Less than 30% of high school students in the United States are employed. I have experienced firsthand that making money is not easy as a high school student. Because of sports and extracurriculars, I have no time during the school year for a job, and a couple of summers ago when I was able to land a job, it was a disaster that ended up in them not officially hiring me and paying me in gift cards.
That’s when, after hearing our friend’s experience of selling clothes online a year ago, my sister and I decided to sell our own clothes too. After setting up an account on Depop, we took photos, wrote up a description, and posted our first listing. 132 sold items later, we have made a profit of over $3,000 and counting. I have gained self agency and entrepreneur skills as well as something to add to my resume, all with very little time and energy commitment.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, you should sell your unwanted clothes online. You have complete flexibility over when you spend time listing your items, and once it sells, all you have to do is print the shipping label and drop off at USPS.
Besides earning you easy money, giving your clothes a second home is great for the planet. A T-Shirt takes an average of 2,700 liters to make. By giving my clothing a second chance, my sister and I have indirectly saved around 250,000 to 350,000 liters of water over the past year.
Some tips I would give to first time sellers are:
1. Collect and reuse the mailing envelopes that package things you and your family buy in the mail. This way you pay no extra money into packaging items, other than packing tape.
2. Choose a selling platform that you can list for free such as Depop and Poshmark.
3. Look at other people’s listings to learn how to make descriptions and set prices for your clothes.
In addition clothing, there are also many other options of things to sell. In the near future, I plan on selling my old toys and furniture. So if you want to save time, money, and the planet, sell your stuff!
