Entrepreneur who started with £1 profits through Depop sales now has six-figure turnover

The 24-year-old from Wombourne started selling keyrings from his bedroom during his second year at University of Wolverhampton, where he studied English.

Callum began making a small profit through a method called dropshipping - he bought keyrings online for around £1.99 each and sent them directly to the customer's house for a pound more.

He had the idea when he was buying a keyring for himself.

"I just thought, people want these and I can provide it," he said. "It was a little bit of extra money while I was at uni."

As the business began to take off, Callum, who was also working as a shop assistant at Currys PC World at the time, left his retail job to focus on his studies and grow his business.

Speaking of his time as a shop assistant, Callum said: "It was a great laugh and I enjoyed it, but I realised Depop was what I wanted to pursue, and it gave me the flexibility to focus on my studies at the same time."

After a few months, Callum steered away from keyrings and started looking for items that would make more profit.

"I used to have about three hours between my lectures, and I couldn't be bothered to drive back home because, if I did, I wouldn't be coming back," he joked.

"The best plan of action, I thought, was to stay close by and look around the charity shops for clothes that would be worth more, like vintage items and sports brands. Car boot sales were good for it too.

"It took me a couple of months to build up an inventory, and I was spending more than what I was making, but you get out what you put in."

A few months later, Callum made his first £1,000 profit in one month.

@callumscupboard Stussy tee goes hard 🤧 #charityshops #charityshopfinds #charityshophaul #thriftfinds ♬ Mission Impossible (Main Theme)

"I was stocking boxes of clothes in the garage of my parents' house, taking up all the room," he said.

"I'd spread myself around four rooms, like sometimes I'd be working from the garage, then the conservatory, then my room, then the lounge. It was a mess, they hated it. But they're a lot happier now that I've got two office spaces to keep storage."

Since starting the business on his own in August 2018, Callum has made a turnover of more than £250,000 in total sales, a large amount of which goes back into the company for stock and postage.

He is currently running three clothing businesses - Callum's Cupboard and Knitted Treasures on Depop, and pop-up events company Wave Cave Market, which supports other Depop sellers in promoting their brand by setting up shop on university campuses.

Callum has already started work on his fourth venture - a sock subscription service called The Sock Box.

Similar to a magazine or newspaper subscription, customers will receive a mystery pair of socks each month, delivered in a custom-made box.

"I wanted to start a scalable business," said Callum. "Depop is hard to scale as the years go on because clothes get older and harder to find. There's a finite existence of certain things.

"Everything I sell on Depop needs to be replaced, which is pretty time consuming.

"The Sock Box will allow me to reach more customers in an efficient way."