Trainee stylist Yasmin Welch, 20, from Norfolk Norwich, has made a staggering £5k in just nine months after finding Gucci, Chanel and Vivienne Westwood clothes and jewellery for a few pounds at charity shops and re-flogging them on selling sites like Vinted.
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The fashion and communication student’s top bargains include a 1964 silver Gucci bracelet worth £500 which she found for £3.
She also discovered some trendy 1990s graphic t-shirts for 50p apiece which she sells for £20 to £85.
“I knew walking out of the charity shop I had the bargain of the year and I was jumping with joy,” she told Fabulous exclusively, after finding the bracelet.
She spent nine months researching the bracelet’s authenticity.
“I knew if I was going to cash in on my find I needed to confirm if it was a real Gucci bracelet and when it was made.
“I polished it up and took some high-quality photos and on-sold the bracelet for £500 on Vinted last year. My charity shop fund earned me a profit of £497,” she said.
“I used the money to pay for part of my university course and to put into my savings account for a flat.”
Yasmin’s designer discovery wasn’t a one off.
In March 2019 a few months after her Gucci find, Yasmin nabbed a pair of Chanel sunglasses complete with their original case and receipt from a bargain bin at a charity shop.
She paid just £1 – but sold them on for £230.
“When I spotted the glasses with their original Chanel receipt, I knew they were real,” she said. “The receipt’s item number matched the reference number on the glasses.
“The thrill of finding designer sunglasses like these and then making such a large profit by reselling them is electric.
“The profit is amazing and I made sure I put some of the money towards a house deposit and used some to buy new charity shop items for sale.
“I also paid off some of my gas bill.”
Inspired by her profit pile, Yasmin started visiting local charity shops including Oxfam, Barnardos, YMCA and hospital hospice charity shops. up to four items a week.
“I realised with my knowledge of fashion this could be a very profitable side hustle,” she said.
“So I’ve spent the past two years buying things which I know I can sell on for a price.”
Yasmin decided to also sell niche ‘90s fashion including in-demand vintage t-shirts, jeans and sportswear.
“Vintage graphic t-shirts from the 1990s are hugely popular, and I found dozens of them in charity shops for 50p,” she said.
“They were part of my daily wardrobe and friends would ask where I got them. When I offered some to my pals for a tenner and they nabbed them up I knew I was onto something.
“Now my rarest 1990s vintage tees like classic Britney Spears or Bruce Lee onessell for up to £85. That’s a profit of £84.50 or a 17,000 percent markup.”
Her most unusual fashion designer find was two rare Vivienne Westwood mesh bodysuits she discovered at a charity shop for 50p each.
“They were brand new, and I checked their designer provenance’ and was shocked to discover they were from one of Vivienne Westwood’s early collections.
Yasmin has sold one body suit for £300 and has the second on her Vinted site for the same price.
“My most unusual designer find at a charity store has been a Moschino football design skirt and top.
“They’re in pristine condition and I paid £30.”
The savvy side hustle star now has it for sale for £345.
Yasmin reveals her love of charity shop and vintage fashion started when she was in primary school
“When I was little my gran would take me to charity shops and car boot sales and was always finding bargain outfits for herself,” she said.
“When I started secondary school, I started wearing vintage fashion finds from charity shops and rocking my own style.
“At 16 I started textile design at college and wearing vintage and upcycling charity shops clothes was my fashion ‘look’.
“I knew I wanted to be a stylist when I was older and started buying vintage charity shop dresses, shorts and trousers as well as jewellery to add to my collection to be a base for my stylist wardrobe.”
Last year Yasmin started selling seriously on Vinted where it is free to list items.
She also runs pop-up shops in Colchester, Essex.
Yasmin has now started her own fashion label called @re.labelled based around her charity and car boot fashion finds.
She said not everyone approved of her charity shop fashion stockpile.
“Initially when I started wearing my fashion finds people still thought charity shop finds were tacky,” she said. “I didn’t care. I loved my fashion style and clothes from a charity shop are no different from a high-end second-hand designer franchise shop.
“Then when some friends realised I was making a huge profit from charity shops they started tut-tutting.
“People often think it’s wrong to get a charity shop bargain and sell it for big money but what they don’t realise is charity shops get their clothes not just for donations but also from companies and second-hand clothing businesses getting rid of excess stock.
“I am proud that when I was at college I worked as a volunteer in a charity shop and believed in giving back. Not many people can say that.”
Yasmin’s growing business empire now takes up half her room at university with stock spilling into the student hallway and storage cupboards.
“The key to my successful side hustle is constantly finding new stock and knowing when to list it. I also find clothes on commission for people and have a supply of my charity shop finds for my stylist career.
I don’t care what the trolls say. My fashion business is a unique form of upcycling and giving new life to items people have thrown out or given away.
“I love my fashion side hustle because not only is it going to be a big part of my chosen career but it’s environmentally friendly. Upcycling and appreciating something old can be new again is what I love.”
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