Wednesday 11 January 2017

Tuesday 10 January 2017

Interviewing Isabelle Watkins: Depop master

When it comes to reselling, vintage is probably the way to go. I came to this conclusion after interviewing Isabelle Watkins about her experience as a vintage reseller. Isabelle runs a Depop account (check it out here) with her boyfriend Charlie and the two are prepared to dig through every charity shop in the country to find the best items. Since starting in February 2016, their account has amassed 7371 followers and has led to some incredible financial success. During the summer of 2016, Isabelle quit her job that she'd be working at for the past year to focus solely on her Depop shop. In one of those months, Charlie and Isabelle nearly reached a total revenue of £2000 allowing them to pay for holidays, festivals and other fun stuff.  One of the reasons why I think this form of reselling is so appealing is that you can venture out into your local high street whenever you like, have a quick browse through some charity shops and you may find something valuable, you may not, but it's not been too strenuous on your daily routine. This is one of the issues I find with hype brand reselling. When I visited Supreme, I was queueing for roughly 7 hours, on a Thursday morning, in the freezing cold, in London and I walked away with nothing. This makes vintage reselling seem like a nice day out.

<<<< Here are a couple of examples of the sort of items you can find on Isabelle and Charlie's Depop shop.

Monday 2 January 2017

Vintage and the rise of Depop

Having already discussed ‘hype’ brands (Supreme, Palace, etc) and the pros and cons that come with the experience of reselling such brands, there is an alternative. Vintage, much like any form of fashion, seems to come in and out of trend with little hint as to when it will rise and when it will fall. Currently, vintage clothing is proving very popular amongst young people meaning that you’re almost as likely to see someone wearing a 10-year-old, slightly threadbare jumper as you are a brand new one. This has created a whole new aspect to the experience of reselling and one that’s probably a bit more welcoming.

Where with hype brands you’ll likely have to queue outside a specific store for an eternity to get your hands on something valuable, vintage clothing can be found almost anywhere. You could be looking through some of your parents’ old clothes in the attic one day and come across a retro Reebok jumper that’s definitely seen better days but could shift online for a healthy 20 or 30 pounds, providing it’s not completely ruined. Buyers of vintage clothing will do anything to get their hands on a bargain and won’t mind spending £30 on a tea stained XL jumper just as long as it says Tommy Hilfiger or Polo Sport in big letters on the front. People who resell vintage clothing tend to rinse their local charity shops dry, hunting through the rails hoping to see anything old and in decent condition. Finding that vintage Tommy in a charity shop is like hitting the jackpot for vintage resellers as charity shop prices mean they’ll only be spending a few pounds on purchase but can expect a pretty penny online. Vintage resellers also tend to venture out every couple of weeks to a vintage fair in the hunt for a bargain. It’ll cost you something like £3 to get in but once you’re in, the search for that slightly under-priced gem is on.