Spring is right around the corner, and with that means emptying out your closet and swapping out those dark, baggy sweaters for bright shorts and sandals you’ve had stuffed under your bed. While cleaning out your closet can be a tedious and somewhat tiring task, you will probably find clothes back there you haven’t seen in ages, or even forgot you had (I know I did this weekend).
After purging and debating on what to keep and what to toss, you’ll start to wonder, what am I going to do with all of this? Toss the garbage cans aside because those clothes can be your ticket to some major cash. There are a few options in Auburn that will gladly accept your hammy downs, and get you a chunk of change in the process.
Fringe Consignment Boutique
With locations in Auburn and Downtown Opelika, this local hotspot allows women to sell name brand clothing for cash. According to their website, items will be placed to sell and the consigner then receives 40 percent of the selling price, and 50 percent if the item was more than $100.
While some of us may not be up to date on our fashion forward skills, Fringe’s website explains that they use their fashion expertise to determine what is trendy, in high demand and how much to offer you for it.
A few brand names that they look for include Steve Madden, BCBG, Ann Taylor, LOFT, Michael Kors, J. Crew and Anthropologie brands. Their Downtown Opelika store is located at 125 S 8th St., and the Auburn location is at 2436 E University Drive. Check out fringeofopelika.com for more details.
Plato’s Closet
Many people have heard of this nationwide consignment store that buys and sells your “gently” used clothing. The process at Plato’s Closet is simple, you bring in your clothes, let the employees mull them over (in the mean time you can shop around for yourself), they will then make you an offer of what they want and how much they’ll pay and then they’ll give you cash.
The Auburn location has its own website that allows buyers and sellers to gain inside access of “what’s hot” (what they are buying and selling), so you don’t have to waste your time lugging garbage bags full of brand names they won’t accept.
Be your own consigner
Why waste time going through a middle man to sell your clothes when you can do it yourself?
Molly Stone, senior in apparel merchandising, stopped taking all of her clothes to consignment stores because it wasn’t as much fun splitting the profits. After wondering what to do with her abundance of clothes and shoes, Stone created “Re:Wear,” a consignment business in which she takes pictures of clothes she wants to sell and puts them up on social media networks such as Instagram and Facebook. While she has done pretty well in her business thus far, she explains that it is always better to show clothes to girls when they are with their moms because they have more money to spend. While Stone accepts cash and checks from friends, she is sticking to a cash-only policy for strangers. For more information, or to purchase some of Stone’s clothes, visit “Re:Wear” on Facebook.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
