Earn money with your closet! Tips to ensure those impulse purchases pay off after they sadly go unloved…

Mark your calendar and fasten your seat belt! Blue Monday is a week today – which, if you haven’t heard, is apparently the most depressing day of the year.

To be honest, it’s no wonder. Dry January and an even drier bank account, swept away by the hedonism of Christmas, don’t exactly bring unadulterated joy.

But we can at least help with the latter. Because you have an untapped gold mine at your fingertips, in the form of your wardrobe. Yes really. Here’s our guide on how to tap into the wealth in your closet, fashion insider style.

DOWNLOAD ONLINE

The resale world went into panic when the government announced plans to crack down on the ‘side-hustle tax’ by requiring resale sites to report information about major sellers to HM Revenue & Customs from January 2025.

But don’t worry: you need to earn more than £1,000 a year before you have to declare your income to the tax authorities. So get started!

Where to start in a sea of ​​resale sites? As any millennial will tell you, Vinted is king because there are no fees involved.

If you don’t want the hassle of the whole process, head to The Cirkel, which specializes in everything from Jigsaw to Gucci.

It costs a commission, but it does everything for you. For items with a retail value up to € 1,000, De Cirkel takes half, you take the other. Pretty good for minimal effort.

DONATE

Charity shops are alive and well: Oxfam held a star-studded show at London Fashion Week last year.

And Oxfam stores are part of M&S’s ‘Shwop’ programme: donate old M&S clothes (even if it’s just one item) at any Oxfam store and receive a £5 voucher towards your next M&S ​​clothes- , home or beauty store.

Frugality+ is another option.

Order a bag on their website, fill it with clothes and send it to them with a pre-paid label. They do the rest.

When an item sells, you get Thrift+ points that you can spend on their site (a Ganni and Boden treasure trove) or with one of their partners (including Farfetch and LK Bennett.

RENEW, REPAIR

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – and that no longer applies today.

Barbour recently collaborated with Gucci on a collection made partly from Gucci’s dead fabrics from the 1990s.

Nicola Whittaker, from Fellows Auctioneers, says: The trends of the 1990s are back and Gen Z is loving them.

Think of Fendi mini bags, Burberry print and Coach handbags. There are some great TikToks of people finding old Coach bags at thrift stores and restoring them to make a profit.”

And if the ‘dated’ items you’ve had in the attic for decades are looking a little worse for wear, theam.uk can put you in touch with local specialists in clothing and accessories restoration.

TRADE IN

Several major brands offer ‘take back’ programs, where you take old items back to the store in exchange for a voucher.

H&M’s plan is ten years old and the best on the high street: bring a bag of textiles into a store (they don’t even have to be H&M products) and receive a £5 voucher. Unlike other retail chains, H&M guarantees that none of their donations go to landfill.

Or visit theswapshopuk.com for a clothing swap the 2024 way. Upload photos of the items you want to swap and, once approved, submit the items. In return, you will receive ‘swap coins’ that you can spend on brands such as Hush, Cos and The Kooples in their online store.

RENT IT

Don’t be intimidated and think that renting out your wardrobe is only for people who have mountains of Oscar de la Renta and Chanel in stock.

Rather, it’s the best way to let the mid-range pieces (think Rixo and Me+Em) that you love but only wear occasionally earn their keep.

Coffee money over dust. You can carve a niche in the market by offering mid-range products, especially if they come in sizes other than sample size 10.

The more established rental sites like Hurr, My Garderobe HQ and ByRotation are your best bet: they charge a 10 to 15 percent commission. Hurr even has a calculator that calculates how much you can earn from a piece of clothing.

Visit Gen Z’s favorite Loanhood for total autonomy, where you choose the rental price.