A British woman quit her job as an orthopedic nurse to become a full-time secondhand reseller, saying her monthly income now matches or exceeds what she earned in nursing.

Key Points

  • Chloe Thompson, 32, from Torbay, Devon, started with about £10 worth of charity shop goods despite never having used Vinted, and quit her job four months later to resell full-time.
  • She currently keeps around 500 active listings on Vinted and eBay, selling an average of 150 items per month; she pays no more than £5 per item and typically sells for £15 to £30, sometimes more.
  • Data from research firm Buzz Bingo shows that 28% of resellers are able to make reselling their full-time job.

The 32-year-old reseller was previously an orthopedic nurse. She first came across the idea of "buy low, sell high" while helping her partner with an antiques business, then grew interested in clothing and bags and decided to try secondhand reselling. She admits she had never even used Vinted before making the decision.

In the early days, her sourcing was limited to about £10 worth of charity shop items and a few pieces from her own wardrobe. Today, she has a room at home dedicated to storing inventory. One typical example she handled: she bought a denim jacket for £12 and eventually sold it for £70.

On income, she says it varies from month to month—busy months are clearly higher than her old nursing salary, while slow months come close to it. She sees this as a trait shared by reselling and all businesses: income isn't equal every month, and you need to be mentally prepared for that. Overall, though, she considers her finances better than when she was a full-time employee, and she enjoys the sense of control over her own business more.

Her sourcing channels are mainly charity shops and wholesalers. Wholesale purchases are often blind buys by the bag or box, and she only finds out the specific brands and condition upon arrival, which carries some risk of loss. In her view, this "gamble" style of sourcing is the norm in the reselling industry, but it feels quite unusual to brick-and-mortar shop owners used to ordering on demand.

On the sales side, she mainly lists on Vinted and eBay, with about 500 active listings and average monthly sales of 150 items. Except for a very few special items, her cost per item is no more than £5, and selling prices usually range from £15 to £30, occasionally higher. For each item, the purchase price, listing, photography and pricing all require her own judgment, and she believes most of this experience can only be accumulated through hands-on practice—sometimes the value of trial and error exceeds that of success itself.

In her experience, seasonal changes are peak sales periods because consumers refresh their wardrobes; the run-up to holidays is also a sales peak. Her next step is to find an office or warehouse to expand her space, and she is currently preparing for the year-end peak season. From never having used Vinted to having inventory fill an entire room at home, she says the change still feels unreal to her.

This personal story echoes a survey by Buzz Bingo: 28% of secondhand resellers are able to turn reselling into a full-time job, showing that secondhand reselling is no longer just a scattered side hustle but is becoming a stable way for some practitioners to make a living. For those looking to enter the industry, multi-platform operations, blind-buy sourcing and cash flow management are real issues they need to face.

Source: 'My side hustle became my FULL-TIME job so I quit nursing and it's paying off' · Originally published 2026-09-30