Kabani, 37, and now based in Las Vegas, spent the first decade or so of her career working in finance. In her native Pakistan, “it’s still a point of expectation to be in some form of a traditional career path,” she says. She was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs then a banker and financial advisor at JPMorgan Chase.
In early 2022, after nearly 10 years at JPMorgan, she came to a realization. “I thought, you know what, I’m not happy,” she says. “I want to do something creative.” So she quit cold turkey and started considering her next move. That’s when her brother introduced her to live auction site Whatnot, where people livestream auctions of everything from comics to electronics.
Kabani found her way to the fashion section and “I became obsessed and addicted,” she says. By June 2022, she was livestreaming thrifted clothing auctions on the site.
Kabani’s Whatnot page, ZKStyles, now brings in six figures per month, having passed the $100,000 per month mark in October 2023. For anyone keen to replicate her success, here’s her advice.
Consistency is key’
One thing that helped Kabani stand out right off the bat is her streaming schedule.
While many sellers streamed up to twice a week, “I started doing streams Monday through Friday,” she says, adding that, “I think one of the reasons I’ve been so successful on the app is because I have showed up every single day for quite some time.” It’s helped build that relationship with her community and certainly given her more opportunities to sell.
“Consistency is key,” she says.
Offer something unique
Another element of her business that’s helped Kabani stand out is her attitude toward selling.
While many clothing sellers stick to selling specific brands and letting that be the pull for buyers, Kabani is more interested in helping them build looks. She seeks out items she really likes and gives buyers a sense of what would pair well with them. If she shows a netted top, for instance, she might say, “this is going to look amazing with a lace bralette.”
She recommends trying to differentiate what you offer from other sellers. Shoppers “come to me for style advice and aesthetic,” she says, not just for the items she shows.
‘Not everybody can afford a $100 ticket item’
Finally, Kabani advises sellers to start their pricing low.
Especially on an app that’s built on auctions and when you’re just starting out, “you’re truly going to have no idea how [much] things are going to go for until you truly understand your customer base,” she says. Starting low lets you see how your customers function and what you’re likely to sell different items for down the line.
It also makes your inventory accessible to a larger group of people. Two years into her business, Kabani will still start pricing low for some items. “We’ll do a $1 start,” she says, “people are literally getting an Aerie top for $3 and $2 and $4.”
“I think that’s phenomenal,” she says, adding that, “not everybody can afford a $100 ticket item, but they can afford a $4 ticket blouse.”
Culled from CNBC
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