Expat Life
Written By Simone Woods
Ok, something a bit quicker and lighter today (and one geared more towards anyone living in Germany): a round-up of my favourite places to shop secondhand clothing online in Germany.
I re-discovered second hand shopping a couple of years ago. My friend invited me to go to the Lehel (in Munich) hofflohmarkt (literally: courtyard fleamarket). These are held all over Germany, in different suburbs each weekend. It's basically a chance for everyone to have a type of garage sale, and rid themselves of all their unwanted items (often for a steal). We wandered around Lehel for hours on that hot summer's day and found many amazing things: I came home with bags and bags full of clothing that was in wonderful condition, all for around 60 €.
After that I was hooked - I could get fancier, better quality clothing than I would ever buy brand new in a store, for a fraction of the price. I also felt good that I was able to expand my wardrobe and experiment with my style without supporting the dubious fast fashion industry.
Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and hofflohmärkte were cancelled (and still are for the foreseeable future). But, since then I've managed to find some amazing places to go secondhand clothes shopping online, from the comfort of my own home.
The great thing about all these online platforms is that it's much easier to find what you're looking for! Instead of spending hours trawling through physical racks, you can put in search terms or define your search and you're directed to the particular items you're interested in.
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This is my FAVOURITE place to shop online for clothing secondhand in Germany. I have probably spent a lot more money than I would like to admit on this platform.
What do they have? Women's, men's, and kid's clothing, shoes, and accessories. From a wide range of brands (high street to designer brands).
Pricing: You can get items for as little as 5.99€! Sometimes things can be slightly more pricey than you would expect for secondhand clothing, but I've learnt a little trick! Since they alter the pricing a lot (ie from day to day), the best thing to do is to "merken" (save) anything you're interested in that seems a little too expensive, and keep an eye on it to see if the price drops (sometimes they will drop the price by 75%). The problem with this approach is that sometimes your watched items will sell before the price drops.
Condition:
They specify 3 different condition categories:
1) Kleine Schönheitsfehler (small blemishes that don't affect the structure of the garment); 2) Sehr gut (very good condition); and 3) Neuwertig (like new, sometimes the tags are even still attached).
I've found these descriptions to be very honest - the overall condition of their items is very good. In cases when I've bought items with a "kleine schönheitsfehler" I've barely actually noticed a problem.
Free delivery (within Germany): and it's super fast - within 2-3 working days. The also deliver to a range of European countries (for a postage fee).
Free returns: within 30 days. You simply have to go to the Retourenportal, answer some questions online about which items you're returning and why, package them back up and attach the paperwork.
Interested in selling some old clothes? Head over to Momox's selling site and you can sell (verkaufen) your old items to make room for the new (well, new to you!). There's also a platform on there for selling old books and CDs if you've got some of them lying around. You can then choose to receive money, or a voucher for Momox (if you choose this option, you get 30% extra value).
Mädchen Flohmarkt
Go here: https://www.maedchenflohmarkt.de/
This is another one of my favourite places to shop secondhand online. They also list on ebay, which is where I came across them in the first place.
What they have: Only women's clothes (hence the name!).
Pricing: Pretty good in general - maybe slightly more expensive than Momox.
Condition: I've found it to be very good and as described (they have similar condition rankings as Momox).
Delivery: This is where it gets a little confusing - anything they sell through ebay is free delivery, but on their actual website marketplace, it seems to be more about individual sellers selling items and there are delivery costs. I think the simplest option is to buy their items through ebay.
Returns: Again, this depends on whether you buy through ebay or through their website marketplace. Through ebay you can get free returns for 30 days, but, on their marketplace, the return policy depends on the seller.
Again, you can also sell items if you're interested in making some money!
Ebay
Here: https://www.ebay.de/
Ebay is a great place to find some unique clothing finds at a fraction of the new cost. It's been around for ages, and you probably know all about it. On ebay Germany there are all the usual methods of buying: through auctions, buy it now (sofort kaufen), and offers (preisforschlag).
What they have: Anything and everything - for men, women, and kid.
Pricing: It really depends on the seller, but some start their bidding really low and in those cases you can (sometimes) get something for an absurdly low price.
Some advice:
Wait until late in the auction to place a bid (unless there is also a “buy it now” or “offer” option) in order to avoid driving the price up needlessly.
Try offering a lower amount if the seller has offered a "preisvorschlag".
Shop around for items that are common - often a lot of people will be selling them, often at vastly different prices.
