The Digital Thrifting Craze: How To Profit From Your Closet

By Emma Smicklas

Credit: Unsplash

Picture yourself August before first year: bright-eyed, a little nervous, and brimming with excitement when you were first preparing for your journey to university. Amongst navigating which classes to sign up for, finding accommodation, and setting up last-minute doctor’s appointments, you’re looking at your high school closet with nervous excitement and maybe a little bit of dread: Now, what to pack? How do I accommodate for rainy weather? Windy weather? Will I ever see the sun again?  

All of the sudden absolutely everything in your closet is neatly packed and headed with you to Scotland. It can’t hurt to be over prepared, can it? There is no need to panic when you get to your accommodation and find that packing your entire wardrobe might not have been the best plan. It can be demoralizing to watch your clothes increasingly clutter your room as you become suffocated in mess while you’re really only wearing the same five outfits on shuffle anyway. The good news is, while your adorable childhood coat collection gathers dust in the corner of your bedroom, someone out there is looking for exactly what you are now hoarding.  

Now, you spent good money on these clothes, and as a struggling university student can hardly afford to donate them for free. Let me introduce you to the newly trending digital thrifting craze. The new solution to your hoarding problems: Pinterest boards and Depop links.  

All the fashion girlies know how Pinterest is ideal for crafting an aesthetic that brings your personal style to life. I would know, I have more than my fair share of boards dedicated to clothes for winter weather, vacations, work, home, comfort, and all the rest. Although, adding other creators' content to your personal boards only breaches the surface of what Pinterest can do for you!  

As you are scrolling through and adding to your boards, you’ll notice each pin has an external link to the site that sells the product you’re pinning. These links allow you to buy whatever your heart desires, that gorgeous necklace or those to-die-for kitten heels, and these links are also the solution to your small-closet, big-wardrobe conundrum. Let’s take advantage of these links to up your digital thrifting game.  

To start, let’s make a Depop account. In true Marie Kondo fashion, set aside all of the clothes that no longer spark joy. Then you’re going to take pictures of these clothes on a neutral background with good lighting (the photo matters! Consider this digital hanger appeal).  

Once you take beautiful pictures of your unwanted clothes, and have posted them on Depop, create a pin for each clothing item and link each Depop clothing sale to each respective pin. You can organize these items by creating boards of all of your clothes by aesthetic, size, color, trend, or however else you like. 

This method for digitally thrifting clothes has soared to new heights in recent weeks, as creators and influencers like Meagan Williamson advertise and advocate for the beneficial nature of Pinterest in marketing affiliate links (such as what we’ve done with Depop). The reels on her Instagram account promoting this method have thousands of views, while similar accounts like

BusinessGoGetter averages hundreds of thousands for the same content. The digital thrifting market is up-and-coming and absolutely ready for your closet’s contributions!  

While you may sigh every time you glance at the same pair of pants in the corner of your wardrobe every day, utilizing the methods outlined, hopefully you can finally lighten your load and fatten your wallet.