TOP OF THE SHOPS
Most valuable high street clothing brands from the 80s, 90s and 00s to resell for £100s including Topshop and Levi’s
Brands from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s are proving particularly popular
IF you have retro or nostalgic clothing brands languishing in your wardrobe you could be sitting on a small fortune.
Brands, particularly those from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, are popular with shoppers keen to add a vintage classic to their look.
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Popular items don't just include high-end luxury brands.
High street brands, and particularly those we've loved and lost, are in high demand.
Those proving popular include jumpers from The Sweater Shop which vanished from UK high streets in 1998, and was known for its distinctive knitwear.
Topshop's classic Kate Moss collection, which launched in 2007 and saw queues snake all the way down Oxford Street outside the clothing brand's flagship store, is also being regularly searched for.
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Naturally the amount any item of clothing will fetch will take into account the condition its in but the best items can fetch hundreds of pounds on sites such as Vinted, eBay and Depop.
It's always worth remembering, you're never guaranteed to be quids-in, ultimately your old items are worth what someone is willing to pay on the day you sell.
But, if you've stashed away your favourite items from over the years it might be time to consider giving them a new lease of life.
Here are some of the items proving popular with shoppers:
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Topshop x Kate Moss
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Over the last 12 months Vinted has seen more than 58,000 searches for items from Topshop's 2007 collection with model Kate Moss.
The collection launched to huge acclaim and has had a resurgence in recent years.
The demand is clearly not being met with just 4,300 items listed for sale on the site, with those seen most frequently including dresses, tops, T-shirts and jackets.
Some of the key items from the collection include the fringed leather jacket, examples of which which are currently being listed for as much as £300 on eBay.
Meanwhile the collection's pansy dresses can be seen listed for anything from £40 to £180 on Vinted and eBay.
Toys R Us and other brands that are making a comeback
Classic trainers
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Women's trainers are the fastest-selling category on Vinted and classic designs can fetch big sums.
Vintage designs from Fila, Nike and Adidas are proving popular with shoppers.
The trainers can range in price from £40 or £50 to hundreds of pounds, depending on their condition and rarity.
Retro Nike Air Jordan trainers are among those that can hit large sums.
Expert tips for sellers
Accountant Ben Sztejka, from Your Ecommerce Accountant, shared his advice for those looking to sell.
He said: "There are some brands that you know will always sell. It doesn’t matter if they’re brand new or well worn, if they’re in good condition, they will find a market. And the sellers will get a decent price. So, what’s the secret?
- Look for prestige – In 2007, Topshop launched its Kate Moss clothing line. It was THE high street fashion event of the year, making high fashion accessible – but not too accessible. That perfectly balanced prestige is what makes the range valuable now.
- Look for brands – Some brands never go out of style. Whether it’s Nike trainers or Levi's jackets, if you have a big brand in good condition, you’ll find a waiting market.
- Look for quality – Items such as used Patagonia fleeces will always sell for a good price because they are made to an extremely high quality. They’re very expensive to buy when new because of the design values.
- Look for icons – Some brands sell simply because of what they are. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a Sweater Shop jumper in most homes. Now, the slightly garish designs carry retro chic, while delivering quality. Meaning that you’ll pay more for a Sweater Shop top now than you would have when it was new."
Ben also reminded those looking to sell to remember the tax rules around online marketplaces changed recently and advised them to make sure they don't fall foul of the tax man.
The Sweater Shop jumpers
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The Sweater Shop was a high street fixture throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Its distinctive, heavily-patterned knitwear combines retro style and comfort and is proving popular with young shoppers.
The sweaters are frequently listed for £30 or £40, with some designs fetching considerably more.
When it comes to prices the trend seems to be the brighter the better with more outlandish designs fetching higher sums.
Bum bags
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Bum bags are among the fastest-selling women's accessories on Vinted, with the trend making a big resurgence.
The bags had their heyday in their 1980s and 1990s and vintage examples are being snapped up by young shoppers.
While the items don't generally fetch huge sums, they are typically sold for between £10 and £30.
Patagonia fleeces
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Patagonia fleeces have long been popular and colourful, retro designs often fetch the highest prices.
The fleeces can easily fetch large sums in excess of £100, particularly if they're in good condition.
Patagonia's fleeces aren't the only brand proving popular with shoppers with others including Finisterre and the North Face also attracting attention.
Tommy Hilfiger
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Vintage Tommy Hilfiger items are popular with online bargain hunters - particularly classic oversized sweatshirts.
The items are so popular they've even inspired some of the brand's recent collections.
Retro sweaters can fetch upwards of £30 second hand, with those in good condition fetching more.
Older vintage Hilfiger can often be spotted by its labels that feature a crest logo, while items from the late 90s and early 2000s have a more modern white and red flag style logo.
You can find label examples for hundreds of vintage brands to help identify which era they are from at vintagefashionguild.org/resources/labels/.
Vintage Levi's
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Vintage Levi's items have long been popular and continue to attract hordes of fans.
Popular items include vintage 501s and trucker jackets.
Levi's items are sold second hand so regularly that the brand has set up its own pre-loved store.
Sellers also turn to Vinted, Depop and eBay where jackets typically fetch £30-£50, although some rarer products can go for far more.
Levi's does not imprint a year of manufacture on their jeans, but there are a few clues which can date them to some degree, says personal stylist and retail expert Lindsay Edwards.
She previously told The Sun: "Washing care labels were added to Levi’s in the 1970s, so if they have a care label they were certainly manufactured sometime from the 1970s onwards."
"If the inseams have a single stitch running down the inner thigh, they were made before the mid 1980s."
On jeans produced before 1971, the word "Levi's" was written with a capital E - hence the term "Big E".
After 1971, Levi's switched to using a lowercase "e".
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These sorts of signs can help you date any items you might have to sell - and the older they are the more you might get.
We spotted a pair with the big E feature that sold for £2,354.77 on November 1.
New Vinted rules to be aware of
IF you fancy clearing out your wardrobe and getting rid of your old stuff on Vinted, you’ll need to consider the new rules that recently came into play.
If people are selling personal items for less than they paid new (which is generally the case for second-hand sales), there is no impact on tax.
However, since January 1, digital platforms, including eBay, Airbnb, Etsy, Amazon and Vinted, must share seller information with HMRC as part of a crackdown.
You're unlikely to be affected if you only sell a handful of second-hand items online each year - generally, only business sellers trading for profit might need to pay tax.
A tax-free allowance of £1,000 has been in place since 2017 for business sellers trading for profit - the only time that an individual personal item might be taxable is if it sells for more than £6,000 and there is a profit from the sale.
However, firms now have to pass on your data to HMRC if you sell 30 or more items a year or earn over £1,700.
It is part of a wider tax crackdown to help ensure that those who boost their income via side hustles pay up what they owe.
While your data won't be shared with HMRC if you earn between £1,000 and £1,700, you'll still need to pay tax as normal.
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