Depop is a peer-to-peer fashion marketplace with 35+ million users, dominated by Gen Z and millennials buying and selling secondhand, vintage, and streetwear-adjacent fashion. It’s part social media, part marketplace — sellers build followings, curate aesthetic feeds, and compete on style as much as price.
The opportunity is real. Full-time Depop sellers report $2,000–$10,000+/month in revenue. But revenue is the wrong number to focus on.
The number that matters is profit — what’s left after sourcing costs, Depop’s fees, shipping, packaging, and the hours you spend photographing, listing, and shipping. A $40 sale can easily become a $5 profit after all costs. And that $5 took 45 minutes of combined sourcing, photographing, listing, and packing time.
I’ve spent over 15 years evaluating online income methods. Depop is a legitimate marketplace with genuine earning potential. It’s also one where the gap between gross revenue and net profit catches most new sellers off guard.
First — This Is Important…
Hey, my name is Mark.
Depop can generate real income if you treat it as a business — tracking every expense, understanding your margins, and sourcing strategically. But it’s inventory-based, time-intensive, and requires constant restocking.
The model I use generates $500–$1,200/month per digital asset with no inventory, no shipping, and no restocking. One lead generation website earning $700/month produces more profit than most Depop sellers generate from 50+ listings.
Go here to see the exact system I use to do this
Here’s how Depop selling actually works.
What Depop Is (And Who Buys There)
Depop is a mobile-first marketplace for buying and selling fashion. The app operates like a cross between Instagram and eBay — sellers create visual storefronts, buyers browse feeds, and the discovery algorithm surfaces items based on aesthetics, relevance, and seller activity.
The buyer demographic: Predominantly 18–26 years old. Style-conscious. Interested in secondhand fashion, vintage, Y2K and 90s trends, streetwear, indie brands, and unique pieces you can’t find in chain stores. Price-sensitive but willing to pay for genuinely unique or trending items.
What sells on Depop: Vintage band tees, 90s and Y2K fashion (baby tees, platform shoes, low-rise jeans), streetwear brands (Nike, Stüssy, Carhartt, Dickies), handmade/reworked clothing, accessories (jewellery, bags, hats), niche aesthetic pieces (cottagecore, dark academia, grunge), and trending items driven by TikTok and Instagram.
What doesn’t sell well: Generic fast fashion (H&M basics, Zara staples), formal/business wear, plus-size formal clothing (limited buyer market on Depop), items without visual appeal or styling potential.
How Sellers Actually Profit
Depop income follows a simple formula — but every variable matters.
Revenue = Selling Price
Costs:
- Sourcing cost (what you paid for the item)
- Depop fee: 0% marketplace fee (Depop removed its 10% fee in 2024) — BUT payment processing fee remains at ~3.3% + $0.45 per transaction
- Shipping cost (buyer pays or seller absorbs)
- Packaging materials ($0.50–$2.00 per shipment)
- Time investment (often ignored, always significant)
Profit = Revenue – All Costs
Margin Math: What a Typical Sale Actually Earns
Example 1: Thrifted Vintage Tee
| Line Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Selling price | $35.00 |
| Sourcing cost (thrift store) | $4.00 |
| Payment processing (~3.3% + $0.45) | $1.61 |
| Shipping (USPS First Class, buyer pays) | $0 (buyer covers) |
| Packaging (poly mailer + tissue) | $0.75 |
| Net profit | $28.64 |
| Time spent (source, photo, list, pack, ship) | ~30 min |
| Effective hourly rate | ~$57/hr |
This is the good scenario — high markup, buyer pays shipping, and the item sold quickly.
Example 2: Fast Fashion Flip
| Line Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Selling price | $15.00 |
| Sourcing cost (clearance rack) | $6.00 |
| Payment processing | $0.95 |
| Shipping (seller offers free shipping) | $5.50 |
| Packaging | $0.75 |
| Net profit | $1.80 |
| Time spent | ~30 min |
| Effective hourly rate | ~$3.60/hr |
This is the bad scenario — low markup, seller-paid shipping, thin margins. Many new sellers operate here without realising it because they don’t track all costs.
The lesson: sourcing cost and pricing strategy determine everything.
Platform Fee Breakdown
Since Depop removed its 10% seller fee in mid-2024, the cost structure has simplified:
| Fee | Amount | When It Applies |
|---|---|---|
| Depop marketplace fee | $0 (removed 2024) | N/A |
| Payment processing | ~3.3% + $0.45 per sale | Every transaction |
| Promoted listings (optional) | 8% of sale price if buyer finds via promotion | Only if you use Depop’s promoted listing feature |
| Shipping label (if using Depop shipping) | Varies by weight/distance | If you buy labels through Depop |
The real cost isn’t fees — it’s time. Sourcing, photographing, listing, responding to buyer messages, packing, and shipping each item takes 20–45 minutes combined. At 30 minutes per item and $15 profit per sale, your effective hourly rate is $30/hour. At $5 profit per sale, it’s $10/hour. Track your time honestly.
