Max Hunt needed gas money. Like thousands of other college students, he turned to the clutter in his closet. What started as a simple effort to clear space and fund his commute evolved into something far more valuable than a full tank. Through selling thrifted finds on Depop, Hunt didn’t just earn cash. He developed a practical toolkit in branding, marketing, and customer service. This accidental education, born from economic necessity, is now catching the eye of the very people who could offer him a full-time job.
New, exclusive research from the secondhand fashion platform Depop, shared with Fortune, reveals a seismic shift in how professional skills are being acquired and valued. A striking 71% of Gen Z sellers report that online resale has taught them more practical business knowledge than their formal education. Perhaps more tellingly, 85% of hiring managers say candidates should list this resale experience on their resumes. In a direct comparison, 65% of those managers find a successful resale operation more impressive for an entry-level candidate than a traditional internship, which only impressed 46%.
This isn’t merely about being savvy with a smartphone. The skills ledger built on platforms like Depop, Vinted, and eBay is substantial. Users master pricing strategy by testing what the market will bear for a vintage band tee. They learn sales and negotiation through back-and-forth messaging with potential buyers. Budgeting becomes real when calculating fees, shipping costs, and net profit. Customer service is immediate and personal, where a single negative review can impact future sales. All these competencies are developed not in a lecture hall, but in the live-fire exercise of running a micro-business.
“For years we’ve watched people come to Depop to earn an income through creativity and entrepreneurship, but what often goes unnoticed are the professional skills they’re building along the way,” Depop CEO Peter Semple told Fortune. The data confirms his observation. Over 90% of hiring managers believe a successful resale account demonstrates entrepreneurial initiative. 88% percent say it shows commercial awareness—an innate understanding of supply, demand, and value that can’t be easily taught from a textbook.
This corporate validation highlights a painful, parallel truth: the perceived decline of the traditional university degree. Michael Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work, which surveys tens of thousands of companies annually, sees the focus shifting decisively. “The overwhelming focus of the last five years is around skills and skills development,” he stated. “They’re not even talking about degrees now. They’re talking about skills. What skills do you have and what skills are going to be needed in the future?”
Employers are vocal about the gap between academia and the workplace. Graduates often enter offices unequipped with fundamental professional skills: speaking up in meetings, delivering presentations, or communicating with appropriate etiquette. This deficiency makes hiring managers wary, leading them to prize tangible experience—any experience—that proves a candidate can operate in the real world. A Depop storefront provides that proof.
The financial implications for graduates are stark. A third now admit their degree was not financially worth the investment, according to recent surveys. For 14%, student debt has forced delays in major life milestones like moving out of their parents’ home or starting a family. The degree is no longer a guaranteed launchpad. Instead, for a generation facing one of the toughest entry-level job markets in decades, the hustle has moved online. The act of photographing, listing, and shipping a used sweater is no longer just a side gig. It’s a competitive differentiator in a sea of AI-generated resumes, a real-time seminar in micro-economics, and a potent signal to employers that this candidate understands the fundamentals of commerce.
The lesson here is not that college is obsolete, but that its monopoly on credentialing has ended. The market is valuing applied, self-taught skill acquisition with a new urgency. In the fluid economy of 2025, the initiative to turn a closet into a classroom may be the most relevant line item on a young person’s CV. It shows they’ve already passed their first performance review, judged not by a professor, but by the most unforgiving grader of all: the customer.
- Skills developed through resale platforms
- Market pricing strategies
- Sales and negotiation techniques
- Real budgeting experience
- Customer service competencies
- Entrepreneurial initiative
| Statistic | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Gen Z sellers reporting better knowledge through resale | 71% |
| Hiring managers valuing resale experience | 85% |
| Managers impressed by successful resale over internships | 65% |
| Managers impressed by internships | 46% |
| Hiring managers believing in entrepreneurial initiative | 90% |
| Hiring managers valuing commercial awareness | 88% |
