Online Consignment Stores - Twice vs. thredUP

New-to-me clothes from Twice!

Over the course of the last year, my clothing size changed, as did my style, leaving me with a ton of clothes I no longer wore. So my first project of the summer was cleaning out my closet - and of course, adding a few new items.

In the past I've always just donated old clothes, but this time I felt like I had a lot of clothes I couldn't bear to just let go, so I wanted to try selling them. I don't have the patience to sell small-ticket items one by one on eBay, and secondhand stores like Buffalo Exchange look mostly for trendy, in-season items, so those options were out. While looking for an easier way to sell my clothes in bulk, I came across online "consignment" stores Twice and thredUP, which follow the same model as Buffalo Exchange, Plato's Closet, etc. wherein you can trade in your clothes for cash or store credit.

I sold a batch of clothes to Twice and am still waiting on thredUP, and of course I couldn't resist buying a few things (okay, six things - still about a tenth of what I recently sold/donated) and overall, I'm really happy with the experience.

Twice

NWT Sheer White Blouse by Ecote by Urban Outfitters, $11.95 (est. original price $33.49)

Tan Front Button Skirt by J. Crew Factory, $12.95 (est. original price $55.95)

Long Sleeve Blazer by Halogen by Nordstrom, $17.95 (est. original price $118.00)

Blue Striped T-Shirt by Banana Republic Outlet, $11.95 (est. original price $31.99)

Total cost: $54.80

thredUP

American Eagle Button Down, $9.99 (est. original price $40)

Hollister Casual Skirt, $9.99 (est. original price $40)

Total cost: $23.96, minus $15 discount code = $8.96

Most of these are items I've been wanting for a while but just never found at the right price. The blazer was a bit of an impulse purchase and isn't as flattering as I'd hoped, so I might be sending that back (luckily, Twice provides free return shipping).

Detailed comparison after the cut!

Not that Kind of Black Box: Julep for a Non-Lacquerista

I've always loved surprises, so I like the general idea behind beauty subscription boxes, but I honestly don't use a lot of common beauty products (e.g. mascara, blush, perfume, nail polish) and have limited funds, so I've held off on the whole subscription craze until now. I like the model used by Julep - you're shown all of the possible boxes ahead of time, and you can choose any of the month's boxes, send your box to a friend, or skip the month entirely - but I rarely use nail polish, and usually stick to clear or sheer pink.

Julep has five different "style profiles": generally, Boho Glam, Bombshell, and Classic with a Twist all contain one beauty product + two polishes, while Modern Beauty contains two beauty products and It Girl contains three polishes. You're not forced to stick with the same profile month to month, and all the items from the other sets are available as add-on items (up to three) for a discounted price, so there's a lot of flexibility.

Since I'm not much of a polish person, I didn't consider subscribing until they introduced the Modern Beauty profile. I came across a "free first box, just pay $3.99 S&H" code (FREEBOX) and figured it was worth the hassle of canceling the subscription later to pick up the Modern Beauty Intro Box, which contains their Glycolic Hand Scrub and Rock Star Hand Creme ($20).

Glycolic Hand Scrub, $23

Rock Star Hand Creme, $20

eShakti Review

Haven't posted in a long time - went through some personal stuff and lost interest in beauty/fashion for a while.

I lost some weight over the last year, and while I've generally enjoyed buying new clothes (or finding that old ones now fit again), I still have problems finding dresses and shirts that fit well because my shoulders/chest are a couple of sizes bigger than my waist/hips. I considered having clothes custom-made to fit me, and even signed up for an account on eShakti a while ago, but the dress I had chosen went out of stock and I sort of forgot about it. But back in February they emailed me asking if I'd like a sample dress to try, custom-sizing included, so I picked a dress - and here it is!

I picked the contrast trim poplin dress and had it custom-sized to my measurements, as well as shortening it to above-the-knee.

eShakti Contrast Trim Poplin Dress in Navy/Off-White, $69.95

Introducing Voyya

Tokyo Fashion recently started carrying a new line called Voyya:

The name "Voyya" comes from "Voyage." They carry a good selection of basic items and have a men's line as well as a women's line. Many of the menswear item match up with the women's items, which is nice for couple dressing without being too over-the-top (if you like that sort of thing).

(More information and review after the jump)

ModCloth Review

Placed my first order at ModCloth! I bought these ridiculous socks...

PG Mall/ PG Beauty Review

Established in 2003, PG Beauty is a popular Taiwanese handbag/accessory brand.
They have their own online shop, PG Mall, as well as a Yahoo Taiwan storefront and TaoBao storefront. Their goods are also sold on YesStyle (marked up significantly, as usual).

Overview, timeline, reviews, and price comparison with YesStyle after the jump! You can also check out how to order from PG Mall/ PG Beauty here.

Jewelmint Review

So I didn't check my mail for a few days, and this is what I found today:
Jewelmint, Hollister, geocolouredlenses.com, and eBay packages!

I've heard a lot about Jewelmint, but most of it is from aggressive advertising - actual reviews seem to be pretty mixed. Personally, I rarely pay $30 for jewelry, and definitely not for costume jewelry, so I wasn't about to commit to paying $30 for jewelry every month!

But I caved and bought one piece - just one.

Betsey Johnson Serenn Platforms - Lita Lookalikes

Who doesn't like Litas? Yeah, they're kind of becoming a cliché, but admit it - they're pretty cute.

Jeffrey Campbell Lita Platform Boot in Slate Suede, currently $162 at NastyGal.

I'm not the kind of person to spend that much money on shoes, though, so I've been looking around for an alternative and came up with these:

 

Betsey Johnson Serenn Platforms in Gray Suede, currently $29.99 at Street Moda (MSRP $160)

I've never bought anything from Street Moda before, so I was a little apprehensive - the rather eclectic brand collection seemed a bit strange, but they have an A+ ranking from the BBB and a quick Google search turned up a good amount of positive reviews, so I gave it a shot.

WanBoo (Rakuten Thrift Store)/Tenso (Forwarding Service) Review

I made made my first purchase from Rakuten recently, taking advantage of their ¥1000 shipping promotion with Tenso.

Overall, I'm really happy with Tenso's service, and I would definitely use them again. I was also very happy with the quality and price of the clothing I bought from Wanboo, a thrift store with a Rakuten storefront.

Tokyo Fashion Review

I made my first online purchase directly from Tokyo Fashion on February 7, 2012. I've bought their clothes from YesStyle before, as well as the now-defunct angiehearts.net. I love the styles, quality, and price of their clothes - but the YesStyle markup is ridiculous, and most of the other places using Tokyo Fashion stock photos are really selling cheap replicas...for about the same price as the originals. Tokyo Fashion has two slightly-more-upscale sister brands, Mayuki and YOCO, but all are sold in the same webstore.

Tokyo Fashion is Taipei-based, and their clothes are manufactured in Hong Kong.

Minimum international order at Tokyo Fashion is supposedly 15 pieces according to their overseas instructions, but readers have told me that they've gotten away with fewer items, and at least one person was told by Tokyo Fashion that the actual minimum is 5 items. In any case, if you're a few items short you can easily add some light, cheap items to reach the item minimum without inflating your shipping cost too much (shipping is pretty expensive, as they only ship EMS).

Read on for an overview, timeline, reviews, and a price comparison with YesStyle.