Tradesy is said to be a luxury fashion resale marketplace, allowing customers to save up to 90% off retail.  It’s also a peer-to-peer marketplace built for women, where you can offload your luxury goods as well for a few dollars.  Consider it almost like eBay, only that there’s no bidding involved.

Whether you want to unload some of your luxurious goods and/or you’re a thrifty shopper, this could be a site for you.  Millions of thrifty shoppers use this site to buy and sell pre-owned shoes, clothing and bags, to name a few.

In today’s review, I wanted to check out Tradesy and show you how you can make money as well as how you can save cash as well.  As in all of our reviews, they are 100% honest and are always non-biased.

Whether you have a designer handbag you want to sell or you’re a thrifty shopper like me, then this could be one to check out.

Let’s begin and see what it’s all about.

What is Tradesy?

Tradesy was founded in 2009 by Tracey Dinunzio.  At the time of creating the company, she had a closet “full of nothing,” but she had a “steady diet of disposable fast fashion” leaving her dissatisfied.  She started researching and discovered traditional fashion habits were harming the planet, so she went out on a mission to help change the world, bringing us to where Tradesy is today.  She wanted fashionable clothing but didn’t want to hurt the environment in doing so.  What started off in Tracey’s home has now become a 100 person staffed headquarters located in Santa Monica, California.

Today, Tradesy does more than $1 billion in sales.  Yes, that’s a billion with a B and prevents more than 25,000 garbage trucks of waste from heading to the local dumps because of this operation.  That’s equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road.  This number continues to grow as I write this.

The company works both as a higher-end fashionable online thrift store as well as a selling platform for those who want to unload their fashionable goods for a few bucks.

Buying on Tradesy

Most people come to Tradesy to buy luxurious goods at a discounted rate.  The shopping is no different than it would be on any retailer.  You can either search for something you had in mind or you can browse by category.

As I write this, Tradesey offered a variety of categories, including the following options:

As a shopper, you can either click on a category of choice or you can search for what you want.

For instance, if I were in the market for clothing, I could limit it to the specific garment I wanted or even sort by brand.  Seeing it’s a luxury thrift store of sorts, I could choose from popular brands such as Gucci, Tory Burch, Burberry, and Chanel, to name a few.

In clicking on “jeans,” for instance, I could then browse the many listings on the site at this moment.  Remember that everything you see on the site is slightly used and is sold by people like you and me.

When looking at something to buy, be sure to pay close attention to the condition as well as the description to know what you’re getting.  If anything, you can always message the seller if you have a question.

The shopping portion is straight-forward and all the company stands by its return policy as well its “authenticity promise.”  If you happen to make a purchase and feel it’s not authentic, then the company will give you a full refund if they feel it isn’t legit.  However, if it’s confirmed authentic, they can ship it back or give you Tradesy credits in return.

As for the return policy, you can make a request within four days to get your money back. However, if the item was marked as a final sale or it was shipped outside the United States, then you can receive either a credit or refund.  Full details about the return policy can be found on the official website.

Most of what you do find is about 50 to 70% off, so there are definitely deals to be had.  Just make sure you compare your purchases to others apps, though, to make sure you’re getting a good deal in the end.

Selling on Tradesy

If you want to sell on Tradesy, it can be done in three easy steps.  The company will ask for you to snap a few pictures, tell them about your item and then list it.  You can do it from your smartphone, using the company’s official app or you can do it from the website as well.  It’s up to you, but they both work in the same way.

Once your listing is created, you get to set the price and then wait for a buyer.  Unlike eBay, where you receive bids, this works more like your traditional eCommerce store.  You will just have to wait for a buyer, but you can always lower your price if there’s not enough action.

When your item does sell, you will then confirm your sale and ship it out using one of the company’s convenient options.  The company offers a few shipping options, which you can choose from.  You can choose the Tradesy shipping kit, which includes everything you need to get the item to the buyer, including all of the shipping supplies, or you can print out a prepaid shipping label that you can slap on a USPS Priority Mail package and ship out.  You can also ship on your own as well if you don’t like the prior two options mentioned.

It is 100% free to list your item, but they will take 19.8% on items $50+ or a flat $7.50 for any items selling for less than $50.  Your listing will remain active until it sells or you take it down.

How do you get paid?

When your funds are considered available, the company will transfer your funds into your PayPal, checking account, or debit card, whichever option you choose.  You can also convert it into Tradesy credits as well.  Generally, after delivery, your earnings will be available, usually not taking any longer than 21 days.

What the Internet Is Saying

As a rule, I like to include the thoughts of others, all of which I find online via third-party sources, such as Pissed Consumer.  Surprisingly, in my research, I found a lot of negativity, specifically in the seller’s market.  While some of these cases could be isolated, there were some complaints I found all too often.  Below, I included a lot of what I found online.

Not Releasing Money

Many sellers tend to complain about getting their money.  While it seems they send the money out after confirming delivery, it can take much longer than this, sometimes up to a few weeks.  I read this complaint on a lot of sites.

Abuse of Returns

While Tradesy has a very generous return policy for buyers, sellers often find that their buyers abuse it, leaving them out of shipping cash.

Customer Service

Another common complaint relied upon the customer service department, where sellers find that support sometimes doesn’t answer for up to seven days.

300+ BBB Complaints

While the company has a “B” BBB rating, it doesn’t mean anything as all I pay attention to are the customer complaints.  With a very poor 1 out of 5-star rating, more than 338+ people have complained in the past three years.  Almost all of the complaints dealt with accounting/billing, with many sellers stating they didn’t get their funds in a reasonable amount of time.

Blocked Accounts

I also read some reports of accounts being shut down for no reason or notifications.  You will usually get a generic auto-reply with no resource, leaving you in the dark.

High Service Fees

And, lastly, the fees are higher than that of many competitors, with the company taking anywhere from $7.50 to 19.8%.  Seeing you’re selling higher-end items, that $100 could soon turn into $80.

Final Thoughts

Every website online has both positive and negative reviews, but Tradesy seemed to have a lot more than the average site/app I review.  If you’re thinking about selling on this site, it could be one to consider, but just keep in mind that you may run into payment issues.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

As for the buying side, the prices seemed to be about 50 to 70% off, so there were definitely savings to be had.  Again, just make sure you check out the many other apps that allow you to sell your clothes to see if you can find it any cheaper.  Tradesy definitely isn’t the leader in the used clothing space, that’s for sure, but deals are there.

In the end, be careful as a seller as you may run into some issues.  The buyers are there, but it could be some time before you see your cash.  This could be an annoying problem for some.  As for buying, you shouldn’t run into issues.  In fact, you could find some screaming deals.

Now, I leave the tables turned to you.

Have you used this website before?

How much have you made?  Saved?

As always, sound off in the comment section below with your thoughts!