thredUP Resale-as-a-Service (Partner Kit) Review

Updated 7/18/23

Maybe you’re cleaning out your closet and want to turn your clothes into money quickly. Or you’re a reseller with stale inventory that you’re looking to move now. One way to earn money is to send your items to thredUP Resale-as-a-Service (AKA Partner kit). In this post, I talk about my experience using thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service. Read on to see its benefits and how it can work for you.

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** If you don’t have a thredUP account, you can receive a free $10 bonus when you use this link to sign up.

thredUP Terminology

You’ll hear several names used for Resale-as-a Service. I’ve listed several of the names below. For this article, I’ll call it a Partner kit because that’s how I’ve heard most people refer to it. This is the service I’m reviewing.

Resale-as-a-Service
Partner kit
Partner bag
Partner box
[Brand] Clean Out bag

thredUP has another service, which is their more standard or traditional service. It also has a few different names of its own. For this article, I’ll call it a Clean Out kit. More on the differences below starting with the Clean Out kit.

Clean Out kit
Clean Out bag

What’s a Clean Out kit?

With thredUP’s standard Clean Out kit, you earn cash or credit for the women’s and children’s clothing and other items that you send in and are accepted for resale.

There is now a $14.99 service fee for submitting a Clean Out kit. This fee is deducted from your earnings. You are not charged upfront.

The payout structure is 100% consignment, which means you are paid a portion of the sale when the item sells.

thredUP accepts your items and lists them at their suggested prices based on factors such as brand, style, condition, and size. This is the current payout structure.

You’re able to change the price of an accepted item during a 12-hour window prior to the item going live. You can change the price after the item goes live as well.

You can increase the price of an item by a maximum of 10% based on thredUP’s original listing price.

Listings stay up for 30-45 days depending on the brand.

If you chose Return Assurance or Expedited Processing, those fees will come out of any earnings.

Return Assurance is $10.99. thredUP will return the items they don’t select back to you.
Rush Processing is $8.00. Your bag is supposed to be processed within 2 weeks of arrival at a warehouse but can take longer.

What’s a thredUP Partner kit?

thredUP partnered with several retailers to provide store credit for sold women’s and children’s items. thredUP used to partner with many companies, but some of the partnerships have ended.

These are the current partners that I could locate:

thredUP used to partner with many companies, but some of the partnerships have ended. The partnerships with Crocs and Toad & Co. ended in 2023.

Since the brands change from time to time, you can look up the current brands in a few ways:

Check the Clean Out - Cash Out - Brand Credit section of the site when logged in
Do an online search for “[brand] x thredUP” and see what comes up in the results.

You can send in women’s and children’s items from any brand, not only the brand whose gift card you want.

These items are now treated much like the regular Clean Out kits. You are paid for the items based on consignment.

The items are first selected for resale. They are listed for sale on thredUP for 30 days. You earn money to shop at the company you chose for anything that was sold and not returned during the return window.

This is a major difference from how this service used to run.

Prior to 2022, you were paid for the items that were selected soon after they were processed. It was not consignment-based, so you didn’t need to wait for anything to sell.

Since 2022, more and more of the companies have turned to a consignment model.

thredUP reports that Partner kits with these companies are now 100% consignment.

thredUp previously had a chart indicating the payout structure of items selected through Partner kits. It used to be that you earned 4% to 56% of the estimated resale value of an item.

I could not find this chart on their site anymore, which leads me to believe the payout structure is now the same as it is for regular Clean Out kits like shown above or lower.

One benefit of Partner kits is that some of the companies offer a bonus on your payout. For example, Abercrombie & Fitch and Banana Republic will give you an extra 15% credit.

Benefits of a Partner kit

1 ) No processing fee

thredUP has a processing fee of $14.99 for their regular Clean Out kits. Partner kits do not have a processing fee.

If you are accidentally charged a processing fee, contact thredUP customer service to have that sorted out

2) Availability of Partner kits

Many people who have sent regular Clean Out bags and boxes to thredUP over the years have found that they are limited in the amount they can send now. They click on a link on the site to get a regular Clean Out shipping label, and it’s not possible.

Some people are blocked for months or even years at a time. I have suspicions as to why:

Previously sending in items with a low acceptance rate
Sending in many regular Clean Out kits in a short time
thredUP warehouses being full of inventory
Wanting to give people new to thredUP a chance to send in their items

Some people are blocked from sending in regular Clean Out kits but are able to send in Partner kits. It’s worth a try if you find yourself unable to send in regular Clean Out kits.

3) Good for the environment

You’re recycling clothes by keeping them in use and out of landfills. You’re reducing carbon and waste created during the production of new clothes.

4) Fast processing

Processing times for thredUP’s standard Clean Out kits can be horrendously long. I’ve heard of people sending in Clean Out kits and getting them processed anywhere from 6 months to a year later.

Sometimes the bags are even lost! I don’t know anyone who wants to tie up their money like that and wait that long for a payout.

Partner kits are supposed to process faster. In 2021, I shipped my box on November 6, received an email on November 16 that my kit was received, and an email on November 18 that my kit had been processed. That was less than 2 weeks!

As of 2023, there has been mixed feedback about the speed of processing Partner kits. I think it’s hit or miss.

Negatives of a Partner kit

1) Low payouts

In 2021 when I first wrote this post, the payout for Partner kits was lower than for regular Clean Out kits. While the Partner kit chart is no longer available on thredUP’s site, I’ve heard from other sellers that the payout continued to be lower and remains so today.