Step-by-Step: How to Sell on Depop
1. Source inventory. Thrift stores, estate sales, garage sales, clearance racks, vintage wholesalers, and your own closet. Focus on trending styles, recognisable brands, and unique pieces with visual appeal. Budget $50–$200 for initial sourcing runs.
2. Photograph well. Depop is visual. Natural lighting, clean backgrounds (or styled flat-lays), and modeled shots significantly outperform phone photos taken in a dark bedroom. Invest 5–10 minutes per item in quality photography. Consistency in your photo style builds your shop’s aesthetic.
3. Write descriptions with keywords. Include brand name, size, measurements, material, colour, condition, and style keywords buyers search for. “Vintage Nike oversized crewneck sweatshirt 90s streetwear” performs better than “cute sweatshirt.”
4. Price strategically. Research comparable sold listings (filter by “Sold” on Depop or check eBay sold items). Price to cover all costs plus your desired profit margin. Don’t race to the bottom — Depop buyers pay for style and curation, not just price.
5. Ship promptly. Fast shipping earns positive reviews, which drive future sales. Depop’s algorithm favours sellers with fast ship times and high ratings. Use USPS First Class for items under 1 lb ($4–$6) and USPS Priority for heavier items.
6. Refresh listings. Depop’s algorithm favours recently updated listings. Refresh (re-share) your listings daily — this pushes them back into buyer feeds and search results. Active sellers get more visibility than dormant accounts.
Sourcing Strategy: Where to Find Inventory That Actually Sells
Sourcing is the skill that separates profitable Depop sellers from those spinning their wheels listing items that never move. The best inventory isn’t found randomly — it’s found by sellers who know exactly what they’re looking for before they walk into a store.
Thrift Stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, Local Shops)
The classic sourcing method. Visit regularly — inventory rotates daily. Focus on the men’s section (vintage tees, oversized flannels, and Carhartt/Dickies pieces are consistently in demand regardless of which section they’re shelved in). Check tags for dates (vintage authenticity), brand names, and fabric composition (100% cotton, silk, and wool command higher prices than polyester blends).
Pro tip: Go on restock days. Ask staff when new inventory hits the floor — most thrift stores have specific days. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are common restock times at Goodwill locations.
Cost per item: $2–$8 average. Target pieces you can sell for 5–10x your cost.
Estate Sales and Garage Sales
Estate sales are goldmines for genuine vintage. Elderly estates often contain 70s–90s pieces in unworn condition with original tags. Garage sales are hit-or-miss but offer the lowest sourcing costs ($0.50–$3 per item typically).
Use EstateSales.net and Facebook Marketplace to find local sales. Arrive early — the best inventory goes fast.
Clearance Racks and Outlet Stores
Brand-name items at 70–90% off retail can flip well on Depop if the brand has demand (Nike, Adidas, Carhartt, Levi’s). End-of-season clearance at retailers like TJ Maxx, Ross, and Marshalls provides brand-name inventory at near-thrift-store prices.
Warning: Don’t source fast fashion clearance (H&M basics, Forever 21 basics). These items have no resale premium on Depop — buyers can buy them new for the same price.
Vintage Wholesalers and Rag Houses
For serious sellers scaling beyond thrift stores, vintage wholesale suppliers sell clothing by the pound or by the bale. Companies like The Vintage Wholesale Company, Dusty Rose Vintage, and local rag houses sell mixed vintage bales (50–100 lbs) for $1–$3/lb.
The economics: a 50 lb bale at $2/lb = $100. It might contain 40–60 items. If 20 are sellable on Depop at an average of $25 each, that’s $500 in potential revenue from a $100 investment. The other 30–40 items go to donation or secondary marketplaces.
Your Own Closet (Free Inventory)
The easiest start: sell what you already own. No sourcing cost, no time investment in finding inventory. The profit margin on your own clothes is 100% minus fees. Even if items sell for $10–$20, it’s pure profit and teaches you the listing and shipping process before you invest in sourced inventory.
Photography and Listing: What Separates $5 Sales From $50 Sales
Photography quality is the single biggest controllable factor in Depop sales. The same vintage Nike sweatshirt photographed in a dark bedroom on a wrinkled bedspread sells for $15. Photographed in natural light, styled on a model or flat-lay with complementary accessories, it sells for $40+.
