Selling Unwanted Clothes | The Minimalists Ep. 403

The Minimalists talk about whether to sell, consign, or donate unwanted clothes, furniture, and art. Watch all 2 hours of episode 403 on The Minimalists Private Podcast: / theminimalists
Discussed in this episode:
What are my options for getting rid of unwanted clothes? (01:50)
Should I get rid of my smartphone? (20:38)
Is minimalism “all or nothing,” or are there areas in my life where I can allow space for more? (31:40)
What is the 30-Day Minimalism Game? (38:06)
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FULL SHOW NOTES: minimalists.com/podcast
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[@TheMinimalistsPodcast]

What’s one piece of clothing you’d like to get rid of?

[@joshuatall8134]

the $300 Leather motorcycle jacket I bought 5 years ago when I had a motorcycle. I do not have nor will I get another bike.

[@heidibonjour]

My work clothes and the job that goes with it

[@nunnuu5106]

Green vintage dress that will never fit me again

[@conniepleasant1081]

@@heidibonjour 😝

[@micheleohmer4117]

My fantasy self clothes that don't fit.

[@chowfurnowmeow]

As a cancer patient time is against me so I weigh time like gold. However, I couldn't work for a year due to my illness and maxed out my cards/spent all my savings so I really needed the $. I got rid off all my expensive (aka diamonds/any gold) jewelry. Can't take it with me when I die. I went through over 5000 garments (basically 3 bedroom full of Fashion items) and consign what I could and donate the rejects. I made a 95% LOSS but gained time, peace of space and simplicity by getting rid of it all. No regrets. Physically I am weaker but mentally I feel great ❤

[@cjohansen38]

thanks for sharing your story -- I wish you all the best in your journey. The freed up space should be restorative and calming

[@jodieupton4000]

I pray for your recovery. Thank you for sharing this account.

[@leonamorrison875]

💕

[@Frugalfitvegan]

“There is no refund for misspent time.” That was powerful for me to hear. Thank you.

[@MIOLAZARUS]

Weapon of mass distraction is probably the best term I have heard in a long time.

[@texaslaulie2565]

We adore all y’all !! My ten year old grandson just said over the weekend “all my friends have phones and when they ask me why I don’t have one….I say to them, I want to be a kid and not be constantly tempted by things that aren’t meant for me” proud GMA moment!! Even children know they are master distractors!! Blessings from Texas!

[@StaticTeaz]

Last weekend I sold two hats at Buffalo Exchange for $5.50 total. 😆 Just donate the stuff and move on

[@valerierogers9609]

I tend to agree. Chances are there's a woman's shelter around that would gladly take those things.

[@StaticTeaz]

@@valerierogers9609 good point!

[@phillipsnichole2857]

Buffalo exchange sucks. Educate yourself on what really happens when you donate your clothes to "Big Donation"

[@StaticTeaz]

@@phillipsnichole2857 I just sold a Pens shirt and jersey to Buffalo Exchange. No complaints here

[@Bobbi-the-Croz]

Weapons of Mass Destraction… I’m totally stealing that 😅📱

[@sarahg-mz4xn]

I've sold some baby clothes on Facebook market place (have also given lots for free) but the things that were barely used/unused I just bundle together like 5 pieces for $5 - might as well try! I then use that money to buy my daughters next size of clothes, when you're trying to pay debt off sometimes doing the work for even $5 IS worth it 😊 P.S. I just went to an Ed Sheeran concert (my #1 concert bucket list) and didn't buy a souvenir tshirt or anything! Thanks to minimalism I kept in mind that the photos I took with my phone were free and I can look back on the experience without a $50 tshirt or $10 keychain.

[@RM-bx2zt]

I find that if I will be around the house anyway then selling for $5 is easily worth the time. People stop by and give you money and you get rid of the item.

[@user-lr1xn9pm5e]

I convinced the girls at work to try the minimalist game with me. The prize? A cup of fru fru coffee. When we add it all up at the end of the month, we are shocked at just how much we have donated back to our community. Through this process we have learned to get creative. We are officially starting month 4 and I don't think there will be an end to this game anytime soon. It's bringing us closer as coworkers and teaching us to share what we have with others. Thanks for sharing.

[@laurenfasano6049]

i call the Vietnam Vets - they seem to be very thankful for the donations AND AND AND THEY COME AND PICK IT UP FOR YOU!!!! AWESOM!!! 😳😳

[@conniepleasant1081]

Here’s a thought…put a Minimalist Podcast on and sort through your things slowly while you take in all these shared gems they’re offering ❤😊. You got this girl ❤

[@robynwells8249]

Yes, for some selling is fun and exciting. For me no it isn’t it’s a lot of work. Also clothes I’ve looked to purchase on Poshmark are often as expensive, once you’ve paid shipping as it is to purchase it new. I’d rather donate or give it to a friend. The lesson I’ve learned is just buy less. My old stuff is so much better than anything new I’m finding.

