Top 10 Plato’s Closet Selling Tips From An Ex-Employee - The Resale Doctor (2024)

If you’ve sold at Plato’s Closet before, I’m sure you know the walk of shame feeling when they decline all or most of your items. You have to grab your heavy bag full of items and take them right back to your house.

As a former long-time employee of Plato’s Closet, I’m here to help you avoid that walk of shame for good. I know all of the behind-the-scenes information when it comes to the buying process.

In this post, we will go over my top Plato’s Closet selling tips, how to get Plato’s Closet to buy your items, plus other insider details to help you sell more the next time you take a bag to Plato’s.

As strange as it may sound, it can benefit you to remove some tags, but not others. I know that clothing tags can be itchy and annoying, so keep reading to see which tags you should keep and which you should actually remove.

Brand Tag And Size Tag

Many times the brand tag and size tag come as a unit. If that is the case, and you’ve removed the brand tag and size tag, Plato’s Closet will unfortunately not accept the item.

This is mostly because of the removal of the size tag. Without the exact size displayed, Plato’s Closet and its customers will be unsure of the exact size of the item.

For obvious reasons, those items do not sell well in the store. If you remove just the brand tag, Plato’s Closet may still accept the item depending on style and condition.

However, if there is no size tag at all, the item will not be accepted.

Date Tag

Some articles of clothing have a tag with their manufacturer date. Old Navy is one brand that puts the date and year on a separate tag.

This tag can be found next to the care instructions and materials tag on the inside seam of a clothing item. This is one tag that you should consider removing from the clothing item in certain scenarios.

That is because Plato’s Closet accepts clothes that are produced and are in style within the past two years. Therefore, if you bought an old navy dress that has 04/2020, this means it was produced in April of 2020.

If this is the case, you will likely have more success if you remove the tag since it has been more than 2 years since the item's production. If the tag is intact and the date is not within the past 2 years, that may be the only thing that makes the worker pass on that item.

However, if the item has a date within the past two years, you’ll obviously want to leave it on because this will be a positive sign for the person evaluating your clothing.

Care Instructions And Materials Tag

You could go either way with removing the care instructions and materials tag. It is likely better to have them, but it will not be a make-it or break-it like an expired date or removal of a size tag.

2. Contact The Store

One of my best Plato’s Closet selling tips is to contact the store. That way, you can directly ask what brands or types of items that they are looking for at any given time.

For example, many stores are always looking for men’s items. Since that is the case, some stores may stretch and buy more items just because they need the inventory to expand their selection for the guys.

On the other hand, you can also find the opposite to be true. Sometimes Plato’s Closet stores end up with too much of one type of inventory.

For example, stores may stop buying short sleeve shirts for a period of time. If you’re able to find this out, you can leave your short sleeve tops at home for a later time, take them to another Plato’s Closet, or another buy-sell-trade store.

Many stores are also active on social media and may advertise the types and brands of items they’re looking for on Instagram or Facebook. Because of that, make sure to give them a follow or check-in before you go to sell.

3. Understand The Buying Process

The next lesson on our Plato’s Closet selling tips is to understand the buying process. I mean like REALLY understand it. So let’s start from the top.

First, collect your items and place them in a reusable bag or clothing basket. Try to avoid bringing items in trash bags. They tend to rip easily and the employees may not be happy campers.

So bring your stuff in, fill out the selling form, and have your driver’s license ready. After this, the buyer will go through your items and enter the ones they accept into the computer.

But do you know the background details and how things work behind the scenes? Usually, there are two employees working on a customer's items.

Typically one checks over the items for any flaws, stains, fabric pilling, rips, holes, or odors. Then, if the item is acceptable, they will pass it on to the next worker to actually enter it into the computer.

When that employee goes to enter the item in the computer, they have a few fields to fill out. First, they select the type of item (dress, shirt, jeans, etc). Next, they choose the brand.

Finally, they input the condition of the item. It ranges from fair, good, excellent, and new with tags. The better the condition that the item is in, the more money you will receive for the item.

It is well known that Plato’s Closet doesn’t offer large payouts to its customers. However, avoid taking out your frustration on the workers. They’re just following guidelines and computer software systems put into place.

Understanding the buying process, knowing what items to bring in, and having patience with the workers will help every time you go in to sell items at Plato’s Closet- trust me!

