Rag Mine Clothing FAQ

What is the Rag Mine?

The Rag Mine is a small family and friends run clothing reuse, repurpose and resale operation based in Kent, Washington that helps to find preowned clothing a new home whether it be local or worldwide.

The Rag Mine has been growing rapidly over the past several years as we have been finding new avenues to ship clothing overseas to places of need and supporting additional local small business and charitable organizations with monetary donations and clothing for resale. As we progress further so will our ability to fulfill local community support programs and charities. We are currently sorting, repurposing and sourcing nearly 70,000 lbs. of clothing and textiles a month.

What is the purpose of the Rag Mine? 

The purpose of the Rag Mine is to provide convenience to organizations and small businesses, through the consistent purchase and transport of unused and excess donations/inventory through regularly scheduled pickups which raise thousands of dollars monthly for local charities running thrift stores, small business owners and organizations running rummage/yard sales.

We seek to repurpose these donations by means of resale to international bulk buyers to Africa and South America, local artisanal clothing designers, local market resellers who specialize in vintage and trendy looks, and small business or consignment store owners. These sellers can be found in several local open air markets and in cities all over the Puget Sound. (see our partners page for in depth details). The Rag Mine has a passion for finding a new home for vintage clothing that can still provide many years of enjoyment and style and avoid being sent to local landfills.

The Rag Mine hand sorts through over 1,000,000 lbs of textiles annually and helps to find them a home, thus preventing them from finding their way to a landfill. In addition to helping textiles to find another life we have also purchased over $100,000 in unwanted clothing from local charities in the past year.

 When was the Rag Mine Formed? 

The Rag Mine was founded by Justin and Derrin Harvey in 2020. Josh Immordino joined in 2021 as expansion of the operation became necessary.

Info on the Rag Mine Founder Justin Harvey:

The Rag Mine is the culmination of 3 generations of bargain hunters. My grandfather was an antique hunter in the 80’s and 90’s in Southern California, my father had a thriving vintage clothing business during the Japanese export boom of the mid 90’s. I was born into the business and couldn’t help but love the thrill of the hunt. From digging old jeans out of barns to finding my favorite baseball teams jersey at a local thrift store I was hooked. The business allowed me to find great things and then place them to people who loved them as much as me. So after selling on eBay through my high school and college years as a way to have some fun money. I realized that this was my true passion and I dove in head first and started my own business.

It takes a lot of traveling and stops at stores, shops, and sales of all kinds to unearth great finds. And through those travels I made lots of great relationships. Pretty amazing how many people support and root for you when you take a chance on yourself. And from those great relationships arose an unexpected and new opportunity. During the pandemic, I stopped by a store I frequented and the manager I knew well approached me with a proposition to help remove unwanted and damaged clothing that was donated. Pretty much the overstock they got from all donations. With no idea what we were doing and what was going to come from this we jumped in headfirst. It was a difficult start with lots of road bumps along the way but The Rag Mine has currently expanded to servicing 12 stores, saving 210 tons of textiles a year, and generating over $38,000 in revenue for charities.

What resources does the Rag Mine offer? 
Donation Purchase and Pick-Up (Recurring or One Time)

    • Charitable Thrift Stores

    • HOA Annual Garage sales

    • Church, or School Rummage Sales

    • Clothing drive purchase and pick-up

    • Consignment Store clear outs

    • Company clothing and swag overflow

Contact a Rag Mine associate to schedule your pick up today!

What area does the Rag Mine service?

The Rag Mine can fulfill transport and pickup services throughout the Puget Sound Area depending on dates and availability longer distance pickups can be arranged.

We currently service all of King, Pierce, Thurston, and Kitsap Counties as well as parts of Mason County.

How is the Rag Mine funded? 

The Rag Mine is funded through proceeds from the resale and repurposing of the clothing purchased from our charitable organizations, small businesses, consignment stores and community sales/clothing drives.

Income earned from donations sold and repurposed contribute to the operational costs and continued expansion and improvement of The Rag Mine.

What items can be picked up?

Please see the accepted donations list on this website for more details.

Where do the purchased “donations” go?

There are four options: 

1. A portion of purchased donations are sold by The Rag Mine.

2. A portion of the purchased donations are hand sorted for quality and sold to international buyers. What makes us different is we hand sort all exports to ensure that the clothing is in good shape and useable!

3. A portion are sold/donated to a clothing exporter who ships to numerous countries in Africa. 

4. A portion are sold to small scale local merchants and artisans to be sold, reused, and repurposed at local markets around the Puget Sound

What do we mean by purchased “donations”?

Rather than taking donations for free we believe it is in the best interest of the charities and our partnership to provide a small fee for each large bag of clothing or textiles that are donated. This fee goes directly to the charity running the specified thrift store or can be donated to a selected charity or group of the donators choice.

For more information on setting up a one time or scheduled donation pick up please contact a Rag Mine Associate.

Is the Rag Mine a registered 501(c) non-profit? 

The Rag Mine is not a registered 501(c). We are currently an expanding family and friends run organization registered as an LLC building our operation and infrastructure. 

As our business develops further, we may develop a board and shift to a 501(c). The Rag Mine is currently a small LLC with limited resources with a focus on providing exceptional service to the charities in which we support. As our business grows a 501(c) may be the best course of action for helping and assisting the charities and organizations we work with.