What you actually keep when you sell clothes in Singapore
Every resale route quotes a different number, and none of them are the number that reaches your bank account. Commission, markdowns, bumps and payout fees all come out of the same pocket. Here is the arithmetic, and a calculator that does it across a whole wardrobe rather than one lucky item.
$540.00
12 items × $45.00. No listing fee, no commission, no markdowns.
$432.00
$108.00 of your own wardrobe, kept by someone else.
For transparency: your buyer pays $48.15 per item — your $45.00 plus the 5% + S$0.90 Buyer Protection fee that funds escrow and covers them if the item never arrives. Delivery is quoted separately at checkout. Nothing is deducted from your side.
Set the slider to whatever your current platform charges. Tela's side is fixed at 0% because there is no seller commission to vary.
The five places your money goes
When someone says selling is “free”, they usually mean one of these is zero. It is worth knowing which.
- 01
Commission on the sale
A percentage of the sale price, kept by the platform when the buyer pays in-app. It is the most visible cut, and the easiest to compare — but rarely the biggest.
- 02
Consignment share and markdowns
A store takes a share of the sale, and usually also reserves the right to reduce the price during the selling window. Your payout is a percentage of the final, marked-down price — not the one on the tag when you dropped the bag off.
- 03
Paying to be seen
On feeds where listings sink by the hour, bumps and promoted slots are how you stay visible. It is optional in the same sense that queuing is optional: you can decline, and wait.
- 04
Payment and payout fees
Card processing, instant-payout fees, withdrawal minimums. Individually small, but they land on every single sale rather than on the ones that went well.
- 05
The Saturday
The cut nobody quantifies. Two MRT trips across the island for a S$20 top is a fare, ninety minutes, and a decent chance the buyer does not show — which is why so much of a wardrobe never gets sold at all.
Three models, and who each one is for
Consignment stores
You drop off a bag; they photograph, price, display and sell it. Refash, Singapore's best-known fashion consignment chain, publishes a payout of up to 80% of the selling price, and notes that items may be marked down during the selling window with the payout adjusted accordingly (checked July 2026). That is a fair deal for what it is — someone else is doing all the work — but the arithmetic is unavoidable: the more of your wardrobe you put through it, the more of your wardrobe you are paying with. Best for people who want it gone today and do not want to touch it again.
Classifieds marketplaces
You list, you chat, you negotiate, you meet. Listing is typically free — Carousell publishes its current Singapore fee policy in its help centre and it changes from time to time, so check it rather than trusting a blog post. The real cost is rarely the fee schedule. It is the chat thread that opens with “last price?”, the buyer who reserves an item and vanishes, and the fact that you carry all the payment risk yourself. Best for one distinctive item you are willing to work for.
Protected peer-to-peer — what Tela is
You keep the seller's economics — 100% of your price, no middleman inventory, no markdowns — but the platform takes the transaction risk off you. The buyer pays into escrow before you pack, delivery is a prepaid tracked label rather than a meet-up, and the fee that funds all of it is charged to the buyer, on top of your price. Best for anyone with more than a handful of things to move.
Tela's side of it, in full
One honest caveat: if a buyer is refunded under Buyer Protection after you have been paid, the matching credit is reversed — so an accurate listing and a promptly posted parcel are still the whole job.
Questions
How much commission does Tela take from sellers?
None. There is no listing fee and no seller commission — the price you set is the amount credited to your wallet. Tela is funded by the Buyer Protection fee of 5% + S$0.90, which is charged to the buyer on top of your price and shown to them before they pay.
Is consignment worse than selling it myself?
Financially, almost always — a consignment store has to cover rent, staff and photography out of your item, and it typically also reserves the right to mark the price down during the selling window. What you are buying is convenience: you hand over a bag and never think about it again. The gap is the price of that convenience, and the calculator on this page tells you what it is.
What about delivery — does that come out of my payout?
No. Delivery is quoted at checkout from the parcel size and paid by the buyer, on top of your price. You get a prepaid label rather than paying for postage and claiming it back.
Does it cost anything to get my money out?
A standard withdrawal to a linked Singapore bank account is free and usually arrives in 1–2 business days. If you want it in minutes, an instant withdrawal to an eligible debit card costs 1%, minimum S$0.50. Leaving the money in your wallet costs nothing.
Do I have to pay to be seen, like bumping a listing?
No. There are no paid bumps or promoted slots on Tela, so your listing is not competing against people who paid to outrank it.
How much does Carousell take from sellers?
Listing is free for personal accounts, and the fees that do apply — around in-app payment, and around professional accounts — are set out in Carousell’s own help centre and change from time to time, so check there rather than relying on a blog post. For most people the bigger cost is not the percentage but the workload and the payment risk they carry personally.
Can I sell clothes online without fees at all?
On Tela there are no seller fees: no listing fee, no commission, no paid bumps. The platform is funded by the Buyer Protection fee the buyer pays on top of your price. Withdrawing to a linked bank account is free; only the optional instant-to-card withdrawal costs anything.
Is my selling income taxable in Singapore?
Selling your own used personal belongings is generally not a trade, so it is normally not taxable income. If you are buying stock to resell for profit it can be, and IRAS looks at the whole pattern of activity rather than any single sale. If you are unsure, check with IRAS or a tax adviser — this is not tax advice.
Next: every place you can sell used clothes in Singapore, clearing a whole wardrobe before you relocate, or the scams that target Singapore sellers.