[@georginamuns44]

Thanks so much for your comment! I needed to read something like this today! 💙💙💙

[@dawnsturman4359]

I watch a light-hearted movie while I am photographing my clothes to sell on Poshmark. This helps me face it since I have a lot of shame about spending so much money on clothes, purses, and shoes.

[@Ikr2025]

I buy a lot of my clothes and shoes second hand (but in good/near new condition). I enjoy searching for things I want. But I cannot seem to sell things. I try and list them but hardly any sell. I have filled up valuable space for months and years in our house, making it unpleasant for my family and hard work for me to clean around while I wait to sell it or find the perfect person or place to give it to. I finally gave up and have started donating it all to local charities. It feels so much better even though I don’t get any money or see who the eventual recipient was.

[@ashleysweetly4613]

Kyra Ann on KZbin was a huge motivator for me. She sold almost all of her clothes online and took a huge L BUT that paid off a huge amount of her student loan. So i think, in many cases, there is definitely benefit to the time/money argument. 😊

[@kskgtyuj3053]

Hi, since few month I listen to your podcast, despite of english which is still in progres. Thanks that you talk calm, slowly and with good pronanutiation (whatevere, you know what I mean). Anyway, I like the way you understand minimalism. It is also nice to heare Alabama started to train bjj (brasilian Jiu Jitsu). I train for 10 years and This is one of the best sport I did. Also it has a lot to do with minimalism and what you say about it. You always feel like you never done, there is always sth to do, to learn, to improve. Alabama, good luck with bjj, it’s a long way, but with mostly with good vibes and people arround. No matter where you gonna be on the mat, you’re will be welcomed. In Poland too, in my country.

[@elizabethdaniels51]

I love listening to your podcast while letting go of my stuff. Today I tuned in and went full tilt in cleaning out two big old clothes drawers and my closet. I asked my husband to join me half way through the hour. It felt great. I filled four large paper grocery sacks for donation!

[@terrysmith3715]

When I have clothing or accessories I take it to work and tell my students I have these free items with me they are welcome to take home before I take them to donate on the way home from work. I have never had anything that was left behind!

[@suenewark9397]

I love playing the minimalism game, did it in April, target was 465, achieved 549 items. I play it on my own, too many friends and relatives who are hoarders and simply can't get rid of things. I've loaned them the Marie Kondo book, they just don't get it. I have done it once more this year since, but two half months because I wanted to enjoy the Summer months in the garden and days out - total to date 1041. Think I have always been a closet minimalist, one small freestanding wardrobe and one chest of drawers is all I have ever owned to house my clothes. They have been fairly full, but after weight loss thinned them out and having gained it again due to ill health, I did not buy so much stuff. Am holding onto some of the slightly smaller sizes, but once I get a new knee if I can get to a more comfortable weight and maintain it, I am going to half or quarter my inventory. I love all the minimalist content you boys put out. Marie Kondo was my first brush with minimalism, I actually prefer the term intentional shopping. I don't follow the minimalist asethetic, I buy what I like, including colourful items, hold onto them, and if I fall out of love with anything, pass it on to a new owner with gratitude and love.

[@valerierogers9609]

Threada option that sends a bag for you to fill sounds best; gets it out of your house and you get paid. Good balance of time and profit👍

[@FFlores79]

I used to resell for fun because a friend of mine does it full time and thrifts and resells. Parts of that are fun but it is alot of work and alot of answering questions..many trips to the post office and you have to deal with the TAX MAN...that last one made me quit especially since the rules changed last year. Consigning is probably the easieat

[@hahamasala]

It's often difficult to decide which clothes to sell, donate or keep in case I lose weight again.

[@Meemee-mo5it]

I benefited from a dress that was for my baby at birth. It was very touching to have her in that beautiful gown as we began grieving. Thank you for sharing that idea.

[@christinefortes6457]

Hi Sir Josh I'm a Filipina minimalist too and still on going. I admired the videos found on netflix and now here on youtube 🥰 Thank you so much for keeping me inspired for being a minimalist🥰 Love, from the Philippines 💕🌻

[@Meemee-mo5it]

Celebrating a 50-year anniversary ahead of time. Gold!

[@shirleyburnham2782]

Letting go makes you feel so much more free

[@susandaw144]

I donate my unwanted clothes and other items and just forget about it. Other people hopefully will get some use out of my stuff.

