Small Changes, Big Rewards: My Depop Experiment

Small Changes, Big Rewards: My Depop Experiment

One of the benefits of working for yourself is flexibility. You can work late into the evening, start a little later the next morning, or occasionally tackle one of those jobs that has been sitting on your to-do list for months.

For me, that was clearing out my wardrobe.

With a trip to Japan approaching, I had my eye on a few new pieces for a capsule wardrobe. Rather than simply heading into the city and buying them, I decided to try something different: sell the clothes I no longer wore and use the proceeds to fund my purchases.

And that’s how my little Depop experiment began.

Strategy before execution

Having spent much of my career developing marketing strategies and behaviour change programs, I couldn’t help applying the same thinking to my wardrobe.

I set myself a goal: raise $450 in seven days. I didn’t mind if some of that came from my existing market place adverts.

Rather than uploading everything and hoping for the best, I approached it like a mini marketing campaign.

I considered my audience, researched comparable listings, thought about pricing and presentation, and made sure my descriptions gave potential buyers the information they needed.

Then came the execution: photographing, listing, responding to enquiries, negotiating and getting parcels out the door.

It was surprisingly satisfying watching the strategy come to life.

The power of small rewards

What struck me most was how quickly the process became motivating.

Every enquiry, offer and sale provided a little reward. Each transaction reinforced the behaviour and encouraged me to keep going.

It’s a principle we see regularly in behaviour change: make an action easy, provide feedback and create a sense of progress.

What started as a wardrobe clear-out became a personal challenge, with a clear goal and visible results.

An unexpected sustainability lesson

There was another benefit I hadn’t fully appreciated at the outset.

Every item sold was something that could be worn and enjoyed by someone else rather than sitting unused in my wardrobe.

It made me think about the role of resale platforms in making more sustainable choices accessible, rewarding and, importantly, normal.

And there was a little extra joy in reusing the packaging my own purchases had arrived in to send items on to their new owners. A handy sustainability tip from my new friend at the Post Office and another small win for reducing waste.

The experience reinforced something I often discuss in my work: sustainability doesn’t always need to be presented as a sacrifice. Sometimes the most effective way to encourage a better behaviour is to make it convenient, enjoyable and personally rewarding.

The reward was more than financial

Of course, the original motivation was to fund some new purchases for Japan. And the result? I hit my $450 target within seven days ($320 from Depop and the balance from existing Facebook Marketplace listings). And with another $150 worth of items still listed on Depop, the experiment isn’t over yet!

And that’s what made the experiment particularly interesting. I could easily have gone into the city and bought what I wanted. Instead, I planned, made an effort and enjoyed the process of earning those purchases through selling things I no longer needed.

The reward wasn’t just the money. It was the satisfaction of achieving a goal, giving clothes a second life and making more considered purchasing decisions.

It was a small personal experiment, but a useful reminder of how the principles of marketing and behaviour change apply well beyond the workplace.

Good strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. It just needs to be purposeful.