Stores That Buy Clothes for Cash: What They Pay, and When Selling It Yourself Is Better

Stores that buy clothes pay you a share of the price they expect to sell your piece for. On November 9, 2026, Buffalo Exchange said it pays 25% of its selling price in cash or 50% in store credit, and Crossroads 25 to 40% in cash or 45% in trade. Selling the same piece yourself on eBay or Vinted usually leaves you more per item, but costs time. The best split is often both: sell the few pieces with real value yourself, and take the rest to the counter.

This guide is for someone with a pile of clothes on the bed, deciding which bag goes to the store and which pieces get listed. It covers what the main US and UK buyers publish about their payouts, one worked example, and a way to sort the pile.

At a glance: what each route pays

Route	How you are paid	Published terms (checked Nov 9, 2026)
Buffalo Exchange (US)	On the spot, cash or store credit	25% of the store’s price in cash, or 50% in store credit; no appointment; government ID
Crossroads Trading (US)	On the spot, cash or trade	25 to 40% of the store’s price in cash, or 45% in trade; consignment on high-end designer pieces
Plato’s Closet (US)	On the spot, cash	No chain-wide rate: each franchise sets its own (one store’s page says 30 to 40% of its price)
2nd Street USA	On the spot, cash	No published rate; 18+ or with an adult, photo ID
ThredUp Clean Out (US)	After the piece sells, cash or credit	A percentage of the final sale price, minus a $14.99 service fee per bag or label
Thrift+ (UK)	After the piece sells, in credits	10% under £5, 20% from £5 to £49.99, 40% above £50
eBay.com (US, sell it yourself)	When it sells	You keep the price minus 13.6% of the total sale and $0.40 per order ($0.30 on orders of $10 or less)
Vinted UK (sell it yourself)	When it sells	No selling fee for the seller; the buyer pays a protection fee

The percentages come from each company’s own pages on November 9, 2026. They change, and franchise stores can differ, so check the page of the store you plan to visit.

How buyback stores decide what to pay

A buyback store is a shop first. The buyer at the counter looks at each piece and asks one question: will this sell here, soon, at a price that covers the rent? If yes, they set a shelf price and offer you a fixed share of it. If not, the piece goes back in your bag.

That has three consequences:

1. The share is of their price, not yours. Buffalo Exchange’s 25% is 25% of what Buffalo will charge, and Crossroads’ 25 to 40% is “based on what we price your items to sell for”. You don’t set that price, and it’s often lower than a marketplace price, because the shop wants the piece gone in weeks.
2. Fit with the store matters more than value. A store full of current-season clothes for students buys current-season clothes. A clean, unbranded 1970s shirt can be worth more than a new mall-brand top, yet still be turned down at a store whose customers don’t look for it.
3. Store credit pays more than cash. At Buffalo Exchange, credit is worth twice the cash offer (50% against 25%). That only helps if you were going to shop there anyway.

Consignment works differently. ThredUp, Thrift+ and Crossroads’ consignment for designer pieces pay you after the piece sells, as a share of the final price. You get nothing up front, and with ThredUp a service fee comes off first.

One $40 piece, five routes

To see how the terms compare, take one piece and run it through each route. Say it’s a jacket that the store would price at $40, and that would sell for $40 online too. This is arithmetic on the published terms, not a price for your jacket.

Route	What you get for a $40 piece	Notes
Buffalo Exchange, cash	$10	Paid the same day
Buffalo Exchange, store credit	$20	Spend it in the store
Crossroads, cash	$10 to $16	Paid the same day; trade would be $18
ThredUp Clean Out	A share of $40 when it sells	Minus the $14.99 bag fee, spread over the bag; ThredUp’s payout table pays a lower share on lower prices
eBay.com, sold yourself	About $34 before shipping costs	$40 minus 13.6% ($5.44) and $0.40; eBay’s 13.6% also applies to shipping and sales tax the buyer pays
Vinted UK, sold yourself (£40)	£40	No seller fee; you pack and post it

Selling it yourself left about three times the cash offer in this example. The price of that is a photo, a listing, questions from buyers, packing and a trip to the post office, and the piece may sit for weeks. For a $40 jacket that can be worth it. For a $6 T-shirt it usually isn’t: Buffalo’s 25% of $6 is $1.50, but on eBay the fees and your time eat most of the $6 too.

Online prices are not guaranteed either. Check what similar pieces actually sold for before you count on them; our guide to pricing clothes on Vinted shows how to read sold listings, and selling fees by marketplace works through what you keep on each US and UK site.

Which pieces go to the store, and which you sell yourself

Sort the pile into three groups before you leave the house.

Sell these yourself:

• Anything genuinely old: union-made labels, “Made in USA” basics, single-stitch T-shirts, early denim. Check the label first; our guide to dating Levi’s by the tag shows how much a label can tell you.
• Designer and premium brands, where the gap between a store’s share and a marketplace price is widest.
• Niche pieces with a specific buyer: workwear, outdoor gear, band and sports shirts, real leather.

Take these to the store:

• Recent pieces from brands the store already stocks, clean, in season, with no damage.
• Multiples of everyday basics that would take an evening each to list.
• Anything you want gone this week.

Neither:

• Worn-out, stained or damaged pieces. Stores turn them down. A by-the-kilo buyer or a textile bank is the realistic route; see selling clothes by the kilo for what to pull out before you weigh a bag.

If you’re unsure which group a piece belongs in, judge its condition honestly first. The Vinted condition guide explains the grades buyers expect, and our overview of where to sell vintage clothes matches each kind of piece with the US and UK marketplaces that suit it.

Before you go to the counter: step by step

1. Check the store’s page. Payout terms, opening hours and ID rules differ by chain and, for franchises such as Plato’s Closet, by store.
2. Bring a government-issued ID. Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads and 2nd Street USA all ask for one. If you’re under 18, bring an adult with ID.
3. Wash and fold everything. Stores price what they see. Creased or dusty pieces get passed over, even when they’re fine.
4. Bring the right season. Stores buy for what they can sell in the coming weeks: coats in autumn, shorts in spring.
5. Know your floor price. Look up sold listings for the two or three best pieces before you go, so you know what you’re giving up if you accept the offer.
6. Decide piece by piece. You can usually accept part of an offer and take the rest home. Pull back any piece where the cash offer is far below what similar pieces sold for online.
7. Plan the leftovers. Decide in advance where the rejected pieces go: a listing, a kilo buyer or a donation bin.

Common mistakes

• Taking the cash when you’d shop there anyway. At Buffalo Exchange, credit is worth twice as much.
• Bringing your best piece to a store that doesn’t sell that kind of thing. A buyer who doesn’t stock vintage workwear can’t pay a vintage workwear price.
• Comparing the offer with what you paid. Stores pay a share of their resale price, which has nothing to do with the original retail price.
• Counting on an online price you haven’t checked. Asking prices are not sales. Only sold listings tell you what buyers actually paid.
• Forgetting the time. Selling yourself pays more per piece, but if a piece takes an hour and nets $5 more than the store’s offer, the store may be the better deal.