A woman from Manchester is making an average of £400 extra every month through her side hustle renting out her clothes – and some months rakes in thousands.
Georgia Hughes, 24, works as a paralegal but being in the early stages of her career, was finding it difficult to make her earnings stretch to cover her outgoings and social life.
Ms Hughes said: “I think it’s easy to think of a solicitor as someone who earns a high salary and has quite a bit of disposable income, but I’m in the early stages of my career and so that’s reflected in my earnings and I have quite high outgoings.
“Last year more of my salary was disposable but now, due to the cost of living, it’s pretty much all used up on rent and bills.”
“The extra money I make from renting clothes out on Swished enables me to have a social life. I use it to go out for dinner, drinks with friends, nights out – nothing wildly extravagant but it’s nice to be able to afford to do things.”
Ms Hughes said she was already buying fashion items from brands like House of CB and then selling them on online marketplaces Vinted and Depop. She then came across an app called Swished, which enables listers to rent out items from high street to mid-range brands, as well as some of social media’s most coveted labels.
Ms Hughes said: “Once I discovered rental sites I quickly realised that the money wasn’t in selling items, it was in keeping them and renting them out.
“Let’s say you pay £150 for a dress and go on to sell it. You’ll probably make around £80 or £90 back. However, when you rent it and make £50 each time on a weekly basis, it quite quickly becomes more lucrative.
“I typically make £400 on average each month from Swished, but there are times it’s busier. In December and January, I made £2,000 from the platform alone. House of CB and Nadine Merabi are really popular and so I mainly rent pieces from those brands.”
Ms Hughes said the items she rents out are mainly dresses, as well as some jumpsuits and a couple of co-ords. She said: “Generally, night out or evening wear are the most popular items – things that people tend to wear once for a more special occasion.”
Ms Hughes said she finds listing and fulfilling each rental “really manageable” time-wise and that it only takes minutes.
She said: “When I joined my law firm there was a question around if I could fit renting clothes around a busy and demanding job but it’s a very low time commitment and hasn’t ever affected my day job.
“I think social media is really key for people my age when it comes to shopping. Most of my friends and I all shop and find inspiration for our outfits from Instagram – it’s so easy to just scroll and then click the link if you see an item you like.
“Swished does this really well; they are always resharing posts of someone who is pictured in a dress they’ve rented from the platform.”
Ms Hughes said she makes “the majority” of her income from 15 items that are booked regularly. She added: “I have about 20 items in total that I rent but not all of them are as popular.”
Without her side hustle, Ms Hughes said: “It is truly make or break some months. After taxes, my income doesn’t stretch very far, especially due to the cost of living, so the money I make from renting my clothes enables me to go out on the weekends, go to nice restaurants or go on holidays.
“I‘m going to Marbella in two weeks’ time and that’s exclusively paid for from renting. I simply couldn’t go if I wasn’t renting with Swished on the side.”
Hayfa Hamdan, co-founder of Swished, commented: “We’re really pleased to have a growing community of happy listers, who are supplementing their income by making money from their wardrobe – particularly in these financially difficult times. I always wanted Swished to be for normal people with normal closets and be accessible as possible for people who wanted to become involved and list their items.”
For those that are renting, Mr Hamdan said: “It provides an affordable way for them to get their hands on must-have pieces and also minimises the impact of ‘buying new’ on the environment.”
He added: “Not only can you regularly have new clothes from incredible brands to enjoy for everyday activities like brunches or date nights, but you can also rent items like the Dyson Airwrap to try. Items are available to rent directly from listers for four, eight, 12 or 18 days and from as little as £5 a day.”
