Maine Stores That Buy Back Clothing

On this blog, we’ve covered thrift and consignment store shopping, including what not to donate to Goodwill, good causes that will take your donations as well as a list of Maine thrift and consignment shops. At consignment shops, you can usually consign used clothing to sell. They don’t always sell but it’s worth a try.

The one topic that is consignment-adjacent that we haven’t covered is clothing brand resale programs. What this means is there are retail brands with physical locations in Maine that will buy back their used clothing from you. Or if you bring in clothing for recycling, you can get a coupon for money off a future purchase.

Maine Stores That Buy Back Clothing

I’ve discovered six brands with stores in Maine that will buy back their own clothing for resale or recycling. You’ll find these stores in the Maine Mall as well as the outlet stores in Freeport and Kittery. You can also mail clothing back but why not save on shipping since you live close by anyway. Many of these companies do charge to ship clothing for recycling or trading in.

I wish I know about these trade-in programs when I was writing my book Toss Keep Sell: How to Clean out the Clutter and Cash In. That book was all about how you can sell household items to make extra money.

Anyway, I’ve done my homework and have the details on the buy back, trade-in and resale programs from the following clothing brands with a physical presence in Maine.

• American Eagle and Aerie
• H&M
• Levi’s
• Lululemon
• Patagonia
• REI

American Eagle and Aerie

Aerie, the American Eagle brand, has the AE denim recycling program. Basically, if you bring in an old pair of jeans to recycle, you’ll get $10 off a new pair. There are three American Eagle locations in Southern Maine:

• American Eagle/Aerie store in the Maine Mall
• American Eagle store in Freeport
• American Eagle in the Kittery Premium Outlets

H&M clothes recycling

The H&M clothes recycling program is a bit different from other clothing buy back programs. That is, you’re not trading your clothes so H&M can resell them. You’re bringing them back to the store for legit recycling. So, you’re not making any money from a buy back. However, I’m told that when you drop off a bag of H&M clothes for recycling, you’ll get some sort of discount coupon to save on new H&M clothes. There is an H&M store in the Maine Mall.

Levi’s trade in program

You can take your old Levi’s denim — jeans, jackets, shorts — to a Levi’s store to trade them in. This is all done in person. You’ll need to make an appointment if you want Levi’s to buy back your clothing. Also, you can bring in five items only. Make sure all your clothing is still in good, wearable condition. If Levi’s thinks they’ll be able to resell them on their Levi’s resale website called Levi’s Secondhand, they’ll give you a gift card between $5 and $30. However, if the items aren’t worth anything in their minds, then they’ll recycle the denim for you for free. There are two Levi’s store locations in Maine: Kittery and Freeport.

Lululemon Like New

The buy back program at Lululemon is called Like New. You can shop on Like New for used pieces that others have sold back to the brand and which are significantly cheaper than the original version. You can also trade in your Lululemon clothing at a local Lululemon Store. There are two locations in Maine: The Maine Mall and Kittery. You’ll get anywhere from a $5 to $25 credit that you can use to shop at Lululemon.

There are some exceptions, though. You can’t trade in the following for a credit:

• damaged gear
• accessories
• women’s short sleeve
• women’s long sleeve shirts
• footwear
• tank tops
• yoga props
• intimates
• sports bras
• collaborations
• swimsuits
• ivivva
• small bags
• small pouches
• toiletry kits

Patagonia

Worn Wear is used Patagonia gear with more life to live. Here is how Patagonia describes the trade-in process of selling Patagonia gear back to them:

Send us your used Patagonia clothing and gear, and we’ll help pass it along to the next person who needs it. If your items are eligible, you can receive up to 25% of the MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) in credit to use in-store or online at Patagonia or Worn Wear. If your gear isn’t accepted, we can return it to you or recycle it so it stays out of the landfill.

You can bring your Patagonia gear to the Patagonia store in Freeport.

REI Resupply Used Gear Store

The REI Resupply used gear store used to be called the REI Garage Sale. Now it’s been rebranded as REI Resupply. Also, in order to shop at or trade in clothes to the used gear store, you need to be a member of the REI co-op. Membership is just $30 for a lifetime membership. That means you pay once and have the membership forever. There are other benefits to REI membership, if you’re joining just to get access to REI Resupply.

Some of those benefits include:

• Up to 10% back annually on purchases
• Free standard shipping
• Buy used gear but also the ability to sell back your used gear

Plus many exclusive discounts, events and other opportunities open to members only. There is only one REI store in Maine. It’s at Rock Row in Westbrook.

Free and Cheap Things To Do in Southern Maine

Here are FREE and cheap things to do in Southern Maine in the coming week.