Lighting: Natural light is free and superior to artificial light for clothing photography. Shoot near a large window during daytime. Overcast days provide the most even, flattering light (no harsh shadows).
Background options: Clean white wall (minimalist), styled flat-lay on a wooden surface or bedsheet (curated aesthetic), or modeled on yourself or a mannequin (best conversion rate — buyers want to see how items fit and drape).
Photo count: List 4–5 photos minimum. Include full item front, back, close-up of details (tags, texture, unique features), any flaws or wear, and a styled/context shot. More photos = more buyer confidence = fewer returns.
Descriptions that convert: Lead with brand, size, colour, and key style terms. Include exact measurements (pit-to-pit, length, waist). Mention fabric composition. Note condition honestly (NWT, EUC, good used, minor flaw). Add style keywords buyers search: “vintage,” “Y2K,” “streetwear,” “oversized,” “90s,” specific aesthetic terms.
Refresh daily: Depop’s algorithm rewards active shops. Re-share (refresh) your listings daily to push them back into buyer feeds and search results. Sellers who refresh daily report 2–3x more impressions than dormant listings.
Income Math: What Different Effort Levels Produce
| Effort Level | Items Listed/Week | Avg. Profit/Item | Monthly Revenue | Monthly Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casual (closet cleanout) | 3–5 | $10–$20 | $200–$500 | $120–$400 |
| Part-time seller | 10–20 | $15–$25 | $500–$2,000 | $300–$1,200 |
| Dedicated seller | 30–50 | $15–$30 | $2,000–$5,000 | $1,000–$3,000 |
| Full-time seller | 50–100+ | $15–$30 | $4,000–$10,000+ | $2,000–$6,000+ |
Income ceiling: Full-time Depop selling can generate $2,000–$6,000/month in profit, but it requires 30–40+ hours/week of sourcing, photographing, listing, and shipping. The income scales linearly with effort — there’s no passive component. You sell more items, you make more money. You stop listing, sales dry up within weeks.
Shipping: The Hidden Cost That Kills Margins
Shipping costs are the most underestimated expense for new Depop sellers. Getting shipping wrong — either overcharging (buyers abandon cart) or undercharging (you eat the cost) — can turn profitable items into losses.
Shipping Options
Buyer-paid shipping (recommended for starting out). You set a shipping cost and the buyer pays it at checkout. This protects your margins. Most buyers on Depop accept $5–$8 shipping costs for standard items. Set your shipping price at actual cost + $0.50–$1.00 to cover packaging materials.
Seller-paid (“free”) shipping. You absorb the shipping cost and build it into your item price. Items marked “free shipping” sell faster on Depop (the algorithm and buyer psychology both favour it), but your margins decrease. Best practice: test both approaches and compare actual profit per sale, not just sale volume.
Depop shipping labels. Depop offers shipping label purchases through the app. Convenient but not always the cheapest option. Compare against PirateShip (a free tool that offers USPS Commercial rates, often 10–30% cheaper than retail USPS rates).
Shipping Cost by Weight (USPS)
| Weight | USPS First Class | USPS Priority Mail | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 4 oz | $3.50–$4.00 | N/A | Single lightweight items (tees, accessories) |
| 4–8 oz | $4.00–$5.00 | N/A | Most clothing items |
| 8–16 oz | $5.00–$6.50 | $8.00–$10.00 | Heavier items (jeans, jackets) |
| 1–3 lbs | N/A (First Class max 13 oz) | $9.00–$14.00 | Multiple items, bulky items |
Packaging costs add up. Poly mailers ($0.15–$0.30 each in bulk), tissue paper ($0.10–$0.20), thank-you cards ($0.05–$0.15), and branded stickers ($0.05–$0.10) cost $0.35–$0.75 per shipment. At 50 shipments/month, that’s $17.50–$37.50 — not huge, but enough to matter when your per-item profit is $10–$20.
Pro tip: Buy poly mailers and tissue paper in bulk from Amazon or eBay — not from craft stores. A pack of 100 poly mailers costs $8–$12 ($0.08–$0.12 each) vs $1–$2 each at retail.
Common Mistakes New Depop Sellers Make
1. Not tracking true profit. Revenue ≠ profit. A seller doing $2,000/month in sales who doesn’t track sourcing costs, shipping, packaging, and time investment might actually be earning $4/hour. Track every cost from day one — use a simple spreadsheet or an app like Sellerboard.
2. Overpricing your own clothes. The vintage Levi’s jacket you paid $120 for three years ago is not worth $120 on Depop. It’s worth what similar jackets are currently selling for — check completed listings. Emotional attachment to items inflates pricing and kills sales velocity.
