What can you tell me about Plato's Closet?

[traces7]

I just found out about Plato's Closet. Might take my DD there to shop. Are their prices good? I see that they also will buy your used name brand clothing. Has anyone every done this? Do they give a good price? How do you bring in the clothes, just in a box or bag or should they be on hangars? Any other advice or opinion is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

I have a friend (well, several) that shop at Plato's closet. They love it. I haven't made it in yet. The clothes are very well priced and in great shape. One friend tried to take clothes in (in a box) but they wouldn't take it because she cuts the tags out of them, so I can't really say anything on that other than keep your tags on!

 

[mbf]

My DD is a Plato's Closet addict! She refused to even buy jeans on sale at Hollister this year for school because she said "Why when I can get nice ones at Plato's for half the cost?". And she says they are already broken in lol.

We have sold many times there. They are extremely picky about what they buy and can tell by the tags on the garments what the age of the item is so go in with that knowledge. You will not get more for your clothes there than you would selling them at a garage sale but it is nice. Just bring them in a bag. They have baskets or totes there that they put in with your name on them when you check in. Once you are in the computer at a location you are set for the next time you come back. It can take an hour or so for them to check your stuff if they are busy.

Most of the Plato's have frequent buyer cards that once filled up give a 20% discount on your next purchase. Each space is stamped for every $10 you buy or sell and after 20 stamps your card is full. It does not take too long to fill a card and they are good at all locations.

Plan to spend several hours there! My DD has closed many a Plato's Closet. We seek out different stores whenever we are traveling but have the best luck at stores near large universities.

 

[ceemys]

As PP state, they are VERY picky on what they will buy and they won't pay much at all. That being said, my daughter loves shopping there and it takes forever! lol Plan to spend hours searching.

 

[tlbwriter]

Plan to spend hours in line waiting for a dressing room too...

 

[wvjules]

Ours won't accept your clothes if you bring them in a plastic type bag or box. You have to take them in a nicer shopping bag like the AE or Hollister paper handled ones.

 

[ceemys]

Ours won't accept your clothes if you bring them in a plastic type bag or box. You have to take them in a nicer shopping bag like the AE or Hollister paper handled ones.

That is just the dumbest thing I've heard. lol Are they keeping the bags to reuse?

 

[mjhd]

Plastic bags pose a health and safety risk to the employee. I run a children's consignment store and you wouldn't believe the stuff that comes in. In a box or tote you have a better view of what you're putting your hands into. I would assume the brown bag makes it a bit easier.

I will say, I love looking at PC, but dd doesn't like it so much. I have seen premium denim for under $30 (Joe's, True Religion, Seven, Silver, etc). I have also sold some items there and they are super picky. I found the prices they paid to be reasonable but I never pay full price for items so I'm not expecting a whole lot back from items. I think my favorite sale to them was a Burton backpack which they paid $18 for.

 

[semo233]

They don't pay very much, but that allows them to offer low prices on the clothes you purchase. They did not buy any of my DD's Ralph Lauren polos. The laid the shirt out and it had to be a certain length and I was told that RL was notorious for being/shrinking too short!

 

[Cindy B]

My son does very well selling for Plato's. He gets decent cash everytime. Mind you, for a while he was getting taller before anything got worn.. so it worked out.
Last year I bought him som RISQ (Tilly's house brand) jeans on sale /clearance with a coupon. About a month later he grows 2 inches-- so all these new jeans are now too short.

They also take his dress shirts and clothes. He went through shoes for a while so they took his dress shoes and barely worn sneakers.

Just yesterday we went to Plato's. They were having a 1/2 off jean sale. DD found some jeans there at a low price.

The mens department never seems to go on sale though. We do find things for son there, but it is never all that cheap.

As far as pricing goes, I find that it is priced a little high, so I wait for sale days.

 

[tiff211]

My 11 yo loves that place. She loves going through all the racks and finding graphic tees and button down shirts. Name brand trendy stuff!

 

[traces7]

Thanks for your replies. i'm looking forward to going to Plato's Closet now, just to see what they have and if we can get any good deals. Not sure if they'll buy any of DD's stuff, but we'll try anyway!

