A Reseller’s Guide to Selling on Tradesy

Tradesy shut down and merged with Vestiaire Collective in early 2023. As a result, Vendoo stopped offering Tradesy as a marketplace as of December 2022. Soon after, Vendoo integrated Vestiaire Collective.

If you previously sold on Tradesy, you’ll love Vestiaire, as it offers a similar luxury resale experience with an even greater global reach! 

Tradesy was a marketplace for fashion, “built by and for women.” It was a place to buy and sell clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, vintage items, and wedding items. At its peak, Tradesy reported having approximately seven million members.

Tradesy was known as an upscale luxury marketplace, with a chic and curated aesthetic. There were thousands of designers and brands featured on Tradesy.  Tradesy was an ideal place to sell higher-end inventory.

The best-selling brands on Tradesy were Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Tory Burch, Lululemon, Free People, Christian Louboutin, and Michael Kors.

Here is how Tradesy worked for sellers:

1. Listing an Item for Sale

On Tradesy, you could list an unlimited number of items, and there were no listing fees. The listing process required at least three images of your item and a written description. Other required fields included the brand or designer, condition, size, exact dimensions (for bags and heeled shoes), style, and color. Optional fields included retail cost, material, and style name. On Tradesy, it was best to photograph your item as if you didn’t have a description, and describe your item as if it wasn’t accompanied by photographs. For SEO (search engine optimization) purposes, more detail was better.

💡Tip: Tradesy had background removal and automatically cleaned your images, applying a plain white background to your cover photographs for a clean and chic aesthetic. 

2. Pricing Your Items

Pricing your item for sale was a process similar to selling on other marketplaces. If you were unsure about a price, it was recommended that you check out comparable “comps” on Tradesy. To check comps, you could do a search on Tradesy and review what similar items were selling for and also what they had sold for. Tradesy offered a suggested selling price based on the details you provided in your listing. You didn’t need to follow the suggested price, but it was intended as a helpful tool.

💡 Tip: Tradesy was relatively strict regarding prices and would remove listings if the original retail price was significantly higher than the MSRP, or if you priced your item significantly higher than its current “market value.” Vestiaire Collective, which acquired Tradesy marketplace, does this as well. 

3. Tradesy Selling Fees

Tradesy fees were a little complex to calculate, and they were among the highest compared to other fashion reselling platforms. This was likely intended to support a more upscale and designer-focused aesthetic. As a rough estimate, the Tradesy fee was approximately twenty-two percent.

There were many factors to consider when calculating potential earnings. Tradesy charged a 19.8% fee on items that sold for $50.00 or more and a $7.50 flat fee on items sold for less than $50.00. Earnings were also calculated differently depending on the shipping method used and whether a Tradesy sale or promotion had been applied to the item.

Items were not included in Tradesy sales or promotions unless sellers opted in, and only if the item sold as a result of that promotion. Many Tradesy sellers chose to opt in to all sales and promotions to maximize their visibility on the platform. Sellers were shown their potential earnings before publishing a listing and again when opting into a promotional event.

An additional 2.9% safe transfer fee was deducted from earnings if funds were transferred from a Tradesy account to PayPal or a bank account. However, if funds were used to purchase Tradesy, no further fees applied. Getting paid on Tradesy took quite a while. Although Tradesy stated that funds might be held for "up to seven days to ensure the security of every transaction," in practice, it often took longer.

👀 Did you know that Vestiaire Collective offers no selling fees for hundreds of luxury brands?

4. Shipping on Tradesy

When listing an item on Tradesy, sellers select one of three shipping methods: receive a shipping kit (polybag or box, tissue paper, and label) in the mail, print a prepaid label directly from their Tradesy account, or handle shipping independently. Shipping could be done through USPS, FedEx, or UPS. The cost associated with the selected shipping method was applied to the price of the item and paid by the buyer.

It was important to note that when a sale was made on Tradesy, the seller had four days to confirm the sale by verifying that the item was still available and in the described condition. If the seller did not confirm the sale, the order was automatically canceled.

You may also like the article Reselling Platforms: 11 Marketplaces Every Reseller Should Consider

Alternatives to Selling on Tradesy

If you were a Tradesy seller or are simply looking for new marketplaces to sell fashion and designer goods, here are some excellent alternatives:

Vestiaire Collective

Vestiaire Collective acquired Tradesy and offers a similarly high-end resale experience. It specializes in authenticated luxury fashion and accessories, attracting a global audience of designer buyers. The platform focuses on sustainability and circular fashion, making it ideal for sellers of upscale or rare pieces.

Learn more in the article Everything You Need to Know about Vestiaire Collective. 

Poshmark

Poshmark is a social commerce marketplace dedicated to fashion, accessories, and lifestyle items. It’s a reseller favorite due to its large audience, social components, and ease of use. Poshmark is perfect for selling both everyday and designer clothing. If you liked Tradesy, you'll love Poshmark.

eBay

eBay is the largest and most lucrative online marketplace in the history of the world. While it certainly is not as glamorous as Tradesy was, the infinitely larger global audience makes it a great alternative. eBay's top-selling categories include luxury and designer fashion and accessories. eBay also offers robust seller tools, providing sellers more control over pricing, auction or fixed-price formats, and shipping options. 

Learn everything you need to know in the article How to Sell on eBay: A Guide for Beginners.

Vinted

Vinted is a popular peer-to-peer marketplace focused on secondhand fashion. It has no selling fees, making it especially appealing for casual sellers. Vinted caters to a wide audience looking for affordable clothing and accessories, and it offers a simple, app-based selling process that’s easy to manage. Vinted is certainly designed for more casual, everyday wear, but higher-end items sell well with zero fees! 

Learn the basics in the article How to Sell on Vinted: A Step-By-Step Guide to Get Started. 

Where to Sell Designer Fashion: Streamline It All with Vendoo

If you’re exploring new marketplaces after Tradesy’s closure, Vendoo can help simplify and scale your resale business. With powerful tools to crosslist your inventory, enhance your listings, manage inventory, automate daily tasks, and track performance across multiple marketplaces, Vendoo saves you time and helps you sell more, wherever you sell!

Do you sell higher-end, designer, or luxury? Share your tips and tricks in the comments! 👇🏽