The beginning of a new year is a great time to look through your closet and get rid of clothes that you no longer wear, either because they don’t fit or you just don’t like them anymore. We’ve got some ideas to get you started:

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(Photo: 123RF)

Donate

If you can’t be bothered to make a quick buck out of your cast-offs, and just want them out of your house, donating is the easiest and fastest way to deal with the problem, other than just tossing everything down the rubbish chute.

The most well-known place to donate clothes is The Salvation Army, who run several thrift stores. You can just show up at one of their donation-in-kind booths (click here for addresses) and deposit your items there.

But that’s not the only thrift shop you can donate your clothes to. You can also try the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations’ New2U Thrift Shop and the MINDS Shop, amongst others.

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(Photo: Pixabay)

Sell your stuff online

If you have brand-name clothes and bags, limited edition items or even clothing from high street fashion brands that’s still on-trend, it might be worth the effort to sell them online.

In the past, that meant creating a listing on eBay, which was time consuming and also meant you had to grapple with stuff like shipping charges. But thanks to sites like Carousell, you can sell stuff locally in a flash—just snap a photo with your smartphone and type a short description, then arrange to meet up with the buyer, probably at an MRT station somewhere. While it’s true that other sites might work better for certain items (eg. Hardwarezone for electronic items), for fashion and accessories Carousell is probably your best bet.

Here are eight clever ways to cash in on your preloved, unwanted items.

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(Photo: Pixabay)

Repurpose or Upcycle

You even don’t have to be that crafty to repurpose or upcycle your items, since there are now numerous YouTube videos and IRL workshops to guide you through the process. Project Upcycle conducts occasional workshops, and there’s also a whole bunch of free videos on YouTube you can use, like below:

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(Photo: Pixabay)

Participate in a clothes swap

So you gained 10 kg over the past 2 years (blame it on all that char kway teow) and now need to get rid of everything in your wardrobe that has a waist. At the same time, you want to replace these items with new ones that actually fit.

A clothes swap event can let you get rid of the redundant items in exchange for someone else’s pre-loved outfits. Clothing swaps have been gaining ground in Singapore, probably because so many people have bursting wardrobes full of stuff they don’t wear.

Check the Fashion Revolution Facebook page for clothes swaps, which started in December 2016. Connected Threads Asia organised a clothes swap a few months ago. There are quite a few other clothes swaps that take place throughout the year—one way to stay informed is to contact the organisers of previous swaps and get them to put you on their mailing lists, like these here.

Those clothes that make you look like you just stepped off a getai runway might make another person look like they stepped off a fashion runway, so do the world a favour and swap your outfit for something that suits you better.

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Text: Joanne Poh / Additional Reporting: Elizabeth Liew

This story first appeared on the MoneySmart blog.

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