Winmark

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 18 historical complaints about Winmark, published between 2003 and 2014. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

• Neck Injury on Improperly Assembled Display Inversion TablePublished Jan 16, 2014 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Jan 22, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Customer servicePublished Sep 30, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• Sellers Beware! Ambiguous Pricing & Rude EmployeesPublished Aug 14, 2012 · Historical consumer allegation
• "store policy" allows you to create the rules post factoPublished Sep 10, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• We don't automatically send out paymentPublished Aug 2, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Great Idea for Savy Shoppers Destroyed by Greedy Employer/EmployeesPublished Jul 30, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Terrible Staff - Terrible Customer ServicePublished Jul 27, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Poor ServicePublished May 23, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Poor customer service, rip-off customersPublished May 11, 2011 · Historical consumer allegation
• Ridiculous treatment by store ownePublished Feb 20, 2010 · Historical consumer allegation
• Horrible Customer ServicePublished Oct 26, 2009 · Historical consumer allegation
• Manager/treatmentPublished Oct 12, 2009 · Historical consumer allegation
• Awful servicePublished Oct 31, 2008 · Historical consumer allegation
• Extremely peeved with Plato's ClosetPublished Oct 16, 2007 · Historical consumer allegation
• Ripoff and the worst customer servicePublished Apr 30, 2006 · Historical consumer allegation
• Rip-Off, Bad service and management skills!Published Jan 29, 2004 · Historical consumer allegation
• Contract Dispute and Poor Selling PracticesPublished Jul 9, 2003 · Historical consumer allegation

Complaint Themes

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official website: https://www.winmarkcorporation.com/
• Winmark corporate phone: 763-520-8500
• Plato's Closet corporate operations: [email protected]
• Once Upon A Child corporate operations: [email protected]
• Play It Again Sports corporate operations: [email protected]

Locations

Winmark complaints: stores are franchises, so where to take a problem

This page was checked on 2026-10-20. Winmark Corporation is a franchisor. According to each brand's Contact Us page, the stores that buy and sell used goods under its brands are independently owned and operated. Plato's Closet, Once Upon A Child and Play It Again Sports each state that their stores are "all independently owned and operated; all employment decisions are made at the individual store level." Most problems described on this site (offers, payouts, store credit, returns, staff treatment) arose at a single store; the Contact Us pages say questions about current inventory or job opportunities go to the local store through the store locator, and questions or comments about the brand go to its corporate operations address. Starting with the store you dealt with is our suggestion, not the brands' instruction.

• Start with the store. Use the brand's store locator to find the store's own website and contact details. Keep the date, any receipt, consignment or buy ticket, item list and the name of the person you spoke with.
• Brand corporate contacts. Each brand's Contact Us page publishes a corporate operations address for questions or comments: Plato's Closet [email protected]; Once Upon A Child [email protected]; Play It Again Sports [email protected]. Winmark's corporate phone is (763) 520-8500.
• Online orders. The Play It Again Sports Return Policy page says a customer unhappy with an online purchase "must contact the originating Play It Again Sports® store for return authorization instructions within 7 DAYS of the delivery of their online purchase", that products must be returned to the store they were purchased from, and that "the customer is required to pay all return-freight charges, except in the instance of product damage that occurred during shipment". That is the company's stated policy. Separately, one BBB review (dated June 2025) describes a Play It Again Sports online order for a bat that arrived as an empty tube and says the writer contacted Winmark; it is one consumer's account and its outcome is not shown on the page.
• Selling to a store. Play It Again Sports' Sell To Us FAQ says: "We can pay you on the spot (either cash or a check, depending upon the amount) or offer you a store credit for trade." Once Upon A Child's Sell To Us page says it is "unable to buy car seats, recalled items and products that do not meet current government safety standards".
• Other routes. BBB accepts complaints about Winmark Corporation (see the complaint record below). You can also contact your state attorney general's consumer protection office or the FTC; those agencies' current complaint pages were not read for this profile, so check them directly.

Who Winmark is and how its stores work

Winmark Corporation, a Minnesota corporation (Nasdaq: WINA), has its headquarters at 605 Highway 169 N, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55441. Its Form 10-K for the year ended December 27, 2025 (filed 2026-02-25) describes it as "a nationally recognized franchisor" of Plato's Closet, Once Upon A Child, Play It Again Sports, Style Encore and Music Go Round, and reports 1,378 franchises in operation in the United States and Canada at December 27, 2025. The Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 26, 2026 (filed 2026-10-14) shows 1,378 franchised stores at the start of 2026, 35 opened, 15 closed and 1,398 at September 26, 2026, and says "Our franchisees sign 10-year agreements with us."

Websites and Winmark Capital. The Play It Again Sports Conditions of Use page says "This website is operated by Play It Again Sports, a division of Winmark Corporation" while its footer says "Each franchise is independently owned and operated." BBB lists Winmark Capital as an alternate name; the 10-K says leasing was conducted through Winmark Capital Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary, and that in May 2021 the company decided to no longer solicit new leasing customers and pursue an orderly run-off, which the 10-K says was completed as of December 27, 2025. Court cases titled Winmark Capital were not reviewed for this page and may concern that leasing business rather than the resale stores.

