Can't sell designer plus sized clothes, what would you do?

[Mrsredlipstick]

I've always sold my clothes on eBay or through resale boutiques but they're just not shifting.

Due to my career in fashion and beauty they are brands such as Max Mara, Ralph Lauren and Dolce Gabanna.

I have lost a lot of weight and where my clothes used to get snapped up they have practically no Interest. I'm asking about 20% of what I paid.

The dress agency has said that since WLJ she has no call for the bigger sizes.
I know that approximately 10% of the population are on these drugs (source Good Housekeeping magazine). I would have taken them myself if I hadn't been poorly.

I'm about to move and was hoping to not take them with me. They are four sizes too big so can't easily be altered .
Has anybody had any luck selling their clothes or have I missed the boat?

Vinted. But you’ll have to price them cheaply. RL sells very well on vinted, also maxmara has a lot of interest. The UK is a hard sell for used clothing due to the charity sector, within the EU these would easily sell! So I think there is demand but it’s all about price. Xo

Depending on how much you have to get rid of you could put on a one day pop-up-shop.

I do think the problem is a combination of both a smaller market for plus size clothing, and condition of some clothes on both eBay and Vinted. I paid £100 for a jacket that was “worn once”. When it arrived it was literally falling apart and filthy. Fortunately I got a refund because it was so extreme, but I could easily have lost the money.

This sounds like a classic economics case of market supply and demand. More supply and less demand will drive prices down.

But regardless of the sizing I agree with those that £150 is a lot for a second hand coat. It might be a bargain compared to new but second hand that I can’t return is a lot where there is risk involved.

I second the comment about £150 whilst being a great price for a £1000 designer coat, it feels too much to take a risk on when you can’t try the item on. It’s unfair but that’s the market. Good luck!

The condition is perfect and they've all been cleaned or steamed.

However I did have a weird query where the potential buyer asked me how I lost my weight and was it MJ. When I said no it was health related she said had I been ill with something she might catch! Nowt stranger than folk.
My feed back is in the 1000s as I've been there nearly twenty years. Ebay still has its refund policy but I understand there's a huge difference between vinted rules and expectations (my daughter sells on vinted and is quite vocal about the dirty clothes).

I work in retail and this shift has been that the bigger sizes are left and now it’s the smaller size that are going quicker. The plus size movement has dropped and it’s one of them. My weights been all over the place as I’ve had two kids back to back and 3 surgery’s. The jabs are defo changing how people shop!

I find Vinted the best for selling clothes these days but I agree with others it’s a cost issue. There is still a market for plus size (some of what I’ve sold is plus size as well) so if it’s not selling it will almost certainly be because of the price.

It’s the price. I wouldn’t spend £150 on Vinted. Have you tried Depop?

Ah, I suppose she might have thought you'd had a communicable disease, and also didn't know you'd steam cleaned everything either. Well, the Plague did get to Eyam in a box of clothes!

You could try Vinted, it's a very popular site, but I think the warning "never spend or sell what you can't afford to lose on Vinted" is very valid.
I've had experience of their customer service and it was useless.

I do read the weight loss threads and people are going from a 20/22 to size 10. If you are normally that small (I'm nearly six foot so my natural size is a 14) you're not going to want to put it back on. As the pp said the shape of the fashion industry is changing. I've just not seen it as I hadn't been working. I hadn't really been out either. Too poorly sadly.
I will have to think about lowering the prices, I have everything from evening wear to cruise.
We're downsizing so I won't have my dressing room at my retirement abode. I could stuff it in the loft but I will have snuffed it by the time it becomes vintage!

I have lost weight over the last year or two and have (over) used Vinted as I have gone down through sizes. So I would be part of your potential market. I am not buying designer clothes but what I see is that good quality, well-priced items do sell. But as others have said, I probably wouldn't risk paying that much for something from Vinted because of risk. I think you should consider whether you really want to sell, in which case accept lower prices with the logic that you are getting some return. There are specialised charities who, eg, support women back into the workplace, who might make really good use of your clothes if you go down the donation route.

I don’t like selling on Vinted because it’s open ended and I found it a bore. If you want to get rid of it, stick it on eBay at 99p and see if you get anything?

I don’t really worry that much about percentage ratings because everyone games them so hard tbh.

😂😂 yes, that would be a waste!
It's just about someone else wanting it at this stage, even with your very generous discount.

If you decide to donate rather than sell then somewhere like this could be worthwhile for any clothes that are interview appropriate? Hope you find a solution and enjoy your new home! 😀

https://www.smartworks.org.uk/support-us/make-a-donation

Now that is an excellent suggestion.

Problem is that the fact that you paid £1000 doesn't mean that they are worth even a tenth of that second hand.

I've found similar with clothes. You can spend a fortune and then really struggle to sell them on. It's really annoying but at this point I'd knock it down to £75 or just donate it.

At the end of the day their current value is what people will pay for them, regardless of what you spent on them at the beginning.

I’m intrigued as to what led you to have so many clothes in the first place!

It’s down to price OP.

Very few people will buy something that they haven’t seen IRL for a lot of money, when they know it’s unlikely they will be able to return or resell it.

Let go of your sense of how much you think these clothes are “worth”. It’s irrelevant to the market how much you paid and how much value you got from it. You need to assess their value decisions.

I appreciate a good quality wool coat, but I don’t pay any heed to “designer”. I wouldn’t value a £200 coat more than a similar coat costing £1000.

Ultimately, if you want them out of your life, you may have to give them away.

I sold a £350 hardly worn Boden wool coat yesterday for £20. Yes it's not Maxmara but it gives you an idea of the pricing. Size 16, bought two years ago. I think you are asking too much. I would normally charity shop but I've just retired and TBH, every penny counts now.
I've also just bought DH a recent collection, Barbour wax jacket, it's in lovely condition, it was just £15.
If you put them at on 8-10% of what you paid they'll sell. I know it seems like you'll be giving them away but you can reframe it in your head, that you are buying space and that it'll make someone's day.

I know this isn’t the point of the thread OP but could you share photos of the coats, please?
im the size that you were & am not likely to be changing a great deal,
sadly (illness)

As an avid eBay buyer, the thing that encourages me to buy something different is being sure I can return it for a refund. I don't mind paying the postage. If there is any doubt it will fit and suit me, £20 is the max I spend.

I also think that "a good wool coat" is a nice classic, but they're heavy, not very waterproof and certainly not machine washable. What are winters like now? Windy and very wet. I've got lightweight, warm and waterproof coats, looking around, most people have. That could be a factor.

No one is going to spend £150 on a secondhand coat, designer or otherwise. My local charity shop sells all clothing for £2 an item, some are unworn with labels, most are in excellent condition and good quality. I think a lot of charity shops are the same, they get flooded with clothes that people no longer want and need to clear them out quickly.

Yes please put a link OP.

I sold all my old clothes on Vinted after I lost weight. Big stuff still sells quite quickly if the price is right. I see it as a form of recycling where someone else gets to make use of it. So I keep the prices down.
Lots of people are still a size 18 or bigger despite the wide use of glp1s. Not everyone is on them.