Stockhouse vs rag houses and warehouses

Rag houses (textile graders) and vintage warehouses are where a lot of US wholesale vintage starts. They buy donated and surplus clothing by the ton, sort it, and sell it on in bales. Buying direct gets you the lowest price per pound. It also gets you minimums, freight and a lot of pieces you can't sell.

Stockhouse is opening to founding buyers and sellers across the US. Everything below about Stockhouse is how buying and selling work when lots go live.

# The short version

	Stockhouse	Rag houses and warehouses
Order size	Lots and bales listed by sellers, from bundles up	Often large; some sell by the pound or by the bale
Price	Set per lot by the seller	Lowest per pound, but unsorted or lightly sorted
What's inside	Piece count, Stockhouse grade, photos and the mix	Grade or category of the bale; see it in person if you can visit
Shipping	Tracked, door to door	Pickup or freight (often LTL for pallets), usually extra
Buying in person	No	Yes, at warehouses that take visits or appointments
Protection	Payment held until the lot arrives; covered if it isn't what you were sold	Between you and the warehouse
Ask for something specific	Post a request and get offers	Ask the warehouse

# How buying direct works

Rag houses and graders sort donated textiles into bales for bulk buyers. Some, like Trans-Americas Trading Co. in New Jersey, are set up for container-sized orders measured in tens of thousands of pounds (Closo). Minimums and prices usually aren't published; you contact them.

Vintage warehouses sell sorted vintage by the pound or by the case. LA Vintage Wholesale, for example, runs a 42,000 sq ft warehouse in Los Angeles, offers virtual shopping appointments and ships pallets by freight (Closo).

# The upside

• The lowest cost per pound you'll find.
• At warehouses that allow visits, you can see and handle stock before you buy.
• Direct relationships with the people sorting the stock.

# The downside

• Minimums. Many graders are built for exporters and large buyers, not someone filling a Depop shop.
• Freight. Pallets ship by freight and the cost is usually on you, so a cheap price per pound can end up expensive per sellable piece.
• The mix. Unsorted or lightly sorted bales include pieces you'll never sell. The price per pound only matters against the pieces that do.
• Location. Visiting a warehouse means being near one or travelling to it.

# How Stockhouse fits

Stockhouse isn't a replacement for rag houses. It's a way to buy from them. Graders, rag houses, wholesalers and liquidators can list on Stockhouse, so you can buy their lots without a container-sized order. Listings show the piece count, a Stockhouse grade, photos and the mix, payment is held until the lot arrives, and you can post a request for the exact style you sell.

# For rag houses and warehouses

If you sort stock, Stockhouse puts your bales and graded lots in front of US resellers buying in smaller quantities, without taking on their DMs and invoices. Sellers are tagged by the styles they specialise in, requests arrive from buyers who want what you stock, and payments run through Stockhouse. The fee is 12% of each sale. Apply to sell.

# How we checked

Warehouse details come from third-party profiles of each business, as of October 27, 2026. Contact them directly for current minimums and prices. Spot something out of date? Email hello@stockhouse.app.