Student Earns £2,500 Monthly Reselling Vintage Clothes
Dorset student transforms a £40 clothing bundle into a lucrative side hustle, paying off debts and funding a lifestyle beyond student finance.
Scarlet Nation, a student from Dorset, has generated a significant income by reselling vintage clothing on the platform Vinted. She reports earning up to £2,500 per month while dedicating approximately 28 hours per week to the venture, a significant portion of which she dedicates to studying business and finance.
Nation's journey into reselling began when she sought additional income to cover living expenses, including rent, which student finance did not fully support. After discovering a bundle of 120 vintage clothing items for £40 on Facebook Marketplace, she utilized her knowledge of fashion to identify valuable pieces. One dress, purchased as part of the bundle, was resold for £50, exceeding the initial cost of the entire package. Within the first week, she reportedly earned £2,000.
Initially, Nation's goal was to supplement her income while studying. However, the reselling enterprise quickly surpassed her expectations, enabling her to pay off debts accumulated during her previous university year within a month. She now describes her situation as feeling "lighter and free" due to earning a substantial wage alongside her studies, allowing for flexibility in her social life and travel.
Her reselling focuses on trend-driven vintage categories, including brands like Roxy and Billabong, as well as crochet items, low-waisted shorts, and accessories. Nation employs a strategy of purchasing clothing bundles to scale her operations efficiently and access higher-value stock. For instance, a recent investment of £100 for 20 items resulted in recouping the entire investment from just three pieces, each selling for £40.
Nation also shares her reselling experiences and results on TikTok. She plans to continue reselling after graduation and is considering basing her dissertation on women with unrecognized side hustles. Her success has inspired friends to also start selling on Vinted.
She estimates spending an average of 20 hours per week on the physical aspects of the business, such as washing, photographing, packaging, and posting items. An additional eight hours are dedicated to administrative tasks, including creating listings, responding to messages, and sourcing stock online. During busy university periods, the time commitment for the physical side can decrease to 10 hours per week.
Nation suggests that her business and finance studies have been instrumental in her ability to grow the reselling venture, providing practical skills in managing finances and operations. She looks forward to the possibility of pursuing reselling full-time after completing her degree.