A former Cardiff student has revealed how she went from living on 19p pasta to earning a six-figure salary through selling old clothes.
Like many young women in their 20s, fashion fan Hollie knows how easy it is to buy a new outfit for a special occasion and then not wear it again.
In 2014, the then 18-year-old decided to start clearing her wardrobe and put old outfits on Depop to sell in a bid to make some spare cash, the Mirror reports.
The app lets people buy and sell unwanted outfits and has revolutionised the second-hand clothing market - and helped savvy sellers make thousands.
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Living in Cardiff, Hollie started casually using the app after getting "super bored" of the clothing she had - but now nets her a six-figure salary after becoming a top seller.
Now living in Bali, the 25-year-old law graduate has hired five people to help her run her shops in the UK.
She told the Mirror: "I’d started trying to lose weight in 2015 and by 2016 I’d dropped about four dress sizes so I needed to get rid of my old stuff and also buy myself clothes that fit.
"It was a godsend for making pocket money whilst I was doing my degree because I honestly would not have been able to afford to buy clothes otherwise.
"It wasn’t until the end of 2018 though that I really started to put the work in and try to build out some brands."
Hollie now sells a range of items from jewellery to designer men's clothes and handed her notice in at her job in June 2021 to work on her shops full-time.
She said: "I went to Dubai in February 2021 for a month and funnily enough I haven’t been back to the UK since.
"I think by June I was handing my notice in, I’d been able to scale my shops to a point where I didn’t need to sacrifice my hours between nine to five every day and there’s nothing more motivating than the sun outside to make you get off your butt and try and make something of your life.
"I still one hundred per cent will one day finish my training and become a lawyer but I would love to be able to scale my shops to the point where I can work pro-bono."
From Bali, she keeps in touch with the five people in the UK who help manage the manual labour of sending out packages.
Describing her day-to-day, she said: "I adopted an incredibly cheeky Bali dog after a few months of living here so she wakes up at about five or six every day.
"I check in with the people who are doing the manual labour for my shops in the UK to make sure everything went smoothly that day as there’s an eight hour time difference.
"Then I’ll find a cute cafe to work in and spend a few hours checking my inventories and seeing if I need to restock anything.
"I also check any new Depop trends to make sure I’m up to date and then I make some TikToks for the week.
"At lunchtime, I go home, go to the gym and then sunbathe until people in the UK are awake. At this point, I’ll record some videos for Instagram with my daily Depop tips and then I’m done with work for the day."
In the past seven years, Hollie has made thousands each month from her side hustle - but almost lost it in 2020 when her shops were hacked.
"I can tell you that on average I make [between] five to ten times what I used to earn in a month," she added.
"I was quite surprised that my shops have taken off so much but I have a lot more outgoings now that I’ve outsourced my work to other people.
"I’ve come a long way from living off Lidl 19p pasta!"
Last year, she wrote an e-book designed to allow people to fast-track success on Depop, detailing how she built and scales her businesses to the point where she could quit her job.
For those keen to sell their own clothes, she advises: "Most importantly - do your RESEARCH.
"I can’t explain the amount of money I lost buying random things to sell and having none of it sell.
"I always tell people that their starting capital is in their wardrobe but honestly it is.
"Declutter your wardrobe and shop sustainably, this is the future! "
For any further tips, follow Hollie on Instagram and TikTok @hollieamc."
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