 

[ceecee]

We have never found anything nice in Plato's Closet. I think the prices are high, I do better watching the sales. I sold a big box of all namebrand stuff mostly new with tags and only got $27!!! That includes 3 NEW Aeropostale jeans, 6 sweaters, shoes and 5 tees. New Vera bag they said they would give me $4 for that, I sold it on Ebay for $20. They had a very old pattern Vera quite worn and it was priced at $18...come on!

 

[shortbun]

We like thrift stores(Goodwill, VOA) just as well but this city seems to be filled with them. We have a few Plato's but their selections are slim and DS is tall so the pants and shirts are often too short.

 

[kellia]

Funny to see this. I was just in there tonight looking for dd. I was not impressed! The clothes were not nice and pricey. A few sweaters had holes in them and were still $18.

 

[SandrA9810]

I hate it there...

I was given three pairs of women's dress slacks (which I don't wear), and sizes were wrong. They gave me a little piece of paper to fill out with my info on it and told me it would be an hour. At the top of the paper, it asked for a general description in which I wrote 3 pants. They were Ralph Lauren and some other top of the line clothes, with the tags on the side. They made me wait for an hour and half to tell me they couldn't take them. I was like you wasted an hour of my freakin time because you couldn't tell that to me when I brought it in and sat it in front of you?

I was so pissed. I also noticed they had about 10 pairs of jeans from Target's line. Yeah, I found a whole rack of the same jeans at Goodwill that Target clearanced out and donated to Goodwill... Of course they were $5 at Goodwill and $13 at Plato's... and I'm sure they weren't that expensive on the clearance rack at Target to begin with. They were all new with tags.

I took the pants over to Ritzy Rags and even though they only accept things one day a week, she allowed me to drop them off. Knew I shouldn't have gone there in the first place. All the reviews on Google were horrible for Plato's.

 

[robinb]

We do some shopping at Plato's Closet. My DD is still a peanut and only some 00 jeans fit her. She can wear XS athletic wear and t-shirts. The quality of the clothes is pretty good. I didn't see anything with unintentional holes or stains. I guess the employees at our PC are pickier. BUT ... the prices are fairly high. For instance, I saw a pair of used Aeropostale jeans for $18. Really? I just bought my DD a pair of new ones at the Mall for $20. I can get the same stuff for less at my local thrift stores like Goodwill. They charge $8 for adult jeans and $4 for t-shirts. One of the Savers Thrift Stores has a new person pricing their stuff and they are now charging a big premium for the Teen/Tween name brands. *sigh*

 

[mbf]

The selection you find varies greatly with each store (I have visited stores in at least 7 locations in NYS now). As I said I have the best luck where there are college campuses close by. Our favorite stores for selection are in the Buffalo, NY area because there are so many colleges in the vicinity (we drive through there taking oldest DD to college). We haven't had as much luck with the stores in the Albany, NY area or in Dewitt.

What they buy and how much they give for it depends on a lot of variables. They may turn away some things because they already have too much in stock of a certain type of item. I know some PC's will not take designer handbags at all because of the risk of counterfeits, some do not care (you have to remember these are franchises). They also will not take Plus sized items at most stores, some do not sell/buy kids sizes if there is a "Once Upon A Child" (affiliated chain) within a certain range. As for the Ralph Lauren dress pants it is possible they thought the style was too conservative for the store clientele (just guessing). And as I said, they have certain things that they look for on clothing tags that tell them how "old" something is, they do not accept things more than 2-3 seasons old. A cashier once showed me how they tell on A&F items as an example.

Not to say I haven't had stuff turned away and then saw stuff on the rack that made me say "huh?" but as far as wear etc that is in the opinion of the person checking in the garments. The pricing etc is all done by their computers.

 

[Andrea from PA]

If you kid does NOT care about name brands, then PC is expense.

We always find better deals on clothes on sale at retailers like Kohls to be better prices. However, if kid only wants name brands, then PC is great.

I find their shoe prices high.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

We've found a few things I thought were good deals for DS there but something I didn't realize right away - ours does not take returns. That surprised me as the Once Upon a Child next door will give you 7 days, I often buy things when kids aren't with me that I need them to try on at home. PC says they will exchange for 7 days, no refund.