3. Poor photography in dim lighting. This single factor kills more Depop shops than bad product selection. Buyers scroll fast — you have 0.5 seconds to catch attention. Dark, blurry, cluttered photos guarantee scroll-past. Natural light, clean background, full item visibility. Non-negotiable.
4. Ignoring buyer messages. Depop buyers expect quick responses. Unanswered messages mean lost sales — the buyer moves to another seller with the same item. Aim to respond within 2–4 hours during active hours. Turn on push notifications for buyer messages.
5. Listing and forgetting. Depop’s algorithm deprioritises stale listings. If you list 30 items and don’t refresh them for two weeks, they sink in search results and feeds. Refresh (re-share) your entire shop daily — it takes 5–10 minutes and dramatically increases visibility.
6. Sourcing without research. Buying “cool stuff” at thrift stores without checking what it sells for on Depop is how you end up with $200 of unsellable inventory. Before sourcing, search comparable items on Depop, filter by “Sold,” and verify the price point covers your sourcing cost plus margin plus fees plus shipping.
Who Depop Is NOT For
If you don’t enjoy fashion or have no interest in trends (your curation and styling directly affect sales), want passive income (Depop requires constant restocking, photographing, listing, and shipping), are uncomfortable with buyer negotiation (lowball offers are extremely common), don’t have storage space for inventory (even a small operation needs a dedicated area), or need consistent predictable income (sales fluctuate weekly and seasonally).
For comparison with other marketplace selling approaches, see how to make money on eBay and best things to sell on Etsy. For a no-inventory ecommerce model, see how to start dropshipping. For context on how selling income compares to other methods, see realistic online income expectations.
Pros and Cons
Pros: No marketplace fee (removed 2024) — only payment processing costs. Built-in audience of 35+ million fashion-conscious buyers. Visual/social format rewards creative styling and curation. Low barrier to entry — start selling from your own closet. Strong demand for vintage, Y2K, and streetwear items. Social features (following, likes) help build a loyal buyer base. No monthly subscription fees.
Cons: Income is entirely active — stop listing, sales stop. Constant inventory sourcing required. Photography and listing are time-intensive. Lowball offers are culturally embedded (buyers expect negotiation). Seasonal fluctuations (summer and back-to-school are peak; January is slow). Shipping logistics add time and complexity. Algorithm favours constant activity — dormant shops lose visibility. Competition from thousands of similar sellers. Returns and disputes require time and patience.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can you realistically make on Depop? Part-time sellers (10–20 items/week) typically profit $300–$1,200/month. Full-time sellers (50+ items/week) profit $2,000–$6,000/month. Casual sellers clearing their closets make $50–$400 one-time.
What sells best on Depop in 2026? Vintage band tees, 90s/Y2K fashion, Nike and streetwear brands, unique handmade pieces, and trending items driven by social media. Niche aesthetics (cottagecore, grunge, dark academia) have dedicated buyer communities.
Is Depop better than Poshmark? Depop skews younger (Gen Z) and emphasises visual curation and trends. Poshmark has a broader age range and stronger community features (Posh Parties, sharing). Depop’s fee structure is now cheaper (0% marketplace fee vs Poshmark’s 20%). Many sellers list on both platforms simultaneously.
Do I need to offer free shipping? Not required, but it affects sales. Depop data shows items with free shipping sell faster. The trade-off: free shipping reduces your profit margin. Test both approaches — some sellers build shipping cost into the item price and offer “free” shipping.
How do I deal with lowball offers? Decide your minimum acceptable price before listing. Politely decline offers below that threshold. Many Depop buyers open with a lowball offer expecting negotiation — a counter-offer 10–15% below your listing price is standard practice.
The Bottom Line
Depop is a legitimate marketplace where fashion-savvy sellers profit from sourcing, styling, and reselling clothing to a trend-conscious buyer base. The removal of the 10% marketplace fee improved margins significantly. But Depop income is fundamentally active — it requires constant sourcing, photographing, listing, and shipping.
The most profitable sellers treat it as a business: tracking every cost, sourcing strategically, photographing consistently, and understanding that a $40 sale isn’t $40 profit. If you enjoy fashion and have an eye for trends, Depop converts that knowledge into income. If you want income that doesn’t require restocking inventory every week, the model is structurally different.
For income from digital assets that require no inventory, no shipping, and no restocking, here’s how I build simple websites that generate $500–$1,200/month each in recurring revenue. For the full model, see local lead generation.
Mark is the founder of MarksInsights and has spent 15+ years testing online business programs and tools. He focuses on honest, experience-based reviews that help people avoid scams and find real, sustainable ways to make money online.