She Started Flipping Trendy Thrift Store Finds on Instagram – Now Makes an Extra KSh150,000 a Month Reselling Online

Sarah Wambui, a 24-year-old economics student at University of Nairobi, has managed to turn her love of thrift store fashion into a lucrative side hustle that helps cover her tuition and costs.

Leveraging Instagram to resell unique secondhand clothing, Sarah now easily earns an extra Ksh150,000 monthly, working just 10 flexible hours per week.

It all started as a hobby while Sarah was browsing local thrift shops looking for hip vintage tees and jeans for herself. She realized she had a knack for spotting undervalued stylish items that could be resold online for big profits.

From this realization, a thriving social media reselling enterprise was born. Here’s an inside look at how Sarah taps into the booming reuse fashion movement to earn a sizable monthly income as a busy university student.

Discovering Thrift Store Flipping

Growing up, Sarah’s family instilled in her the importance of environmental sustainability and smart spending.

She became an avid thrift store browser, enjoying digging for buried fashion treasures.

During a regular thrift haul, it hit Sarah that many items she bought cheap could easily be resold online for 2-3X the price to fashion-conscious peers.

This presented an enticing opportunity to turn her thrifting hobby into profit, while promoting reuse.

Sarah recalls her lightbulb moment:

“I realized I could buy up underpriced items and give them new life by reselling creatively on social media. I had to try it out.”

Testing Demand on Instagram

Sarah set up an Instagram account dedicated to reselling trendy thrifted fashion sourced locally.

To test demand, she began posting photos of her unique finds modeled on herself, always tagging the location of the originating thrift store.

For example:

“Channeling Clueless in this insanely cute plaid skirt I thrifted for only Ksh250! Scoop this beauty up for just Ksh1500. Perfect for a hip retro vibe! DM me! 😍”

The engaging social media posts generated a flurry of interest, especially from fellow university students seeking trendy thrifted styles.

Within just 2 months, Sarah had flipped 150,000Ksh worth of underpriced items sourced from various local thrift stores – earning about 50,000Ksh in profit!

Doubling Down on Instagram

Given the quick validation, Sarah decided to scale up her reselling side hustle by strengthening her Instagram presence.

She gave the account its own unique brand identity with a bold handle.

Sarah also improved photos and captions by analyzing top competitors. She noticed which types of posts attracted engagement and demand.

Her follower count grew quickly thanks to:

• Posting new items almost daily
• Using strategic hashtags like #campusstyle
• Engaging frequently with followers
• Running occasional sale promotions

Within 6 months, her account had grown to over 7,500 local followers – providing Sarah access to a hungry market of buyers.

Expanding Beyond Instagram

Riding the momentum, Sarah looked for opportunities to scale beyond just Instagram:

Jumia – She expanded inventory listed for sale on Jumia to tap into their huge buyer traffic. This added great passive income.

YouTube – Sarah launched a YouTube channel documenting her thrifting tips and fashion reselling journey. The videos boosted brand awareness significantly.

Pop-ups – She coordinated occasional weekend pop-up shops on campus so followers could view items in person. These attracted large crowds.

By diversifying sales and marketing channels combined with leveraging her social following, Sarah was able to dramatically increase her inventory turnover and profits.

Achieving Flexible Financial Freedom

Incredibly, within just 1 year since initially testing out thrift store reselling as a passion project, Sarah is now earning over Ksh150,000 in average monthly profits:

• She sources at least 300 pieces of inventory to flip each month.
• Her active social following drives quick turnover of items.
• Sarah reinvests profits to acquire even more unique thrifted inventory.
• Jumia automated sales combined with Instagram provide sales volume.
• Most items sell within 1-2 weeks of posting.

The considerable earnings from Sarah’s reselling side hustle provide her income to comfortably afford tuition, rent, entertainment and more as a busy university student.

Sarah’s Keys to Success

When asked what tips she has for other students hoping to replicate her reselling success, Sarah emphasizes a few key strategies:

• Pick a niche – Become THE destination for a style niche. Vintagetees and locally sourced fashion allowed Sarah to stand out.
• Study competitors – Follow other successful resellers to analyze their tactics. Improve upon what works.
• Leverage social media– Drive sales through a consistent brand presence on visual platforms like Instagram.
• Reinvest – Flip profits back into more unique inventory to expand offerings.
• Automate – Use platforms like Jumia to ease listing and sales.
• Have fun! – Let your passion shine through. People respond to authenticity and passion.

By turning thrift store treasure hunting into an exciting side hustle promoting reuse and affordability, Sarah has achieved the dream income scenario for busy university students – earning significant money working flexible hours from anywhere.

For young, eco-conscious entrepreneurs, Sarah proves that the opportunities to creatively blend passion and skills into profitable online ventures are endless.

The future is yours to create. It’s time to start mapping it out today!

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