My February (almost) No Buy
If you’re residing on the same parts of the internet as I am, you’ve most likely seen plenty of people participating in writer & analyst Mandy Lee’s 75 Hard Style Challenge. I came across it sometime during the first week of January, and couldn’t bring myself to participate without having had enough time to plan and strategize beforehand. I love the concept and the parameters of the challenge, but I just wasn’t ready to dive in. I definitely struggle with spontaneity - that’s a topic for another letter entirely. One of the elements of the challenge that intrigued me most was the concept of a 75-day no buy. That means no fashion-related purchases at all during that time, including secondhand items. I’m not quite ready for 75 days, but I think I can handle the shortest calendar month of the year. So far, so good.
Well, kind of. Let me start with an admission: I did buy one item, on February 4th. Before the month began, I told myself I was allowed to buy a dress to wear to a best friend’s wedding this spring. I wasn’t super excited about the last minute outfit choices I made for the last few weddings I’ve attended, so this felt like an acceptable item to bend the rules on. I was a vendor at the Manhattan Vintage Show last weekend, and I knew it was the perfect opportunity to find something really special. And sure enough, I did! I’m really excited with what I found - I’ll share the look with you after the wedding in April.
When I was briefly considering participating in the 75 Hard Style Challenge, I quickly came up with an excuse for why I couldn’t do a no-buy. I had a huge vintage event coming up, and that meant I had a lot more inventory to purchase throughout the month. Though most of the vintage I source for my shop is purchased solely for my shop, the lines can definitely get blurry. Some pieces float through my closet for a little while before being sold - I don’t actually wear them, but I contemplate before I’m able to let go. Other times, an item is worn once or twice, sometimes but rarely more, before being re-processed for sale in my shop. On other occasions, I’ll troll online resale sites for personal items and buy things with a “safety net” - if it doesn’t work for me, I can just sell it and make my money back.
There’s been plenty written online about overconsumption in the secondhand space, but something I don’t see people talk about as often is overconsumption by secondhand sellers. And I don’t mean "overconsumption” in terms of the anti-reseller rhetoric of hoarding resources, the idea that resellers are buying up “all of the good stuff.” I mean overconsumption on a smaller, more personal level. Some bad practices I’m definitely guilty of as a vintage dealer: buying so much inventory that I lose or misplace items, feeling like I spent too much money or invested in the wrong items after a buy, and sourcing out-of-season items because I’m worried I’ll regret missing out later.
I also find myself making unnecessary personal purchases with that “safety net” I mentioned before - I’ll buy pieces I’m unsure I even want or will fit me, because knowing I can resell them feels like it takes away any risk. This usually means ignoring that fact that “breaking even” doesn’t really mean breaking even. Selling an item for the same price I bought it at means losing money in the sunk time and labor to process, promote, and list that piece to resell. Even a small profit usually doesn’t cover those costs. These purchases just don’t make financial sense, and I make them more often than I’d like to admit.
Like many other vintage dealers, my gateway into selling professionally started with an overloaded personal collection. I’ve spoken to so many other dealers and part-time sellers with the same story: “my collection got so big, I decided to start selling it off.” For some people, that’s the beginning and end of the journey: the collection dwindles, and the collecting is reigned in. For others, it starts a cycle: as pieces are sold off, more items are purchased to take their place. Of course, this may just sound like I’m describing a lucrative, growing business. I just celebrated my fourth anniversary as a professional dealer - my business has certainly grown, but it isn’t exactly super profitable. My overconsumption definitely plays a big role in that, and that’s not easy to admit.
There are a lot of things I love about being a vintage dealer, but my favorite part is definitely the hunt. Whether I’m digging through an estate sale, bidding on an online auction, flipping through a thrift store rack, or shopping a private client’s storage unit, there’s no way around it: I’m shopping. Is it a valid and respectable career? Yes. Is it valuable labor? Yes. Is it a skilled task that I think I’m good at? Yes. Is it something that I may have a hard time controlling? Also yes.
On most days, I feel really grateful for the opportunity to channel a skill and passion of mine into a job, even if it’s only part time. I’m truly honored by every single purchase made, every friend and client who reaches out for styling, and anyone else who has shown that they believe in me. It’s really the dream to take something you love and turn it into a career.
On days like today, when I’m digging through piles of unsorted inventory and worrying about the state of my finances, I have to force myself to reflect. It’s easy to let my gratefulness turn into something messy, to allow my job to act as a hall pass for impulse buys and overspending. It’s a lot easier to excuse reckless shopping habits when I’m putting it on a business card and calling it an “expense.” In order to succeed in this field, and in my personal financial life, I need to find a balance. Being a dealer means I do need to shop, but I don’t need to shop for everything all the time. Hopefully this month’s no buy is a good place to start striking that balance.
I’m really stocked up on shop inventory right now. I’m super tempted to buy, as I always am, but the reality is that I have enough product to take me through spring and probably even into the summer. February is the perfect time for me to step away from shopping. I won’t be buying anything this month, for myself or my shop, that isn’t a necessity. I’ll check back in with you at the end of the month and let you know how it went! Who knows, maybe I’ll start budgeting in 2024… Probably not, but you never know.
I’d love to hear from you! Are you participating in the 75 Hard Style Challenge, and if so, how has it been going so far? Are you a reseller that struggles with similar overconsumption habits? Have you ever done a no-buy? Drop a comment - let’s chat!
Dying to know what dress you bought for the friends wedding!
a bit late but I'm doing the 75 Hard Style challenge too - I posted quite a few of the outfits to my substack but missed about a week in the middle because I was too sick to stand for an outfit selfie in that time.
It's definitely useful and seeing how often I repeat things and combine them feels like fashion Tetris BUT the process of photographing it feels like a chore and homework , and is the part I struggle with most even as I understand its utility, the requirement to 'show myself' almost feels like a weigh-in. I think I'm going to switch the daily outfit tracking to just writing down what I wear in my diary, observe the patterns from there, and photograph/post only when I feel like it.
On the other hand, the no-buy is much easier - I've been tempted on ebay by a pair of electric blue suede pumps but some other buyer did me a favour and bought the shoes instead.