At Plato's Closet Abbotsord, what we buy & sell changes every day.

We've addressed commonly asked questions or complaints and provided tips to get the most out of your visit to our store.

What is Plato's Closet?

We are a North American franchise that focuses on buying and selling young adult trends (teens to twenty somethings). There are over 400 locations across Canada & the US. We are the ONLY Plato's Closet location in British Columbia between Vancouver & Kelowna. With recent events in the world & the added push to shop local, we are happy to let you know that we are a locally owned and operated business. 

How Do You Pronounce Plato's Closet?

Play-Toe's Closet 

Do you buy items online or if I send you photos can you let me know what you'll take?

No - we operate in store only. We get thousands of customers in our store weekly and our service is only offered in person. When customer's come in our store, they have a better understanding of our brand and might even be able to recycle by purchasing new to them items from our huge selection. With prices up to 70% less than mall prices, we think it's worth it!

Why Didn't You Buy My Stuff But There's Worse Things On Your Floor?

We appreciate each and every customer that walks through our doors and we do our best in advance to communicate our message on how to sell to us and our inventory needs. Unfortunately, as much as we LOVE our customers and want to make everyone happy, we just can't.

Each day we buy hundreds of great items to fill our floor but we also pass on hundreds more for various reasons. Our business is like a rollercoaster when it comes to continuously changing trends & popular brands. Sometimes we pass on great items due to higher inventory levels in a specific category (which can change by the week based on what sells well for us) or the style that was brought in isn't current or has quality issues. It ISN'T personal.

Yes - we make errors and Yes - we're aware that some items on our floor were a mistake and might have staining or quality issues. We're all human and when we make an error, we make every effort moving forward to choose better.

How Do We Make The Choice to "Pass" ? 

There are many factors in this choice. Some examples:

• A popular brand with an outdated style
• A colour or print that isn't popular at our store (we don't need to open them up to see this, so we choose to keep them folded nicely for you)
• Inventory levels! We are cash model, at times we have too much of specific items. The best way we can sell down our inventory and buy more is when customer's shop that category! Example - We passed on: An excellent basic t-shirt (we might just have 100 storage bins full of t-shirts and if it's still winter, chances are our customers aren't quite shopping the t-shirts yet)
• Stains and/or wear, you might not see it at home but our lights in the store can catch them a bit better
• Mature styles that aren't going to appeal to our teens (our brand demographic) 
• What sells well at one location in another province might not sell well for us here in Abbotsford

If you feel we did miss an opportunity, please connect with us. We are happy to review your items again to see if we have a training opportunity for our team or if we can provide better communication and examples on your items we passed on.

But I Shop Here And I'm Not a Teen ... 

We love that you do! But ... like a kid store is a kid store, a teen store is a teen store, a wedding shop is a wedding shop. We buy based on our concept and welcome all of our customers of all ages to buy and sell with us but understand when we make a choice to purchase something it's because it falls in line with our brand. 

Do You Buy Designer Brands?

We are happy to review entry level designers such as Kate Spade, Coach, Micahel Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Rebecca Minkoff etc. We DO NOT review or purchase high end designers like Prada, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Gucci or ANY counterfeit items (this is illegal for you to sell and for us to buy & resell). If you're looking to sell luxury designer brands, you'll need to reach out to one of the local companies that specializes in this field.

But It's NEW with Tags. I Never Even Wore It.

A couple of reasons ... you never wore it and it has been sitting in your closet for a while. Chances are the trend has moved on. As much as we love like new condition, it doesn't make sense just to buy something because it has tags.

Why Don't You Buy ...

Maternity Styles - Our brand concept is teen to young 20's, we just don't feel it would sell well for us based on the demand

Prom Dresses - We like to focus on casual trends, we can recommend a great locally owned business that focuses on more formal styles

Sleepwear - We feel people like to buy this item when it's new & fluffy

Bras (even new), perfume, makeup or sunglasses/watches - For different reasons, we don't purchase these items. We offer affordable new sunglasses. We will consider bralettes and swimwear (in like new or new condition). Swimwear must be one pieces or two pieces that belong together (same style, same size, same brand - no separates)

Snow Pants - we don't get a ton of snow in B.C. and this bulky item would take up a lot of unnecessary space that we could fill with coats & other seasonal items

Do you Take Garbage Bags?

We won't turn customers away but we likely won't buy much if it's in a bag. Items often get more wrinkled and are hard to evaluate. Do not bring in heavy bags or containers that are too heavy for our employees to lift. You'll need to break your drop off down into more containers that weigh less individually. We request that items be brought in a bin, box, tote, reusable shopping bag (these are often square or rectangular) or plastic laundry hamper.

What Happens to Items That Don't Sell?

Every few months we have AMAZING clearance sales on products based on the date that they were purchased. Clearance items start off at 50% off our regular prices and as we move along and sell down our clearance inventory, we increase our discount. Don't miss our very popular 90% off clearance events! Anything remaining after that goes to a non-profit charity in our community. We love the Foundry, you can learn more about them here.

Annually we donate $25K+ retail of clothing & accessories to our community.

How do you price items?

With a franchise comes really cool tools. We have software that's developed to include a pricing matrix at the touch of our finger tips. We can price items consistently based on category, brand, size and demand (how well it sells for us). Some items are more expensive then others because of how that brand is graded in our system. For example, Zara will price higher than Old Navy or Joe Fresh.

I am From Out Of Town, Can You Sort Mine First?

We will try our best but we believe in fairness. With our no appointment necessary model, we never know who is coming or when. Since we are the ONLY local Plato's Closet, our customers travel to us. The next closest locations are in Kelowna and Nanaimo. Our team members are often working on 50-100 drop offs spread out throughout the day. We promise you we will try our best and look at every factor to make it work in your interest. Be prepared to spend some time in our lovely town and check out some of the other great businesses in Downtown Abbotsford. One of our team members would be happy to suggest some of their favourite local spots.

Clearance Tag Pricing Policy/Tag Swapping

We will not sell an item that appears to have a price tag swap or with a yellow clearance sticker that appears tampered with. We understand that you may not have been involved in this process but our policy is to NOT sell an item in this scenario until the item is reviewed by management. We are happy to take your information, once the pricing has been reviewed, we can contact you and give you the option to purchase the item.

Is there a Store Like This For Kids?

Yes! Check out our sister store Once Upon A Child Abbotsford

Located just around the corner in our complex. 

Safe Work Place - Respectful Behaviour

We are a locally owned business. The safety & security of our employees (many who are young) is top priority. We shouldn't have to say it but if you are angry over an offer or something in store and you take it out on our employees in a negative, unproductive way, you will be asked to leave and not return. If you feel you're not getting answers, consider asking to speak with an assistant manager on shift or reach out to us by email.