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FASHION

The status: “Designers often have tremendous talent and no business acumen,” says Barbara Randall, executive director of the Fashion Center Business Improvement District. “From an investor’s point of view, you have no idea what you’re getting into—a designer could have one great year and then sell nothing the next.” Um, okay, so bankrolling your favorite unknown clothing maker is unwise. Meanwhile, “auction houses and museums are paying more attention to fashion than ever before,” according to eBay’s style director Constance White, and since vintage clothing is hugely popular for collectors and wearers both, reselling has become a viable moneymaking venture.

The game plan: “Certain designers’ work—like that of Charles Worth, Balenciaga and Pucci—appreciates over time,” says White. “You’ll get the most value for a designer who defined his or her time.” Target items that are characteristic of that designer’s aesthetic, and make sure a piece is in excellent condition (duh). And speaking of, ah, “Target”-ing, there’s another, more immediate way of gratifying your cash-raising urges: Buy inexpensive limited-edition items at places like Tar-jay and H&M, then resell them online. “I personally would have loved one of those Viktor & Rolf for H&M items,” says White. (The designers’ wedding gown, on sale at H&M for $349, has sold on eBay for $1,000.)

If you don’t have the resolve to fight crowds at limited-edition H&M sales, try your great-aunt’s attic. “Top designers are using prints from Japan, South Africa and Nigeria right now,” advises White. “If you find a piece with such prints on it—a no-name thing from a few decades ago—snatch it up and sell it before it goes out of style.” The people in the know enough to pay hundreds for this newly trendy item are “die-hard fashionistas, museums or insiders working for designers,” White explains. Contact them and make a mint from a rag.

Risk: 5 You’ve got nothing to lose by selling stuff. Reward: 5 The eBay move is a sound idea, but we never thought a job in fashion could be so unglamorous.