Best NYC Resale & Consignment Shops

Any time is a good time to clean out your closet and dresser drawers, especially now, when it’s called spring cleaning.

If you have designer duds, consigning them for resale can help pay for new purchases or your bills.

Or, buy somebody else’s gently worn famous label clothing, shoes and accessories at one of New York City’s top consignment and resale shops.

According to eBay, nearly half of Americans don’t have available space in which to stash the new stuff they get.

That number surely is even higher in NYC, where most of us don’t have garages or attics.

These NYC resale and consignment shops pay the best, buy the most, have the best policies, and the best inventory for you to shop if you want to buy or trade instead of sell.

NYC resale and consignment stores are just one of many ways to live in NYC on the cheap.

SUBSCRIBE to the

NYC on the Cheap FREE newsletter

and get daily deals like this

in your inbox each morning

Buffalo Exchange

This buy-sell-trade outlet is a go-to for both budget-challenged college students and fashionable folks with bigger wallets. Among the endless racks of tweedy blazers, oversized flannels, soft tees with oddball slogans and chunky-knit sweaters, you can find Milly dresses, Marc by Marc Jacobs blouses, Vince tops, and Jeffrey Campbell shoes.

The prices are almost too good to be true, partly because this is a national chain with serious clout to buy out manufacturer overstock.

No appointment is necessary to sell, but prepared to wait on a sizable line if you go on the weekend.

The store recommends you call before going if it’s your first time, so they can give you an idea of what they’re looking for at the moment and save you some time. You’ll get 30% of what they plan to sell the item for, or 50% store credit.

New in 2021: Book an appointment online to buy or sell.

Various locations in Astoria, Williamsburg, Park Slope, the East Village and Chelsea.

NYC on the Cheap considers Buffalo Exchange

to be the best resale shop in New York City.

It is the only resale shop included in our new NYC guidebook

100 Things to Do in NYC Before You Die

Order from Amazon:

100 Things to do in NYC Before You Die

Michael’s Consignment

This Upper East Side store only accepts the best of the best. Consigned merchandise must have a top designer label and not a second or third tier label—so for example, they take Donna Karan but not DKNY, Chloé but not SEE by Chloé, etc. Items must be in pristine condition, and no more than two years old (with the exception of Chanel, Hermes, and Pucci).

You’ll receive 50% of the selling price, which is reduced approximately 20% every 30 days. After 90 days, the item gets discounted 50% off the original selling price. If you’re outside of New York, you can ship your stuff to them.

Michael’s now also has an excellent online store, to shop by category or by designer.

1125 Madison Avenue.

Crossroads Trading Co

Rather than consignment, Crossroads Trading Co. is a buy-sell-trade store, which means when you bring your clothes in, you get cash (or a check) on the spot - 50% for trade, 30% for cash.

No appointments are necessary, so just drop in. Weekdays offer the least amount of waiting time.

The store buyers are friendly and quick, and if you’re in a rush, you can drop off your goods and return in 24 hours to collect your payment.

New 2021 requirements for selling:

Sellers may bring up to 50 items to sell. Call local store regarding more items.
Please bring only laundered items.
Sellers must be 18 or older with a valid government-issued photo ID.

Crossroads accepts both high-end or fast fashion, such as from H&M and Zara, but it has to be in good (clean) condition, stylish, and in season. If you decide to trade, you get credit worth 50% of what your items will sell for.

The racks are plentiful but well organized, and you’ll find everything from Anna Sui, Elizabeth and James, and Free People to Badgley Mischka and Gap—and the occasional Miu Miu bag. This is a national chain, with multiple locations in California, plus in Seattle, Portland, Chicago, and, of course, in NYC.

24 West 26th Street in Chelsea and 135 N. 7th Street in Williamsburg.

INA

INA operates three locations in Manhattan, one of which is specifically for men’s merchandise.

Appointments can be made with store buyers, or you can choose to ship them your merchandise by filing out an Online Consignment Form (they reimburse your shipping costs on the first sales check).

They accept merchandise from the last five years from a bevy of high-end and contemporary designers, from such brands as Anthropologie, J.Crew, Banana Republic and Express.

19 Prince St., 21 Prince St. (menswear) and 208 West 18th St. Trunk Show Consignment

Trunk Show Consignment

Buy and sell online. Labels range from timeless luxury lines like YSL to newer, more directional brands like Surface to Air, plus trend of-the-moment finds like those ubiquitous designer pun t-shirts.

