I started my side hustle at 14 selling second-hand designer clobber, I’ve made £50k and even opened a shop
A YOUNG man has revealed how he has made thousands before even leaving school thanks to his savvy side hustle.
Bradley MacPherson started selling clothes at 14-years-old during the pandemic – and has now sold £50,000 worth of designer clobber.
Now 18, the Scottish entrepreneur has opened up a shop selling hard to get designer shoes.
The teen’s savvy side hustle first started after he bought a pair of dirty Yeezy trainers from a friend for £50, cleaned them up and sold them for £90.
Now the welding apprentice, from Old Kilpatrick, Scotland, has made tens of thousands of pounds selling clothes and shoes online.
The business success has now allowed him to open a permanent location.
Laprise UK opened in Clyde Shopping Centre, Clydebank, Scotland last month.
“After I sold the Yeezy’s I kept buying more and more items,” he said.
All different people buy from me – regular people and footballers, actors, and DJs.
Bradley MacPherson
“A lot of the pieces I initially bought and sold were from Depop.
“I put a lot of hours into learning how to authenticate things and I bought good items at low prices and sold it on social media.
“I sold loads locally and built a network from there.”
The savvy teen soon established himself as a trusted seller of top quality high-end clothing and footwear.
“I eventually moved from selling used clothes to brand new stuff and built a network ranging from Glasgow to London of people who could help source me the items,” he said.
“You start to know a boy who can do this and a girl who can sell that.
“I also have lots of clientele in Glasgow who know they can trust me.
“All different people buy from me – regular people and footballers, actors, and DJs.”
ost recently, Bradley has sold items to DJ BLK and DJ Azyr.
“Our sourcing is quite broad and you can ask me pretty much for anything and I will see what I can do,” he said.
“We mostly offer footwear like Nike dunks, Jordans all that kind of stuff but we also do clothing.”
He has also just launched on Depop as @laprise_UK.
“I got to the point where I thought why not open up my own shop and see how it goes,” he said.
“It all happened so quickly. I had always passed through the shopping centre so I had an idea of how busy it was.
“In store we have local brands on display so we’re not just incorporating the bigger ones but we’re also looking out for the local ones too because at the end of the day, I’m a local business.
“Laprise UK sells a lot of things that you couldn’t just walk into a retail store and buy.
“The stuff we sell is hard to come by whereas we’ve already sourced it so customers can just come into our shop and pick the items up.
“It makes it easier for people in Clydebank to walk into their local shopping centre knowing an item they want is sold out online but they can come in and speak to our staff and ask for it to be sourced and we will try our best.”
Do I need to pay tax on my side hustle income?
MANY people feeling strapped for cash are boosting their bank balance with a side hustle.
The good news is, there are plenty of simple ways to earn some additional income – but you need to know the rules.
When you’re employed the company you work for takes the tax from your earnings and pays HMRC so you don’t have to.
But anyone earning extra cash, for example from selling things online or dog walking, may have to do it themselves.
Stephen Moor, head of employment at law firm Ashfords, said: “Caution should be taken if you’re earning an additional income, as this is likely to be taxable.
“The side hustle could be treated as taxable trading income, which can include providing services or selling products.”
You can make profit of up to £1,000 a year tax-free via the trading allowance, but over this and you’ll usually need to pay tax.
Stephen added: “You need to register for a self-assessment at HMRC to ensure you are paying the correct amount of tax.
“The applicable tax bands and the amount of tax you need to pay will depend on your income.”
If you fail to file a tax return you could end up with a surprise bill from HMRC later on asking you to pay the tax you owe – plus extra fees on top.