I’ve made £14k from from my reselling side hustle – how you can do it too

More and more people are looking for ways to earn extra income – and side work can be more lucrative than you think.

Daniel Barrett, 33, started selling vintage clothing on Depop in September 2021 and his side business now brings in almost £14,000 a year.

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What started with cleaning out his own closet has now become a full-fledged Depop store.

Daniel runs DayFour Sales in addition to his main job selling industrial packaging in Trafford Park, Manchester.

Daniel explains: “I am selling my apartment and want to get rid of some clothes that I no longer wear.

“I’ve been buying Depop for a while, so I thought I’d stick it on there and see what I could get from it – and it sold pretty quickly.”

Daniel made around £100 from his first sale – and decided to reinvest the money in a batch of vintage clothing to continue selling on the platform.

“I started wondering where people get the clothes I bought from, and a quick Google search showed me there’s an entire industry of wholesale vintage clothing,” he says.

Daniel started visiting warehouses and attending classic kilo sales – where lots of cheap clothes are priced by weight rather than item – and buying clothes online to resell on Depop. .

Soon he was switching between one and 15 pieces of clothing a day and had annual sales last year of £14,000.

After deducting expenses, he estimates just over half of this is profit.

The cost of his online store includes inventory, postage, packaging, rails, hangers, and autoclave.

Anyone starting to sell online should take these costs into account, which will depend on the platform you use.

There is also no guarantee that the items will sell well or that you will get the desired price.

In the end, you can lose cash if you get less than what you bought, or if it doesn’t sell at all.

Choose ‘timeless’ puzzle pieces

While the extra money could eventually go towards flights or spending money on a vacation, Daniel is now reinvesting everything he earns into his hustle and expanding his pants collection. own classic shirt.

“I love classic Disney World t-shirts and I had a decent collection before I started this business, but now I buy things not just to sell but to add to the collection. My personal practice,” he explains.

“I just bought about 100 Disney t-shirts and I’ve kept between 15 and 20 for my personal collection, so I’m reinvesting in things to keep those things that mean a lot to me. with me.”

Daniel says that he doesn’t follow a particular style or trend on his online store – instead, he tries to sell items of clothing that he himself would wear and that feels good. sense of permanence with time.

“I just tend to pick things I like,” he said.

“My style is ice skates, wide leg pants, t-shirts, then hoodies and jackets in the winter months. I like a lot of workwear and skater gear – so I tend to sell a lot of that.

In my opinion, a good quality t-shirt with a nice image on it will not go out of style.”

Since Daniel’s hustle job brings in more than £1,000 a year, he has to file a tax return on his additional income – which he says he does through his accountant.

In the UK, the first £1,000 you earn from part-time work is tax-free.

This is in addition to a personal allowance of £12,570.

Then you pay taxes at the same rate as your income.

If your side job pushes your annual income above £50,271, you will have to pay 40% tax on the income from your side job.

Featured to make money

For anyone looking to make a little extra cash, Daniel says Depop is a great side business – but admits you need to enjoy it to achieve success as selling can be time-consuming.

“How much I sell in a week can completely vary depending on how much time I have and how much effort I want to put in,” says Daniel.

“Right now, because the sun lasts until 8-9pm, I can sell a little more – but during the winter months, when it gets dark at 3pm, I can’t sell much unless I want to sell at the weekend. Don’t come home from work before 5pm.

“I think the way I’m doing it now is a great way to think about it for anyone just starting out,” he added.

“I am looking for clothes that I love and care about, and add them to my personal collection at the same time as the sale.”

Daniel also advises everyone to try and stand out if they want to set up a Depop store.

For him, this means playing his favorite cartoon, The Simpsons, and displaying all of his merchandise against a bright yellow background.

Daniel said: “You can spot my stuff from a mile away, which is partly intentional.

“If you set up a nice backdrop or have something that identifies you without people clicking, people will recognize you and that sets you apart.”