The best time to buy winter coats for resale is late February. The best time to buy swimwear is late August. Retail stores cut prices aggressively to clear floor space, and if you source during those windows, hold the inventory, and list when demand peaks again, you can hit margins thrift sourcing rarely matches. This guide covers the full playbook: markdown timing, which categories to prioritize, how to calculate ROI, and where thrift and outlet clearance fits in.
How Retail Markdown Timing Works
Major retailers follow a predictable pattern. First markdowns hit four to six weeks before season end, typically 25 to 30 percent off. A second round follows two to three weeks later at 40 to 50 percent. By the final week, clearance typically reaches 60 to 75 percent off original retail.
The key dates to calendar:
- End of winter clearance: Mid-February through early March (coats, boots, heavy knits, ski gear)
- End of spring clearance: Late May through early June (light jackets, rain gear, transitional pieces)
- End of summer clearance: Mid-August through early September (swimwear, linen, sandals, shorts)
- End of fall clearance: Late November through December (transitional outerwear, corduroy, lighter layers — separate from holiday which peaks, not clears)
Stores that reliably run deep end-of-season clearance: Target, Old Navy, Gap, H&M, Macy’s, Nordstrom Rack, and TJ Maxx. Athletic brands like Lululemon and Nike outlet locations also move past-season stock at 40 to 60 percent off when new drops land.
Which Categories Are Worth Buying Off-Season
Not every clearance item is worth holding. The question is whether it will sell faster, at a higher price, or both when the season returns.
High-ROI clearance categories:
- Outerwear (coats, puffer jackets, parkas). Retail clearance prices drop to $15 to $40 on coats that originally retail for $80 to $200. The same coat listed in October through December on Poshmark or eBay commands full or near-full resale value. Name brands — Columbia, North Face, Patagonia, Canada Goose — appreciate this strategy most.
- Swimwear. Late-August clearance at Target and Old Navy regularly puts $40 swimsuits at $8 to $12. List them in May through July and they sell quickly.
- Boots and cold-weather footwear. Leather boots, Chelsea boots, and knee-highs clear hard in February and March. Platform boot styles and knee-high silhouettes in popular sizes (7 to 9 women’s) consistently resell well on Depop and Poshmark.
- Ski and snow gear. End-of-season outlet stores at ski resorts, or Dick’s Sporting Goods clearance, offer bibs, base layers, and helmets at 50 to 70 percent off. Snow pants and fleece mid-layers sell reliably on eBay in October and November.
- Kids seasonal clothing. Children grow between seasons, so last year’s NWT clearance kids’ clothes sell well regardless of the season delay. This is one area where you can list immediately rather than hold.
Lower-ROI clearance categories (proceed carefully): trendy fast-fashion pieces (trend cycles shift), summer graphic tees (oversaturated), costume jewelry (low velocity), and shoes in extreme sizes.
For seasonal timing strategy specific to kids’ clothing, see Best Time to List Kids Clothes for Faster Sales.
The ROI Math: Does a Clearance Buy Actually Pencil?
Before you fill a cart, run the numbers.
Formula: Expected sell price minus (cost of goods + platform fee + shipping) equals net profit.
Example: a coat bought at 70% off clearance for $22, expected to sell on Poshmark in October for $65.
- Platform fee (~20%): $13
- Shipping (prepaid label, ~3 lb coat): $8
- COGS: $22
Net: $22 profit on a $22 spend — roughly 100% ROI.
The math changes based on brand, condition, and hold time. Account for storage space and capital tied up while you wait. For a deeper look, see How to Track Your True Cost Per Item as a Reseller.
Rule of thumb: Buy at 50 percent or more off retail, and only on brands or categories with consistent sold comps. Use the sold filter on eBay, Poshmark, or Mercari before committing to any volume buy.
Thrift and Outlet Clearance: The Other Side of Off-Season Sourcing
Retail end-of-season sales are one channel. Thrift stores and outlet clearance are a second, often underrated one.
