How to start your own second hand fashion empire

We live in, as the Chinese say, interesting times. If you’re finding it harder to stretch your cash out each month then you might consider taking up a side hustle. The internet is full of wild ideas and madcap ways to earn a few extra Euros, and we’ll spare you the deep dive. Today, we’d like to share our guide to getting thrifty with second hand clothes.

Know your market

This might sound obvious, but one of the reasons it’s so easy to make money selling clothes is because too many of us don’t take the time to understand the market. The fashion industry is one of the oldest trades. Tailors, dressmakers, cobblers, weavers, and everyone in between have been making clothes for longer than we can measure. Of course, trends and modes change, but the fashion business is enormous. It would take a lifetime for anyone to learn all its facets. The good news is you don’t need to know everything to make a decent income. The key to knowing your market is to specialise. You may already have a favourite fashion niche that you’re passionate about. Perhaps you’re into designer shoes, ‘50s lingerie, or vintage band t-shirts. Whatever your corner of fashion is, it’s a good idea to study it well. If it’s a subject you like, then it won’t feel like work and before long you’ll be able to spot fashionable diamonds hiding in the rough.

Grow your net

One of the best ways to make a living from buying and selling second hand clothes is by finding lost treasure. Often the obvious places to source clothes become crowded and it gets harder to find bargains. The smart thrifters are those who stray from the beaten track and travel further afield to find their wares. Take a day off and hit the backroads and have a good rummage through the thrift shops and marketplaces of smaller towns and villages. If you don’t have one yet, set up your Riloop account and launch some searches in more remote areas of the county. You can do this with sites like Facebook too, but it’s a painful and tedious task.

Look after your stock

You’d be amazed by the amount of people who don’t consider the condition of their clothes. Taking the time to properly clean, and dry clean if you can, your clothes will have a huge impact on the price you can get for them.

Think seasonal

The smart thrifter buys winter clothes in the summer and summer clothes in winter. Of course, when it comes to selling stock, the order is reversed. Try searching for coats, boots and jackets late spring and evening dresses, swimsuits and beachwear in the autumn.

Set up some sneaky searches

This one is a bit cheeky. Often when people sell clothes they do so in a rush. This can lead to misspellings and the odd typo, especially when listing designer name brands. On sites like Riloop, you can set up searches to capture glitches like these ones on our site right now. We won’t tell them that it’s Louboutin if you don’t.

Turnover, turnover, turnover…

With the exception of seasonal and high-end stock, don’t sit on your merchandise. Sell it as fast as you can and turn the proceeds around. Smart second-hand sellers are not afraid to drop their prices to keep their sales moving. There’s a fine line between being overstocked and just hoarding and it’s not a line anyone should cross.

The Devil’s in the details… and so is the money

Don’t be afraid to ask for more info or better pictures from an online seller, and always check the bottom of every bag. Selling second hand clothes is all about locating, identifying, and buying stock you know people want. In the thrifting community this can mean spending a lot of time squinting at random pictures and digging through piles of clothes. So, the more data you can get the better. Most folks are happy to take a few extra snaps or let you look through a few more bags.

Postage can make or break a deal

Don’t get caught out by postage costs. There’s a big jump in the cost of posting parcels over 2kg and the same is true when it comes to physical size too. It’s a good idea to understand postage limits and rates and that way you won’t get caught out.

Save time with Riloop Alerts

Instead of spending time repeating the same searches, create an alert on Riloop in a single click! You'll either receive email alerts instantly or a daily digest whenever Riloop detects new results for your search filters. This lets you be notified in real-time whenever new bargains are waiting for you to grab before anyone else, throughout the many online marketplaces we integrate with. This strategic advantage helps you invest your precious time on customer-facing or more valuable activities for your business. Try Riloop Alerts today by clicking the "Create alert" button displayed on Riloop search results pages.

Take time to take pictures

Fashions shift and trends die, but some truths are universal. Fashion is a visual medium. Sure, making and designing clothes involves all manner of technical skills, methods and knowledge, but we buy clothes because of how they make us look. If you’re serious about your second clothes hustle, then invest in a decent camera or a smartphone with a decent camera. Basic lighting won’t hurt either, you can pick up little LED lighting rigs for most smartphones these days and they do make a difference. If you have the means and the space, then a mannequin or a dress form is a good plan too. A dress form might be useful if you ever need to make alterations or repairs. Whatever you decide to invest in, take the time to get the right images. Natural light almost always delivers the best ambience and it’s worth waiting until the next day to make sure you get the right images. You don’t need to be a Photoshop pro, but it’s a good idea to have a go with apps like Snapseed and Canva if you want to make your pictures pop.

Honesty is the only policy

Trade as if you were trading with yourself. Treat your customers with respect. Be open and transparent about marks, blemishes, and other faults your garments may have. Be courteous and prompt in your replies and if things go wrong, put your hand up and do what you can to fix it. It can take years to build up a solid reputation as a seller and just one bad experience can tank it in a heartbeat. Remember, we live in an imperfect world, where things can, and do, go south, and sometimes for seemingly no reason at all. Problem clients and chancers do exist and your best defence against them is every positive transaction you made before you met them. Most online marketplaces offer some form of arbitration and you’ll be on safer ground if your track record stands on its own.

In conclusion

The second hand clothes world is one of the easier markets to master. There are no real financial barriers, it’s about as safe as they come, and you don’t need much technical or intellectual skills to get started. Of course, like any online marketplace there are some pitfalls and scams to avoid. If you are worried about anything like that, it’s a good idea to read our guide to staying safe online. So, this is our guide to second hand thrifting, but what do you think? What did we miss? We’d love to hear your tips, hacks, and advice.