I’m always shocked when I go to friends’ houses and see their closets stuffed full of clothes and shoes that obviously haven’t been worn in quite some time. My closet doesn’t look like that and it’s not because I don’t shop for clothes. It’s because I get rid of mine.

Two or three times a year, I go through my closet, pull out clothes and shoes I know I’m not going to wear anymore and take them down to the local consignment store. They take 10-20 minutes to go through them, decide what they can sell, then give me some cash.

Don’t expect to get back what you paid for the clothes, even if they’re barely worn (or even not worn at all). Consignment shops typically have a set price they can offer.

Make sure the clothes are clean. Or else your items might get rejected.

Leave well worn items at home. If the items have obvious wear and tear, they’ll get rejected.

Forget about selling dated styles, especially to trendier consignment shops like Plato’s Closet.

Donate what you can’t sell.