On Saturday, September 26th, I made a trip to a local consignment shop in an attempt to sell my seasonal, on-trend, gently used clothing. Buffalo Exchange is a chain store that sells and recycles vintage and used clothing. Based on what they had in stock, I felt I had a lot of items that had potential to be sold, as they do accept and buy used clothing (visit their website to learn more).

Before doing anything, I called the store phone number to ask if I should know any ground rules before bringing in my clothing. I was told that they do accept and buy clothing that is on-trend and seasonal, meaning the styles are current, desirable, trendy, and generally within the season approaching. I was told they were looking for summer to fall clothing, nothing too wintery and nothing too summery.

Based on this, I dug out some of my best clothing that had been sitting waiting to be donated. I washed all of them and brought them to the store. Out of all these clothes, guess how many they accepted?

One piece.

I was so disappointed. I had freshly laundered all these clothes from trendy brands like Urban Outfitters, Free People, Brandy Melville, Forever 21, and H&M. They literally only wanted the item that had a tag on it (the white Gap cardigan in the center row to the right).

They told me they were going to sell it for $16, so I had my choice of accepting 50 percent of that amount in store credit, or I could get 30 percent of the amount in cash. Obviously I went with the cash.

When I inquired as to whether the clothing wasn’t trendy enough (this was all I could muster as I am very shy), the sales associate said that they don’t accept clothing for various reasons, whether due to wear or tear, not being the kind of clothing that sells, or things that don’t fit the season or aesthetic.

At the end of the day I received $4.80 after carrying what felt like ten pounds of clothes with me all day, on the streets, in buses, train stations, etc. It was not worth the trip and I am very disappointed. I would never undergo that hassle again. However, I’m going to have access to someone with a car this weekend, so I’m giving it my all and I’m cleaning out my entire closet and drawers. I’m going to try to sell more of my items because I simply need more storage.

I’ll let you know how that turns out, but if it’s anything like this experience I might go home with most of my clothes.