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I never used to be into consignment shopping. Mainly because, when I walk into a secondhand store, I don’t know where to look. Everything looks like a mess and I don’t have a keen eye to spot never-been-worn designer pieces like some people I know.

Take my friend Emily. She’s a fashion designer with a killer wardrobe who lives and dies by consignment shops. She actually took me to one last year, eyed the racks and grabbed five or six amazing pieces, all of which have since become staples in my wardrobe. I don’t know how she did it. I tried to duplicate the experience on my own with no such luck. I just don’t have what it takes to weed through everything to unearth the good stuff. In my size. That isn’t stained. Or the time to go to a store when it’s so hit or miss.

Then a secondhand clothing company called thredUP challenged me to shop their site for my holiday outfits. I love a good challenge so I thought I would give it a shot, but to be honest, I did not have high hopes.

ThredUP sells high-quality, women’s and kid’s secondhand clothes and accessories, but as I found when I went on their site, they make it much easier to unearth things you are actually looking for. You can shop by category, size or designer. Then you can narrow down things even further with specific options like short sleeves (in the shirt category) or straight leg (in the jeans category.) Everything is pictured like a regular online shop with descriptions of the product that include helpful details like “good as new” or “pilling slightly.”

So what did I find? I looked up designer/dresses/long sleeve and found this great sweater dress from BCBG and black/size 9 Brazilian leather heels from Faryl Robin.

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I also scored this amazing silver designer/clutch from Henri Bendel.

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Here I am laughing at the ridiculousness of posing in my bedroom in evening wear.

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I wanted to find something for a more casual holiday gathering so I looked through the shirts and jeans section and found this awesome elastic-waisted shirt from Michael Kors.

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While I was at it, I decided to look for a very specific item in the outerwear category. I always have a crucial element missing from my coat closet— a jacket that exists somewhere between slightly-chilly-fall-weather and my-nipples-are-about-to-freeze-off-winter-tundra-weather. I found this short puffy jacket with a faux fur collar, also from Michael Kors, which was seriously exactly what I wanted.

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When I placed the order, the confirmation email showed me that on my total purchase I had saved 73% off the original item prices! The clothes arrived in a nice big box, wrapped in tissue paper, with cute thredUP tags attached to each piece. I tried everything on and SUCCESS!!! Except for a pair of jeans I bought to go with the Michael Kors shirt. They were too tight and too short, but jeans are tough. On the plus side, thredUP makes it easy to return anything you don’t love.  

The best part? I can send in some of my secondhand clothes to sell on consignment and then use the money to buy new stuff! In fact, if you check my Snapchat (ilanawiles) next week, you might catch me giving away some of my clothes.

Giveaway:

Today, I’m giving away a $250 thredUP gift card! To enter, just visit the site, find an item you would be excited to purchase and then leave the link to the item in the comments below.

Winner Update:

Congratulations to Samantha B! Please contact allie@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize!

Special Offer:

If you want to shop right now? The first 100 people to use code MOMMYSHORTS40 will get 40% off their first purchase at thredUP! (New, US customers only. Discount up to $50.)

Winner will be announced on December 23, 2016. Happy secondhand shopping!

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This post was sponsored by thredUP, but I am totally wearing my new black dress on New Year’s Eve.