Social media shopping? College girls making quick, crazy money renting out their dresses

College-age girls have found a new way to make money – renting their clothes through their Instagram account. 

It has become a growing trend in recent years for girls to profit from the clothes they own. Social media-based rental accounts will post images of an item of clothing, accompanied by the size and brand. Followers of the account can then reach out to the owners, asking to rent the clothing for a night or a weekend at a much lower price than the clothes retail for. And, yes, they ship. And, yes, they’re making fast money. Real money.

University of South Carolina freshmen Mia Ortega and Sydney Hill decided to start a joint rental account, @rentsodacity, a little more than two months ago after realizing the number of dresses they had accumulated from being in college and attending sorority events. 

“We realized that we ourselves were buying so many dresses for our sorority functions, and that we did not want to do that,” Ortega said. “So I’m sure most girls don’t want to do that either. And then we thought, why not start a rental company? And then that makes it easier for everyone.” 

Ortega and Hill have accumulated almost 2,000 followers and already have been able to turn a profit in their first two months of business. 

“In the first month, we made $1,000 combined,” Hill said. “Now we are at almost $1,000 individually.” 

Part of what makes rental accounts so popular is the affordability aspect. 

“We are college students, and it is not very realistic to be able to buy a $100 dress for each function,” Hill said. “So we just wanted people to have a cheaper option while still being able to have a new dress for each thing that they attend.”

Hill and Ortega determine how much to rent their dresses for based on the retail prices, and are able to make a profit once the clothing has been rented a few times. 

“We try not to go more than a fourth of the retail price, and usually it can be a little less,” Hill said. “It is usually $15 for our mini dresses, and then our maxi dresses range from $20, $25. We try not to go over $25 unless the retail price is more expensive, like $200.” 

USC junior Clara Mitchell has found rental accounts useful throughout her time in college. 

“It allows you to find clothes that maybe you wouldn’t buy for yourself but still enjoy and want to wear,” Mitchell said. 

The idea of renting clothes instead of buying them isn’t limited just to social media accounts. Online monthly subscription-based rental services such as Nuuly and Rent the Runway have become extremely popular and profitable renting high-end brands for up to 30 days. Rent the Runway focuses on formalwear. Nuuly is owned by URBN, which also owns Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People.

“I used to use Rent the Runway consecutively, and then now I have switched to Nuuly,” Mitchell said. “I like them (both) because I typically don’t wear pieces of clothing more than a few times. So it allows me to browse new clothes and wear them for what I need them for, without paying the expensive retail price.”

But the person-to-person clothes rental businesses popular among college students does more: It helps create a community among the girls. 

“I think it’s just a really good way to support each other,” Hill said. “It is really fun getting to see other girls get really excited about wearing certain dresses, and us being able to give them something to have when they are last-minute-freaking-out over not having a dress. Being able to provide that for another girl is awesome.”

Mitchell also has seen how renting clothes can bring people together, from the shopper’s experience. 

“Most of the time you don’t personally know the person who owns the account, but there is no awkwardness or anything that comes from asking … to rent their clothes,” Mitchell said. “It allows you to meet new people.” 

Ortega and Hill have plans to further grow their rental business by expanding their dress options. They’re buying something they don’t need right away – or something they themselves have no intention of wearing. 

“We try and get dresses that we like so we can wear them for our functions as well, not just the people who are renting,” Hill said. “But there have been some cases where, like, it doesn’t particularly fit me how I wanted to but it fits all these other girls, and they still get a ton of usage.”

And they study competing accounts, especially at nearby schools. 

“For our business to be something that is expanded throughout the country, we have to get more high-end dresses,” Ortega said. “We’ve had girls rent our dresses in North Carolina and Tennessee. But I think having more high-end dresses will attract more girls because they would never buy it, but still want a chance to wear it.”