity shops. Places like Vinted and eBay are also great for buying big bundles, especially with children’s clothes.
However, the cost of things like postage and other fees (like the buyer fees on Vinted) can soon start to add up.
You also don’t get to look at, feel or try the clothes on before buying and options for returns are limited or not feasible depending on where you’ve bought from.
Find Second Hand Clothes Online: eBay
eBay is probably one of the best-known places to find second-hand items online. Having such a huge global audience means if you’re looking for a specific item from a particular brand eBay is probably going to be your best bet.
However, this can sometimes go against you as there are often more people bidding on items and sometimes things can go for more than what they would have cost originally.
I also find it really hard to win bundles of kids clothing on eBay – I don’t think I’ve won a single one yet!
One thing I’ve started doing recently is searching for really specific items – I recently bought a new bra from M&S and then ordered a second one – same size, style etc brand new with tags for half the price of the new one I’d bought.
eBay also has excellent protection for buyers, so if there is an issue with anything you buy, getting a refund shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Vinted
Vinted is still seen as quite a new platform but has been growing in popularity in recent years. One of Vinteds biggest advantages over eBay is that it doesn’t charge selling fees to the seller meaning lots of people are opting to use it and keep all of the profit on their sales.
Vinted charges the buyer a small purchase fee instead. While this can be a little bit frustrating as a buyer, I find Vinted very reasonably priced overall with so I don’t really mind paying the extra.
There is no bidding on Vinted so the price you see is the price you pay (plus fees and postage) which you can see before committing. Often if you add an item to your saved favourited listed the buyer will offer a discount as an incentive for you to make the purchase.
You’ll also find with Vinted that many sellers offer discounts if you buy more than one item from them.
Vinted is currently my favourite place to buy second hand clothes online and my recent purchases include brand new Joules Wellies for £17.50 and a Joules Raincoat for £20.
I also bought my daughters entire summer wardrobe, including shoes from Vinted which you can read more about in this post: Tips For Buying Children’s Clothes on Vinted.
I find Vinted is best for clothes for me (female, age 34, size 14, likes Joules, Fatface etc) and for buying big bundles of children’s clothes which I always seem to get outbid for on eBay.
Vinted’s filters and customization options make it really easy to search for clothes in your size which is another reason it’s one of my favourites places to buy second hand clothes online.
I have had a couple of occasions where the seller hasn’t posted the item which is frustrating but Vinted to refund the money after two weeks.
Related Post:
How To Find The Best Bargains On Vinted
Depop
Depop is another very popular choice for finding second hand clothes online. While I have ordered a few pairs of jeans from Depop in the past, I just don’t find there is as much clothing in my size and style as Vinted.
However, Depop is very popular with the younger generation so if you’re under 25 I would absolutely say it’s the place to go for second hand clothing, especially if you’re looking for brands such as Asos, Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing.
If you have concerns about the impact these fast fashion brands are having on the environment, shopping pre-loved on vinted is a great way to ensure you get the clothes you like without the guilt and of course, it’s often much cheaper too.
As with any platform though, there are some things to be aware of.
With Depop this includes;
- Items being sold for more than the original RRP where the seller is literally ordering from the brand’s website, having it sent directly to you and then keeping the difference. I’m all for reselling clothes but I think this method is unethical.
- Items are being listed as ‘vintage’ when they are not.
- Fake branded items.
Shpock
Shpock is another great place to buy secondhand clothes online. While Shpock does have lots of clothes for sale, you’ll also find lots of toys, homeware, furniture and other things there too.
Last year I bought my daughter a huge bundle of dressing up clothes from Shpock as her main Christmas present and they were very reasonably priced.
One of the main reasons I don’t use Shpock as much as Vinted or eBay is because the search filters aren’t the best and the ads can hamper the user experience a little. I usually only check Shpock if I can’t find what I’m looking for elsewhere.
I also had an issue with being asked to complete a sale outside of Shpock. The seller asking me to do this said it was normal (which I didn’t like to believe but I know it probably does go on) but I refused as doing this meant no protection for either of us.
