There have been a flurry of stories in the last week or so about Target's partnership with the online resale outfit ThredUp.
But there's probably something else you should know about it: the program ended weeks ago.
The Minneapolis-based retailer had done a modest test at 11 Twin Cities area stores that started in May where customers could pick up a "Clean Out" bag to fill with used clothes and then either drop it off at those select stores or mail it in. ThredUp would then evaluate the clothes (it is mostly interested in name-brand women's and kids clothes in good condition) and then would send customers a Target gift card for the items it wanted to resell.
If the item was listed on ThredUp's website for under $60, customers would be paid upfront. But if it was more than that, customers would only be paid back once they sold the item. The amount customers are paid back is calculated using a ThredUp formula.
While many on social media have been buzzing about Target's affiliation with the program this week, Angie Thompson, a Target spokeswoman, confirmed that the program ended at the end of September. But customers who have already picked up a bag still have until the end of November to send in their clothes and get a Target gift card, she added.
The ThredUp website was recently updated to note that the Target program has concluded.
Thompson said it is yet to be determined whether Target will resume or expand the program in the future.
"The team is still in the process of evaluating it," said Thompson. "So I don't have anything to share at this point."
But consumers who are interested in the program can still order a bag online from ThredUp and then mail it back in. Any money they get back is tranferred into store credit on ThredUp or into cash through PayPal. Customers can also use the money to donate to a cause.
ThredUp, which received 3.8 million items from sellers last year and tens of millions of funding, is one of a number of sites that has been trying to revolutionize the secondhand clothes market for the digital age.
