Confession: I am not good at secondhand shopping. With the convenience of the internet, I really love scrolling through my favorite shops and brands online. Even as a fashion stylist I find shopping in person is a lot of work. I seriously haven’t done a big trip out just to go shopping in a long time.
I basically buy everything online and simply pick it up from the store even when grocery shopping, so the appeal of intentionally looking for something in a store is mostly gone for me. That said, I do most of my secondhand shopping on an app called Poshmark, (use my code stylishlyshelby when you sign up for $10 off your first purchase).
Day 4 
I have bought quiet a few things from here over the years, it’s a great place to try ethical and fair trade brands at a lower cost. Most of my purchases have been shoes and bags, when buying clothes secondhand from online I tend to buy brands that I know how they fit. And frequently check the brands sizing guide on their websites before committing. For example, I’ve bought 3 pairs of Sseko Designs sandals from Poshmark sellers, I know I wear a 6 and have added my sizes to my prefrences. Seeing only the pieces that fit me helps me to shop wisely.
I save the items I like and then offer a reasonable price, if I think I can get it a little cheaper. The most I’ve spent on an item from Poshmark was $40. My favorite Poshmark buy was a $100 live fashionABLE crossbody bag that you’ve probably seen me use for $35. It’s my favorite and I’ve most definatly gotten my money’s worth out of it.
When buying secondhand online the rule of thumb is to ask questions and ask the seller to post images of the actual thing they are selling not the stock photo from the brand. Ask if there is any damage, wear or tear, discoloration, so on and so forth. You’ll be glad you did and you won’t end up with any surprises when your purchase arrives in the mail!
Selling on Poshmark is time consuming but can be rewarding. I sold over $100 worth of items on poshmark initially to buy my first pair of Custom Sandals from Sseko Designs in 2017!
Another way of shopping secondhand from your phone is BST (buy, sell, trade) groups on Facebook. I encourage a high level of discretion when shopping these groups. ALWAYS send money on Paypal to a seller, never ever send money to someone you don’t know through friends and family, (although people frequently ask buyers to do this to avoid the sellers fee) because if there is an issue Paypal will not be able to help. If there is an issue and you sent payment to them as a seller, you have rights as a buyer. So be aware friends!
I’ve bought a few things this way as well, recently I bought a pair of used flats from the owner of The Root Collective from her personal collection. Buying from familiar internet friends is far safer than strangers, obviously.
Lastly, the funnest way to shop secondhand is with a clothes swap. I wrote about how you can host you’re own earlier this year, here. And even if I don’t come away with anything from a clothes swap it’s so much fun. I enjoy helping style friends and recommending pieces they wouldn’t have otherwise chosen for themselves.
Do you shop secondhand? What is your prefered way of shopping secondhand?
Stylishly Shelby 