Thrift stores receive seasonal donations in bulk from people clearing space. Goodwill and local chains tend to get a surge of winter donations in February through March and summer donations in August. Timing your thrift runs to these windows increases the odds of finding quality seasonal pieces.
Outlet malls carry past-season stock from brand-owned stores. Nike Factory, Levi’s Outlet, and J.Crew Factory mark down seasonal inventory further when the new season’s stock arrives. Because outlet stock is often already discounted, a further markdown can bring the price into strong ROI territory.
The bins (Goodwill Outlet) price by weight ($1.49 to $1.99 per pound in most markets), so a heavy winter coat costs roughly the same as a lightweight tee. Winter pieces sourced at the bins in early spring can generate some of the highest gross margins in reselling. For a full bins strategy, see How to Source Clothes at the Bins for Resale.
Holding Inventory: Storage, Labeling, and List Timing
The clearance buy strategy only works if you can hold inventory cleanly and list at the right time.
Storage basics: vacuum bags compress bulky outerwear by 60 to 70 percent. Group by season in labeled bins. Log brand, size, COGS, and source date for every item at the time of purchase.
When to list:
- Outerwear and boots: late September (peak October through December)
- Swimwear: April through May
- Kids seasonal pieces: 6 to 8 weeks before season start (parents shop ahead)
How long to hold before cutting losses: If an item has not sold after two full in-season months at a competitive price, drop 10 to 15 percent and relist. Capital stuck in stale inventory costs more than a small loss. For a repricing framework, see How to Reprice Items That Haven’t Sold in 30 Days.
Speed-Listing a Clearance Haul
A successful clearance run can mean 20 to 50 items bought in one trip. Getting them listed promptly — while details are fresh — is where most resellers lose momentum.
QuickListAI is a Chrome extension that writes optimized titles, descriptions, and tags across Poshmark, Depop, Mercari, eBay, Vinted, and more, then auto-fills the listing fields. For a haul of 30 coats, that means hours saved versus writing each one manually. It is a listing writer, not a crosslisting sync tool — but the listing bottleneck is where most resellers stall.
When you are ready to map out which weeks to activate your off-season inventory, the Q4 Holiday Flipping Calendar for Resellers 2026 covers exactly when each seasonal category peaks.
Write Your Clearance Haul Listings in Seconds
QuickListAI is a Chrome extension that writes and auto-fills marketplace titles, descriptions, and tags across Poshmark, Depop, Mercari, eBay, Vinted, and more — so you can list a clearance haul fast without writing every item from scratch. 2 free listings, no credit card required.
Add to Chrome, FreeFrequently asked questions
The deepest markdowns hit at the tail end of each season: late February for winter, late May for spring, mid-August for summer, and late November for fall transitional items. Waiting for the second or third markdown round, usually 60 to 75 percent off, produces the strongest ROI.
Yes. Buying goods and reselling them is legal under the first-sale doctrine. You own the item once purchased and can resell it anywhere. The only restrictions involve counterfeit goods, which retail clearance does not produce.
It depends on the category. Coats and boots bought in February should be listed in late September through October. Swimwear bought in August should go live in April through May. Kids’ seasonal clothing is an exception and can often be listed immediately since parents buy ahead for size.
Target at least 3x your cost of goods after fees and shipping. On a $15 coat, that means netting $30 to $35. Below 2x, the storage space and capital tie-up rarely justify the hold.
Poshmark and Depop perform well for women’s outerwear, swimwear, and boots. eBay suits branded menswear, kids’ gear, and ski equipment due to broader search reach. Mercari works across most categories with less competition on commodity seasonal items.
Retail clearance offers predictable condition (new with tags) and brand consistency, making comps easier to research. Thrift and bins can generate higher gross margins but requires more sorting time. Many volume resellers use both: retail clearance for reliable branded inventory, thrift for high-upside individual finds.