Checking a garment's condition before selling

A defect spotted by the buyer after delivery always costs more than a defect you spot before taking photos. In the first case you lose the sale, the return shipping costs, an evaluation, and sometimes the piece itself. In the second case, you lose three minutes.

This is why condition checking is a skill in its own right, on a par with sourcing or photography. You don't improvise it at the packing stage: you do it at the point of intake, piece by piece, with a method that takes just a few minutes.

Why checking comes before photography

The temptation is to photograph first, then check when it comes time to ship. That's the most costly order of operations: a hole spotted at packing wipes out a photo, a description, a listing and the messages you've already invested.

If you spot it on arrival, you make a cold decision: I mend it, I sell it as is with the fault announced, or I don't put this piece up for sale. All three options are fine. The one that isn't is discovering the problem once the buyer is looking at it.

The eight points to check, in order

The order matters, because it goes from most disqualifying to most fixable. As soon as a point is a dealbreaker, you stop and move to the next piece.

1. Smell. It's the first reflex and the most neglected. Tobacco, damp, cellar, animal: these are the most frequent return reasons and the hardest to contest, because they show up in no photo. A musty smell often goes away with airing and washing. A tobacco smell baked into wool or leather does not.

2. Armpits and neckline. Yellow rings and neck stains are the most common faults on tops, and the ones buyers dislike most. Turn the piece inside out, look in daylight, stretch the fabric slightly. On white and pale fabrics, this check alone decides whether the piece is sellable.

3. Friction areas. Crotch of jeans, elbows of jumpers and jackets, wrists of shirts, seat area of trousers. These are the places where fabric wears before it tears. Run your hand over it: if the material is noticeably thinner than elsewhere, the piece has a hole in the making and the buyer will see it at first wash.

4. Fastenings. Slide each zip up and down its full length, both ways. Count the buttons and check that any spare is still there if the piece came with one. Test press studs one by one. A zip that catches is a fault to announce; a broken zip on a coat often costs more to replace than the piece will bring in.

5. Seams and hems. Gently pull either side of the assembly seams, especially at shoulders and underarms. Look to see if a hem has been redone by hand, which isn't a fault in itself but changes the actual size of the piece, and thus what you need to write in the listing.

6. Pilling and knit appearance. A jumper that pills on the sides and inside the arms is normal, and a fabric shaver puts it right in minutes. A stretched knit, wavy at wrists or hem, can't be fixed and makes the piece look much older than it is.

7. Stains in raking light. Many stains from oil, makeup or thinning are invisible from the front. Hold the piece at eye height and pass light from a window or lamp along the fabric at an angle. Rings show up straight away. It's the move that catches the most nasty surprises.

8. Labels. The fibre content and care labels are selling points, not admin details. They let you state a material with confidence, which ups the perceived value, and they tell the buyer about care. A cut-off or unreadable size label doesn't bar a sale, but it means you have to measure the piece and give the measurements in the listing.

Classify rather than judge

Once you've done the check, you need to translate what you've seen into a category you can use in a listing. Four levels are enough, and the words matter because the buyer reads them before they look at photos.

New with tag. The piece has never been worn and the original tag is still attached. This is the only time that description is justified, and it's worth a lot: it settles most of a buyer's doubts.

Very good condition. Worn, but no visible fault after the check. No pilling, no mark, no wear on friction areas. This is the level you hit most often with well-sourced pieces.

Good condition. One or two light signs of wear, visible if you look: slight pilling, subtly faded colour. Nothing that gets in the way of wearing it, everything that shows needs to be photographed.

Satisfactory condition. A real, identifiable fault, announced and photographed in close-up. This level sells very well, as long as the price reflects it and the fault is described precisely rather than euphemistically.

Setting the right price for each of these levels is a subject in itself, which we detail in our article on how to set your prices.

What gets mended, what gets downgraded, what gets refused

Not all imperfections are equal, and the right call depends mostly on how long fixing it takes.

Fixable in minutes and always worth doing: pilling with a fabric shaver, a button to sew back, a hem come loose over a few centimetres, pressing. These moves gain you a full condition level on a piece, often for no cost.

Gets downgraded and announced: wear on friction areas, a small stain that survived washing, a zip that catches, faded colour. These pieces sell very well in satisfactory condition, with a close-up photo of the fault and a clear sentence in the description.

Doesn't go up for sale: a hole on a visible area, a large stain on a pale piece, ingrained smell, torn lining on a coat, irreversible distortion. The maths are simple: the photo, description and messages cost more than the leftover margin, not to mention the dispute risk. These pieces go to textile recycling or a bundle of rags.

If you're selling on someone else's behalf, this sorting gets documented: at DressKare, the handling of damaged or unsellable items left by a consignor is arranged upfront, not when the problem shows up.

Announcing a fault without killing the sale

The usual worry is that naming a fault will scare the buyer off. The opposite happens, with one condition: the fault is described precisely. "Tiny two-millimetre stain on inside hem, invisible when worn, photo 4" makes people buy with confidence, whereas "good overall condition" disproved at receipt starts a dispute.

Three rules work. Photograph the fault in close-up, on a dedicated photo, never just in the text. Pinpoint it exactly, with location and approximate size. And say whether it shows when the piece is worn, because that's the only real question the buyer is asking.

Our article on writing a description that sells details how to work these notes in without damaging the rest of the listing.

The special case of consigned pieces

When the piece isn't yours, the check changes in nature: it also becomes an act of care towards the person who entrusted it to you.

Do the check on arrival, in front of them if you can, and set aside what won't go up for sale. Explain why, with the fault in hand. A consignor who understands that her three stained pieces won't sell accepts the sorting very well, as long as she learns it at the start and not three months in.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to inspect a piece?

Three minutes are enough on a standard garment, provided you have good light and a flat surface. The check is a filter, not an expert assessment: you go through the eight points in order and stop as soon as you find a disqualifying fault. If you spend fifteen minutes on a piece, it's generally a sign that it has a problem you're trying to convince yourself to ignore, and the right call is not to put it up for sale.

Should you wash garments before inspecting them?

It's better to inspect first, then wash, then do a quick second check. A first dry pass lets you spot structural faults, holes, seams, zips, without wasting a wash cycle on a piece that won't be for sale. The wash then makes some stains and smells disappear, and it's only after that you know which marks are permanent. That second look is also the one that decides on the condition level you'll announce.

Do you really need to announce tiny defects?

Yes, and it's more profitable to say so than to hide them. A defect announced with a close-up photo and precise location makes people buy with confidence, because they know exactly what they're getting. The same defect discovered on arrival triggers a return or a bad rating, for a piece that would have been accepted if you'd mentioned it. The only thing that puts off a buyer is vague wording like good overall condition that turns out to be inaccurate.

What do you do with a piece you think is unsellable?

Don't spend time selling it: the photo, description and exchanges cost more than the leftover margin, and the dispute risk adds up. Depending on the fault, the piece goes to textile recycling, which has collection points everywhere, or into a bundle of rags if the material suits it. If it was entrusted to you, tell the person at the initial sort stage and offer to get it back for them or have it recycled instead.

How do you manage sorting when the piece belongs to someone else?

Do the check on arrival, if possible in front of them, and set aside what won't go up for sale, explaining why with the fault in hand. Then note the faults you're happy to sell, piece by piece, with the condition level you've chosen. This record avoids the discussion where they blame you for a sale price that actually reflected a fault you announced, and it's what sets a professional seller apart from someone doing a favour.