You can see the charts below. At the bottom end of the charts, an 11% versus 15% payout for a $19.99 item is not a huge difference.

At the top end of the charts, 56% payout versus an 80% payout for a $200+ item is a big difference. That’s a minimum difference of $48.

It’s important to think about the resale value of the items you send in and how much you think you will receive for them. It may be worth trying to sell for yourself or using the standard Clean Out kit to earn more money despite the long timeline.

Standard Clean Out kit (left) versus Partner kit (right) payout structures

2) Lack of transparency

Starting in 2023, Partner kit details are no longer listed on your thredUP account.

When you sell using regular a Clean Out kit, you can see information or do things such as

Each item that was accepted
Listing price of item
Change the price of an item
Payout of each sold item

This used to be the case with Partner kits but not anymore. You should still be able to see the final payout you will receive as an e-gift card.

If you have questions about the details of your Partner kit, you will have to contact customer service.

How do you order a Partner kit?

Click on the names of brands listed above. Some of the pages have buttons that say “activate a kit” or “get a label”

When you click on a brand, most of them say “order a label” and “activate a label.”

When I tried this most recently, I was unable to get the buttons to work. If this is the case for you, I would contact customer service.

You can order a label and then activate it later when you’re ready to ship your bag or box.

I ordered a Banana Republic label and then took a month to prepare the items I wanted to send in. The label was still valid.

I’ve read that labels are valid indefinitely, but others have told me that they’re valid for 6 months or 1 year. If you have any concerns about an old label working, email thredUP to ask about it.

You can only use the label once. You can’t print the same label multiple times to send in several boxes. Every box or bag needs a separately generated label with its own tracking code.

Once your bag or box is packed, stick the label on it and ship it via USPS or FedEx. I had my mail carrier pick up my box at my door. There is a 30-lb weight limit per bag or box.

You can use any box or shipping bag. It doesn’t have to be branded for thredUP.

If you recycle a previously used bag or box, make sure to remove any old labels that might misdirect the package.

Cash out & receive an e-gift card

Go to the Clean Out - Cash Out - Brand Credit section of the site when logged in. You can select any brand that is available to get credit for it, plus any bonus that’s currently offered.

thredUP Brands that currently offer credit — Brands that currently offer credit

Tips and thoughts about Partner kits

1) You can earn money with Partner kits

Some people send in Partner kits regularly to turn a profit. How do they do this?

Sellers get their items for pennies on the dollar or even free. They shop at the Goodwill bins and thrift stores where they get their items for less than $1 each. I often hear of costs coming to $0.25 per item!

If you find the right items that have a high resale value, they will earn you more than $0.25 or $1.00 if they are accepted.

The sellers get even more money because the stores provide a small bonus of maybe 15% to 20%. The sellers either use the store credit to buy things from the company or sell the gift card to receive cash.

You can sell gift cards on sites like

Cashcard
Raise
Gift Card Granny

While some people used to do this to earn money regularly, it’s much harder now because payment is by consignment based on what sells rather than upfront for all the items they accept. It’s still possible to earn money this way if you are selective about what you send in so that a good percentage of your items are accepted and in demand to be sold.

2) Send in items as the last option

If you have the time and inclination, try to sell your items yourself. You’ll make the most money that way.

If you’re tried everything like listing and relisting, dropping the price, and listing to multiple marketplaces, and your item still doesn’t sell, then send it to thredUP.

That’s what most resellers do. Some might source specifically to send items to thredUP, but most resellers try to sell the items first to gain the most profit.

3) Send in items you would otherwise donate

Similarly, I would suggest sending in items you would otherwise donate.

My friends and family members are not resellers. They have no interest in listing their old clothes online for sale. Their first thought after cleaning the house is to drop their donations off at the thrift store.

I mention to them that they should send their items to thredUP. At least then they have a chance to recoup some money.

After reading this, you might think that thredUP is going to be inundated with low-quality items, but I disagree.

Some nice items from high-end brands are valuable but just won’t sell for you on Poshmark or eBay. It happens to every seller at some point. I almost sent in a beautiful $400+ BCBG gown that was new with tags because I couldn’t sell it myself.
thredUP inspects every item that is sent in and only accepts items that pass their 12-point inspection criteria.
People send in all sorts of things from their closet or elsewhere, even nice items, because they don’t want to deal with them themselves. How easy is it to pack them in a bag, send them off, and then just wait for credit?

My experience

I sent in 15 items and 11 items were accepted for resale. I received a $34.90 payout.

I selected Banana Republic which offers a 15% payout bonus. My earnings were $30.35 for the clothes and a bonus of $4.55.

I was happy with the payout considering that most of the items were things from my own closet. I didn’t wear them anymore.

I didn’t want to list them because I felt they had low resale value. A few were from thrift shopping and a few were from previous thredUP mystery boxes.

Overall, I was really happy with my thredUP Partner kit experience in 2021. I got rid of clothes I didn’t wear anymore and received money that I could use to purchase new clothes or a gift for someone else.

It’s now become much harder to earn the same amount of money with the Partner kit because payout is based on consignment sales.

At this point, I don’t see much benefit sending in items using a Partner kit versus a standard Clean Out kit except for the $14.99 service fee of the standard Clean Out kit.

If I still wanted the brand gift cards, I would cash out my earnings for those gift cards ensuring that I get a 15% or 20% bonus when it’s offered.

Have you tried thredUP’s Resale-as-a-Service AKA Partner Kit? What did you think of it? What items were accepted or declined for you?

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