S9 Ep36 COSTURA: Stef Garcia, Y2K vintage dealer - on Whatnot livestreams, building community connections, and wholesale buyouts of Y2K deadstock designer vintage.

Nov 17, 2025

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On today's show, we're chatting with Stef, the founder of Costura, a Y2K vintage fashion business that does serious volume on Whatnot. Stef started reselling full-time after losing her job during the pandemic, and for the last three and a half years, she's been hosting live auctions on the livestream platform, Whatnot – sometimes she even goes live daily.

In this episode, she shares how she's built a loyal community of cool people who love early 2000s fashion, plus her best tips for livestream sales.

Earlier this year, Stef teamed up with a few business partners to make her biggest buyout yet, and then spent three and half months in Los Angeles, continuously going live until she sold the lots – it's a wild story and she's always on the move between Miami and LA hunting down one-of-a-kind Y2K treasures. I'll let her share the scoop on how she does it.

This is a really fun one – let's dive right in!

DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE:

[4:57] How Stef started selling vintage after getting laid off from her job in television production.
[6:27] Her first time visiting a rag house.
[11:32] Things really clicked when Stef got on Whatnot
[15:09] Building an audience of Whatnot regulars: resellers, collectors, and everyday shoppers
[17:15] Stef's biggest buyout yet: 1,000 pieces of Y2K deadstock
[21:41] How to have a successful vintage live show
[33:34] Living and selling vintage between Miami and Los Angeles
[37:13] How Stef approaches social media, showing up on TikTok and Instagram
[41:19] The vintage in her personal collection that she will never sell
[46:05] Her holy grail find is a Jean Paul Gaultier piece from the bins

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