Bought a bra for 600k, owed 50 million: A lesson to remember for life

Using a credit card to buy an item worth 28 USD (about 600 thousand VND), the young woman had a debt of up to 2,500 USD (more than 50 million VND) after 10 years. This is a lesson for those who use credit cards without careful consideration.

Debt from 28 USD

In her book, young millionaire Sophia Amoruso (32 years old), founder of a fashion company, said that she had a difficult childhood. At the age of 17, she left home and had to steal to have money to spend. "I didn't always steal, but sometimes I paid like everyone else," she said.

However, one time she went into a fashion store and found herself in debt for an item. At the checkout counter, the salesperson suggested she get a Victoria's Secret card. At the time, she thought it was a points card and that she could get free clothes when she had enough points. She didn't think it was a credit card. After moving several times, she forgot to pay the bill.

Small item puts young girl in debt

By the time the bill arrived, the original $28 purchase price had ballooned to a staggering figure. With 15% interest charged on the debt, the small amount one year later would have ballooned to $100 and could reach $2,500 ten years later.

Little things can bankrupt you, she says. Parking tickets can cost thousands of dollars and land you in court. You might be forced to vacate your home because you signed up for a store credit card and forgot to pay for a mop or a set of clothes, or even a bottle of ketchup.

She advises, be careful with your spending, even the smallest ones. Otherwise, one day, you will have to go to court.

From thief to millionaire

In 2003, Sophia moved from Olympia, Washington, USA to San Francisco, California. Bored with her job, she decided to open a second-hand clothing store on eBay. She quickly realized that she was very suitable for this job. She diligently responded to each customer's comment and from there understood clearly what customers wanted.

From petty theft she became the queen of e-commerce

A turning point for her after the eBay controversy, Sophia opened her own website to do business. “After moving the store off Ebay and establishing the business, I had almost $1 million in cash in the bank,” she said.

Social networks are an important sales channel for Sophia's sales system. She often uses social networks to communicate and understand customer psychology while other competitors use social networks only to promote business.

Sophia shared: “I carefully attach the zipper, sew on the buttons, hooks, etc., then put them in a clean plastic bag and label the product. Personally, I take great pride in the care I take when packaging my products. I always assume that customers care about aesthetics as much as I do.”

Her store currently has more than 1.2 million followers on Instagram and several million members on Facebook. Nasty Gal is not only a retail website but also a lifestyle website for today's women.

Sophia says those youthful mistakes were crucial in helping her build Nasty Gal from a single eBay store into a $100 million revenue company with millions of female customers around the world.

According to Vietnamnet