FAQ

Where do you get your items?
It’s a mixed bag. Over 80% of our items come from textile recycling centers. These are centers we travel to and do our hand picking from. We also travel to estate sales, antique stores, flea markets, and cover the ground and seek high and low for those special pieces. Everything is hand picked and selected.

Do you buy or consign? We DO NOT consign. Our business model is not set up for this operationally.  If you have a collection (10 or more items) of high quality vintage items (25 years or older)s that you think might be of interest feel free to reach out for a consult via hello@wethieves.com with the subject {TO SELL}  and include a description and pictures of items. If it's a good fit we will get back to you. Please don’t take it personally if we don’t get back to you. We get hundreds of phone calls and enquiries weekly and we are small team, we just can't field it all.  

Do you hold items? Unfortunately, we don’t hold any of our vintage items due to the fact that they are all one of a kind and when they are off the floor they can’t sell. As a retailer turning our products is one of the key factors for our sustainability. We really appreciate your understanding of this.

What is a rag house or textile recycling center?

Roughly 15% of clothing we donate to a certain center makes it through their processing. The excess has to go somewhere. Many textile recycling centers have contracts in their region to buy the excess from the thrift stores.  A rag house is the last stop of the clothing donation train before our piles of garments get shipped overseas to developing countries or turned into rags. Some Rag Houses have vintage sections where they train their employees to find and pick the vintage that can be resold to folx like us. 

Some Rag Houses have developed a strong relationship with film, television, and the fashion industries. In fact, it's not uncommon to have stylists, designers, and celebrities establish relationships with rag houses in order to peruse collections of products that can be used for inspiration, story-telling, up-cycling, and recycling.

Many centers ask for a re-sellers permit and we have to buy a minimum. The costs are higher than that of a thrift store - but what we save is time. Driving every where is costly and there's no guaranteed we'll find things our business needs to sustain itself. 

If you have any other questions -please send them to hello@wethieves.com and we will be happy to answer or add to this list.