Leeds Beckett graduate earns £2,000 per month reselling clothes online

A Leeds Beckett graduate has quit her “real job” because she now earns £2,000 per month reselling clothes online. 

24-year-old Chloe Francis quit her fish and chip shop job back in 2021 after she started earning the same amount reselling vintage clothes on Depop. 

Chloe, who owns Retro Chlo’s shop and is from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, completed her undergraduate and Master’s in fine art at Leeds Beckett University in 2023. She started selling clothes from her wardrobe during her time as a student, Wales Online reports.

Since graduating from university, she has spent a year travelling before going full time in 2024 as a reseller.

Chloe has had a passion for fashion and “funky” clothing from the age of eight, going to charity shops and car boot sales whenever she had the chance.

Chloe said: “At the end of 2021 I started taking things out of my wardrobe to sell them on Depop.”

She left her fish and job at the end of 2021 because she “was getting the same as what [she] was earning at the chippy.”

Now, Chloe sells clothing on TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. She searches through charity shops with her 74-year-old grandma, Christine Smith, and uses a vintage clothing wholesaler, Fleek.

After compiling mood boards using Canva of fashion and clothing designs, she arranges a video call with wholesalers before picking between 100 and 150 items she can sell on.

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She said her Coogi jumpers are most popular: “I buy them for £35 to £85 and sell them for £100 to £200. They are so niche. You wouldn’t be able to shop for them in the UK.”

The graduate added: “I mainly source eclectic vintage fashion. Although I am more drawn to brands like Harley Davidson, Coogi and Levis or anything with a funky pattern.” 

She offers some tips for reselling clothing which span from starting small, being prepared to fail and knowing the trends to hit the ground running.

Chloe hopes to open a shop in Cornwall in the future, where she can interact with customers. She loved to talk to people at her chippy job and misses the “real life conversations”.

She is also launching her own website for Retro Chlo’s Shop on 10th April.

Chloe added: “Fashion in my opinion is so important in our lives as it is a way that enables our identity to speak to our society and feel confident in doing so.”  

Featured image via Instagram