[@autumnellingham5712]

Love the Minimalist Challenge/ Game My Mum and I have just completed the Minimalist Game, were both on a major declutter, she decluttered over 1100 items and I managed 769 items. It's been great fun as we didn't cap our items at the number per day (although we made sure we did over the amount for that day). Some items went into a box in the garage as we decided to sell them and I put them on sale that day... but if there not sold and gone by our next trip to the recycling center (next week) they go that way. I've decided that there is so much still to go but as I have a busy month I'm going to get to 1000 items by the end of August that's about another 7.5 items a day.

[@FFlores79]

Buying to resell talk about a minimalist nightmare because you have to store the stuff at home. Now it is something one could do during a tough time to help get by

[@lisah5836]

I tried consignment because it was too time consuming using ebay etc. The pricing was reasonable but the store had no customer service and would take 50% of the value on every sale made. Also, they would cut the price every couple of weeks. So no promotion of good clothes for the right customer and half of them ended up selling for peanuts.

[@Anna-jr8dz]

Give aways free online are also great sustainable option

[@pierremichelestival]

Two comments: what are the brands we should go to (simple, neutral color, not crazy expensive, good quality). And please don't be these people who always put a sad face on their thumbnails. You guys are different; you are beyond this. Step up, and don't try to play the overall KZbin game. Makes no sense with your philosophy of life. I am going to add one last comment: I love what you do and stand for.

[@Forever-Humble]

Ive gone from thrift shop to thrift shop buying many items to resell, i can say i was very unsuccessful and barely made my money back. The time spent doing this was hundreds of hours+, was really not worth it at all. Thought i would try as a side hustle but it didn't go as planed.

[@karajade83]

I did this too, after a friend who was doing this suggested I try it. Same scenario. Not worth my time.. so much time.. or the stress from flaky, difficult buyers. I'm in Australia and it's a lot more difficult to sell clothes here, especially sizes 6-8 (extra small). Postage costs are astronomical and our population is tiny compared to the USA and Europe. In high school I sold clothes in person though consignment shops and made decent pocket money but that was the 90s. As for online, there doesn't seem to be much of a market for that here. I just donate now and the pain from the sunk cost fallacy makes me increasingly thoughtful and deliberate regarding subsequent purchases.

[@Forever-Humble]

@@karajade83 Your absolutely spot on! I'm also in Australia in (Melbourne) and the tiny size of our population makes it very difficult to sell anything here. I've tried selling a variety of things from clothes to household items, collectables, tech items etc with zero luck. Like you said postage is extremely inflated and I find most buyers are too picky, over negotiate want it for free basically and want to return items afterwards making it impossible to sell anything here. Mostly online which is a ghost town and I've also tried outdoor markets which was an even bigger disaster! Like you said I've basically learnt my lesson here to stop buying stuff or be more careful with what I buy and be minimalistic, I now donate most of my stuff.

[@karajade83]

@@Forever-Humble I'm in Adelaide, so an even smaller pool of buyers. It's literally taken me years to give away furniture on Gumtree and Marketplace. So many no shows, potential buyers/takers that ghost you suddenly or have outrageous or unreasonable requests. I'll be in Melbourne next week helping my partner declutter his house (a long process that has taken 5 years because he's a reformed hoarder) before moving. Sadly but necessarily, we will be donating almost everything. However, his family are all still level 3 or 4 hoarders, quite literally, and most of them live on the same suburban street but in different houses, I kid you not, so as soon as they see anything being put out for hard rubbish or being loaded into the boot of a car, they descended with a flurry of "I want thats".

[@karajade83]

@@LA-wv7gfWhat are book scanners? Are they different to flat bed and photo scanners? I donated a tonne of books of my partners, accidentally, from the keep pile but there were so many piles it was confusing! A few were from the 18 hundreds but antique book dealers still didn't want them. At a guess, in total I he had at least 5000 books, 3 rooms of floor to ceiling bookshelves anyway. Most weren't worth much. Some sold to resellers. Others I took to street libraries.

[@georginamuns44]

Tried it as well with 4 platforms! Not worth my time at all :/ either I give items to friends or their friends or I donate to breast cancer society. I have to do another declutter adventure….love it! 💙

[@giennefarcais6834]

You mentioned links to the articles on selling clothes - where are those please? Thanks.

[@thebipolargirl101]

Why don't we ever see malabama, I wanna see her!! Every episode I'm wishing secretly she will show her face 😂

[@adellemccann1865]

In the U.K. Vinted free app is good for selling stuff, but people do not want to pay more than a few £ even for decent quality products with tags. But it’s worked ok for me, I was able to save up the proceeds and buy new Dr Marten boots I have to resist buying goods on there. I have sold at such a massive loss but my wardrobe is clearer and the clothes made me no money sitting in there gathering dust. Former shopping addict! I also donate items that no one wants to buy after a month or so. I have the time to photograph and upload and the app is super easy. (No I don’t work for them haha)

[@nancymonahan7952]

I donated my wedding dress to Evan and Emma Foundation..amother Angels program...

