Plus-Size Clothing Adds Up to Big Business for Fairfax Station Resident

VIENNA, VA -- Fairfax Station resident Carolyn Thompson has started ResellXL, a new business consigning plus-size designer clothing, which launched earlier this year. The business offers items in sizes 14/XL and up at 50 to 75 percent off retail. The business also resells designer boots, shoes and handbags.

"We haven’t been in business a full year, but it is doubling every month and we receive and sell hundreds of items weekly," she said.

A native of Nebraska, Thompson lived in Fairfax growing up, attending Woodson High School while her father completed a masters in public administration with USC in Washington, D.C.

She got the idea for her online consignment business after realizing she had a lot of designer items that she says she had spent too much money on to just donate and take a tax deduction. "The local consignment shops are very limited due to space constraints so they only take a few items in the current season," she said.

"I had six boxes of items and didn’t want to have to figure out what season was what and take months to consign locally," she said. "I figured I wasn’t the only person with this issue so I started the company – and I was right! We accept items all year round irrelevant of the season – fact is, people in Florida buy sandals year round and they can always use coats up North even in the summertime."

The business bug bit early. "I’ve had my own company since I was in high school, when I decorated cakes and made wedding cakes," she said. This is the sixth or seventh business she has started but her primary career has been in executive recruiting and placement.

In addition to herself, she has six part-time "fashionistas" who process and post the items when they arrive and pack shipments when they are sold. Items are shipped out within 24 hours of payment using the U.S. Postal Service. The warehouse for her business is located in the Occoquan/Woodbridge area.

"We sell and receive hundreds of items weekly and the numbers continue to grow but we are over 1,000 at any given time," she said. The most popular fashion brands are Tory Burch, Eileen Fisher, Louis Vuitton, St. John, Misook, Cole Haan and Talbots.

What she won't accept: "We don't accept catalog-only labels (like Coldwater Creek) or home sale/party brands (like Cabi). Items can also not be stained or too worn.

If you send in an item to be sold, consignors earn 55 percent on the 15th of the month after the item sells. Consignors can include a "Return My Items" form with their shipment and receive items back if they don’t sell in six months. Otherwise, items are donated to charity on their behalf and they receive a list in January for their taxes of all items donated.

Thompson gets the word out about her business by placing ads and using social media.

If you would like to cash in on some of the items in your closet, request a free shipping label and send in your ready to ResellXL items. (In the DC Metro area, complimentary pickup is also available.) To learn more, go to www.resellxl.com. The first 100 users to use the code POP30 will receive a discount of 30 percent, according to ResellXL.

PHOTO of Carolyn Thompson, founder of ResellXL, courtesy of Thompson