The idea of resale shops seems to be an awesome concept, right? You bring all your barely worn jeans or that ugly expensive sweater your grandma bought you to a shop, and then the shop buys it from you. Easy money!
When resale shops first became popular, I remember being able to bring bags full of clothes. Stores would take almost all of it, and I would leave with 100 bucks in my hand.
Now the results have shifted. You often go to the shop and maybe leave with six bucks or a couple of cents for expensive jeans and five shirts. You look around the store and wonder “Why would they take this ugly shirt and not my barely used Lululemon leggings?”
I will say there are random times when you walk in and come out with more clothes than what you came in with because they do have decent prices. You are just never going to know what’s going to take place when you go to these shops to buy or sell. The main resale shops in Grand Junction are Runway Fashion Exchange (RFE) and Fashion Junkie. Both shops sell women’s and men’s clothing, as well as shoes and accessories. They will also buy these items from you.
RFE has a better selection of items and a great atmosphere. I will buy jeans or something that catches my eye at RFE because I know it will be cheaper than spending my money at Pac Sun or American Eagle.
However, whenever I would go to sell this store would barely look through my items, make me wait 15 minutes, and then tell me they would give me no cash or they would just give me five dollars in store credit. Colorado Mesa University student Jennifer Vazquez had a similar experience at RFE.
“I got $16 for three dresses and a couple of shirts. The dresses cost me over $40 and were almost brand new,” Vazquez said. “I don’t think I would go back, honestly.”
Fashion Junkie is smaller than RFE and they will most likely buy something from you because they don’t have as much selection.
When I went into Fashion Junkie, they bought a lot more than RFE would ever buy, but their clothing seems to be dated.
“They’re nice to get a couple dollars from, but they don’t take much and they give you a tiny amount of money even for store credit,” CMU student Chelsea Dickson said. “I think Fashion Junkie scams sometimes.”
If you are interested in buying and selling at resale shops in Grand Junction, the effort is certainly worth your effect, but not expect to make large profits in the process.. It is worth trying to sell at these shops, but don’t expect anything big to come of it.