Buy during the "off season" for your item of interest (eg buy winter boots during summer etc - you'll have less competition from other buyers and may be able to snag a better deal).
If you’re looking for kid’s clothing, you can find some bargains. Often people will sell large packets of clothing in one or a few sizes. For the price of one item new, you can get many many items!
Ebay stores: In addition to private sellers, there are also a lot of secondhand ebay stores popping up. One of these that I've bought a few items from is called re.imagine. They offer everything as buy it now, at fairly reasonable prices. The good thing is that they also accept returns.
Delivery: In most cases (except for some ebay stores) you will have to add shipping (price set by the seller) onto the price you pay for the item.
Returns: Again, the downside of ebay (except, again, for some ebay stores) is that you mostly cannot return the items. It's a bit of a risk with clothing because sometimes things don't fit as you think they will, or they just look different in real life. Here, I would suggest to ask the seller lots of questions before you buy (you can ask for measurements, material composition, if there are any holes and so on). Most good sellers will be willing to give you honest answers to everything you ask. If you do, however, end up with something that you're just not happy with (I've had this experience a couple of times) then perhaps try re-selling it on ebay! Then you have the chance to re-coup at least some of the money you spent.
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Ebay Kleinanzeigen
Find them here: https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/
I guess this is sort of like a subset of ebay for buying and selling things locally within Germany. It's sort of like Craigslist (USA) or Gumtree (Australia).
What they have: Clothes, shoes, and accessories for men, women, and kids.
Pricing: Again, like ebay, it depends on the seller. There is no bidding, only buy it now - and some sellers will accept offers.
Delivery: Generally you will have to pick the item up from the seller (at their house or at a mutually agreed upon location). This is not the best in these pandemic circ*mstances, but I guess you can arrange to ensure that you're both wearing masks. Some sellers will offer delivery of small items (so especially clothes), but this will be at the buyer’s expense.
Returns: No returns, but if you pick it up and find that the item was not what you expected then you could choose to not go ahead with the sale.
Zalando Zircle
Discover it here: https://www.zircle.de/
I think this has been quite a recent arrival in the online secondhand shop sphere. I haven't yet shopped here, but it looks quite good.
What they have: At this stage they have clothing for ladies and gentleman (not for kids).
Pricing: From a quick glance, it seems a little more expensive than what you can expect from ebay and Momox, but - as I said - I haven't yet shopped here and so haven't had more than a casual perusal.
Delivery: Free and your package should come within 3-5 days.
Returns: Also free and you have 100 days.
Facebook Marketplace
Go here (for Munich): https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/munich/
This operates a lot like ebay Kleinanzeigen - through Facebook, you can access your local marketplace and find items on offer in your city or area. You will need a Facebook account to buy and sell through the marketplace.
What they have: Everything - clothing, shoes, and accessories for men women, and kids.
Pricing: Since items are sold by individual sellers, pricing can vary. Tip: you can see how long an item has been listed for - if you see that it's taking a while to sell, you could offer a lower price. Most sellers will be willing to negotiate.
Delivery: Most sellers will want you to pick up the item, but some will offer postage (at the expense of the buyer).
Returns: Mostly not an option.
Toytown Germany
Find it here: https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/forum/169-items-for-sale/
If you're not an expat, you probably haven't heard of Toytown. It's an information and forum hub site that is geared towards helping English-speaking expats navigate living in Germany (and, in particular, Munich). This one is mostly useful for people who live in Munich (I can't seem to find any links to items for sale in other parts of Germany). The listings will mostly be written in English.
What they have: Everything - but the selection can be quite limited.
Pricing: Again, it depends on the individual seller. But because it's mostly expats selling stuff - often you can find a good deal when someone is moving away from Germany and trying to frantically get rid of all their things!
Delivery: Again, most sellers will want you to collect your item, but delivery is offered in some cases.
Returns: Again, mostly not an option.
So, there you have it: that was a round-up of my top 7 places for secondhand clothing shopping online in Germany. I hope this article has given you some new ideas for ways to thrift some clothes online from the comfort of your home.
Do you live in Germany? Where do you do your online secondhand clothes shopping? Do you have any other ideas that I haven't mentioned? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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Interested in reading more about living in Germany?
Having a baby in Germany: the bureaucratic experience - detailed checklist of all the things to do from pre-positive test to registering your new baby
Reflections on expat life: answering the question - “Should I stay or should I go?”
Experiences in making and growing a family abroad
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Simone Woods
