I Used To Work At A Secondhand Clothing Store — Here Are 23 Secrets, Tips, And Tricks Of The Trade Employees Won't Tell You

Spoiler alert: We do not wash, steam, or at all clean the clothes.

Hello! I'm Hannah, and I used to work at a posh secondhand store!

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We sold a ton of designer stuff. 

Not only that, but I've been frequenting secondhand and thrift stores — from Goodwill to Savers to more high-end stores — since I was 15.

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I initially did this because I loved to make my own clothes in high school, but I hated starting from scratch and dealing with patterns. I found it much easier and more fun to get clothes and then alter them in cool and different ways into something else. I also was super into shows like Gossip Girl and became very brand aware, and secondhand stores were a great way to buy something from a really nice brand and live out my Blair Waldorf fantasies for a reasonable price. And finally, when I got older, it felt like a more sustainable and cheaper way of shopping, and I liked that I was reducing clothing waste and getting better-quality items than if I was shopping at Forever 21, but for around the same price. 

In addition, I love to donate and sell back my clothes — so I've really run the gamut as far as thrift and vintage stores go. Which means I really know allll the tricks of the trade.

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I can't even estimate the pounds of clothes I've sold and donated over the years. I absolutely hate throwing clothes out, but I get tired of things easily. Back when I had a car, it would take under an hour to drop off or sell clothes. It's worth it, people!! 

Here are 17 secrets, tips, and tricks that I've picked up in my years of experience!

Note: Things are different at different thrift/secondhand stores, and a lot of these tips and secrets are not from where I worked, but stores I've shopped, donated, or sold at. So don't take any of these to be from one specific store!

1. The clothes are absolutely not washed. Not even at a super-nice secondhand place.

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They are not steamed or ironed, either. If they're super wrinkly, we probably won't take them.

2. Even if you don't care about clothes being worn and not washed before you wear them, secondhand stores get INCREDIBLY dusty. I highly recommend you wash the clothes before wearing.

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I can't even tell you how much dust we swept every night. It was infuriating and strangely satisfying to sweep.

3. That being said, upscale secondhand stores will not accept stuff that's dirty. So if you're in a nice store and there are stains or rips on an item, you can be almost certain they occurred after it was placed in the store.

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You might be able to get a discount if there are stains or rips, UNLESS the tag says something like "as is." This really varies from store to store. Don't be an asshole about it. 

4. So if you're dropping off for selling (donating, whatever), please wash your clothes first.

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I worked at a super-nice place, and there would literally be poop or blood tracks in jeans sometimes. People are disgusting. 

5. Also, this isn't necessarily gross, but...people WILL drop off things from dead people. Just be aware.

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Think about it. When someone dies, they leave a ton of clothes and items behind. A lot of those things are going to go somewhere like Goodwill, but it really depends how nice their stuff is. 

6. Celebrities also drop off their stuff.

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It's usually their assistants, but not always. I helped multiple actors sell their clothes, and most of it was really, really nice. A lot of these people were regulars, too. 

7. As do influencers.

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Influencers get a lot of free stuff, and some of them would come drop off their brand-new stuff with tags on and get money back. For some reason, we got a lot of bathing suits. If you see really trendy items that are new with tags — usually in size XS — they might be from an influencer.

8. Almost all secondhand stores will also sell clothes that are new. Sometimes people will steal new clothes from boutiques and department stores and sell them back to us (we have safeguards against this but can't always tell), and sometimes people just miss the return window for an item. Also, some stores will have a small number of clothes they buy new.

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So just because something is at a secondhand store doesn't mean it's used! People will also rip tags off and drop stuff off without wearing it, so even if it doesn't have the original tag, it may be new. 

9. Most of the big secondhand stores do markdowns based on how long the items have been there. They have numbers on the tags that correspond to when the item arrived.

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If you're a regular and you're waiting for something to go on sale, keep an eye on the numbers on the tags (the placement may be different for different stores). Note highest and lowest numbers you see and the numbers that have sale stickers/markers/tags on them (these will usually be the lower numbers unless the count has just restarted). The low numbers close to these that don't have sale stickers will be on sale soon...if they're still around.

10. This also means that cashiers can tell if you take a discount sticker and put it on another tag. The numbers don't lie, no matter how much you insist something should be on sale.

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Just don't do it.

11. That being said, if there is an actual misprint on the tag itself — not a sticker — the store may have to honor it. It's worth asking!

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I remember something at my store was supposed to be priced at $15, but the seller wrote $1.50 by accident. We had to sell it at $1.50.