Over Shpock isn’t one of my favourite platforms for buying second clothing online but there are still lots of bargains to be had, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
Find Second Hand Clothes Online: Gumtree
Gumtree is an online classified listings website where all sorts of things are sold, including clothes, although they aren’t the main thing you’ll find on there.
In my experience, Gumtree tends to be used by the older generation who aren’t so keen on using the selling apps such as Vinted and Depop mentioned above.
When using Gumtree I have found that replies to my messages can be pretty slow and the level of ads on the website makes for a really poor user experience.
That said, there are still bargains to be found. People will often use Gumtree when doing house clearances so you can get big bundles of second hand clothes quite cheap, or even better, totally free.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is one of the best places to find second hand clothes online. It’s popular with sellers as there are no fees and as it focuses on people selling locally, you can usually arrange to collect items saving on postage costs.
Personally, I find Facebook Marketplace especially good for cheap children’s clothes and shoes. I think with more expensive items people tend to stick with eBay or Vinted as they know they’ll get a better price.
Despite being an amazing and huge community of people buying and selling, there can be some issues when using Facebook Marketplace. In particular, people not turning up to collect items when they say will is a big problem, although more from a seller point of view than a buyer.
Also unlike other platforms, there is buyer protection on Facebook Marketplace. Items are sold as seen so if there are any issues, you may not be able to resolve them.
When it comes to buying second hand clothes online, Instagram might not be the first place you think of.
But there are loads of amazing accounts out there selling beautiful preloved clothing. This ranges between charities, small businesses, resellers and even people just selling their own clothes.
Below I’ve listed a few of my favourite Instagram accounts for buying second-hand clothing.
You’ll find the way in which these accounts are run varies. For example, some may upload new items in batches once a week whereas other clothes can be bought as and when you have seen them.
Usually, payment would be through Paypal and you’d be expected to pay postage fees too unless otherwise stated.
Preloved
Preloved is another Classified ad website, one which has been going since 1996.
For I always associate it with buying second-hand wedding items as when I was planning my wedding it was the most popular choice for buying pre-loved wedding dresses in the wedding groups I was in.
As with any site, the prices can be quite varied but there is a huge choice so this is a great place to take a look for second-hand clothing of any kind.
Thrift Plus
Did you see Thrift Plus on Dragons Den last year?
Thrift Plus are slightly different to some of the other websites mentioned in the post. That’s because they sell second hand clothes on behalf of people that don’t have time to sell them themselves.
They also don’t sell any fast fashion items – so you won’t find anything from Primark, Peacocks, Boohoo, Next, George or many other high street brands.
However, if you’re more into buying second hand designer pieces that will last then Thrift Plus is the place to go.
You’ll likely end up spending more than you would on say Depop or Vinted but items are verified for authenticity and there are still bargains to be had.
I know some users have had issues with items being poorly photographed or arriving damaged from Thrift Plus so that is just something to be aware of.
Pretty Little Tots Boutique
So, what is the point in having a blog if I can’t occasionally promote one of my friends? Just to be clear this isn’t an ad and I have genuinely bought clothes from this lovely shop run by my friend Jenny.
Pretty Little Tots Boutique can be found on Facebook and Instagram selling preloved toddler clothes mostly in ages 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4. Brands vary but usually include places like Next and Jojo Maman Bebe.
Items come beautifully wrapped and can be posted anywhere in the U.K.
Etsy
Etsy is another place you might not immediately associate with buying second hand clothing online, but it’s definitely worth taking a closer look at.
Etsy actually has quite a large range of vintage clothing. Often these items have been upcycled, repaired or embellished to give them a whole new lease of life.
This is definitely the place to look if you prefer your second hand items to be more quirky and unique rather than typical high street clothing.
And there we have it. The best places to buy second hand clothing online where I’ve tried to cover both the pros and cons of what each website has to offer.
Would you add any to this list?
