Woman, 22, who ditched minimum-wage job now earns £55,000 a month by reselling clothes online - and reveals the 'costly' mistake to avoid

A former care worker who ditched her 'awful' minimum-wage job has revealed how she now earns a staggering £55,000 a month by reselling clothes online.Madi Donohoe, 22, found her 9-5 job incredibly challenging due to her health conditions, including chronic pain and fibromyalgia, and felt vastly 'underpaid' for her work, earning just £9 an hour.So, in December 2022, just six months after she began working in the private care sector, Madi, from Essex, decided to hand in her notice - with no back-up plan. It was only when she managed to sell a pair of 'ugly' trainers on Vinted for double the price she paid that Madi then decided to see if she could make reselling items a full-time job.Using the live auction app Tilt, Madi went from earning £800 in her first month, to £5,400 in her second month. By the end of her first year, she had made £356,000.From November 2025 to June 2026, Madi made £513,000 from reselling – averaging at around £55,000 a month. Given her staggering profits, she can now afford to pay someone else to post her parcels for her. 'Reselling has given me so much freedom,' she said. 'I was having to call in sick a lot in my old job, which I never wanted to do, and now I don't have to worry about that.'It's given me the chance to have the best quality of life I can have.' A former care worker who ditched her 'awful' minimum-wage job has revealed how she now earns £55,000 a month by selling unused clothes online Madi Donohoe, 22, found her 9-5 job incredibly challenging due to her health conditions, including chronic pain and fibromyalgia, and felt vastly 'underpaid' for her work, earning just £9 an hourMadi explained that she believes the key to her incredible success is that she has 'taken things slow and steady and not pushed myself'.'Some people get really money hungry and rush into things, which can end up being costly, whereas I'm laid back and go with the flow,' she said. After leaving school at age 18, Madi started work as a care worker in a private care home for people with severe special needs, where she earned £9 an hour.However, the job came with numerous personal and financial challenges - and she soon handed in her notice in a bid to put herself first. 'It was awful; we were understaffed and underpaid,' she said.Shortly after leaving her job, Madi went into her local Nike outlet and bought the 'ugliest pair of trainers imaginable' for £25.However, as soon as she got home, she regretted her purchase, and popped the trainers on Vinted for £50 - double the price she paid for them.'I don't know why I did it, but they sold, so I thought, "I'm missing a trick here,"' she said. As she grew in confidence, Madi discovered there was a gap in the market for Stone Island clothing, and now focuses upon the Italian brand's items as a key selling point Selling everything from £15 badges to £2,000 prototype jackets, Madi's live auctions can amass up to 1000 viewers at a time and she sends around 200 parcels a weekFeeling inspired by the remarkable success of her first sale, Madi then bulk bought a load of Jibbitz for Crocs for £2 each, from Temu and then sold them on Vinted for £4 each.As her sales continued to rack up, Madi began going to the Nike retail outlet multiple times a week and reselling the clothes for double the price.Around a year after she started selling, in late 2023, Madi discovered Tilt, a reselling platform where sellers host live auctions, and buyers make purchases in real time.She would spend her days scouring charity shops, market stalls and outlet stores for bargains and, in her first month, made £800 profit.'It wasn't much, but I could see there was something there,' she said.Now, Madi commits to around two live streams a week, which last between three and five hours at a time, and spends the rest of her time sourcing clothes to resell.Her products appear on the screen one at a time, alongside a countdown (usually around 10 seconds), and at the end of the countdown, the person who has placed the highest bid wins.Given the success of her sales, she now even has the budget to be able to pay someone to pack her parcels for her. As she grew in confidence, Madi discovered there was a gap in the market for Stone Island clothing, and now focuses upon the Italian brand's items as a key selling point. 'I've always loved Stone Island but could never afford it,' she said.'I'd go into shops to try it on, with no intention of buying it.'She bought up a load of Stone Island clothing from vintage shops and marketplaces, and threw herself 'headfirst', into trying to make as much profit as possible from reselling.Selling everything from £15 badges to £2,000 prototype jackets, Madi's live auctions can amass up to 1000 viewers at a time and she sends around 200 parcels a week.