A CONTENT creator is regularly making thousands of dollars from buying and reselling fashion.
The business – which began as a side hustle for Kelsey Mikula while she was at college – is now a full-time job, bringing in an average of $12,000 each month.
SWNSKelsey started her reselling business as a side hustle[/caption]
SWNSShe sources clothes from thrift stores and charity shops[/caption]
SWNSHer finds include a designer jumper by Dior[/caption]
Kelsey began selling second-hand clothes while she was studying zoology at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia to make a bit of extra cash.
After graduating in 2020, she was unable to find a job so she took a position as a secretary in a hospital and continued to buy and sell clothes on the side.
During that time she managed to pay off her $80,000 student loan.
She then quit her office role to concentrate on her side hustle.
“I didn’t start taking it seriously until 2020 when I finished university and couldn’t get a job in my major,” she said.
“It has been crazy how much things have grown since I went full-time.”
As well as paying off her student debt, her business has also allowed her to buy her dream car – her Ford Explorer.
FINDING PRELOVED
The 27-year-old entrepreneur from Pennsylvania sources her stock from local thrift stores and charity shops, including Goodwill and the Salvation Army.
She then sells it online at Poshmark, Mercari, eBay and social marketplace Whatnot.
In an average month Kelsey spends about $3,000 on clothes which she re-sells for $15,000.
It’s a job she enjoys: “Working for myself I have a lot more free time, it is good for my mental health doing something that I really want to do.
“I have also streamlined my business in a way that some weeks when I am not working full time I am still earning a full-time income.”
Some of her greatest finds include a 36-inch Pooh Bear, which she sold for $160 and a Christian Dior sweater she bought for $10 then sold for $700.
WRITE ON TIME
As she gained experience in her business Kelsey added another string to her bow, branching off into content creation.
Side hustles and tax implications
Extra income you make from side hustles may need to be reported to the IRS.
If you receive more than $600 in gross payouts from a selling platform like eBay, the site will issue you a Form 1099-K to use in your tax return.
Individuals should calculate their adjusted gross income, taxable earnings, and deductions for the year.
Once they have that, they can use the 1040-ES form to calculate estimated taxes.
And she now also teaches her skills to other people.
“My main form of income is still reselling but content creating and teaching people how to resell is bringing in money.”
For anybody thinking of making a similar move Kelsey advises: “You need to be productive if you want to see the money coming in.
“Reselling is a performance-based job, if I work my butt off for the whole month my numbers go up.”
And she has the following tips for wannabee fashion moguls:
Check the history of what items have sold for
Find out how fast the items are selling
Don’t go straight to the thrift store, start off with your own items
Meanwhile, one fashion founder was rejected by Shark Tank four times but created her bestselling beach bag anyway.
And Lush Décor founder Jenny Jing Zhu turned her drop shipping business into a soft furnishings success that generates $100 million each year.
https://www.the-sun.com/money/13305290/ebay-poshmark-side-hustle-selling-clothes-easy-money/