[@aliyamathiesen7290]

This is an exact question I had! So excited!

[@kaitlincyr]

My boyfriend and I once sat at a very expensive restaurant in Toronto and spent out time on our phones bc we were just there to relax after missing an airplane. We wanted good streaks rather than airport food.

[@sparklejesusfreak]

Thank you so much for all you have taught me along the way!

[@_ktal93]

Hello, All! Sending love from Michigan. ❤

[@sleeplessinchicago9082]

Selling of clothes is a time-consuming endeavor hat is not going to bring significant amount of money unless you have pricey couture items. Selling non-brand names on ebay is a waste of time; even with brand name items, prospective buyers would ask me to sell them at next to nothing prices. I finally got tired of it and closed all my clothing listings. Just cut the losses and learn the lessons.

[@Anna-jr8dz]

Thread up to sale clothes in chunks you send it to them.

[@benjammin105123]

My clothes are wrecked when I'm done with them so I don't think that pertains to me lol

[@kimbrian5664]

I do not have a smart phone and am still happy.

[@georginamuns44]

Me too…. Don’t use FB, IG, can’t stand all these people posting pics that don’t even reflect who they really are … got rid of all that 3 years ago ..just have it for my daughter and for my 90 year old loving father 💙 no emails either! LOVE IT!

[@eahuebner1]

Team curtains. They add to the insulation of windows and can be critical for staying warm on the cold winter nights.

[@foxesonthemove5466]

That is amazing ❤❤ 50 year anniversary

[@lh1053]

Consigning is a waste of your time AND money! You are better off donating.

[@lisa9867]

I make a few bucks and I love shopping for new (to me) things at discount prices. Anything they won't take I donate to a thrift shop.

[@briannaphillips4255]

This is so powerful!!!!❤😢🎉

[@alanbirkner1958]

Thanks. Tina, Al's wife

[@Janneli2024]

Advertise one garment a day at the end of year 365 done ✅ surely that can’t take up too much time 🤔

[@westendgirl320]

When I started my minimalism journey, I was in the same position as Roberta. My advice is to get rid of it. Selling it takes too much time and if you keep handling it, you start wanting to keep it. The sooner it's out of the house the better. I opted to donate as I loved the idea of someone finding it and being thrilled about their find. In my mind, the money was spent so I just moved on.

[@user-mn5gw2yn8o]

What’s one piece of clothing you’d like to get rid of?. Celebrating a 50-year anniversary ahead of time. Gold!.

[@bombshellmusical9566]

I hate selling so I just donate. I sometimes think (I could’ve made x-money on this, but then I think, that charity will make x-money on this)

[@JenniferGweniver3rd]

I was making a coffee one time i grabbed a screw driver forgot i was making a coffee . Went back to making a coffee i swear my brain grab the screw driver because i wanted to move a light yet a light that can be moved because it runs on batteries. So i move the light after getting done that and the coffee I was like how my brain do that went i was in the middle of making a coffee??? #OMG XD

[@phillipsnichole2857]

The reselling options The Minimalists mention COST MONEY. Thread up and Poshmark will nickel and dime any seller. The suggestions in this podcast are half- informed.

[@bumblebee_mrs]

My parents have been unhappily married for 55 years.

[@annoravetz5908]

I have been spending too much time watching way too many Dr. Pimple popper and other dermatologists videos. I will never be professionally licensed to perform these minor surgeries on anybody in my lifetime, so why do I care about the numbing, the drainage, getting the sac matter out, and the sutures? Who knows, but it's several hours I will never get back, meanwhile there are at least a dozen things I could get done in my reality. I got the idea I should give up dermatology videos for 2 weeks!

[@elizabethandiosa4579]

Thank you for the tips on selling clothing, unwanted and reseller items. I love my phones. Ivlearned tons of stuff on you tube, sncient history, religion, politics, organizing, art techniques, more drawing and art techniques, ancient religions, science, magic, and most of all my phone keeps me and my family safe and able to record evidence and learning about internet safety and world politics and you realize you're not alone when it comes to different socialvissues like war, justice, victims rights, peace, prosperity, joy, exercise, health good diet, good science, kindness, compassion and more peace. My phone has helped me help others. I have been able to wuickly access police and ambulance services for people I have come across that required emergency medical services like having a sudden stroke, breathing problem. Phoning for assistance for my daughter etc. And taking great family photos.