Helpsy Review: Tahari Women's Secondhand Clothes

As a reseller, I would love to find a reliable online source of inventory that I can return to again and again. So when I heard about Helpsy, a company that sells new and second-hand wholesale inventory for resellers, I jumped at the chance to try it out.

I ordered three different boxes from the company. In this third review, I show what I received in my Helpsy Tahari Women’s Clothes Secondhand Wholesale box and my thoughts on the box. Check out the update below for how the box sold!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may receive compensation when you click on a product link or purchase an item linked on this site. Click here for details.

** On Poshmark, you can receive a free $10 bonus when you sign up with the code SFGIRL2015.

** On Mercari, you can get $10 when you sign up with the code JENMHM.

What did I purchase from Helpsy?

I purchased three boxes from Helpsy (reviews linked below).

Tahari Women's Clothes Secondhand Wholesale - 40 pieces
Vintage Variety Wholesale Men's & Women's Clothes Secondhand Wholesale - 40 pieces
Deluxe & Designer Brands - Women’s Clothes Secondhand Wholesale - 20 pieces

I purchased them all at once, and the Tahari box arrived 20 days later.

How much did the Tahari box cost?

The box was on sale for $100 for 40 items. I purchased it during a sitewide sale so it was discounted to $90. Shipping was free. There was no sales tax.

$90/40 = $2.25 per item

Why did I purchase the Tahari box?

I purchased the Tahari box for a few reasons:

It was on sale at $90 for 40 items. I wanted to see what I would get at that low amount per item. I don’t find clothes at that price at the thrift stores I visit.
I like Tahari clothes, especially the dresses. If I received something that I liked and fit me, I’d keep it for myself.
Tahari has decent workwear and everyday wear.
Tahari doesn’t have high resale value, but I could live with lower-dollar sales. I planned to donate whatever did not sell.

What did I receive in the Tahari box?

Oh goodness, where do I start? I received 22 blazers and jackets!

While unboxing, all I could think of was Melanie Griffith in Working Girl. Big shoulder pads and even bigger hair.

I started singing Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” in my head as I imagined myself in 1980s office life.

Here’s a look at some of the blazers, jackets, and other items I received.

NWT jacket. This was one my favorite items in the box. Sold in a bundle for 3 Tahari jackets for $41 total on Poshmark.

Blazer with a lot of pulls on the sleeves

This blazer was another of my favorite items in the box.

This shirt appeared new. It came with the extra button in the plastic bag still attached.

Pants with a fair amount of wear. Lots of pilling.

This skirt was obviously worn but in okay condition.

I actually received 42 items. Thirty-nine of the items were by Tahari. The other items were

A Theory dress
A Kimchi Blue dress
A bra

The Kimchi Blue dress and the bra were in very poor condition, so I guess they were thrown in by accident.

Things I liked about this box

1 | A few of the items

I liked a few of the items such as

The NWT pink jacquard jacket. It looked like something a mother of the bride would wear.

One of the single-button blazers had a modern look and was in excellent condition
The open-front black jacket also looked contemporary.

2 | A range of sizes

This box had a wide range of sizes from XS to 16 with plenty of the items in the medium and large range.

Sometimes when you order liquidation boxes or second-hand clothing boxes (or anything that’s not manifested) there’s a good chance you will get lots of items of the same small sizes that don’t sell well.

I like when boxes like these come with larger size items because they tend to sell better than smaller sizes.

Things I didn’t like about this box

1 | Older styles

Most of the items in the box were dated. Several of the blazers/jackets seemed to be styles from another decade.

I could also tell these were older because the size tags turned yellow. Some had care labels that were old or worn. I will list a few of them as vintage because I think they are.

2 | Limited variety of clothing

I received a large proportion of blazers and jackets - 22 out of 40 items or 55%! Blazers aren’t the best resellers. People often work from home and dress more casually these days.

If they do want blazers, they’re more likely to be modern or contemporary style versus these.

