We’re excited to share our top picks for Canadian consignment stores with you. If you love to shop as much as we do, you already have a list a mile long of new pieces you want to freshen up your closet. While it’s tempting to follow suit (especially that floral suit in the window), crack open your wallet and stock up, let’s take pause and do the math. What is the real cost of buying brand new pieces each season?
CONSIGNMENT STORES IN CANADA
Alberta Consignment Stores
Salvedge Clothing
Starting in Alberta, let’s talk about local Calgary clothing store, SalvEdge. Here you will find an amazing collection of special pieces spread across two retail locations, or you can shop online. This is a great place to find those unique classic items you will have forever, designer brands or a new set of workout wear.
SalvEdge ensures pieces are in great condition and somehow always has an amazing stock of items. They’ll even host you for a private “Shop & Sip” party with your friends, so you get the whole store to yourself.
Velour Clothing Exchange
Velour Clothing Exchange is another local Calgary clothing store and consignment boutique. Here you will find the coolest collection of 60s-90s vintage alongside the current trends. It’s a great place to get creative with your personal style, find some precious rare pieces or a fun look for the upcoming season.
True Calgarians know and cherish Velour Clothing Exchange. They are a staple in the community, and even rent out their wears to photographers and artists for local projects. You can buy, sell or trade men’s and women’s items here, so get creative with crafting your closet at this Canadian consignment store.
Shop online or visit them at their retail boutique:
- 1812 4th St SW, Calgary, AB
British Columbia Luxury Online Consignment Store
Turnabout Luxury Consignment
Turnabout is a must-know Canadian consignment store for luxurious, high end and designer brands names. They have over eight retail locations, six of them are Vancouver clothing stores, one in located in Surrey and another clothing store in Victoria.
Turnabout also has a beautiful online store which means anyone across Canada can shop here. They carry both men’s & women’s clothing, bags, accessories & footwear.
If you want to sell your high-end brand name clothing and bags with them, you can simply visit them at one of their locations and drop your items off. If you don’t live close to their retail shops, you can also ship your items to them after they’re approved by the Turnabout team. You can choose to get paid right away for your items or consign them for a higher percentage.
Some of the designer brands they accept are Chanel, Hermes, and Versace but they also take Lululemon and Zara. Either way, you’ll definitely find some of the very best of Vancouver and beyond’s closet.
Why Consignment Stores Are Great
1. Budget Friendly
It’s great for your wallet, with the significantly smaller price tags and opportunity to make some coin off your closet clean outs.
2. More Sustainable Than Fast Fashion
Shopping at consignment stores is great for the environment. There’s no new manufacturing, mass shipping, and ultimately less clothing being sent to the dump.
3. Unique Clothing Finds
It’s great for your personal style, making constant closet reinvention affordable with a fun treasure hunt vibe.
4. Support Local Owners
And finally, it’s great for your soul. Most consignment stores are local businesses, and often women-owned and operated. So you’ll be building up your local economy, and women who live in your city.
Things To Know Before Consigning Your Clothing
If you are going to consign your clothes, it’s important to know when to do it. Most consignment stores intake pieces right before a new season or when it makes sense for them to sell, while other shops accept items year-round. We recommend that you call ahead or check their websites to find out when they’re accepting clothing.
When choosing items to consign, check with your preferred consignment store on what brands and styles they accept. Make sure your clothing is clean and presented nicely. Some stores want clothing dropped off on hangers, while others are fine with it in a bag. Most consignment shops have their preferred steps to follow listed on their website and we definitely recommend you follow them exactly as they’ve outlined.
The Impact Of Fast Fashion
The fashion industry is built on the sentiment of “out with the old, and in with the new”. So much so, that fashion labels now release up to five collections per year, instead of the long gone traditional two. That is A LOT more clothing. So much more in fact, that the amount of clothing being manufactured per year has doubled since the turn of the millennium.
Fast fashion (because at five collections a year it has to be) is one of the largest uses of fresh water on earth. Between manufacturing and shipping, the fashion industry also contributes a lot of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
If you’re wondering where all this clothing goes when we’re ‘over it’? Most ends up in landfills, enough to fill the harbour in Sydney, Australia each year. Google it. It’s huge. Yikes.
So not only are we paying the full price tag, but collectively we will all pay for the damage fast fashion does to our environment. The good news is that there are consignment stores in Canada that help with this problem by offering a great, more sustainable solution.
Final Thoughts On Canadian Consignment Stores
Between saving the planet, and finding the perfect jacket, consignment is the way to go. There are Canadian consignment stores ready to help you sell your clothes and do a little shopping. You’ll be skipping down the sidewalk feeling amazing about your new finds and the good you’re doing for the planet. Happy selling and shopping!
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