14 Dec Here’s how millennials make their money from social media
Millennials have been dubbed many things over the years such as lazy, narcissistic and entitled, but how they make their money is non other than genius!
How did your parents make their pocket money when they where younger? Did they work at a fish and chip shop for a couple of years, or deliver news papers and cut grass?
In the 1970’s and 1980’s, real wages averaged a 2.9% growth, but fast forward to September 2017 wages actually shrank 0.4%, a figure that fails to keep pace with inflation according to the ONS.
Average earnings growth 1964 – 2012, with RPI inflation removed. Source: ONS
With many youngsters being full time or part time students, having time to work can be tough to fit in around lectures and class, unless you are funded by the bank of Mum and Dad you don’t have a choice.
So, now to decide how you make your money. Of course Starbucks may be hiring, but that seems a little bit too ‘traditional’ for these ‘lazy’ millennials. But why not be ‘lazy’ about it? So lazy, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your home. By utilising social media, you can connect with individuals from every corner the world, all battling to have the most recent limited pieces of clothing and footwear to show off online. Simple economics determines that when the demand of a product outweighs the production of a product prices increase, and millennials have exploited this by buying the products as soon as they release and reselling the items once they have sold out. Here are some examples of recent releases and what the market value is now.
Yeezy 350 Semi Frozen Yellow: retail – £170 / resell – up to £600
Nike x Off White Jordan 1: retail – £160 / resell – up to £1200
Supreme Heather Grey Box Logo – retail – £148 / resell up to £800
(Figures via StockX)
But you don’t have to just sell these items to get a share in the profit, talking about them is just as engaging for millennials. I spoke to my friend and ‘Youtuber’, Magnus Ronning, who has over 126,000 subscribers on Youtube to see if he thought reselling was a viable option for millennial’s to increase their cash flow.
Magnus Ronning. Source: Youtube
“I think reselling is an important aspect of clothing and fashion, in streetwear in particular. I have always seen reselling as a side-income next to a part time job, or next to school – but would rarely consider it a full time job.”
So why do people feel the need to spend outrageous amounts of money on clothing?
“I think for a lot of young people, clothing and fashion is becoming a main part of their identity – so waking up and wearing clothing they feel good in, can be a tremendous benefactor in terms of confidence and happiness.”
By making investments on sought after garments, millennials are making upwards of 200% profit and are spending a fraction of the time on making that money in comparison to working a traditional job. I told you its genius.
