My Top Tips for Online Consignment Shopping

Happy Tuesday friend!

At least once a week I link to my favorite place to order clothes online (and by favorite I mean the one I use the most frequently – all three of those boxes pictured above have arrived in the last two weeks…. ) so I wanted to share a little bit more about how I’ve scored some of my very favorite pieces at 80-90% off over the last few years.

Essentially, thredUP is a well-curated online consignment store that accepts gently used or new-with-tags clothing from brands we already know and love. My favorite finds have included a gorgeous red DVF dress (worn here), a Kate Spade clutch, and almost all of my maternity clothes. When I placed my first order two years ago they only carried Women’s, but they’ve since expanded to include specialty sizes like Plus and Maternity as well as Boys, Girls, and Babies (I get a good amount of Lincoln’s clothes from thredUP too).

I’m always impressed with how much I can find that is on-trend for the current season and I’ve never been let down by the quality. Everything has always been in like-new condition (even the things that say they have some wear).

1. Check regularly: They have an app I have on my phone and with new items added every hour, the more often you check their site, the more likely you are to snag the perfect item before someone else does. Things stay in your cart for 24 hours before being returned to the “shelves” so I always add items I kinda like to my cart and then decide in the evening if it’s something I actually want to buy.

2. Use filters: Right now their personalized filters are on hold (as they develop a new system) so if you haven’t been on their site before you won’t be able to use this nifty tool. HOWEVER, you can filter by brand, size, item type, etc and this makes it a lot easier to sort through everything.

3. Have something in mind: If you’re keeping an eye out for a great pair of designer jeans or a killer pump, check those categories regularly instead of just scrolling through the “womens” section with over 150,000 items.

4. Utilize returns: On a good box, I’ll keep a little over half of what I purchased. The rest I ship back for free and get the refund in store credit. I think I’d keep a larger percent of items if I was shopping brands with sizes I’m familiar with but with this ever-growing belly and not being really familiar with maternity styles, it’s hit or miss.

5. Always get free shipping: Orders over $79 ship for free and if you get your return in store credit, the return shipping is free too. So, I always order over $79 worth of stuff, even if I don’t plan on keeping it all (because I know in the next few months I’ll use the store credit). This way I skip all shipping charges. Also, if you spend over $150 in a month, you get free shipping on all items for another month.

6. Refer friends: If your friend signs up using your referral link, both of you get $10 credited to your account. With plenty of items under $10, this is basically a free top for each of you (you can get $10 off your first order using my link here or use the code ‘UHL21’ for 21% off your purchase instead).

^a new silk maternity blouse I found on thredUP (new with tags!)


^a polkadot box is my favorite thing to find on my doorstep (other than maybe a home-cooked meal from a friend before I start cooking dinner) and everything comes wrapped in cute tissue paper that makes opening up my new-to-me items like getting a present 🙂