Woman turns hobby selling charity shop finds into lucrative side hustle and now ‘couldn’t afford Christmas’ without it

A woman who transformed her hobby reselling charity shop finds into an online vintage clothing business says there is “no way (she) could afford Christmas” without her lucrative side hustle.

Milley Middleton, 25, who lives with her family in a small Leicestershire village, began selling second-hand clothing on Depop in her teenage years when she found charity shop items in the wrong size, but soon realised she was “actually making some money” from the activity.

The avid second-hand shopper took her side hustle to university where she studied law and ran the business from her bedroom, with her reselling pursuits allowing her to afford “the fun stuff” of student life, such as club socials and nights out.

Milley, who also works part-time in a hotel bar and restaurant for the “guaranteed income” for bills, has turned her hobby into a fruitful business where she can earn up to £1,000 on a profitable week.

Now operating from her garage, Milley concentrates on sourcing and selling trending items, such as low-rise jeans and Dickies trousers, to turn a profit.

She says the costly festive season is made “much less stressful” as a result – especially because she has a big family to buy for.

“There’s no way I could afford Christmas without my reselling business,” Milley told PA Real Life.

“I’ve got a big family – I’m the youngest and only girl of five, and all my brothers have children so I’ve got six nieces and nephews… Christmas is not cheap in this household!

“I use my wage from the pub to cover all the essentials, and everything else at this time of year is paid for by my reselling, so treats for me, presents for other people, Christmas markets and festive nights out.”

Milley said she began charity shopping with her grandmother when she was a child, and in 2015 started to sell her finds online.

“I’m a bit more on the plus-size end of things, so it’s sometimes difficult to find things that fit,” she said.

“I was buying loads of things, thinking ‘that’s cute’, bringing it home and then it’s not fitting.

“I started uploading things to Depop and I found they were selling quite quickly, so I would put the price up a little and I realised I was actually making some money.”

Milley continued to pursue her reselling business while studying for her law degree at the University of Lincoln, where she graduated in 2021.

“In first year, I had a box room and I used to store everything under my bed, I’d photograph everything in my room and then walk round to the post office,” she said.

“In second year, everyone let me have the biggest room because I did have the most stuff.

“I was running a business in my room – it’s very hard to do that in a box room.”

Milley also found reselling helped her to afford social events while at university when her student finance loan “only covered so much”.

“I don’t know what I’d have done without it,” she said.

“There’s no way I would’ve been able to afford the fun stuff at university, like clubbing, sports societies and trips, without reselling.”

Thankfully, it was easy to juggle reselling alongside her studies because she could attend to her sales in between lectures.

Milley says she does not currently want to work as a lawyer because her success at reselling provides more flexibility.

“While I was at university, I sort of started to doubt if (the law) was something I wanted to do,” she said.

“It’s not a path I’ve ruled out, but career-wise for me, I need something that’s a bit more flexible, a bit less corporate and a bit less nine-to-five.”

However, she feels the skills gained during her degree have helped in her reselling pursuits, especially when dealing with suppliers.

“Being able to put yourself across in a more corporate way when you’re ‘just a girl in a room’ always comes in handy,” she said.

Milley said she is now quite well-known within the reselling community, and has rebranded her online business to target different shoppers.

While first focusing on “very girly” products with a “Y2K aesthetic” – a style that draws inspiration from the late 1990s and early 2000s – she has since realised “how much more is out there”.

“I’ll resell anything now really. I do specialise in clothing mainly but I’ve done a lot of Jellycat teddies, old cameras and phones, and toys like Polly Pockets,” she said.

“Whenever I’m out, I’m a nightmare – either posting parcels or buying stuff – it’s just a part of me now.”

Milley also looks for clothing items that are trending, such as low-rise jeans, mini skirts, Levi jeans and Dickies trousers, which she mainly sells on the Depop and Vinted platforms.

She first stored everything in boxes in her bedroom but has relocated her stock to her garage.

“Luckily we have quite a big garage attached to the back of my house. My dad put electric in there and I’ve got a little plug-in heater, so I just keep everything in boxes in there now,” Milley said.

The additional space was necessary when she discovered Fleek last year, a vintage wholesale marketplace where sellers can buy branded second-hand clothing in bulk.

“Fleek has been a lifesaver, especially in winter because I usually source stock from car boot sales and charity shops,” she said.

“There’s no guarantee you’ll find anything, and for the car boots you’re getting up at four or five in the morning to walk around a field and not find anything.

“In the last couple of months, I’ve been using Fleek mainly and then charity shopping here and there.”

Over the last few months, Milley said she has made around £1,000 a week from reselling alone but the figure can vary because “you get out what you put in, most of the time”.

In the run-up to Christmas, she is also “amping up” her clothing uploads to reap the profits, and her business has helped her to afford the expensive festive season.

“My sales used to drop off around Christmas time but in the last two years, with vintage clothing on the way up, a lot more people are buying gifts second-hand,” she said.

“It makes things a lot less stressful for me because I know I’m going to have more money for my Christmas presents as well.”

Milley said she will continue reselling for years to come.

“It’s not just money for me, it’s something I enjoy doing and I’d be lost without it,” she said.

“Reselling has given me so much more free time to enjoy my life and fit things in.

“I’m not sure what’s in store for me career-wise but reselling is always something I will definitely do.”

To find out more about Milley’s business, follow @utopiathrifted on TikTok.

For more information about Fleek, visit joinfleek.com