How we grade preloved clothes, and what each grade really means

Every item I list is secondhand, and no two are the same. That makes condition the most important thing on the page, so this is exactly how I grade, and what each grade means in practice.

What I check before anything goes online

Each piece gets the same once-over: seams and hems, zips and buttons, underarms and cuffs, and the fabric held up to the light. Bobbling, thinning, pulled threads, missing belts, marks that will not shift. Whatever I find goes into the listing, and the photographs are always of the actual item, not a stock image, so you can see it for yourself.

Holding fabric up to a window is the single most useful thing I do. Thin patches, old repairs and faint marks that vanish under a ceiling light show up straight away against daylight. I also turn everything inside out. Seam allowances tell you how much a garment has been worn and washed, and a fraying inner seam on an otherwise neat dress is worth knowing about before it goes in a basket.

The five grades

New with tags. Never worn, original tags still attached. More common than you would think, because plenty of things get bought and never worn.

Like new. Worn once or twice at most, no visible wear. If I did not tell you it was preloved, you would not know.

Very good. Lightly worn and well looked after. Any signs of wear are minor and noted in the listing.

Good. Worn and loved, with some visible signs of use, described honestly and shown in the photos. Plenty of life left in it.

Fair. Clearly worn, priced accordingly. I only list these when the piece is still genuinely wearable or worth having, and every flaw is spelled out.

Why nearly everything ends up in very good

The vast majority of what I list is graded very good, and that is not me being generous with the label. Most high street clothes that come my way have been worn a handful of times and then sat in a wardrobe. A summer dress bought for one holiday, a blouse worn to two meetings, a jumper that never suited the person who bought it. That is the shape of most secondhand womenswear, and it is why the summer dresses tend to look barely touched.

Like new and new with tags are rarer, so they come and go quickly. Fair is the smallest group by a long way, because most things that would land in fair are not worth anyone's postage.

Wear looks different on different fabrics

Grading is not one checklist applied blindly. What counts as light wear depends entirely on what the thing is made of.

• Knitwear. Bobbling under the arms and along the sides is the first thing to go. I check the cuffs for stretch and the neckline for sag, because a jumper with a floppy neck never recovers. Have a look at knitwear listings and you will see I photograph the underarm on anything with even slight pilling.
• Jersey and viscose tops. These thin at the shoulder seams and can go slightly transparent at the back. Held to the light is the only honest test.
• Denim and trousers. Inner thigh rub, seat fade and hem scuffing. I check the waistband button and the belt loops, which is where trousers and jeans usually fail first.
• Sequins, lace and beading. I count missing sequins in the obvious places and check every hook and eye. Anything in occasionwear gets a closer look than usual, because these pieces are often worn once but stored badly.
• Prints. Fading matters more on dark florals and block colour than on a busy pattern. If a print has gone patchy in the wash I say so.

What I do not list at all

Plenty of things get sorted out before they reach a grade. Stains I cannot shift on a light fabric, holes in an obvious place, broken zips on a fitted dress, a smell that will not wash out, heavy bobbling all over a jumper. Anything with a strong smoke or damp smell goes, no matter how good it looks, because that does not travel well in a parcel. I would rather lose the listing than have you open a bag and feel let down.

Grade and price go together

A grade is only half the information. Price does the rest of the work. Two similar dresses can sit at different prices purely because one has a small mark on the hem, and I would rather price a flaw in honestly than pretend it is not there. If you are happy with a small mark under a jacket, a good grade item is often the best value on the site.

Reading a listing properly

Two things worth knowing. First, the size is whatever the garment label says, and older pieces often run smaller than a modern equivalent of the same number, so measurements of any item are available on request before you buy. Just ask.

Second, where a care label is legible in the photographs I write the fabric composition into the listing word for word. Where it is not, I describe how the fabric looks and hedge it, because guessing at fibre content is how people end up disappointed.

Also worth reading: the photographs of flaws. If I have taken a close-up of a cuff or a hem, there is a reason for it, and it is always the reason written in the description. Nothing gets a beauty shot to distract from a problem.

Once it arrives with you

Everything is checked before it is packed, but a garment that has been folded in a bag will want a steam or a hang in a steamy bathroom. Light bobbling on knitwear can be tidied with a fabric shaver, and it is worth doing before the first wear rather than after. Wash preloved viscose and cotton cool and dry it flat where you can, because these fabrics have already had a life and heat is what finishes them off.

If something is not right

You have 14 days to return anything for any reason, and 30 days if something arrives faulty or not as described, with postage covered both ways in that case. If an item ever turns up not matching its grade, tell me and I will put it right. Getting the grading honest is the whole job.

I list, photograph and grade every piece myself, so there is nobody else to blame if a grade is wrong. That is uncomfortable and useful in equal measure. Message me and it is me who reads it.

You can browse everything currently on the rails in women's clothing, or start with dresses if you want the biggest pick. If you would rather see the pieces I think are the best of the current stock, they are in Meg's picks. More about how the shop works is on how we grade condition.