A VINTED salesman has revealed he made so much money flogging old clothes that he is financing his university studies.
Ewan Mclean, from Glasgow, made £1,500 on the marketplace app which he has been investing in rent, university supplies and his social life.
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And it’s mostly retro gear from the 80s and 90s that is being purchased on their Vinted page (@ejmclean).
The 20-year-old’s love for second-hand clothes was sparked when his uncle gave him a bag of his old clothes.
He told Fabulous: “My uncle gave me a huge bag full of old t-shirts from all sorts of holidays he’s been on, work trips and souvenirs over the years.
“Now that he doesn’t want them, it’s like a new lease of life to be able to use them.
“I kept many of the ones that were important to me, but some of the others were in huge demand.
“Sometimes I would just post videos online, not even advertising things to sell, and I would get messages from people privately, asking: Can I buy this for this amount? Or can I keep this? Are you going to sell this? That kind of thing .
“I realized I could sell some of the things I had and buy more.”
He added: “It started like that and I ended up being able to pay part of my rent or pay for different things while I was at university.
“All the money I make selling clothes is also the only budget I allow myself to buy new clothes, just so I don’t overconsume.
“You can get more exclusive clothes, of better quality and at better prices. It almost becomes harder to buy new things when you see the prices everything has become.
“I love leaving the house wearing things that I know other people are very unlikely to wear too. It makes you feel very proud to be unique.”
When it comes to getting your listings noticed on Vinted, Ewan insists on clear images and being realistic about pricing is key.
He also makes sure to be very accurate when it comes to the year his items were first sold in the description, to make them stand out from the overused “90s and Y2K” keywords.
Ewan – who studies business and economics at Strathclyde University – said: “I like to put keywords or when it is, the condition it is in and how it fits, because a lot of it varies, especially older clothes.
“I have some, some of the t-shirts that my uncle gave me, they fit me really small and were like a double XL. And I usually use it as medium or large, so you can never tell.
“So I would say size is a big thing.”
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He added: “If you’re selling something that has a specific year dated on the tag or something like that, or like a specific type of season, sports thing, take a look at Google and see what the market price is.
“I typically reduce that by 10 to 20%, whatever the average is, just to differentiate it, because it doesn’t make sense to price it the same as everyone else if they’re not selling.
“And some keywords are very popular, especially in the 90s and the year 2000, you see that in every second listing.
“But I think a lot of it is people just putting it out there, even though it’s not the case. It could be something that maybe came out five years ago, but because it’s a big keyword, people just throw it in there.
“I still think it’s a good idea, but I would recommend the exact year instead. If you just guess the year, like ‘this was my dad’s and I think it was 97, 98’.
What sells the fastest on Vinted?
According to the Vinted bosses:
- Shoe are the fastest-selling category overall last year (2023-2024): in particular female coaches, flip flops and moccasins and men’s slippers, sandals and moccasins.
- Swimwear and sportswear are the best-selling clothing categories. For women, sweaters and jackets were the best-selling items and, for men, shorts were the fastest.
- Gym Bags, bum bags and beach bags They are among the best-selling women’s bags and accessories. Bracelets and belts were among the best-selling men’s accessory items.
- Sportswear and costumes are among the best-selling children’s clothing.
“Because if you just put the 90s in, it’s going to get pushed into a huge column of people who just know that’s a keyword that people are searching for. So they use that to benefit whatever they’re selling.
“Be specific instead of just throwing in keywords.”
And Ewan proved that doing your research and being accurate with your descriptions can make all the difference after selling a ’90s item for 10 times the price you bought it for.
The pub’s part-time worker bought a 1992 AC Milan bomber jacket for just £8 plus postage before selling it.
He said: “I kept it for a while and loved it, but it was one of the ones I got messages from people trying to buy it from me.
“So I sold it to someone who messaged me, I think for maybe £80 pounds I sold it.”
Online marketplaces like Vinted and Depop have millions of users across the UK, and the cost of living crisis is only adding to their popularity.
Financial pressures on British households have seen sales of second-hand goods rise by 15 per cent to £21 billion in 2022.
One in six people now say they buy used items, according to research commissioned by reviews website Trustpilot.
So now is the perfect time to earn some extra money with companies like Vinted.
According to the popular platform, sellers do not need to pay taxes on the earnings they make on the site.
This, HMRC said, is because the sale of personal items through platforms like Vinted is not taxable in itself.
“If the money a member makes on Vinted during a year is less than the amount they paid for the items they are selling, then there is no tax to pay,” explained a Vinted spokesperson.
“Generally, only commercial sellers who “trade” for profit may need to pay taxes.
“A £1,000 tax-free allowance has been in place since 2017 for people trading for profit.”
Make Money With ‘One-Hit Wonders’
Vinted RESEARCH found:
- 6 in 10 (63%) people in the UK admit to having clothes they have only worn once – the “one-hit wonders”
- More than half (56%) of people have at least one item of clothing they have never worn – a “never loved” item.
- People estimate that an average of £490 a year is earned from the clothes they don’t wear
- 51% of people agree that selling used clothes is a smart way to make some extra money
This summer, Vinted is encouraging people in the UK to sell the clothes they no longer wear, make some extra money and find love for their pre-loved and never-loved items.
This new study comes as Vinted completes 10 years of buying and selling used clothing in the UK. With over 16 million registered members in the UK and no seller fees across its entire platform, including fashion, home and more, since 2016, Vinted has become the platform of choice for people looking to maximize earnings from selling your unwanted clothes.
Natacha Blanchard, Consumer Lead at Vinted says: “Although a shift is already underway in the way we consume fashion, especially among Vinted members, many of us still have items in our wardrobes that rarely appear in public, or not at all. appear.
“So we are encouraging people to organize their summer and sell their pre-loved and never-loved pieces as there is extra money to be made from them.
“Selling unwanted clothing also contributes to greater fashion circularity and encourages a more responsible approach to fashion as it becomes easier to find unique, quality second-hand items.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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