Mum-of-three who started reselling clothes to keep family afloat now makes £590,000 a year
If your wardrobe's packed full of clothes you never wear - which, let's be honest, probably applies to the vast majority of us - then you need to take a leaf out of mum Mona Mejia's book.
In 2015, Mona was working as a full-time mum to her three kids when her family found themselves in need of some additional income.
She told Insider it was a 'really hard time', admitting the family didn't even know 'where [they were] going to eat', but that all changed when her sister introduced her to the reseller platform Poshmark.
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Similar to popular apps like Vinted, Poshmark allowed Mona to start selling items from her wardrobe, starting with a dress which she managed to sell for £28 ($36).
Before long, Mona noticed that 'everything was selling really quickly', and she was making real money from the listings.
In her early days Mona managed to rack up £80-£160 ($100-$200) each week, but she turned things up a notch a couple of years later when her husband underwent open heart surgery and wasn't able to work.
Knowing she had to support her family, Mona started utilising more reselling platforms and managed to start bringing in as much as £800 ($1,000) per week.
Within a year, she'd earned a total of nearly £40,100 ($50,000).
Mona told Insider she's never invested out-of-pocket to help her business - instead she's relied on the earnings she made from selling her own items to start buying additional inventory, which she could then sell at a higher price.
The mum scoured garage sales and clearance sections to find bargains, buying 'pretty much everything' she could get her hands on so she could sell it for a profit, and now buys the majority of her discounted purchases in bulk from various vendors.
In 2021, the mum started hosting livestreams and selling items on social media. It was then that her business really took off, and by the end of that year she'd secured an income of £590,000 ($735,000) by selling both new and used clothing, home goods and toys.
Though Mona's husband's health improved, the couple decided to pursue with the business Mona had built and help it thrive.
Her formula is simple: "The more you list, the more money you're going to make."
Rewards don't come without hard work, though. The mum works around the clock, shipping at least 100 items each day and staying up until 3am to make sure they're sent off in time.
"There's no stopping, but it's okay," she said. "I love it. It's an addiction to me."
Mona's income has been further fuelled by contracts with Torrid and Target, which spotted the mum's success online and started paying her to wear and promote their clothing on social media.
Thanks to Mona and her husband's work on the business, the couple have now paid off their home in full and sent two of their children to college without having to rely on student loans.
Emily Brown