Robbie Cartwright, a 21-year-old from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, has built a reselling business that generates over £280,000 in monthly revenue through the live-streaming auction app Tilt. The business employs up to eight people, all under 21, and has allowed him to purchase two rental properties and a Land Rover Defender.
From Loom Bands to Luxury Watches
Cartwright began his entrepreneurial journey at age eight, buying packs of loom bands and selling them in pubs for charity, making up to £500 over two months. By 13, he was selling sweets and fidget spinners in the schoolyard. He later participated in a school entrepreneur challenge, turning £10 into £800 by buying handbag hooks on eBay for £1 and selling them for £5 each.
He started queuing outside stores for exclusive shoe drops, such as Yeezy 350s and Adidas Triple Black, buying for £180 and selling the same day for £300. By age 15, during the Covid-19 pandemic, he moved to buying and reselling used clothes and shoes online, scouring eBay during online lessons.
Growth Through Social Media and Physical Store
Cartwright expanded his business to Instagram and TikTok, and in 2023 rented a three-floor physical shop for £600 a month. He hosted pop-up events offering exclusive drops. By offering early online access to weekly drops of up to 300 pairs of shoes to people who shared his posts, his stock sold out “nearly every single time.”
In December 2024, he started using Tilt, a live-streaming auction app. Initially nervous, he sold up to 60 items in his first live auction, all starting at £1, making an estimated £700. Today, an average livestream turns over £7,000 across three to four hours, with some sessions reaching “just shy of £40,000.”
Record Sales and Revenue
One of his biggest sales was a Rolex watch he bought for £25,000 and sold for £23,000. Despite the loss, he was “mesmerised” that he could “take in revenue of someone’s yearly salary in the space of four minutes.” In June 2026, the business made over £280,000 in total revenue, with almost £220,000 from live auctions alone and 3,894 total orders for the month.
Cartwright employs up to eight people, all under 21, and pays himself a salary of just £12,570 a year, reinvesting the rest. He works seven days a week, starting at home until 11am handling admin, then packing orders after the store opens at midday, livestreaming around 5pm for three hours, and often replying to inquiries until midnight.
Defying Traditional Education
Cartwright, who describes his upbringing as “fairly working-class” with a father who owned a business and a mother who was a school dinner lady, said he knew he would “never need grades.” He completed a BTEC in business quickly to focus on selling shoes. “I think entrepreneurship is something which isn’t encouraged,” he told PA Real Life. “People are encouraged to go and get a degree and put themselves in student debt... But if people have a passion... it is probably one of the best educations you could ever give yourself.”