4. Bring In Sought After Items

It is extremely important to know the right items to bring in. Look closely at our list of items that Plato’s Closet accepts. You may be surprised about some items on there!

• Clothing items
• Shoes
• Beauty products
• Hair care products and tools
• Jewelry
• Belts
• Purses
• Wallets
• Hats
• Scarves
• Bras and intimates (In new condition, some stores)

Using this list, along with contacting the store as we talked about earlier, you will likely have a lot of success selling at Plato's.

5. Sell Athleticwear

Of all items at Plato’s Closet, athleticwear receives the biggest payout. While sellers are paid 30% of the sale price for most items, the payout for athleticwear is close to 40%.

Athleticwear brands tend to sell well for Plato’s Closet, so they’re willing to payout more. Plus, most athleticwear pieces are timeless and are built to withstand a long life of wear.

Many of Plato's Closet's style and date rules don't apply when selling athleticwear. After all, a good pair of athletic leggings never goes out of style.

6. Presentation Matters

When bringing in your items to sell at Plato’s Closet, make sure to fold and stack them nicely. It just looks and feels different when compared to a bunch of items randomly thrown in a bag or basket.

Also, consider placing your best brands or items on top of the bag or basket. This may give the buyer the sense that even more great items are to come!

However, each piece is truly evaluated one by one, so this definitely isn’t a foolproof strategy.

7. Clean And/Or Repair Your Items

This may be one of the most obvious tips, but it’s one that can go a long way. Before bringing in your items, make sure to clean them first.

If they’ve been sitting in your closet for a while, wash them so they do not have a musty odor. While you’re at it, look for any stains. Try to treat and remove the stains, if possible.

Once your clothes are freshly laundered, check them for any fabric pilling. That is those little fabric balls that accumulate on clothing items.

If you see these, consider using a sweater shaver to remove them. Taking the time to clean your items before taking them into Plato’s can be the difference maker to get more dollars back in your pocket!

8. Become A Regular

Becoming a regular Plato’s Closet shopper can earn you some brownie points with the employees. Although looking through clothing is supposed to be objective, there is just something about a kind and familiar face.

That could be the difference that gets a few more of your items passed by the buying team.

9. Bring In Small Amounts

To help you become a regular, take more frequent and smaller selling trips to Plato’s Closet. As a former employee, I know that sinking feeling when a customer comes in with a massive buy and a ton of bags.

By bringing in a smaller amount of items more often, you will stay in the good graces of the employees and they may be more inclined to take more items since you don’t have that many in the first place.

Plus, in recent days, many Plato’s Closet stores have started setting a limit on the number of bags that a customer can bring in per day anyways.

10. Try Another Plato’s Closet Location

As we have discussed, each Plato’s Closet location is individually owned. Because of that, each store will have its own rules, guidelines, regulations, and inventory needs.

Like our example earlier, one store may be overloaded on short sleeve shirts while another store is needing more stock to fill their racks. Plus, many times there will be a few items that slip through the cracks at one store that another store may pick up.

If you don't have success at one location, do a quick Google search to see if there are any other Plato's Closets nearby. Alternatively, you can look into another buy-sell-trade store chain like Uptown Cheapskate, Hut No. 8, or Buffalo Exchange.

Bonus Tip

Don’t Pressure The Workers

Finally, here's our bonus Plato's Closet selling tip. Sometimes customers stand over the workers or wait at the buying counter. This isn’t ideal for the workers, and many times makes them feel more stressed.

It is not a way to get them to buy more of your items. It may actually have the opposite effect. So go ahead and take some time to shop around, or go run some errands and come back.

Just trust the selling pros at Plato’s Closet!

Conclusion

Now it’s time for a recap.

Here are our top Plato’s Closet selling tips:

1. Remove some tags, not others.
2. Contact the store and ask what they are currently looking for.
3. Know the buying process.
4. Bring in the right items.
5. Sell athleticwear.
6. Presentation matters.
7. Clean and/or repair your items first.
8. Become a regular at the store.
9. Bring in small amounts.
10. Try another Plato’s Closet location.

Hopefully you learned a few new Plato's Closet selling tips that will help lead to success on your next trip to Plato’s Closet. Don’t forget to come back here and comment to let us know how it goes!

And for more Plato's Closet content, be sure to read our Plato's Closet review!