DISCLAIMER: if you work for plato's closet or are a loyal customer or for some reason just really love that place, do NOT read this. it will probably make you pretty mad.
i'm writing this as i stand in plato's closet and wait for two teenagers to go through my clothing, and for me to inevitably get angry with said teenagers. if you're my facebook friend or follow me on twitter, you've probably seen me rant about my hatred of this place. i keep giving this place second and third chances to redeem themselves, but as i'm enduring my 40 minute sentence of "in store drop off", i'm walking around and met with all of the reasons they just keep making me angry.
1. brand names (or lack thereof).
this place advertises that it sells quality brand name clothing. i'm not sure who deamed walmart, target, and kohls brands as "name brand", but they are seriously delusional. furthermore rue21, forever 21, and charlotte russe are not name brand either. don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these places (okay except rue21 but that's another post entirely) it's just a little false to advertise name brand things when the majority of the stock comes from these places.
 |
| i would love to judge the brand of these leggings but its been cut out. REALLY. also no one should buy leggings here when we can all go to forever 21 and buy a rainbow of leggings brand new for $5 each. also i know too many people that don't wear undies with leggings so definitely don't buy them used. |
2. quality.
in addition to the false brand advertising, platos says it only takes new or gently used clothing. however, as i'm lapping this place, most of the clothing isn't even in decent condition. items are awkwardly stretched out or stained and a lot of the shoes are in seriously gross condition.
 |
| this pair of well loved off brand toms could be yours for the low price of $15. |
 |
| these UGGs had stains ALL over. the sole was completely worn. and they smelled. but you can buy them for $40. |
 |
| this grey pair of UGGs were in the same condition as the ones above, but they are the tall version. so you can get them for $45. |
 |
| off brand foot fungus that can be yours for $10. |
3. prices.
considering the above information, most of the items in plato's should be priced at a dollar. but no. plato's offers their customers the distinct privilege of coming to their store and paying $10 for a pair of two year old forever 21 jeans that are currently priced at $9 in stores. isn't that sweet of them? i pay full price for maybe 1-3 items in my closet per year, but otherwise i'm shopping the sales hardcore. most of my gap jeans cost me $8 in store. brand new. most of my jcrew and gap tshirts cost about $15 in the store. BRAND NEW. so why am i currently staring at a pair of hello kitty brand (WHAT) jeans that cost $12?
 |
| i feel like this tshirt perfectly captures the plato's closet demographic. and the fact that anyone would buy this tshirt in the first place. and the fact that they're trying to sell it for $5 when the original owner probably paid $1 for it. (because everything i have ever bought from wet seal has literally been $1) |
 |
| hello kitty jeans that i mentioned. these jeans have an actual hello kitty pattern, too. not real life. |
 |
| a pair of gap jeans that i actually tried on in store this spring. when i could have bought them new for SIX DOLLARS. literally. i'm not lying. but they're priced at $15 at plato's. |
this is really just the result of accepting bargain "brands" that do their best to mimic the trends but usually just end up barely missing the mark.
5. they never take my stuff.
considering the above information, one would think that if you brought in actually gently used actual name brand clothing that's on trend, they would snatch it all up in a heartbeat. but no. my 7FAM jeans and never worn gap shirts consistently get rejected.
this trip to plato's i took two medium size bags of shirts, pants, and scarfs. probably about 25ish items. they took 8 (i can only remember 7 items though-oops):
a pair of 7FAM cords (paid $30 new in store, they will sell for $25ish)
a pair of joes jeans (paid $30 new in store, they will sell for $25ish)
a pair of zara jeans (paid $25 new online, they will sell for $20ish)
an old navy dress (paid $14 new in store, they will sell for $15ish)
an old navy popover shirt (paid $10 new in store, they will sell for $10ish)
an h&m linen tshirt (paid $5 new in store, they will sell for $8ish)
a gap "pure" long sleeve tshirt (paid $15 new online, they will sell for $15ish)
all of my items were worn one to two times and in excellent condition. they gave me $34.50 and (from what i saw things priced at today in store) will turn around and sell them used for about what i paid for them new. which blows my mind.
why is this place in business? why did i see so many adults in there today? i'm not even a coupon-er or a super cheap-o; i just love a good deal, and pride myself on finding them. but its not like i try THAT hard. if a person is willing to sort thru racks and racks of used clothing that isn't even fairly priced, i don't understand why someone wouldn't be willing to sort through sale racks of brand new things. that are cheaper than the used stuff!
i will most likely continue to complain about platos closet until something changes. not that i'm all about taking a company down, but i kinda want this company to go down. unless you're trying to sell clothes to them, they really offer no benefits to the consumer that goodwill and salvation army don't offer. the only "benefit" i can see to shopping here as opposed to another thrift store is that the inventory is more tailored to people who try to be on trend. but i would be willing to bet you can find stuff at goodwill that is more on trend and in better condition if you give yourself time to look and dig.
if you're reading this and you shop there, please stop. and let me teach you about shopping sales and getting good quality items for cheap. or let me direct you to the many facebook groups of people selling their old stuff or the multiple apps of people selling their stuff. the items you'll find in these outlets, as opposed to plato's, will almost always be of better quality, condition, and price.
