I find hidden gems for as little as £1.50 and sell them for TEN times the price – I’ve made £1.5k in just weeks
CHARITY shops are well-known hunting grounds for bargain buys – but hidden gems have netted one savvy shopper a hefty profit too.
Lindsay Edward has made thousands of pounds in a short space of time by selling her finds online – and many have gone for over ten times what she paid for them.
The 39-year-old’s biggest success came from a Tiffany necklace she discovered in a thrift shop in Harpenden, near her home in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
Lindsay, who works as a stylist, paid just £35 for the piece and sold it for a whopping £400 on the high-end online marketplace Vestiaire Collective.
But it’s not just posh brands that bring in the cash.
H&M and Topshop clothes she’s picked up while charity shopping, have also netted Lindsey some hefty profits.
A dress from Kate Moss’s Topshop range was a steal at £9 and sold for £249.
An H&M Paco Rabanne jacket made her £349, having cost just £15.
Lyndsay’s biggest tip for anyone looking to do the same is to scour the rails of charity shops in wealthy towns and villages.
“Definitely check out those in the more affluent areas around you because the quality of the donations do tend to be higher,” she said.
“There can be some incredible items, many of which have been barely worn, at a fraction of the original price.
“A lot of the charity shops I go to must have regular donors who are loyal to expensive brands.
“I always find a lot of Tommy Hilfiger there, for example.”
That’s not to say that you have to sniff out designer items – more attainable brands can still bring in the bucks.
“It’s not necessarily all about the name. In fact, sometimes it can backfire looking for the biggest names because people in the charity shop will recognise them and price them higher.
“Look for items that are renowned for good quality on the high street – Marks & Spencer used to have their St. Michael concessions and there’s a real market for those clothes, as well as Jonelle from John Lewis.
“People remember those brands and snap them up online.”
“I have sold items that I picked up for next to nothing – I got a top from River Island for £1.50 and sold for £15 – it’s not the highest money, but it’s ten times what I bought it for,” says Lindsay.
“Plus there are a lot of Topshop and Dorothy Perkins fans out there, and stores like H&M have done many collaborations with celebrities – a lot of people find those items really appealing.”
To make sure an item is genuine and to work out what kind of price you can sell it for, Lindsay recommends using Google Lens on your phone.
What is Google Lens?
GOOGLE Lens has been around around since at least 2018, but is more commonly used for identifying plants or translating signs in foreign languages.
But it can be used to get an idea of the value of an item in a charity shop or car bot sale.
To use the feature all you need to do is download the Google Chrome app from your phone’s app store.
Open up a new tab and along the search bar will be a camera icon.
Simply click on the icon and snap a photo of whatever you’re looking at – then the search engine will track down similar items.
From there you can see how much something might be selling for on sites like eBay or Etsy via Google shopping.
“Take a photo of the item and it will automatically bring up lots of pre-loved items that fit the description and are currently on sale.
“It’s a good way to test out the market,” she says.
Lindsay, a stylist who does wardrobe edits, personal shopping and colour analysis with her customers, sells her wares on a mix of Ebay, Vinted and Vestiaire Collective.
“On Google Lens, or by typing in the description in Google, you can see the asking price of similar items across a few sites to work out which one you will get better prices on.”
She likes Vinted for the cheaper listing prices and ease of listing, and opts for Vestiaire Collective for more high-end items.
“People go there because they want to find a designer item, plus the site will check the authenticity.
Lindsay’s biggest selling successes
HOW much Lindsay makes from selling can vary and depends on a number of factors like what the item is, demand at the time and how much she paid for it in the first place
The savvy seller estimates that in just 12 weeks she managed to make a shopping £1,500.
Here are some of her biggest winners…
- Tiffany necklace – bought £35, sold £400
- Paco Rabanne’s H&M collection jacket – bought for £15, sold for £349
- Iris Apfel’s H&M collection dress – bought for £15, sold for £249
- Kate Moss’s TopShop collection dress – bought for £9, sold for £230
- Jaeger trench coat, bought for £7, sold for £95
- Oliver Bonas dress, bought for £3, sold for £60
- Ralph Lauren kaftan, bought for £3, sold for £95
- Ralph Lauren jumper, bought for £7, sold for £85
- Tommy Hilfiger gilet, bought for £49, sold for £65
- St Michaels jumper (vintage M&S) bought for £4, sold
- for £35
- Jonelle jumper (vintage John Lewis), bought for £3, sold for £40
- River Island top, bought for £3, sold for £25
“If you were to list on eBay or Vinted, firstly, people would presume the item wasn’t genuine and, secondly, they’d try to haggle down the price.”
Anyone selling on these platforms should factor in fees too, which can vary depending on which one you use.
Everything goes full circle and comes back around again, so check your wardrobe.
Lindsay Edward
Another cost to consider is tax. HMRC offers a trading allowance of up to £1,000 every tax year.
If you make a bigger profit than this, you may need to pay tax on it.
Read more in our guide to the tax rules when selling online.
“Keep an eye on your earnings, check the tax implications and accept that you may have to pay a bit of tax, or store the items away and sell them in the next tax year,” recommends Lindsay.
It’s worth taking a few extra moments to make sure your listing stands out by taking good quality photographs on your camera phone – in daylight for good, natural lighting.
“Even get somebody to wear the outfit that you’re trying to sell or, if you want to sell regularly, it could be worth picking up a cheap mannequin, as it always makes the item more appealing when people are scrolling through the photographs.”
Lindsay says that it’s also worth keeping on top of current trends.
“Everything goes full circle and comes back around again, so check your wardrobe.
“At the moment, there’s a lot of sheer fabric, flapper style dresses and skirts, the dropped waists that were all over catwalks at London Fashion Week, and even puffball dresses.
“If you have those items in your wardrobe, you’ll find that you can sell them for a higher price now than perhaps you would have done six months ago.”
Do I need to pay tax on my side hustle income?
MANY people feeling strapped for cash are boosting their bank balance with a side hustle.
The good news is, there are plenty of simple ways to earn some additional income – but you need to know the rules.
When you’re employed the company you work for takes the tax from your earnings and pays HMRC so you don’t have to.
But anyone earning extra cash, for example from selling things online or dog walking, may have to do it themselves.
Stephen Moor, head of employment at law firm Ashfords, said: “Caution should be taken if you’re earning an additional income, as this is likely to be taxable.
“The side hustle could be treated as taxable trading income, which can include providing services or selling products.”
You can make profit of up to £1,000 a year tax-free via the trading allowance, but over this and you’ll usually need to pay tax.
Stephen added: “You need to register for a self-assessment at HMRC to ensure you are paying the correct amount of tax.
“The applicable tax bands and the amount of tax you need to pay will depend on your income.”
If you fail to file a tax return you could end up with a surprise bill from HMRC later on asking you to pay the tax you owe – plus extra fees on top.