Blog

Disclosure: If you make a purchase through the links posted below, I may receive a small compensation. Read the full disclosure.

My much anticipated thredUP payout amount appeared in my inbox last night and I couldn’t wait to see what it was. I’ve been hearing about some crazy low payout amounts lately, so to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I mean some of the payouts I’ve been hearing about were $1 or like $15 for a STUFFED bag.  I had originally hoped for like $40, but I have since realized that was way too high.

The Timeline:
Before we get to the payout details, let’s start with the timeline:

~6/21/13: Sent back into thredUP (via UPS)
~6/27/13: Received an e-mail from thredUP saying that my bag had been received and processing would take around 2 weeks.
~7/5/13: Received an e-mail saying that the delay would be even longer, but that I could expect my payout by 7/20/13 and if I didn’t hear anything to e-mail them.
~7/20/13: Nothing happened.  No payout e-mail or e-mail saying that my bag would be delayed further.
~7/26/13: Bag was processed – payout e-mail was received.  Must wait 14 days to cash out.
~8/9/13: Payout will be available to cash out.

I thought that I had e-mailed them somewhere between 7/20 and 7/26 asking about my bag, but I can’t find any record of that e-mail so I guess it was one of those e-mails I sent in my head but nowhere else?

What I Sent In / The Payout:

You can reference my original post for all the details, but here are the items I sent in, thredUP payout amounts and the actual links to the items at thredUP if I could find them:

~babyGap wool dress pants (5T): $5.25 (thredUP price: $14.99)
~babyGap polo striped polo shirt (18-24 months): $0.55 (thredUP price $5.49)
~babyGap navy solid knit shorts (3T): $3.75 (thredUP price $2.75)
~babyGap yellow v-neck sweater (4T): $3.50 (thredUP price $13.99)
~babyGap solid blue polo (18-24 months): Not Accepted
~babyGap brown khaki shorts (2T): $5.78 (thredUP price $16.49)
~babyGap striped long sleeved tee (18-24 months):  $0.75 (thredUP price $7.49)
~izod fleece pullover (24M): $0.60 (thredUP price $5.99)
~babyGap black fleece / thermal hoodie (2T): Not Accepted.
~babyGap loose fit jeans (18-24 months). $0.80 (thredUP Price $7.99)
~babyGap orange corduroy pants (4T). $3.25 (thredUP price $12.99)
~babyGap 1969 jeans (2T). $0.80 (thredUP Price $7.99)

All totaled I received a payout of $25.03 for the 10 items which were accepted by thredUP.  The two items which were not accepted will be donated by thredUP.  I should mention that they don’t tell if / why an item wasn’t accepted.  It simply just doesn’t appear in your bag history.

For whatever reason I can’t find any of the other items on their site and the link to my bag history doesn’t work.  I’ll try to update these links if I can find the items later.  I did take a screen shot of the page last night though:

Thoughts:
I have mixed feelings on thredUP.  I am not upset at my payout amount (I actually think I did quite well), but the fact that it took a month to process my bag AND I still have to wait 14 days to cash it out even though the delays were much longer than they promised?  Insane.  Oh and there was totally nothing wrong with that fleece GAP hoodie – the one that wasn’t accepted.  I think L maybe wore it twice.

The Meeting:
A friend of mine got an e-mail from thredUP a few days ago saying that they were looking to meet with customers (one customer every hour for six hours) at Starbucks in Petaluma (thredUP is in San Francisco) to discuss customer concerns and get feedback on how they can improve.  She lives in that area and decided to go because she wanted “complain about the bags” she was sending in and the LONG delays.  The meeting was on Wednesday (7/24) and she said they were very receptive to her concerns (the slow bag processing time and low payouts) and suggestions (hurry up) and showed her a picture of their warehouse which was piled high with bags.  She said they separate them by the day they are received and sort accordingly.  My friend said that basically what she took from it was that they grew way too fast too quickly and are taking all these suggestions / notes to improve their service.  She said she met with the “Product Manager” and “Manager of Finance and Analytics” and got a $20 credit for taking the time to meet with them.  I thought it was worth sharing and thanks to M for sharing her story with me (and everyone else too)!

Next Time?:
Will I send a bag to thredUP again?  Maybe again in a few months when they have this mess sorted out.  But I will continue to shop with them since I have been happy with the items I have purchased and they have great codes.  If you want to do any shopping, you can use my link to save $10 on your first purchase (I will also get a $10 credit to spend).

Disclosure: This post does contain my thredUP referral link (you get a $10 credit, I get a $10 credit), but in way no was sponsored or affiliated or anything by thredUP. I sent in a bag and documented the experience. That’s it. I also did a similar experiment which Moxie Jean, which I will try and finish up today since I got my payout on that one as well.