MORE and more people are looking for ways to earn extra income – and side hustles can be more lucrative than you think.
Daniel Barrett, 33, started selling vintage clothes on Depop in September 2021 and his side hustle now turns over almost £14,000 annually.
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What began with a clear-out of his own wardrobe has now turned into a full-on Depop shop.
Daniel runs DayFour Sales alongside his main job selling industrial packaging in Trafford Park, Manchester.
“I was selling my flat and wanted to get rid of some clothes I didn’t wear anymore,” Daniel explains.
“I’d been buying off Depop for a while, so I thought I’d stick it on there and see what I could get for it – and it sold pretty quickly.”
Daniel made around £100 from his initial selling spree – and decided to reinvest the money in a vintage clothes haul to continue selling on the platform.
“I started wondering where people get the clothes I was buying from, and a quick Google search showed me there’s an entire industry of wholesalers dealing in vintage clothing,” he says.
Daniel started visiting warehouses and attending vintage kilo sales – where cheap hauls of clothes are priced by weight rather than by item – and buying clothes online to resell on Depop.
Soon, he was shifting anything from one to 15 items of clothing a day and had an annual turnover last year of £14,000.
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After his costs, he estimates just over half of this is profit.
Costs for his online store include stock, postage, packaging, rails, hangers and a steamer.
Anyone who starts selling items online should take into account these costs, which will depend on the platform you use.
There’s also no guarantee the items will sell, or that you will get the price you want.
You could end up losing cash if you get less than you bought it for, or if it doesn’t sell at all.
Choose ‘timeless’ pieces
While the extra cash may eventually go towards flights or spending money on a holiday, Daniel is currently reinvesting everything he earns into his side hustle and expanding his own personal collection of vintage clothes.
“I love vintage Disney World t-shirts and I had quite a good collection before I started this, but now I’m buying stuff not just to sell but also to add to my personal collection,” he explains.
“I just bought about 100 Disney t-shirts and I’ve kept between 15 and 20 for my own personal collection, so I’m reinvesting in stuff to keep that means a lot to me.”
Daniel says there isn’t a particular style or trend that he follows on his online store – instead he tries to sell items of clothing he would wear himself and that feels timeless.
“I just tend to pick stuff I like,” he says.
“My style is skate shoes, wide-fitting trousers, t-shirts and then hoodies and jackets in the winter months. I like a lot of workwear stuff and skate-orientated items – so I tend to sell a lot of that.
A good quality t-shirt with a good graphic on it isn’t going to go out of style, in my opinion.”
As Daniel’s side hustle is bringing in more than £1,000 annually, he has to file tax returns on his additional income – which he says he does through his accountant.
In the UK, the first £1,000 you make in profit from a side hustle is tax-free.
This is in addition to the personal allowance of £12,570.
After that, you pay tax at the same rate as your income.
If your side hustle pushes your annual income above £50,271, you will pay 40% tax on your side hustle earnings.
Stand out to make money
For anyone looking to earn a bit of extra cash, Daniel says Depop is a great side hustle – but admits you need to enjoy it to make it a success as selling can be time consuming.
“How much I sell during a week can completely vary depending on how much time I have and how much effort I want to put in,” Daniel says.
“Right now, because the sun’s up until 8-9pm I can sell a bit more – but during the winter months, when it gets dark at 3pm, I can’t sell as much unless I want to hammer it on the weekends as I don’t get home from work until 5pm.
“I think the way I’m doing it now is a great way to think about it for anyone starting out,” he adds.
“I’m finding clothes I love and am interested in and adding them to my personal collection at the same time as selling.”
Daniel also advises people to try and stand out if they want to set up a Depop shop.
For him, this meant channelling his favourite cartoon, The Simpsons, and displaying all his items on a bright yellow background.
“You can spot my stuff a mile off, which was partly intentional,” Daniel says.
“If you set up a nice background or have something that identifies you without people even having to click on it then people will recognise you and it sets you apart.”
