Let's talk about closet clean-outs. No one likes doing it because the process takes a long time and you have to part with pieces that may be sentimental. But, what if you could give your clothes a new life AND get gift cards to your favorite stores for trading in your unwanted pieces? That's exactly what luxury fashion trade-in service Material Wrld wants to do for you! Some background information on the company is as follows:

Material Wrld’s mission is to create an ecosystem where we can enjoy shopping quality products with the comfort of knowing that each item we chose to buy can always find a new home. We are reinventing the shopping experience for consumers and retailers alike by making it as easy to trade-in as it is to shop new, while extending the fashion lifecycle of high quality pieces and reducing its environmental impact.

Material Wrld makes it easy for busy women to instantly refresh their closets and shop new at their favorite retailers and brands, including Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Barneys.

Our complimentary trade-in service with high-touch concierge offerings and upfront retail partner gift cards make it seamless for our customers to:

• Refresh their closet and make space for new clothing 
• Extend the luxury fashion lifecycle and reduce its environmental impact
• Do Good While You Shop: MW matches a percentage of each gift card offer as a contribution to your charity of choice.

I tested out the easy three-step process and am pleased with the outcome. My only issue was the accepted brands. I realize items need to be super luxury, but I only had a limited amount of designers to send in. This won't be a one-stop trade-in for most people, but definitely a good choice for those higher end designer pieces! If you want to try it out for yourself sign up through this link or use code MEGANB989 to get an extra $25 on your first trade-in!

Three days after my items arrived at their destination I received an offer of $119, they would take 6 of the 12 items I sent in. Not bad! I knew I was DEFINITELY going to lose money on some pieces, but that's the price I pay for being blinded by labels/pretty clothes and buying them even though I know I'll barely wear them. Here is the breakdown

• Burberry Dress (Vintage Purple Pleated Long Sleeve Dress)
  OFFER: $25 
• Miu Miu Blouse (Purple Floral Print Cotton Shirt)
  OFFER: $16
  
• Jean Paul Gaultier Top (Beige Red Floral Print Camisole)
  OFFER: $15
  
• Proenza Schouler Top (Deep Purple Pleated Short Sleeve Knit Top)
  OFFER: $28
  
• Theory Dress (Purple Tiered Sleeveless Ponte Dress)
  OFFER: $15
  
• Salvatore Ferragamo Skirt (Vintage Umber Orange Suede Flare Skirt)
  OFFER: $20
  
• Marc Jacobs Denim Jacket (not accepted)
• Valentino Knit Camisole Top  (not accepted)
• Marc by Marc Jacobs Dark Navy Tee  (not accepted)
• Marc by Marc Jacobs White Print Tee  (not accepted)
• Equipment Purple Blouse  (not accepted)
• Balenciaga Pants (not accepted)

FINAL OFFER: $91
(rounded up to $100 because I chose Shopbop and they only give gift cards in $10 increments)

In the end I decided to keep the Proenza top because I still like it and can make myself wear it. Maybe in a few more months I'll be willing to part with it for the $28 (assuming I get the same offer a second time.) I was unsure about letting go of my Theory dress since I still think it's really cute, but I only wore it twice, so in the end had to let it go. Hopefully it will find a new owner who gives it more love than I did.

I also decided to donate one of my pieces rather than having it sent back to me, this way Material Wrld can donate it to Dress For Success or Goodwill. They also match 1% of each fashion gift card’s value in donations to a deserving charity.

What's really great about this process is that even though I gave up items they will have a new life and a new owner rather than ending up in a land-fill. Material Wrld call this "extending the fashion lifecycle."  See their illustration of that idea here:

image via Material Wrld

To learn more about their charitable work and why you should trade-in, visit this page.

After accepting my offer it took 2 business days to get my gift card emailed to me, easy as pie! Can't wait to spend my gift card at Shopbop, going to think long and hard about what to get so I don't end up trying to sell it in a year or two. The items that were not accepted are due to be returned today. After all is said and done the whole process from sending in items to getting them returned will have taken 8 days.

All in all, the process was simple and I got a fair price for the items. I wasn't expecting big money because the pieces I sent in were quite unique. While I may have made more money selling the items myself on eBay, the ease in which I was able to get rid of the items through Material Wrld is worth losing a little bit of cash, if only to get the items out of my closet sooner.

Enjoy this quick video I made showing the process! 


As a farewell, here are some photos of the pieces in action (except the JPG top which I was never brave enough to wear)