How the model works. According to the 10-K, each franchisee signs a franchise agreement and pays an initial franchise fee ($25,000 for an initial U.S. store at December 27, 2025). Plato's Closet's Sell To Us page says it buys "gently used teen and young adult clothes, shoes and accessories" and that sellers who accept an offer are paid "cash on the spot". Because each store is a separately owned franchise, offer amounts, returns and payout practices can differ by store, and the store, not Winmark, is the business the customer dealt with.

Brands by 2025 royalties and franchise fees (10-K, as reported). Plato's Closet $32.2 million, Once Upon A Child $25.9 million, Play It Again Sports $14.9 million, Style Encore $3.2 million, Music Go Round $1.7 million. Winmark's website says the company has operated for "more than 35 years".

Complaint and review record

These figures are shown as displayed on 2026-10-20 and are not combined with each other or with the archive posts.

• BBB. BBB profile for Winmark Corporation, Minneapolis (Franchise): not BBB Accredited; BBB Rating A+; "1 complaint in the last 3 years. 0 complaints in the last 12 months"; reviews tab "1/5 stars, Average of 1 Customer Review". The one displayed complaint on that file (status Resolved, dated 2024-04-08) concerns a Play It Again Sports store that closed and store credit the writer held. BBB lists eight alternate names: the five brands plus Winmark Franchise Partners, Winmark Capital and Wirth Business Credit. A second BBB file for Winmark Corporation (see below) is shown separately and is not combined with this one; individual franchisees may have their own BBB files, which were not read.
• BBB, second file. BBB shows a second file for Winmark Corporation, Minneapolis (Franchise): not BBB Accredited; BBB Rating A+; "3 complaints in the last 3 years. 0 complaints in the last 12 months". Its page data shows a file opened 1990-05-18 and a business start of 1988-01-01, which differs from the other file (business start 1982-04-01). The two files are shown separately and their figures are not added together.
• Trustpilot. platoscloset.com: 1.8 from 21 reviews, claimed profile; playitagainsports.com: 3 reviews, 2.9, unclaimed; onceuponachild.com and winmarkcorporation.com: no reviews. Trustpilot says it does not fact-check reviews.
• CFPB. Winmark is a retail franchisor rather than a lender or financial-services provider, so the CFPB complaint database was not searched for this profile.

Archive complaints on this site. 18 approved posts from 2003 to 2014 are linked to this page. They name individual Plato's Closet, Play It Again Sports or Once Upon A Child stores in several states; two name "Winmark Corporation" in the offender field. They are unverified consumer accounts about specific stores at the time, not findings about Winmark or about those stores' current operations. Theme counts below come from our own reading, are not exhaustive and do not add up to the total.

Other posts in our archive that use the words "Team Winmark" or "Winmark Authorized Agent Group" describe a door-to-door cable sales agency and are not linked to this page.

Court and regulator record

The Form 10-K for the year ended December 27, 2025 says in Item 3: "We are not a party to any material litigation and are not aware of any threatened litigation that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our business."

The Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 26, 2026 (filed 2026-10-14) says under Legal Proceedings: "We are not a party to any material litigation and are not aware of any threatened litigation that would have a material adverse effect on our business."

A CourtListener search for "Winmark" in case names, run on 2026-10-20, returned 58 cases. Two name Winmark Corporation as a defendant in a consumer-facing matter: Iskhakova v. Winmark Corporation (E.D.N.Y., filed 2022-05-13; cause listed as civil rights, disability; ended by joint stipulation of dismissal and an order dismissing the case on 2022-09-16) and Alexandria v. Winmark Corporation (S.D.N.Y., filed 2023-06-09; cause listed as Americans with Disabilities Act; ended by a stipulation of voluntary dismissal with prejudice filed 2024-03-13). Terms, if any, were not reviewed, and the docket entries read do not describe the underlying claims beyond the cause of action. The other results in that search were not reviewed individually and are not listed. No regulator enforcement action against Winmark Corporation was identified in the sources checked on 2026-10-20 (SEC filings and the dockets above); state attorney general and FTC databases were not searched.

Is Winmark Legitimate?

Winmark Corporation files annual and current reports with the SEC (CIK 908315) and is listed on Nasdaq under WINA; its latest 10-K covers the year ended December 27, 2025 and its latest 8-K, filed 2026-10-14, reports third-quarter results, a quarterly dividend of $1.02 and a special dividend of $4.00 per share; a 10-Q for the quarter ended September 26, 2026 was filed the same day. BBB's page data shows a file opened in 2005 and a business start of 1982; BBB displays a rating of A+ and no accreditation. The company's brand pages say each store is independently owned and operated and publish corporate operations contacts.

Complaints and reviews about specific stores (the archive posts, BBB and Trustpilot above) are allegations by individual customers about franchise locations. Because experiences differ by store, a complaint about one store does not describe the franchisor or other stores.

Court & Public Records

Frequently Asked Questions