A Midlands woman who turned her hobby into a lucrative side hustle making her £1,000 a week said there was 'no way she could afford Christmas' without it.
Milley Middleton started selling second-hand clothing on Depop when she was a teenager after finding clothing in the wrong size in charity shops.
The 25-year-old realised she was 'actually making some money' so ran her side hustle from her bedroom when she went to university.
She had now turned her hobby reselling charity shop finds into a fruitful business, earning up to £1,000 on a profitable week.
Milley said: "There's no way I could afford Christmas without my reselling business.
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"I've got a big family - I'm the youngest and only girl of five, and all my brothers have children so I've got six nieces and nephews... Christmas is not cheap in this household!
"I use my wage from the pub to cover all the essentials, and everything else at this time of year is paid for by my reselling, so treats for me, presents for other people, Christmas markets and festive nights out."
Milley, who lives with her family in a small Leicestershire village, now operates the business from her garage.
But she also works part-time in a hotel bar and restaurant for the 'guaranteed income'.
Milley said she concentrates on sourcing and selling trending items, such as low-rise jeans and Dickies trousers, to turn a profit.
She began charity shopping with her grandmother when she was a child and started to sell her finds online in 2015.
Milley said: "I'm a bit more on the plus-size end of things, so it's sometimes difficult to find things that fit.
"I was buying loads of things, thinking "that's cute", bringing it home and then it's not fitting.
"I started uploading things to Depop and I found they were selling quite quickly, so I would put the price up a little and I realised I was actually making some money."
Milley continued with her reselling business while studying for a law degree at the University of Lincoln, where she graduated in 2021.
She said: "In first year, I had a box room and I used to store everything under my bed, I'd photograph everything in my room and then walk round to the post office.
"In second year, everyone let me have the biggest room because I did have the most stuff.
"I was running a business in my room - it's very hard to do that in a box room."
Milley also found reselling helped her afford social events when her student finance loan 'only covered so much'.
She added: "I don't know what I'd have done without it.
"There's no way I would've been able to afford the fun stuff at university, like clubbing, sports societies and trips, without reselling."
It was easy to juggle reselling alongside her studies because she could attend to her sales in between lectures.
Milley said she is not currently looking to work as a lawyer because her success at reselling provides more flexibility.
She said: "While I was at university, I sort of started to doubt if (the law) was something I wanted to do.
"It's not a path I've ruled out, but career-wise for me, I need something that's a bit more flexible, a bit less corporate and a bit less nine-to-five."
But she said she feels the skills gained during her degree have helped in her reselling pursuits, especially when dealing with suppliers.
Milley added: "Being able to put yourself across in a more corporate way when you're 'just a girl in a room' always comes in handy".
She said is now quite well-known within the reselling community and has rebranded her online business to target different shoppers.
While first focusing on 'very girly' products with a 'Y2K aesthetic' - a style that draws inspiration from the late 1990s and early 2000s - she has since realised 'how much more is out there'.
Milley went on: "I'll resell anything now really. I do specialise in clothing mainly but I've done a lot of Jellycat teddies, old cameras and phones, and toys like Polly Pockets.
"Whenever I'm out, I'm a nightmare - either posting parcels or buying stuff - it's just a part of me now."
Milley also looks for clothing that are trending, such as low-rise jeans, mini skirts, Levi jeans and Dickies trousers, which she mainly sells on the Depop and Vinted platforms.
She first stored everything in boxes in her bedroom but has relocated her stock to her garage.
Milley said: "Luckily we have quite a big garage attached to the back of my house.
"My dad put electric in there and I've got a little plug-in heater, so I just keep everything in boxes in there now."
The extra space was needed when she discovered Fleek last year, a vintage wholesale marketplace where sellers can buy branded second-hand clothing in bulk.
Milley said: "Fleek has been a lifesaver, especially in winter because I usually source stock from car boot sales and charity shops.
"There's no guarantee you'll find anything, and for the car boots you're getting up at four or five in the morning to walk around a field and not find anything.
"In the last couple of months, I've been using Fleek mainly and then charity shopping here and there."
Over the past few months, Milley has made around £1,000 a week from reselling alone but the figure can vary because 'you get out what you put in, most of the time'.
In the run-up to Christmas, she is also 'amping up' her clothing uploads to reap the profits, and her business has helped her to afford the expensive festive season.
She went on: "My sales used to drop off around Christmas time but in the last two years, with vintage clothing on the way up, a lot more people are buying gifts second-hand.
"It makes things a lot less stressful for me because I know I'm going to have more money for my Christmas presents as well."
Milley said she will continue reselling for years to come, adding: "It's not just money for me, it's something I enjoy doing and I'd be lost without it.
"Reselling has given me so much more free time to enjoy my life and fit things in.
"I'm not sure what's in store for me career-wise but reselling is always something I will definitely do."
See Milley's business @utopiathrifted on TikTok.