A woman in her 20s who use to live in Cardiff off 19p Lidl pasta is now living in Dubai on a six-figure salary, thanks to second-hand clothes.
Holly Marie began selling her old clothes to get buy as an 18-year-old student in 2014.
Holly says she was bored of the clothes she had, had lost a lot of weight, and needed a new wardrobe - but had no money - so took to selling app Depop, reports The Mirror.
She said: "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."
The 25-year-old is one of the app's top sellers (Image: Holly Marie)
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 9-5 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."
Hollie shares advice on how to navigate the secondhand app on TikTok (Image: Holly Marie)
Now living in Bali, the 25-year-old law graduate has hired five people to help her run her shops in the UK.
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 5 or 6 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.
The 25-year-old now lives in Bali (Image: Holly Marie)
"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.
She makes a six-figure salary (Image: Holly Marie)
"I’ve come a long way from living off Lidl 19p pasta!"
Last year, she wrote an e-book last year designed to allow people to fast-track success on Depop, detailing how she built and scales my businesses to the point where she could quit my 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."