12. The absolute best deals at secondhand shops come from the more expensive items.

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Stores usually try to stay mostly in a certain price range. Except for extra-special items, their highest price range is probably capped at a certain number. Items worth hundreds of dollars in-store will be priced at less than $100 — usually 10% of their original price. That's a giant discount! Items from, let's say, Zara or Nordstrom Rack are priced probably closer to 50% of their price range. So if you spot a designer deal, it's probably a MASSIVE deal. And if you spot a more common brand, $10 or $20 really might not actually be that great a deal, depending on the condition of an item. I've seen Forever 21 items that were priced almost the same as they were in-store — since stores also usually have a limit on how low they'll price things.

13. The wall items are usually picked by staff, and it likely doesn't mean anything special.

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I used to love picking wall items. Usually we made sure to pick nice stuff, but it didn't always mean we were picking the best or most expensive items (unless they were right at the register). So don't ignore the stuff on the walls! You could be missing out! Just ask an employee to get something down for you. 

14. Employee discounts have a range, but the best part of working at a secondhand store is the early access.

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I spent half the time I was working picking out items I wanted and leaving them in the back for me to try on during my break. We were usually the first people to see clothes (unless we were just working on register), and we were constantly putting stuff aside. I'll be honest, there were even times I'd kind of hide stuff — not actually hide, but just put it in the wrong section or somewhere that wasn't super visible — if I knew it would go on sale soon so I could save it for myself. I used to LOVE doing the sale markdowns 'cause I'd grab every single sale item that I wanted to try on as I tagged it. However, before you get mad at me, employees had the same hold rules as customers and usually could only hold a limited number of items, and only for a day — unless you're counting holding stuff in the back during your shift. I'd work eight hours and amass like 20 items to try on when I got off. 

15. This means that employees have really amazing fashions and are basically walking models for the store. We also used to love giving people advice!*

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*We literally were not allowed to be mean lol, but we didn't make commissions from sales, and most employees genuinely wanted to help those who asked for feedback on outfits! 

16. But...keep in mind that we do have other customers and we are not your personal shopper — nor do we want to see you half naked.

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If you can't zip something and need help, that's fine. I don't mind seeing your bare back. But people would walk out barely covering their boobs with one hand while they gestured to the jeans they were trying on with the other. It can be a little uncomfortable.

17. Secondhand stores sometimes have strict return policies, so don't wait if you want to return something. However, if you bought it there, you can likely sell it back at some point. You're going to lose a good chunk of what you paid, though.

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Don't be mad if we don't take it, especially if it's more worn or a different season when you bring it back. But honestly, I used to almost see it as a clothes rental service when I worked there. I'd buy stuff, wear it for a couple of months, then sell it back for store credit at 50% and buy more. So everything I bought, I knew I'd only wear for a few months, but I also knew I'd be reimbursed for half of it. 

18. Relatedly...don't be mad if your clothes aren't selected. Even if you bought them at that store.

What clothes are being accepted depends heavily on what season it is (or, more likely, what season is next), and all buyers are a little different. You can always try again another time. 

19. Some stores will have an option to donate clothes that the store chooses not to buy. It's best — and maybe even required — for you to choose whether you want to donate or not BEFORE your clothes are sorted.

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These clothes are donated pretty quickly, so if you ask for them back, it's going to be too late. And if you decide you want those extra clothes we're not taking to be donated after all, but we've already sorted them and put them in a bag to give back to you, you may be out of luck. Stores only have so much space for clothes to donate, and they haven't planned out room for yours.

20. Also, please don't use our store as a way to just donate clothes — like, don't bring us a bag of clothes you know we probably won't take and then say you want us to donate what we don't want.

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It's a waste of our time, and if you're already going out, you might as well drop them off yourself, especially if you want any say in which charity the clothes go to.

21. It's not a bad idea to ask where we donate the clothes we don't take.

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A lot of these clothes are still really nice, especially if the reason we didn't take them was that they were out of season. This means we end up donating nice designer clothes sometimes. If the place we donate to is local, you can go check it out and find some really nice out-of-season items that are priced way cheaper than they would be at a posh secondhand store.

22. Do not come to sell clothes on a weekend. Especially if you're going to complain about the wait time.

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Everyone comes on the weekends. Don't come and expect to be able to sell clothes right away. Most stores will have drop-off policies, though!

23. And finally...please be nice. Secondhand-store customers seem to be especially entitled, and we deal with a LOT of pseudo-rich, middle-aged women who talk down to us. Just some basic kindness goes a long way.

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Shoutout to the lady who was like, "That's okay, math is hard" SUPER condescendingly to me when she decided to take cash for her clothes, then came back and changed her mind, saying she wanted store credit (for which you get an entirely different percentage of the profit) — and also didn't have a receipt. Sorry, I took a minute and a calculator to figure it out on a busy Saturday when I was already stressed working for minimum wage. I hope you're doing poorly!