The Brief

Los Angeles is known for having a large market for reselling used clothing with shops peppered across the region, which means you could be making a dollar off your closet.

From independent shops like Wasteland to nationwide chains like Crossroads, L.A. is home to resellers who frequent the dozens of shops to make a living off of used-clothing, and know a thing or two about selling pre-loved clothes. Here are their tips.

Places to check out

National chains that have locations throughout Los Angeles like Crossroads Trading and Buffalo Exchange are more style-based, said Justin Goeller, the SoCal area manager for Buffalo Exchange. According to Goeller, these businesses prefer trendy clothing, and are more likely to buy your fast fashion.

On the other hand, stores like Wasteland (with operations in neighborhoods like Melrose and Silver Lake) and 2nd Street (with locations spanning L.A. and Orange County) typically prefer certain luxury or name brands. Workers there said they’re always buying items like Prada or Gaultier, but only just started paying for items from Marc Jacobs because of the brand’s recent comeback. 

Staff there said that doesn’t mean they won’t buy your clothes from Zara or Princess Polly — but if they’re stocked up on them, they’ll prioritize name-brand items.

“If everyone's had skinny jeans for the last eight years, like, that pair that's a little bit worn from, like, H&M, is it gonna sell fast right now?” Goeller asked. “Probably not. But there's still always, like, a classic pair of vintage Levi's, like a really nice brand, really nice quality where, even if it's not exactly what is on trend, there's a pretty good chance that someone is still interested in it.”

How to get paid

If you're reselling in-store rather than online yourself, expect to earn less than the clothes are worth. Thrift stores will buy the item off you instantly — but for less. The reselling process is different from consignment, which requires you wait until the thrift sells the item before you get your cut.

Pay-out policies can vary by the thrift, but reselling is consistent at most places. Thrift stores will present the option to turn your earnings into store credit or cash out for a smaller sum.

“Any clothes that I resell, that money goes towards other clothes,” said Joanna Downing, who works at the H.Lorenzo in West Hollywood.

Staff process clothes being resold at a Buffalo Exchange in Pasadena where people bring their pieces for cash.

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Sabrina Farooq

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LAist

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Wasteland, for instance, doesn't do consignment. No matter how exclusive the designer is, the store will pay out on the spot in full. Crossroads Trading will instead do consignment for higher end pieces, and similar stores cap how much they'll pay for anything.

Don’t take it personally

Resale shops reject clothes all the time so “don’t get butthurt,” said Regina Harris, manager at Wasteland.

“No one’s ever not taking stuff you sell because they don’t like you, it’s just a matter of the trends and the times,” Harris said. “It's so oversaturated right now and so many people are trying to do it.”

A lot of what they accept and reject from the public can depend on trends and those tastes can fluctuate, Harris explained. If you’re serious about reselling, keep an eye on what the fashion world is doing and what people are looking for. She said watching social media is helpful and can improve your odds.

For example, the buzz around Charli XCX’s “Brat” or a Gossip Girl resurgence can tell you something about what people want to wear.

‘Old’ doesn’t mean ‘dirty’

To help with reselling, resale shop workers told LAist they're inclined to reject your clothes if they're dirty or disorganized. They suggested washing and neatly folding the clothes prior to bringing them in, ideally in something like a reusable tote rather than a trash bag.

What about trends vs. fashion?

Trends and fashion are two separate things, according to Downing.

"Trends are just so much more temporary," she said. "Fashion is all encompassing."

Some designer and vintage clothes retain their value and desirability over time, which can signal that it falls under fashion rather than a trend, Downing explained.

“I would rather hold off to find the original of something than buy the remake of a remake of a remake,” Downing said.

To evaluate your closet this way, Harris suggested people find what their clothes are worth through online resale markets and compare those prices. You can also check a retailer’s website so you know how much the brand is generally going for and how much your piece might be worth new.

Then take that item to different thrifts for their bids.

Keep equity in mind

Reselling is a helpful part of recycling clothes by keeping some stuff out of landfills in exchange for some cash, but there are things to consider.

Some criticize fashion flippers for gentrifying thrift shopping, alienating the low-income people who they were initially meant to serve. That means being mindful that how you price your clothes, especially online, can help prevent price gauges.

Thousands of students from schools across Los Angeles walked out Wednesday in peaceful protest of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The Los Angeles Unified School District estimated 4,400 students from about two dozen schools participated.

“ I think it's really empowering that we aren't being discouraged to [protest], but it's also really discouraging to have to live through this,” said Roybal Learning Center senior Melisa. 

“The reason I came out is 'cause we're so young and I feel like people always think that like young people don't have a voice and in reality we have one of the strongest voices,” said Jazlyn Garcia, a senior at  Alliance Gertz-Ressler High School. “I want people to go out and vote for midterms, pre-register to vote.”

Leonna, a senior at Downtown Magnets High School and daughter of immigrants from Cambodia, said she was thinking of her neighbors.  “We need to protect the people that make sure that the economy is running and make sure that our lives are the way that they are every day.”

Students said the Trump administration's immigration raids threaten their families, communities and education.

LAUSD estimated that several thousand students walked out.

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Sabrina Sanchez

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LAist

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Students said they were concerned for family and neighbors.

