Clothes Bin franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Clothes Bin franchise takes $161,940 – $216,980 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $135,290 – $155,780. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 5% on sales. To qualify, Clothes Bin asks for $75,000 in liquid cash and a $300,000 net worth. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Clothes Bin franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $135,290 | $155,780 | $135,290 to $155,780 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $161,940 | $216,980 | $161,940 to $216,980 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $300,000 | $300,000 | $300,000 | |
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $75,000 | $75,000 | $75,000 | |
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $161,940 | $216,980 | $161,940 to $216,980 |
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 5% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Not disclosed |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 5 years |
See the full Clothes Bin cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Clothes Bin's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Clothes Bin's disclosed cost sits against the Retail category:
- Minimum startup cost of $161,940 — about in line with the Retail median of $165,000.
- Initial franchise fee of $135,290 — about 3.7× the Retail median of $36,750.
Category medians are computed from the Retail brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Retail franchises
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How Clothes Bin's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2016–2022: began the window at 0 units; 31 units opened, 12 closed, ending at 30 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Clothes Bin or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Clothes Bin for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Clothes Bin is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Clothes Bin grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Clothes Bin can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Clothes Bin franchise
Clothes Bin is a retail franchisor with 30 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2016 and 2022, it began the window at 0 units; its filings record 31 unit openings and 12 closures, ending at 30 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Recycling Brands, LLC.
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
The average American discards approximately 70 pounds of clothes, shoes and textiles each year. Most of these items end up in local landfills, which amounts to an astounding 16.9 billion pounds of preventable waste each year.
Clothes Bin franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Clothes Bin franchise cost?
- $161,940 – $216,980 all-in to open, per Clothes Bin's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Clothes Bin units are there?
- 30 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Clothes Bin's units held up?
- 77.5% of units at risk between 2020 and 2022 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).