I stopped working 9 to 5 at age 27 when my side gig started making me $500,000 a month – all I needed was Facebook Marketplace

A LIFE insurance broker left the corporate world behind when her reselling business started earning $500,000 a month.

Valentina Zapata founded The Shoe Game Co., which resells used and used sneakers.

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After the pandemic, she found side hustling something positive to do on the side.

“We started with Instagram, then went to Facebook Marketplace and drove almost an hour for our first ‘turn,’ she said. Entrepreneur in an interview.

“We just keep rinsing and repeating.”

From the beginning, she had to learn what a good business really was.

Just because she found a pair of sneakers for a low price didn’t mean she would make a big profit on them.

Most importantly, she had to learn how to identify fakes.

“It cost us more money; however, we watched videos, learned, faced losses and kept pushing,” Zapata said.

The company consistently made $7,000 a month selling on Facebook Marketplace, but that amount skyrocketed when they switched to Whatnot, a live sales platform.

She took on the job full-time two months after switching to the new platform.

The sneaker category at Whatnot was relatively new and Zapata entered before the market was saturated.

Soon, she was earning over $500,000 in monthly income.

O Shoe Game Co. it now has seven employees and operates out of a 6,000-square-foot warehouse.

Zapata loves the community of shoe buyers and collectors she is connected to through sales.

“Our community is so beautiful — it’s so much more than just selling,” she said.

BEAUTIFUL SAVINGS

Fellow dealer Matt (@sandythreadz) has also found success on TikTok for his incredible economics discoveries.

He has a strict routine to consistently get the cream of the crop at thrift stores.

Side hustles and tax implications

Extra income earned from side hustles may need to be reported to the IRS.

If you receive more than $600 in gross payments from a selling platform like eBay, the site will issue you a Form 1099-K to use on your tax return.

Individuals must calculate their adjusted gross income, taxable income, and deductions for the year.

Once they have this, they can use the 1040-ES form to calculate estimated taxes.

Matt goes to thrift stores every Saturday and Sunday right when they open.

He typically visits six or seven stores a day and buys 10 to 20 new items.

“Resale is such a competitive space that routinely posting items every day is a must to achieve steady sales,” he said.

Matt specializes in men’s streetwear and vintage graphic tees.

He earns $3,000 a month while working full-time as a graphic designer.

There are several other popular side hustles besides reselling.

A TikToker shared how he makes $500 a day painting mailboxes.

And here’s how to make $12,000 a month by decorating for Halloween.