We all have clothes in the back of our closets that haven’t seen the light of day in years — and things this season we want to buy. So recently, No Man Walks Alone and LuxeSwap partnered up for a new “trade-up” program, allowing you to sell your old clothes through LuxeSwap’s consignment service and turn those profits into No Man Walks Alone store credit.
This partnership is part of a broader move in the menswear market, where retailers are now getting more involved with second-hand clothing. In the last couple of years, The Armoury and Leffot have started to sell pre-owned items (The Armoury’s is done through a new business they call Drop 93). Patagonia has a new buy-back program, where they’ll buy back Patagonia-branded gear from customers and sell them to new buyers. And H&M will now give you a small discount if you donate things from your closet.
The new NMWA x LuxeSwap partnership is slightly different in that it closes the loop on the garment lifecycle. “It’s something that I’ve had in the back of my head for a while,” says Greg Lellouche of No Man Walks Alone. “Living in NYC, with limited closet space, and with my passion for clothes, it’s always been part of my life to figure out how to get the new stuff I want given a limited closet and resources. So donating items and sending stuff I no longer wear to consignment has been a process I go through on a regular basis. I wanted to offer a way for people to move stuff they no longer want/need on to someone else who will — and satisfy their desire for those sweet new things they truly want.”
The new program is straightforward. If you send your clothes to LuxeSwap, they’ll do all the hard work of selling it for you through their eBay web shop. And if you’re willing to take your profits in the form of store credit at NMWA, they’ll reduce their commission from 40% to 30% — and NMWA will top off your profits with an additional 10%. Effectively, that means 30% more value than you’d get otherwise. Credit gets posted in about three to four weeks after the auction closes, and the store credit never expires.
There’s one catch: Since LuxeSwap only trades in high-end goods, your stuff has to be up to snuff. “The items don’t have to be purchased from NMWA, but they have to meet our standards for luxury, vintage, and streetwear,” says Matthew Ruiz, owner of LuxeSwap. “It’s a great opportunity too, for someone who wants to be an NMWA customer, but has price resistance. Perhaps they have some great pieces in their closet, or perhaps they are a thrifter who wants to trade-in their finds for something new.”
Naturally, you can also just sell your old gear online yourself (we have a couple of guides). But doing so takes time and effort, which is why most of us have clothes languishing in the back of our closets for years. “The trade-up program is designed to help people through the process. It hooks them up with the best consignment business out there and gives them the best possible economics for their clothes,” says Lellouche. “If anyone likes what we stock at No Man Walks Alone, it’s a no-brainer: the value they get is so much better using the trade-up program — and it’s crazy simple and hassle-free. Plus, those items that are less worn in the back of our closets will find new homes. Someone else will like them and wear them more than we do!”
You can read the full details of the program at No Man Walks Alone.
