In Monday’s post, I talked myself into doing an aggressive and hardcore closet cleanout. It really was time for a ruthless purge for a few reasons:
Reason 1: I very rarely have to wear formal office attire. So, it didn’t make sense that I was holding onto items that hadn’t been worn for over a year and wouldn’t be worn again in the foreseeable future.
Reason 2: I had accumulated too much stuff. Thrifting is my hobby, so I tend to accumulate things. And even if the item was $5, it’s still an item that is cluttering my house. I simply had TOO MUCH stuff, and it was making me uncomfortable.
Reason 3: I was in the MOOD to get rid of stuff. Which is super important, because if you’re in a nostalgic mood… it simply doesn’t work. But I hit a point where I wanted to burn it to the ground so I could rebuild it up.
I wrote that post on Friday night and on Saturday, I dove into my closet. I started off by trying on every single dress in my closet and taking a quick video of each. And yes, it took forever, but I made three Reels that show each item and my thoughts on whether to keep or let go:
Work Dresses Purge:
Event or Work Dresses:
Casual Dresses:
That is where I left off on Saturday. On Sunday, I decided not to waste any time with video and went straight into the skirts, then the blazers, lightweight jackets, cardigans, tops, shoes and handbags. I think it took around 3 hours to get through it all. I did try on most of it too, so I was quite the sweaty mess by time I was done.
I tried to keep track of it and here’s where I think I ended up:
- Dresses: 26 keep, 16 sell or donate
- Skirts: 38 keep, 19 sell or donate
- Cardigans: 22 keep, 3 sell or donate
- Lightweight jackets: 5 keep, 1 sell or donate
- Blazers: 2 keep, 2 sell or donate
- Tops: Didn’t count, 15 sell or donate
- Purses and shoes: Sell 2 purses and 2 pairs shoes
By the end of it, I had two big bags of my items to take to Goodwill (which I dropped off that night) and a HUGE pile of stuff to sell.
Which brings us to the question – where do I sell items? Well, I typically sell in 3 places:
Poshmark
I’ve been selling on Poshmark for years and it’s pretty easy to photograph and post each item for sale. So, that is usually going to be my first stop. For this gigantic pile of stuff, I slowly worked my way through it and ended up adding 47 items to my Poshmark closet!
When an item is purchased, Poshmark takes care of adding the postage costs and tax, so all I have to do is package the item nicely, print out and affix the pre-paid postage label, and stick it in my mailbox. They take a cut (of course), which I feel pays for the convenience factor. As of this morning, 5 items have sold on Poshmark.
If you’re new to Poshmark, you can use my special invite code to open an account and get $10 off your first order. Just use: POCKETFULOFJOUL And here is a direct link to my closet: https://poshmark.com/closet/pocketfulofjoul. Feel free to make an offer on something if you love it!
Focused Facebook Groups
Some ‘specialty’ items sell better in focused Facebook Groups. For example, NotPerfectLinen has a fans group that has a BST, so I’ll sell items there. They also have a “Natural Fibers Sales” weekend, so if I have a few items sitting in my Poshmark closet that I’ve already photographed that meet the criteria, I’ll post it there.
A benefit is that you don’t have to pay fees. Instead, you have the person pay you directly using Paypal. However, you DO have to pay for your own postage. So, for me that means a special trip to the post office to ship out each item. Which is kind of a pain… but for a high dollar item, I’m happier to see it going to someone who truly loves the item/brand.
For this pile o’ stuff, I had one purse that I posted in the Rough & Tumble Fans Facebook Group. I will also keep an eye on the next ‘Natural Fibers Weekend’ later this month and post items that I already photographed for Poshmark that will fit their rules.
Consignment Store
I have a consignment store that I adore, but it’s about an hour away from my house. I’ve both purchased and sold many items there though, so I always keep it in mind. To sell items, you need to take them on a weekday for them to review.
The earliest I can get by there is about 2 weeks away, which gives me plenty of time to see if the items will sell on Poshmark first. I’ll review everything left and pick out items I think the consignment shop will accept and then bring them by for them to review. I don’t delete any items from my Poshmark closet until they review them though, because sometimes they won’t accept things for weird reasons.
I’m so happy I finally did a deep dive into my closet to get rid of a bunch of items I just wasn’t wearing or loving anymore. With my work/life changing and my personal style continuously growing, it’s nice to pass on a bunch if items that I previously loved.