I just read Sally’s post regarding ThredUp and I have to agree that it’s not for everyone… although my reasons for it not working for me are very different than Sally’s.
I, too, registered for ThredUp, believing it was a wonderful concept. I think it may even work for some women as well as for men. However, once I took a peek in my closet for items to exchange, I realized it’s not going to work for me. You see, two conditions need to be met in order for a ThredUp exchange to take place:
1) You need to have “extra” shirts in your closet – ones that are in style and almost-new condition, but that you no longer want. This is a problem. I’m probably one of the few TGAAD dieters that doesn’t have much in the way of surplus clothing in their closet. If it fits me and is remotely in fashion, I WEAR it. To send a shirt I actually wear away in hopes that I get something back which fits me and that I like seems a little foolish. (Especially after reading Sally’s description of the shirts she received being ill-fitting and not to her liking.)
2) You need to have “brands” in your closet – In my post-ThredUp-registration excitement, I ran upstairs to do a little shirt inventory. Sadly, I found that, other than 4 shirts (which I currently wear), the tops in my closet aren’t even ON ThredUp’s list of accepted brands. So, even if I did have “surplus” clothing, it’s not even of a high enough caliber for ThredUp… sigh.
I still do LOVE the ThredUp concept though, so I’m doing some creative thinking on how I can make it work for me. Since I have friends who likely DO have surplus name-brand tops in their closets, I may ask a few to donate one to my cause. I’m not the same size as most of my friends but, if I exchanged a donated shirt or two, I could actually get back a top that may work for me. I’m pretty sure this does not constitute “cheating” on my diet… what do you think?
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Totally agree with you, Cathy. I signed up too, then realized that the site is geared toward the woman who has extra Stella McCartney, Chanel, and Tory Burch lying around. As I am not that woman (and the few surplus clothes I had fell into the “silver” category, if they were listed at all), I expect my offerings will languish for a bit. But it did make me think about how I might repurpose the surplus items. Thus far, I’m still thinking…
Kristin
I may give it another try. The funny thing is that this diet has really given me clarity about what I wear. When it gets right down to it I don’t need more clothes I just need to wear what is already there. Having more items that I won’t wear confuses me. So that said, if I try it again and have the same experience I think I will pass. It’s just too confusing.
I think the moral of this story is “just because you didn’t pay for it, doesn’t mean you’ll like and wear it.” (this is a tangent to my other dieting theory of “just because it’s free, doesn’t mean you should be eating it.”). I don’t see how aquiring items sight unseen could really help the situation unless you happen to get extremely lucky. I know next to nothing about ThredUp other than what’s in these posts, but it seems really random to me that the items just show up with very little choice on the recipients’ part. For me, I need a little romance. Hmmm….white, wrap hoodie, Etsy, too small for a size medium wearer….I’m intrigued….show me a photo and maybe I’d pony up the money for postage. I think we would do much better swapping descriptions and jpegs amongst ourselves!!