Lacoste Sweatshirts Resale Value

Lacoste sweatshirts: price by condition

Seller-declared grades, sterling with an approximate US dollar equivalent at £1 ≈ $1.33 (July 2026). What each grade means.

What holds its value across Lacoste

• The L1212 pique polo, which has been in production essentially unchanged for decades and is the item buyers search for
• Vintage pieces made in France under the Devanlay licence, printed on the care label, which carry a clear premium over later production
• Older garments labelled Chemise Lacoste, which is the original naming and dates a piece to the earlier era
• Collaboration pieces and the Lacoste Live sub-line, which were made in much smaller runs than the mainline

What pulls Lacoste resale value down

• A frayed, lifted or partly detached crocodile, which is the identifying feature and the first thing anyone looks at
• Stretched or greyed collars on the polos, the normal failure and the reason most used ones sell cheaply
• Faded colours on the brighter polos, which is common and very visible
• Current mainline basics in common sizes, which compete directly with a new one on sale

Identifying and dating yours

1. Lacoste sizes are numbered 2 to 8 rather than lettered, so state the UK equivalent and the flat chest measurement — this is the commonest cause of a return on the label
2. The crocodile should be tightly and evenly embroidered with defined teeth and eye; buyers compare it against reference photographs
3. The care label gives the country of manufacture, and Made in France places a garment in the earlier, more valuable period

What lifts any sweatshirt, whatever the label

Plain sweatshirts sell for very little, but vintage and branded pieces have a genuine collector market.

• Genuine vintage with period construction
• Recognised streetwear and college labels
• Heavyweight loopback cotton
• Intact ribbing at cuffs and waist

And what pulls one down

• Stretched, slack ribbing
• Cracked or peeling printed graphics
• Pilling and thinning at the elbows
• Thin unbranded sweatshirts

Working out what yours is worth

1. Check the neck label for brand and era
2. Stretch the cuffs and waistband to test recovery
3. Photograph any print close up

What to state in the listing

• Brand, size and pit-to-pit laid flat
• Cotton percentage and whether it is a heavyweight fabric
• Print condition, including cracking or peeling
• Crew neck, quarter zip or hooded, and ribbing condition

Brand, weight and size: “Champion Reverse Weave Sweatshirt, Heavyweight, Size L”. Fabric weight is a real differentiator and rarely mentioned. Say crew neck or quarter zip, since those are separate searches.

Preparing and photographing it

1. Wash it, and check the cuffs and hem ribbing for stretch.
2. Look at any print for cracking, and check the inside for pilling on the fleece.
3. Read the composition, since heavyweight cotton sweatshirts sell for far more than thin poly blends.

1. Laid flat, front, on a plain surface
2. The print or logo close up
3. The neck tag with brand and size
4. The cuffs, hem and inside fleece

When it sells best, and handing it over

Sells all year with a clear lift from September and a second one in the new year. Recognised brands and vintage prints move within days; plain unbranded sweatshirts sit for weeks and are usually better bundled with other basics than listed on their own.

Light, compact and among the cheapest garments to post. Turn it inside out before folding so any print is protected against the bag, which stops the surface scuffing in transit.

What buyers ask

What size is a Lacoste 5?

Lacoste uses its own 2 to 8 numbering rather than S to XL, and a 5 is roughly a UK medium to large depending on the cut. Always give the flat chest measurement as well, because this numbering causes more returns than anything else on the label.

Are old Lacoste polos worth more?

Pieces made in France under the Devanlay licence, and older ones labelled Chemise Lacoste, carry a real premium. The care label is what tells you which you have.

How much is a Lacoste sweatshirt worth?

Roughly £9 to £44 depending on condition, against £8 to £40 for sweatshirts generally. The identification points above are what move a listing to the top of that range.

What the fees would take elsewhere

At the mid-range £26 for a Lacoste sweatshirt, against what the commission marketplaces would deduct:

Seller-side rates verified 26 Jul 2026, percentages only — the per-order and processing charges those platforms add are excluded, so the real gap is wider.

Listing is free and there is no commission — read how to sell a sweatshirt for the title, handover and timing, or the general sweatshirt value guide if yours is not a Lacoste.

See also: all Lacoste value guides · value guides by brand · buying a sweatshirt · Clothing · condition grades.