Teens are making a fortune selling their old clothes on Depop. Now it's ready to cash in on the US market where kids are even more entrepreneurial.

Depop

Depop is a social shopping app that has been described as a mix of eBay and Instagram. It is largely targeted at Gen Z shoppers.
The company announced earlier this month that it has raised $62 million, which it plans to use to expand in the US and triple its user base in the country.
Depop CEO Maria Raga told Business Insider that its data shows that US teens are more entrepreneurially minded that their UK equivalents.
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There are plenty of things keeping Depop CEO Maria Rega up at night, but recruiting US teens to use the shopping app isn't one of them.

This is because data shows that the 5 million or so teens that are already using the app in the US are actually more business-minded than their UK counterparts.

Raga told Business Insider in a recent conversation that, on average, US teens are listing more items to sell and are referring more people than their UK equivalents. She wouldn't comment on what this stems from, however.

But this is particularly relevant as Depop begins its quest to triple its user base in the US after raising $62 million in a recent round of funding.

Gen Z is known for being an entrepreneurial generation whose spending habits have been shaped by growing up in the wake of the recession and seeing their parents and teachers live through hard times.

Experts say apps such as Depop and Poshmark have become big hits with the younger generation as they offer them an easy way to make money straight from their bedroom.

And for some, it's a highly lucrative business. Rachel Swidenbank, vice president of Marketplace at Depop, previously told Business Insider that some sellers can pull in as much as $300,000 a year on Depop and have been able to buy houses and cars before they've reached college age.

Marcie Merriman, executive director for growth strategy and retail innovation at EY, and an expert on this generation, told Business Insider that unlike millennials, Gen Z is driven out of "perceived financial need" versus "the aspirational or purpose-based pursuits of millennials."

"They are not sure what jobs will be available to them and don't want to count on others – whether parents or employers – for their livelihood," she said.

So why is there any difference between the UK and US teens?

Merriman said it could be tied into the American Dream. The idea of working hard and building your own success has been ingrained into US teens from such an early age, she said, and now they have the technology and tools available to make their business dreams come true.

Their entrepreneurial spirit could also be tied to the glorification of technology start-ups and their founders, Merriman said.

"The teen social status symbol of my generation, Gen X, was the garage band. Gen Z's equivalent is the teen business maven," she said, adding that while this isn't unique to the US, the culture of success is different there.

"Look at any list of the top tech Unicorns (companies valued at $1B or above) and the vast majority are based in the US and China, with only a few launched out of the UK. This brings the potential home for the US teen," she said.

So for Raga, the biggest concern is not motivating these teens to join but keeping up with a market that moves at breakneck speed. "Things move a lot faster," she said, of the US. "You need to be super fast."

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