Does ThredUp Take Men’s Clothes in Clean Out Kits?

The answer to whether ThredUp accepts men’s Clean Out Kits is “yes, but” — and the “but” is where your closet clean-out plans live or die.

I’ve sent two men’s Clean Out Kits to ThredUp — one in 2023, one in 2024 — and between them I learned that does ThredUp take men’s clothes has a technically-yes answer with a lot of asterisks. Here’s what ThredUp accepts, what they reject, what you actually earn from a men’s kit, and whether it’s worth doing in the first place. For the broader platform context, the Brand Guides hub covers resale options. For ThredUp’s consignment process overall, Thredup Consignment has the full walkthrough.

Does ThredUp take men’s clothes? The official answer

Yes. ThredUp accepts men’s clothing Clean Out Kits. You request a kit from your account, they ship you a pre-paid polybag, you fill it with men’s clothes, you send it back. The process is identical to women’s kits.

The reality is that the acceptance criteria — the rules about what ThredUp keeps versus rejects — work less generously for menswear than for women’s. My 2023 men’s kit had roughly 40% of items accepted. My 2024 kit had about 50%. Compare that to my womenswear kit, where the acceptance rate was closer to 65%. The difference isn’t my curation; it’s the brand demand difference.

What ThredUp accepts from men’s Clean Out Kits

Based on my actual payouts and rejections, here’s what made the cut:

Accepted:

• J.Crew oxford shirts (both kits)
• Patagonia fleece and shells (both kits)
• Banana Republic dress shirts and chinos
• Levi’s 501s and 511s in clean condition
• Ralph Lauren polos
• Uniqlo sweaters (surprising — they took these)
• Barbour jacket (my best single item, paid out $28)

Rejected:

• Old Navy basics (too low on their accepted-brand list)
• H&M and Zara men’s (same reason)
• A Charles Tyrwhitt dress shirt (collar wear visible — my fault)
• Dockers pleated khakis (style out of fashion; they’re picky about cut)
• Two college-branded sweatshirts (no brand equity)
• A pair of Cole Haan loafers (sole wear beyond their threshold)

The men’s brand list matters more than you think

ThredUp’s accepted brands list is public, and for menswear it’s heavily weighted toward contemporary mid-market: J.Crew, Banana Republic, Patagonia, The North Face, Levi’s, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Bonobos, Brooks Brothers, Vineyard Vines, Columbia.

Outside that list, acceptance gets iffy fast. Fast fashion (H&M, Zara, Uniqlo) is inconsistent — sometimes accepted, sometimes not. Mall brands (American Eagle, Abercrombie) are less consistent for men than women. High-end menswear (Paul Stuart, Barbour, Drake’s) generally gets accepted if condition is good.

For men’s brands like Alden, Allen Edmonds, or Japanese brands, ThredUp isn’t the right channel. Those need Grailed, eBay, or a specialty menswear resale. Online Thrift Store for Men covers where each men’s category belongs.

What the payout actually looked like

My 2024 men’s Clean Out Kit contained 32 items. Accepted: 16. Of those 16:

• 4 were immediately listed and sold within 60 days
• 7 sold within 6 months
• 3 were still listed at the 12-month mark
• 2 had been marked down to clearance pricing

Total payout from the accepted items that actually sold: $41.80, after ThredUp’s commission cut. For reference, I would have earned more selling the Barbour alone on eBay. But eBay would have taken me listing time, photographing time, shipping labor, and customer service. ThredUp took zero time after the kit dropped.

This is the core ThredUp tradeoff: lower payouts, near-zero effort. If your time has any value, the math gets closer than the raw numbers suggest. For the fee breakdown, Thredup Fees has the full structure.

Do ThredUp men’s kits work differently from women’s?

Mechanically, no. Same kit, same instructions, same acceptance workflow, same payout structure. The differences are all in the demand and brand mix.

Women’s kits get faster listing because demand is higher. Men’s kits sometimes sit in the inspection queue longer because the women’s side runs hotter. My 2024 men’s kit took 18 days from arrival to first listing. My equivalent women’s kit took 11 days in the same month.

Return Assurance (the optional paid add-on that returns rejected items to you instead of donating them) costs the same for both.

Should you send men’s clothes to ThredUp at all?

Here’s my honest math. ThredUp works for men’s Clean Out Kits if:

1. You have a closet of mid-market contemporary brands (J.Crew, Banana, Patagonia, Levi’s, etc.) in clean condition.
2. You value convenience over maximizing payout.
3. You’re clearing out a lot of clothes and don’t want to list each piece individually.
4. You’d otherwise donate the clothes and are fine getting a small payout instead.

ThredUp does not work for men’s Clean Out Kits if:

1. You have higher-end menswear enthusiast brands — Grailed will pay you more.
2. You have a small number of specific valuable items — eBay auctions make more money per item.
3. You have fast-fashion or lower-tier brands — they’ll mostly be rejected anyway, so you’re paying for donation.

For peer-to-peer comparison, see Men’s Online Thrift.

Return Assurance for men’s kits

ThredUp’s Return Assurance is a flat fee that guarantees rejected items come back to you instead of being donated. For men’s kits specifically, I’d argue this is more valuable than for women’s because the rejection rate is higher. My 2024 men’s kit had 16 items rejected. Without Return Assurance, those were gone.

I paid for Return Assurance on my second kit after getting burned on the first. Felt worth it.

The verdict

ThredUp takes men’s clothes in Clean Out Kits, but with a stricter acceptance bar and lower average payout than the women’s side. For contemporary mid-market brands in clean condition, it’s a low-effort way to clear a closet and earn a modest credit. For anything higher-end, niche, or specialty menswear, you’ll do better selling individually on Grailed or eBay. I’d send another men’s kit if I had another round of closet purging and I valued the time savings. For the broader resale context, Thrift and Resale Fashion covers how men’s secondhand plays out across platforms. A Clothing Donation Bag on Amazon“>reusable donation bag is honestly a better move for anything ThredUp wouldn’t accept — your local thrift chain needs it more than the bottom of your closet.

FAQ

Does ThredUp sell men’s clothes or only accept them?

Both. ThredUp has an active men’s shopping section (though smaller than women’s — see Does Thredup Have Men’s Clothes) and accepts men’s Clean Out Kits.

How much do you earn from a men’s ThredUp Clean Out Kit?

My men’s kits earned $20 to $45 after items actually sold, on kits of 30–40 items. Payouts are per-item after commission, so bigger-ticket brands help more than volume.

What men’s brands does ThredUp not accept?

Fast fashion is inconsistent. Old Navy, Target in-house brands, generic unbranded, and heavily-worn items are the most likely rejections. The accepted-brand list on ThredUp’s help pages has the current details.

Is it worth paying for Return Assurance on a men’s kit?

I’d argue yes, given the higher rejection rate. Without it, rejected items are donated and you don’t see them again.