US teens are making up to $300,000 by selling second-hand clothes on an app. The Instagram-like app is now planning a huge expansion from all the profit.
The company, founded in Milan in 2011, grew to have 13 million users. It is also available in about 147 countries around the world including Nigeria. Users are already making money from selling their old clothes.
It is a great way to start a global brand and to reach the world with great afro prints and old vintage clothes.
The company is largely regarded as a mix between Instagram and eBay. On Friday, 7th June 2019, the company announced that it received $62 million in funding. The plan is to use this capital to triple their base and expand in the US.
The vice president of the marketplace at Depop, Rachel Swidenbank, said selling on the app can be a very lucrative hubby for young people. This is what led to some of the sellers making as much as $300,000 a year.
Depop will take a 10% cut off each sale made on the app. There is also a cost attached to acquire inventory and ship to customers. The overhead cost of running the business on the app is, interestingly, really low. It is also easy to use the app, you can just download it on your phone and begin the business.
To set up the shop and begin selling clothes, you will need the following:
- Get a smartphone that you can get the app on and a phone number to register with Depop.
- After you download the app, you will need to create a username.
- Then link the account to your email address.
- Add a photo or logo for your brand.
- Think of how you will like to describe your brand and what you want to sell. Input this description that will appear under your username on your page. The interesting part is that you can now link this to your Instagram page to promote it.
- After this, you will need a billing address detail and link it to a PayPal where the payments will be handled. However, the payment platform works a little different in Nigeria because PayPal does not work here.
After you have the profile, you can now begin listing new items for sale.
Depop usually encourages sellers to post at least four pictures and a video to help with promoting the items being sold.
You will be asked to select the category which the item falls under. There are categories like menswear, womenswear, accessories and so on.
There is another box available where more details about the item are also included.
You also have the option to choose if you will be willing to ship items internationally or keep it local. Keep in mind that the seller has the responsibility of covering shipping costs.
Just like Aliexpress and eBay, sellers are able to add their own prices, which should usually not cost more than other similar items on the app.
The best part, however, is that customers can like, comment on or save an item to their profile like they would on Instagram.
They can also rate the sellers and leave a review which will appear on the seller’s page. Like with any other e-commerce site, potential buyers can rate a seller this way.
Depop has been able to garner an audience of young shoppers who make up the bigger population of its users. The idea, it seems, is for to raise a generation of young entrepreneurs.