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Sabrina Sanchez

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LAist

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Alexis, a senior at Brío College Prep, said administrators locked down his campus after agents detained a nearby fruit vendor. “He was a part of our community,” Alexis said. “He would always be out there selling fruits to us after school.”

San Fernando Valley students at more than 40 schools plan to walk out Friday.

“Los Angeles Unified supports the rights of our students to advocate for causes important to them,” a district spokesperson wrote in a statement to LAist. “However, we are concerned for student safety at off-campus demonstrations as schools are the safest place for students.”

The district encouraged students to exercise their rights in on-campus discussions and demonstrations.

The University of Southern California board of trustees has appointed interim president Beong-Soo Kim to be its 13th full president.

Kim was named as the interim leader in February 2025 and began the role this summer. He most recently served as USC’s senior vice president and general counsel, and as a lecturer at the law school. Prior to joining USC, he worked at Kaiser Permanente and was a federal prosecutor for the Central District of California.

Kim succeeds Carol Folt, who was brought on to stabilize the university following a series of scandals under the administration before hers. She formally stepped down from her role in July, following criticism of her ability to handle student protests and concerns over fiscal stewardship.

Soon after his term began, Kim oversaw the university’s effort to manage a $200 million deficit, which also led to hundreds of layoffs.

“We did have to make some difficult decisions last year with respect to our budget and layoffs,” Kim told LAist. “And I'm really pleased that as a result of those difficult decisions, we're now in a much stronger financial position and really for a number of months have been really focusing on the opportunities that we see on the horizon.”

In a call with LAist, and joined by USC board chair Suzanne Nora Johnson, Kim touched on bright spots and some of his priorities. He also touched on the relationship between USC and the Trump administration before a sudden ending to the call.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

LAist: You've talked about addressing the mass layoffs and budget challenges. What do you see as the way forward?

Beong-Soo Kim: Our research expenditures have actually been going up over the last year, over the last couple of years. We're focusing on: How do we provide the best possible educational value to our students? We're focusing on how to maintain and strengthen our academic culture of excellence, open dialogue and engagement with different viewpoints.

And we're also really kind of leaning into artificial intelligence and asking questions as a community about how we incorporate AI responsibly into our education, into our operations, into our research. And there are obviously a lot of important ethical questions that we're working on, and it's really an quite an exciting time to be in the position that I'm in.

What are you excited for?

Well, a couple things that we're really looking forward to are, as part of the anniversary of the United States, we're going to be hosting a National Archives exhibition [of] founding documents in late April. We're also looking forward to helping host the L.A. Olympics in 2028. We have our 150th anniversary coming up in 2030 as a university.

So there's a lot that's on the horizon. We also have the Lucas Museum opening up across the street later this year and, of course, George Lucas is one of our most beloved Trojan alumni. So there's so much vitality, so much energy on the campus right now.

USC has, for the most part, avoided the sort of conflicts that the University of California system and elite private institutions across the country have had with the Trump administration. What can you share about how you plan to manage USC’s relationship with the federal government?

Well, we really make an effort to engage with all levels of government, as well as foundations, the private sector, community groups. That kind of engagement is really more important nowadays. Universities can't just go off on their own. It's important for us to partner and find opportunities to work with others. And that's what we've been doing.

And that's part of the reason why I think that our research has continued to go strongly. And I give a lot of the credit to our faculty and researchers who can continue submitting grant applications and continue to do research in areas that are critically important to the benefit of our community, our nation, and our world. And I think that we -—

Suzanne Nora Johnson: —Actually I'm so sorry, but we have to complete the board meeting, and we've got to run. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. We'll be in touch. Bye. Thanks. Bye.

Huntington Beach will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision striking down the city’s controversial voter ID law.

What’s the backstory?

Huntington Beach voters approved a measure in 2024 allowing the city to require people to show ID when casting a ballot. That contradicts state law — voters in California are asked to provide ID when they register to vote but generally not at polling places.

The ensuing court battle

The state and a Huntington Beach resident promptly sued the city over the voter ID law and won an appeals court ruling striking down the law. The California Supreme Court declined to review the decision earlier this month. The state also passed a law prohibiting cities from implementing their own voter ID laws.

Then, the City Council voted unanimously this week to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.

Does the city have a shot?

The Supreme Court gets 7,000 to 8,000 requests to review cases each year. The Court grants about 80 of these requests, so the city’s chances of getting the court’s attention are statistically slim.

There’s also a question of whether or not the city’s voter ID case meets the Court’s criteria for review — SCOTUS addresses questions of federal law. Mayor Casey McKeon said it does, in a news release, noting a 2008 Supreme Court decision that upheld a state’s voter ID law — in Indiana. But Huntington Beach is a city, and the question in its voter ID case is whether or not a city can implement its own requirements for voting, even if it clashes with state law.

Go deeper

• Huntington Beach's controversial voter ID law is illegal
• Huntington Beach clashes with California over voter ID requirement in court
• HB Mayor defends Voter ID measure as Gov. Newsom seeks to ban it
• Listen 26:32

  The Trump Administration wants your confidential voter data. What’s behind their battle with CA and other states?