The consignment options are especially appealing if your item is in excellent condition and is a desirable piece: the store may price it at just 25% or 30% off retail instead of their usual 50% off.

And Trunk Show splits the price they sell it for with you 50/50. You can consign with them for one, two, or three months, with the price dropping 20% after one month and 50% after two.

The Harlem storefront has closed, since there is no longer any address or phone number on the website, only a standard “contact us” form to fill out.

275-277 West 113th Street.

Beacon’s Closet

One of the most well-known buy-sell-trade stores in New York, scouted by TV stylists, dug through by the fashion-conscious, and thoroughly searched by students and those on a budget.

This means you’ll find some real gems since so many people make this their go-to for selling cast-offs, and you’ll also always find it crowded. Beacon’s buys everything from Topshop to Thakoon, so the racks can get overwhelmingly full.

Beacon’s Closet follows what’s selling at other fast fashion and high-end stores every season, so that determines how well you’ll do with your items that you hope to sell.

Your items must be stylish, in good condition, and be something that’s selling well that season. If all those standards are met, you get 35% cash or 55% store credit.

Four locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Each one is open 7 days.

The Dressing Room

A buy-sell-trade shop with a bar sounds too good to be true, but the Dressing Room has been making that dream come true for about six years. The ground floor of this Lower East Side store is stocked with finds from indie designers and features a full bar, while the lower level is a secondhand treasure trove, so you can really make an afternoon out of selling your items.

Dressing Room operates on a walk-in basis everyday from 1pm to 9pm (they’re closed Mondays). They offer 30% cash and 50% store credit. Making them unique from other buy-sell-trades is that they accept vintage as well as contemporary items.

75A Orchard Street.

Encore

Open since 1954 and boasting customers like Jackie O, this shop will make you feel like you’re participating in fashion history whether you shop or sell.

Encore sells only high-end designers such as Chanel, Prada, Hermes, and Oscar de la Renta, and rarely sells anything more than a few years old. You can bring in-season clothes, bags, shoes, accessories, and they will also buy menswear and childrenswear.

The buyer will let you know what they plan on selling your items for, and you sign a contract for three months with the option of a fourth.

You’ll get 50% of the selling price, but items less than $400 will get marked down 20% after a month, and items more than $400 will get marked down after two months. If you choose that fourth month, another 50% will come off the selling price.

In 2021, Encore is online only for buying or selling.

1132 Madison Avenue.

These three consignment and resale stores have closed

We are including them since they still can be found on other lists.

Second Time Around

For more than 35 years ago, this mini-chain, with outposts throughout the USA, was a solid fixture of the secondhand scene, offering a curated inventory 30% to 50% off original prices, and sharing 40% to 50% with the original owner. No more.

Second Time Around closed in June 2017, citing “online competition”.

Cadillac’s Castle

This boutique ditches the secondhand vibe—everything is pretty recent and kept in pristine condition, so you feel like you’re shopping new. That’s good to keep in mind if you want to sell there (so make sure your items are in great shape). You can try out-of-season, as sometimes Cadillac’s caters to tourists. You’ll get 50% of what they sell your item for, and hopefully it will sell in the first month: after a month it will be marked down 20% off and after two months, it goes to 50% off.

Cadillac’s Castle closed in Spring 2018.

The Dressing Room

A buy-sell-trade shop with a bar sounds too good to be true, but the Dressing Room was making that dream come true for about six years. The store on Orchard St. was stocked with finds from indie designers and features a full bar. The lower level is a secondhand treasure trove, so you can really make an afternoon out of selling your items.

The Dressing Room is now a website with fashion news.

Charity Resale Shops

You also can donate your unwanted clothing and accessories to one of the charity resale shops, such as Housing Works and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering shop, in return for a tax deduction.

But that’s a whole other list.

For a step-by-step guide on how to declutter your closet, see this New York Magazine article.

This article was published originally January 2017, and republished twice a year. It was updated for Spring 2021, including with new rules for buying and selling during the Pandemic.

Evelyn Kanter is a native New Yorker who has written for the NY Times, NY Daily News, NY Post, New York Magazine, and is a former on-air reporter for WCBS Newsradio 88 and WABC-TV Eyewitness News.