I was hoping to receive tops, sweaters, and dresses - things that people wear more often.

I did receive two items that were new with tags. One was a blazer/jacket I listed for sale and the other was a tank top with a stain on it.

3 | Inventory sticker residue

Helpsy keeps track of its inventory by using stickers with barcodes on the items. The stickers are large and sticky, so they often leave residue on items when they are removed.

It doesn’t leave residue on some material, but unfortunately, the lining of the blazers and jackets was a material that the sticker adhesive clings to.

I can sometimes remove the sticker residue by heating the sticker before removing it. I use a hair dryer or steamer to heat the area with the sticker and gently peel it off.

In this case, I didn’t feel like taking the time to try removing the sticker and scraping residue off of every item. Eventually I stopped taking the stickers off and started listing the items with the stickers disclosed as wear.

I requested a refund on some of the items in the deluxe & designer box because of the sticker issue. Here the items were low enough in cost that I didn’t feel it was worth requesting a refund.

Things I’m neutral about with this box

1 | Condition of the items

The items were mostly in decent condition. Unlike the clothes in thredUP rescue boxes, these clothes mostly had light wear.

Some of the items were in fair condition with noticeable pulls or pilling, small stains, and missing buttons. That’s to be expected in any secondhand clothing box.

Companies will tell you to expect flaws such as pilling, deodorant stains, small holes, makeup marks, runs in the fabric, and odors.

You can also expect a certain amount of severely damaged items, up to 15% of 6 in a box of 40 items.

The items in the box fell in line with the description. I wasn’t thrilled with it, but I knew what to expect and the description was accurate.

Is the Tahari box worth purchasing?

I don’t think the Tahari box was worth purchasing. I sort of guessed that the box was on sale because it wasn’t a hot seller and the items were only $2.25 each.

It’s still possible to make a profit on this box. Some of the items have gotten likes or been watched, so there is some interest in the items.

Maybe someone out there needs a good amount of 80s workwear?

Nonetheless, I haven’t found it worth the time it takes to sort the items, take pictures, write the listings, and everything else that goes into selling them.

Mostly I’m disappointed to have gotten so many blazers and what I think are outdated items.

The box wasn’t available soon after I purchased it. I wonder if I got the last of the Tahari clothing and ended up with all the blazers.

It’s not up for sale anymore, but if it were, I would probably pass on it.

Will I purchase from Helpsy again?

After trying out three different boxes from Helpsy, I’m unlikely to buy any of their secondhand or used items again.

While they were all accurate to their listing descriptions, I didn’t find any of them to be amazing and am uncertain if any of them will bring a profit worth their work.

Many other resellers have liked what they have received in their boxes, so it may just be me.

I think I am pickier about the secondhand clothing items I choose to resell. I like to sell items that buyers give 5 stars for.

When I thrift shop, I usually don’t buy items that have wear like missing buttons or have marks and stains that can’t easily wash out.

I’m also bothered by the inventory sticker residue. I consider it additional unnecessary wear on an item and disclose it as another flaw in my listings.

I hope that time and sales will change my mind about these boxes.

If I decide to shop with Helpsy again, I’ll buy boxes with items that are new with tags or new without tags. The brands would still need to be those that resell well and the cost low enough that the items are profitable upon reselling. I’ll write another review if I do.

How did this Helpsy box sell?

Update 1/1/24:

I listed about 14 of the original 40+ items in the box based on what I thought would sell given their style, type of clothing, and condition.

I sold 5 of the items after having them listed for 3+ months. I sold 5 jackets for $74 resulting in $59.17 after commission.

I still have a few items up for sale, but I’ve donated or thrown away most of the items that did not sell by now. I don’t expect that the few remaining items for sale will sell for much.

I won’t be making back the $90 I spent on this box. I was a disappointing dud, and I wouldn’t recommend it to other resellers.

Have you purchased anything from Helpsy? What did you think of it? How did it resell for you?