FASHION lover Nina Nalepa has made £9,000 by simply having a good sense of style.
During the pandemic she started renting out her clothes for cash as a way of getting an extra boost.
Lana NalepaLana has made £9,000 by renting out her clothes[/caption]
Lana NalepaLana spent £50 on this green Ganni dress and has made back the money at least three times over by renting it out[/caption]
The 27-year-old, who is a stylist at Harvey Nichols, started using the ByRotation app in 2020 and “hasn’t looked back since”.
Lana lists various items on the app and charges around £10-£12 a day for it to be rented out, depending on the item.
She told The Sun: “It’s super easy, I first started it when things opened up a bit during Covid and people wanted to dress-up for their first outing back in the world.
“I feel like a lot of the ‘traffic’ for me has come from my Instagram because I’ll post a picture and people can actually rent what I’m wearing if they like it.”
Lana, from Northampton, says she now earns around £200 to £300 a month and at Christmas or during wedding season it can be even more.
She makes the most money off her designer items like a Ganni dress which she paid £50 for in a sale reduced from £275.
Now she says she “barely sees it” because it’s rented out so much.
You’re charged a 15% service fee from the rental amount, but you can charge the customer a cleaning fee.
The money should be in your bank account within 10 day of the rental being completed.
You can also set a fixed minimum of days to allow for posting time.
Lana said: “If you’re posting it, it’s not worth the costs if it’s only for a day so I’ll usually set a minimum amount of days.
“I’ll also add a cleaning fee if it’s like a really delicate material or something and I know it’ll likely need professional cleaning.
“But most of mine aren’t that delicate so I just clean it myself when it’s sent back to me.”
You can also arrange a place for collection if you live nearby the renter.
If an item is damaged when its returned to you ByRotation says it will step in on a case-by-case basis to resolve issues.
It’s worth noting that while there’s a big upfront cost usually for designer clothing and accessories – Lana says you end up making your money back.
Of course it’s a gamble, you shouldn’t invest in an item just to rent it out just in case it didn’t end up being popular.
It may make more sense to list the items you already have rather than buying something new.
Obviously, the more items you list, the more money you’ll get so not everyone will be able to earn the same.
Be aware of tax
It’s worth remembering that anything you earn with a side hustle can be taxed.
You can earn up to £1,000 without paying tax thanks to the trading allowance.
According to HMRC, the odd jobs you can claim tax-free include money made at car boot sales, online selling or auction.
It could also include money made from food delivery or by charging other people for using your equipment or tools.
Once you earn more than £1,000 a year, you need to complete a self-assessment tax return and start paying tax on your extra earnings.
How much that is will depend on how much you already earn.
There are other apps which offer similar services that you can use including HURR.
HURR will only let you list items from specific brands and designers which must be less than two years old.
It also takes a 15% service fee when you lend out an item so bear that in mind when setting a price.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]