Local teens make more than $1K selling used clothes on Instagram

 

Selling clothing on Instagram is becoming quite lucrative for two Windsor teens.

Maddy Wilson and Hannah Chickee, both 18, started their Instagram retail business January 2018.  They have made an estimated $1,800 in only eight months.

During their last few months of high school, they decided they needed to make some extra money to pay for university.

“Instagram makes it easy to post pictures of what we are selling. It gives details about our products, and helps us interact with our customers all at the same time,” said Wilson.

They say app is the best platform for the business because the targeted audience, teenage girls and their parents, often use Instagram.

The young entrepreneurs claim they did not plan for the success they have had.

“We really realized MH Retail took off when we started waking up to dozens of notifications from customers asking us to do pop-up shops and promoting us by tagging our account in their photos,” said Chickee.

Customers said they appreciate the easy access to cheap brand name clothing like Coach, Forever 21, Kate Spade, Brandy Melville, Prada, and Lululemon. Abbey Dufault, 15, is one of their regular customers.

“I have never had a bad experience buying their products,” said Dufault. “the first time I bought off them they gave me $5 off my purchase and even a hand-written thank you card.”

Wilson and Chickee’s success has grown from clothing sales, to all over Essex county.

“The people who really appreciate fashion enjoy the idea of recycling clothes. When our products don’t sell, we donate them to local charities,” said Wilson.

It is not always easy, however. They lose money when customers show interest and later fail to show up to buy the product.

“There are some other shops similar to ours which challenges us to lower our prices,” said Wilson.

With Wilson in Guelph and Chickee in Windsor, they have managed to continue the business while separated. The pair have agreed to keep the online store going for as long possible, but are not planning to take it any further than Instagram.